Monthly Archives: March 2015

Spain-based Scot Ian Cathro continuing to grow admirers

“Ian Cathro has not followed a conventional career path, but he has still encountered lingering assumptions. During his first pre-season as assistant coach at Rio Ave in Portugal, a training session based on running rather than ball work prompted some players to cast withering glances his way. As a Scotsman, even one whose very presence in the Portuguese top-flight at an age when he was younger than many of the players in the squad was unorthodox, still prompted stereotypical thinking.” BBC

European Cup Classic – “A victory in vain”: FC Bayern München v AC Milan, 1990

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“In 2015, there is something of a gulf between the German Bundesliga and the Italian Serie A. While the former was booming with full grounds and exciting football, the latter was in the doldrums both on and off the pitch – a situation best summed up by FC Bayern München’s 7-1 demolition of AS Roma in the group phase of the champions league and Parma FC’s financial collapse.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Cristiano Ronaldo should be dropped according to some rather stupid Real Madrid fans

“One-third of respondents to a poll by AS want Real Madrid to drop Cristiano Ronaldo. In another, simultaneous finding, one-third of respondents are idiots. To be fair, Ronaldo did go a whole three matches without scoring in February, dropping his record to a lackluster 41 goals in 39 games for club and country this season. All-time in La Liga, he’s only scored 207 goals in 171 appearances. Maybe the fans are right, maybe El Real can find someone better. Why not just clone Isco and play him up front as well? They’d like that.” Soccer Gods

Liverpool – A Show Of Strength

“It was so close. Although Liverpool supporters would naturally have been disappointed that Brendan Rodgers’ team narrowly missed out on securing title winning glory in the 2013/14 season, objectively speaking their surge to second place in the Premier League represented great progress. Not only did they improve significantly from the previous season’s seventh, but they also qualified for the Champions League, a competition that has played an important part in the Reds’ famous history.” The Swiss Ramble

Change of tactics pays off: Schalke’s Week 24 victory

“Week 24’s game was an attempt from the Royal Blues to come back after the most humiliating defeat to Dortmund at the Revierderby the week before. I among many was convinced this club was not good enough for any Champions League position in the league. My mind still has not changed. That being said, Roberto DI Matteo, who I will still stand by as not truly being at fault for the club’s shortcomings, made some tactical changes for this home match against Hoffenheim that paid off. First of all, with the lack of any offence and most of all midfield movement, the club changed from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. This allowed players who have been absent in recent weeks, such as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to be more present in the game, with EMCM in particular having an impressive game with a few shots and setting up both of Max Meyer’s goals.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Barcelona might not be able to afford Lionel Messi, so get ready for a long, long summer of transfer rumors

“You can imagine Barcelona’s directors cackling like Vincent Price at the end of Thriller as they signed off on the $309 million release clause in Lionel Messi’s contract last May. ‘No one will be able to afford that,’ they probably laughed, lighting cigars. ‘Messi will be ours… FOREVER!’ That was before the English Premier League signed a new TV deal worth precisely 1.5 gazillion pounds, though. (That converts to approximately 3.8 bazillion dollars.) Hence, with Financial Fair Play looking about as toothless as a three-month old baby, the idea of a club meeting that release clause and Messi moving on from Barcelona does not sound quite as crazy as it did a couple of months ago.” Soccer Gods

Thoughts From: Liverpool

“Brendan Rodgers is very good. We all thought we saw a miserable Liverpool performance; a terrified defence somehow supporting an attack as threatening as a sleepy hamster. We were wrong. What we actually saw was a battalion of tired heroes, the conquerors of Manchester City, the pacifiers of insurgent Burnley, those few, those happy few, that band of brothers.” The Set Pieces

Ranking the Top 10 Young Midfielders so far in 2014-15: Sterling moves up as Liverpool begin late season resurgence

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“After another minor break, the Talent Radar Player Rankings return, with the men in the middle of the park the focus of our attentions. A lot has changed since the last time the rankings were out, Borussia Dortmund’s fall was only just starting, Liverpool were still in the Champions League and the Italian Serie A race actually looked interesting. While the rankings itself saw Marco Verratti on top, with a couple of challengers looking to dethrone him. Here’s who continue to impress us as we move into the business end of the football season.” Outside of the Boot

Centers, Catchers, and Chileans: The Trouble With Mesut Özil’s Unquantifiable Excellence

“Watch any Arsenal game, and you’ll very quickly notice something: Alexis Sánchez is really good at soccer. The lovable Chilean buzzes around the field from start to finish, and it’s clear what he brings to the side. He shoots a lot, he runs with the ball at his feet, he shoots some more, he gets fouled, he puts crosses into the box, and he presses defenders who have the ball. In other words, Sánchez is always, visibly, doing stuff. Now, all that stuff came with a price tag, as Arsenal had to pay somewhere around £35 million to bring him over from FC Barcelona last July. As we’ve already said, signing Sánchez has added a dangerous, active component to Arsenal’s attack, but there was also a bit of a statement behind the signing: It marked the second summer in a row the Gunners spent big money on a big-talent, big-name attacker from one of the two big clubs in Spain.” Grantland

The Motley Crew: The Story Behind America’s Wackiest Football Club Names

“As the summer of 1995 came to a close, Luis Orozco, a Colombian-born student living in Akron, Ohio, popped a letter in the mail that was bound for his local newspaper. He was overcome by two emotions: pessimism and intrigue. The latter of the two was fueled by Orozco’s love of football, which, to his delight, was welcoming a yet-to-be-named professional team to his area, set for a place in the newly formed Major League Soccer league. The pessimism: that came from Orozco’s belief that his suggestion for the Columbus slot’s name, contained in the letter that was now on its way to the Columbus Dispatch, may not be chosen, thanks to a wave of competition.” 8by8

Norwich City – East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon

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“The 2013/14 season was a mixed bag for Norwich City, as another good year from a financial perspective was completely overshadowed by the results on the pitch. As the annual report stated, it was ‘a disappointing season for the club, culminating in relegation to the Championship following three successive years in the Premier League.’ Although Norwich had arguably outperformed the previous season by finishing in a comfortable 11th position in the Premier League, it must have been strange to supporters to see the club record a £9 million profit before tax (up more than 700%) and further reduce debt instead of spending more in an attempt to avoid relegation.” The Swiss Ramble

The four levels of local derby significance, from must-watch to objectively terrible

“For the second time in a week, rivals Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion are set for a West Midlands Derby, with Saturday’s FA Cup quarterfinal at Villa Park coming on the heels of Tuesday’s Premier League match in Birmingham. Surprisingly for what was effectively a ‘relegation six-pointer’ and a local derby, Villa’s home ground was not even close to being full in midweek. Local rivalries, with their often unique histories of animus, usually carry an added level of intrigue that separate them from other fixtures on the calendar, but as we saw while West Brom came up short in the dying seconds on Tuesday (thanks, Ben Foster!), not all derbies are created equal.” Soccer Gods

Rising Reds: Liverpool’s Recent Remarkable Run

“It is no secret that early in the Premier League season, Liverpool were struggling. They were sitting in 12th place in the Premier League standings, and didn’t have a clue as to which way was up. Somehow, Brendan Rodgers has righted the ship, and Liverpool are making a strong push for a Champions League spot. Liverpool had one of the busiest offseasons in all of world football. The club decided to offload controversial striker Luis Suarez after his World Cup debacle, selling the player for 75 million pounds to Barcelona. This allowed them to go out and buy multiple top notch players. Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi, Alberto Moreno, and Mario Balotelli were all byproducts of the Suarez sale.” Soccer Pro

Tactical Analysis : Dortmund 3-0 Schalke | Schalke compact but Dortmund control proceedings

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“Dortmund’s chaotic season has taken us all by surprise and Jurgen Klopp’s men are in a situation where they are having to balance their Champions League aspirations along with a bid to move away from the lower half of the Bundesliga. Schalke on the other hand are in the middle of a push for a spot of next season’s Champions League and would have backed themselves to get a result despite the home side’s recent resurgence.” Outside of the Boot

A reminder that Brazil needs to get with the times

“An architecturally innovative park – conceived in Brazil’s modernity boom of the late 50s – in iconic Rio de Janeiro, will host some of the city’s 450th birthday celebrations, providing a visual reminder of a time when Brazil’s football was at the cutting edge of the global game.” The World Game – Tim Vickery

Tactical Analysis: PSV 1-3 Ajax | Ajax win despite PSV dominance

“Usually when the last ‘De Topper’ of the season is played, it’s often a title decider, but not this year. PSV came into the game with 14-point lead, and most pundits had already sent the title to Eindhoven before the game. Ajax knew if there should be even a little glimmer of hope, then they needed to claim all 3 points at the Phillips Stadium this Sunday. In a game dominated by PSV, Ajax managed to grab a 3-1 victory, and maybe put a little bit of doubt into the heads of the Eindhoven players.” Outside of the Boot

Whose Side Are You On?

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N.Y.C.F.C. fans watching an exhibition match at a Manhattan bar last month.
“New York sports fans can be a melodramatic lot, but in January one particular group had become agitated on a whole other level. The debut of a newly acquired star player, believed to be set for the season opener in March, had been pushed back at least three months for contract reasons, and they were outraged. Some returned the team jerseys they had bought bearing the player’s name. Others vowed to boo him when he did finally arrive. One group of die-hards issued a statement saying it ‘would like to publicly denounce’ the club and the player for the delay. A typical New York fan response to a team’s blunder. But here is the difference: The team, New York City Football Club, hadn’t played a game yet. Not just this season. Ever.” NY Times

FC Barcelona’s Race is On for the Treble

“… A 3-1 scoreline has given FC Barcelona a bit of breathing room heading into the second leg of the Copa del Rey but it would be foolish to underestimate the quality Villarreal possess. Marcelino’s men are perfectly capable of surprising the upper echelon of Europe with the likes of Vietto, Uche and Cherychev among others at his disposal. Estadio El Madrigal is regarded as one of the toughest away grounds in Spanish football however the Catalans should expect a result sufficient enough to book their seat in the final where they would face the winner between Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol.” Barca Blaugranes

Manchester City’s problems are caused by their players not tactics

“After a week where Manchester City were convincingly defeated by both Barcelona and Liverpool, with 2-1 losses flattering the English champions on both occasions, manager Manuel Pellegrini’s tactics inevitably came under fire. For both contests, his 4-4-2 formation was outplayed in midfield and exposed between the lines, leading to many questions about whether the Chilean has the tactical nous necessary to get results against the biggest sides. The 4-4-2 itself isn’t necessarily a problem, although the implementation of the system is surely flawed. Atletico Madrid’s 4-4-2 is an example of the possibilities with that system, although realistically that shape is more like 4-4-2-0, with the strikers dropping back behind the opposition midfielders and keeping the side extremely compact. There’s a huge difference between that and the 4-4-2 used by Pellegrini — and, indeed, by his predecessor Roberto Mancini.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Tactical diversity needed for Chelsea to accentuate their dominance

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“Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final clash between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur saw Jose Mourinho spring somewhat of a puzzle on pundits and fans alike as he named five defenders in his starting eleven. It would become apparent closer to kick-off that the Blues would not line up with five defenders, rather four; with 20-year-old powerhouse Kurt Zouma playing at the bas of a midfield trio, attempting to fill the shoes of one Nemanja Matic.” backpagefootball

BVB Bulletin: a Dead Leg, some Dead Play, yet a Win in Dresden

“Post-derby matches, especially post-Revierderby matches, are letdowns. Make no mistake about it. Dortmund’s somewhat undeserved 2-0 road win the Pokal round of 16 on Tuesday evening was a letdown match. Sometimes we forget that athletes are humans, and, like humans, are psychological beings, despite the apparatuses of mechanization and technique that supposedly beats the human out of them. As psychological beings, Dortmund’s Startelf against Dynamo Dresden were emotionally (and physically?) depleted after Saturday’s cathartic Revierderby win. The match’s biggest news, however, was Marco Reus’ injury. Inside 20′, He was hacked by a vicious challenge from Dynamo centerback Dennis Erdmann. The former Schalke man tracked up Reus in an off-the-ball play.” Bundesliga Fanatic

AC Milan – a club entrenched in turmoil

“By now, you’re probably sick fed-up of hearing about AC Milan are their troubles. You’ve read in excess of 100 articles attempting to dissect their woes, you’ve been exposed to the hackneyed contrast between their current squad and the side which dominated Europe all those years ago, and you’ve likely stumbled across the Serie A standings and were left befuddled at their current league position. Granted, many people have came to accept that Milan are no longer a force to be reckoned with, but sitting yourself down in front of a Milan game in recent times has became more of a penance rather than a reward.” backpagefootball

Did the long ball tactic really ruin English football?

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“In the glorious game of football many things are forgiven—cheating, biting, lying, spitting—but there’s one thing that’s inexcusable. One thing so wretched and sickening it deserves no place in the game we all know and love. That one thing, the cardinal sin, is called the long ball. Next year marks the 50th year of hurt for the weathered and beaten English faithful. 50 years since Geoff Hurst belted the ball against the bar and allegedly across the West German line. 50 years without a trophy and what’s to blame? That despicable long ball.” Outside of the Boot

Tactical Analysis : Juventus 2-1 Borussia Dortmund | Juventus counter quickly and Dortmund fail to use space out wide

“The round of 16 never fails to throw up a few interesting fixtures every year. Chelsea-PSG, and Manchester City-Barcelona are both fixtures that took place last season, and were both quite enjoyable, but the real thought provoker from this season has been Borussia Dortmund vs Juventus. In terms of their performance domestically, the two teams are on different ends of the spectrum. Juventus enjoy sole domination of Italy, but Dortmund are having to wage war to avoid the ignominy of relegation. Despite such stark differences in their league performances, even the many observers that bettingwebsites.org have monitored cannot brand this as anything other than a close tie, featuring two pretty evenly matched sides. The element of the unknown that comes into play with 2 vastly different teams like these simply adds to the intrigue.” Outside of the Boot

Liverpool’s 3-4-3 – assessing its strengths and weaknesses

“Liverpool’s season started disastrously. Crashing out of the Champions League in the group stage despite a relatively favourable draw and struggling for consistency in the Premier League, serious pressure was building on manager Brendan Rodgers as his expensive summer signings failed to live up to expectations. However, since December their form has turned around dramatically, and the Merseyside club now find themselves as the league’s form side. Rodgers deserves serious credit for the turn around, having changed both the team’s personnel and its formation, switching from variations of either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 (or, to be pedantic, 3-4-2-1) shape.” backpagefootball

Serie A: Lazio takes care of Sassuolo to keep pressure on Napoli

“Lazio kept up the pressure on third-placed Napoli with a comfortable 3-0 win at Sassuolo in Serie A Sunday as the race for the final Champions League spot gathered pace. Goals from Felipe Anderson, Miroslav Klose and Marco Parolo helped Lazio record its third successive win and move two points behind Napoli, which can go level with second-placed Roma with a victory at Torino later. Sampdoria remained four points behind Lazio after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Atalanta. Fiorentina, which is level with Samp, visits Inter Milan later.” SI

Press, Press, Boom: How a Bit of Brilliance Decided a Suffocating Tactical Battle Between Leverkusen and Atlético

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“While Arsenal was off doing typically tragic Arsenal things at home to Dimitar Berbatov and an opportunistic Monaco side, a fascinating tactical battle was taking place in Germany at the BayArena. Two über-aggressive pressing sides rammed heads and locked horns for 90 minutes — only for the game to be decided by a subtle moment of brilliance and a sudden thunderbolt. Both Diego Simeone of Atlético and Roger Schmidt of Leverkusen run highly disciplined pressing sides filled with heaps of exciting talent and Fernando Torres. What makes their matchup so interesting, though, is how differently they use similar tactical concepts.” Grantland

The Madness and Depression of Football Fans

“This is an article that is nominally about football, but is just as much about the pressures of modern life and the plight of men (in particular, but not exclusively). This is both a very personal account and an observation of how others behave. It is about being a football fan, but also the impact of social media on our appreciation of life (and sport), and how constantly striving for more can lead to increased unhappiness – even if you attain it. Football fans – and here I naturally include myself – act as if they are mentally ill. It’s a form of mania: fanaticism, the act of being obsessively concerned with something. As someone diagnosed with depression, and who probably has a few other issues as well, I feel able to make such a comparison.” Tomkins Times

Arsenal – Half The World Away

“Arsenal’s half-year results for the six months ended 30 November 2014. Profit before tax of £11.1 million, compared to a loss in 2013 of £2.2 million, an improvement of £13.3 million. Profit after tax only improved by £7.3 million from £2.8 million to £10.1 million, as 2013 benefited from a tax credit of £5 million. Profit before tax of £11.1m was almost entirely from the football business £10.8 million, as there was ‘minimal activity’ from property development £0.3 million.” The Swiss Ramble

American soccer is not acknowledging Black History (Month)

“A few weeks ago, the editorial staff of SoccerGods.com had a brainstorming session, in the middle of which someone almost offhandedly said, ‘Well, it’s Black History Month.’ It got a genuine laugh, because the idea of American soccer and black history intersecting sounded absurd. It was as if the ghost of Desmond Armstrong (who is still very much alive) came down and blessed us with an idea.” Soccer Gods