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About 1960s: Days of Rage

Bill Davis - 1960s: Days of Rage

America’s Most Important Soccer Player Conquers The Old World

“By the time I arrived at the Stadio Olimpico for the Rome Derby this April, ultras had already knifed four people, cracked open someone’s head with a bottle, and terrorized an ambulance with rocks and explosives. Uprooted flagstones lay strewn about the foot of a lonely obelisk dedicated to Mussolini. Copies of Corriere dello Sport scurried in the wind like tumbleweeds in a spaghetti Western. Clearly, this was a showdown that mattered. Inside the stadium, over 50,000 AS Roma and Lazio fans were in full throat. Their teams were battling for Serie A’s final Europa League spot, not to mention local ascendancy. The Derby della Capitale promised to be one of those high-stakes contests that make Europe a crucible for the world’s best talent. It was the kind of match in which Americans appear too infrequently. And that was why I’d come: to watch the American.” deadspin – Howler Magazine (Video)

Team Focus: Arsenal’s Transfer Failings Exposed

“Imagine you hadn’t heard the final score. You pick up the basic match facts and you see that Arsenal had 64% of possession on Saturday. You look at the pass completion rates and see that while Arsenal’s was 87%, Aston Villa’s was only 70%. At first glance it seems like a fairly standard Arsenal home performance. Not too much to worry about there. But then you look at the number of shots each side had: Arsenal had 15 to Villa’s 11. The picture begins to emerge of Arsenal being watchful in possession, Villa more direct. The really telling stat, though, is that Villa had six efforts on target to Arsenal’s four. Villa, in other words, were far more efficient with the ball.” WhoScored

Spain: 2013-14 preview

“If there was a button marked ‘not Mourinho’, Carlo Ancelotti pressed it repeatedly. Real Madrid finally presented the Italian as their new coach, beginning a new era at the Santiago Bernabeu and another model too. They were heading in a different direction again. It had been 37 days since the president, Florentino Perez, announced Mourinho would be leaving; now they had the man they wanted to replace him.” World Soccer

The Shape of the Premier League to Come

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“A survey of the players, managers, ideas, tactical developments, and themes to watch out for in the 2013-14 Premier League season. Chris Ryan: The above video is of William Gallas scoring a game-winning goal for Chelsea, against Tottenham, back in 2006. Chelsea won the league that season, finishing eight points clear of Manchester United. Spurs keeper Paul Robinson likely spent three months in a room, by himself, with a roast beef platter and a copy of The Queen Is Dead after this goal, but it’s not the goal that Gallas scored that interests me, it’s who he celebrated it with. …” Grantland (Video)

Premier League 2013-14: Phil McNulty’s predictions
“The Premier League’s top three – along with Everton and Stoke – are under new management, star players at Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool are under a cloud and Cardiff, Hull and Crystal Palace will all be experiencing the anticipation and trepidation of newcomers. The new season starts on Saturday. Can Manchester United win their 21st title? Can Manchester City wrestle it back from Old Trafford? Can Jose Mourinho recreate former glories at Chelsea?” BBC

Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach: evolution rather than revolution for Guardiola

“Bayern Munich appeared comfortable towards the end of the contest, but they endured some nervous moments during Pep Guardiola’s Bundesliga debut. Guardiola was unable to call upon Bayern’s major two summer arrivals, Thiago Alcantara or Mario Gotze, so there was a familiar feel to the home side’s starting XI. Lucien Favre’s back four was also very familiar from last season, although there were changes ahead – Christophe Kramer has signed from Bochum, Brazilian Raffael played in the central attacking role, while Max Kruse’s impressive season at Freiburg means he’s started this campaign as the first-choice striker, with last season’s flop Luuk de Jong only on the bench. As expected, Bayern dominated – but things didn’t go entirely swimmingly.” Zonal Marking

Loving Arsenal, Away From the Numbers

“I spent the weekend in the most pleasant way an Arsenal fan can spend a weekend that falls within the summer transfer window: perusing YouTube for a contact high off the fumes of past glories. The complete Invincibles season. The wizardry of Dennis Bergkamp. Legends of the Premier League: Thierry Henry. Cesc Fábregas ‘Pass Master’ compilations. Michael Thomas’s stoppage-time goal-into-breakdance-windmill/caterpillar-celebration as Arsenal win the league over Liverpool at Anfield on the final day — the final seconds! — of the 1988-89 season.” Grantland

No more bickering as Supercoppa awaits

“The Italian Supercoppa is traditionally a competitive curtain-raiser to the Italian season, although the actual scheduling of the event this year roused more resentment between its two protagonists than can be expected at the Stadio Olimpico this Sunday. When Juventus and Lazio take to the field in Rome, most of the battle will have already been won and lost after months of off-field debating. The Italian Football League, Lega Calcio, stipulated an agreement with China in 2010 that formalised plans for three of the subsequent four editions of the Supercoppa to be staged in Beijing.” ESPN

The Book of Luis

“At the beginning of time, Luis Suarez bit God, and God was like, ‘ouch,’ and God’s ‘ouch’ became the universe. And God convened a three-person disciplinary committee to review the incident. And Luis Suarez said unto the disciplinary committee that he would accept a 1-million-year ban, but 10 million years seemed like overkill just for accidentally creating the universe. But God rolled up his sleeve, and the disciplinary committee gazed upon the bite marks, and they were fairly wroth.” Grantland – Brian Phillips

Mignolet is Reds’ hero

“Striker Daniel Sturridge got Liverpool’s season off to a winning start but it was new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet who was the hero with a late penalty save. The hosts had dominated throughout but had only the one goal to show for their efforts when Daniel Agger handled former Reds midfielder Charlie Adam’s free-kick three minutes from time.” ESPN

Arsenal – Money Don’t Matter 2 Night

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“Arsenal’s transfer strategy this summer has left the vast majority of their fans perplexed. While the seemingly interminable Luis Suarez saga has grabbed most of the attention, allied with the failure to secure Gonzalo Higuain when the deal appeared done and dusted, the stark reality is that Arsenal have not bought anybody yet, let alone the marquee signing that the supporters crave. Yes, they have acquired the services of French U20 international, Yaya Sanogo, but he arrived on a free transfer from Auxerre in the French second division.” Swiss Ramble

New man, new strategies

“In a world in which the rich are getting even richer and success seems increasingly the preserve of a select handful of clubs, this season’s Premier League promises a rare openness, with the big three of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all changing manager. It is an instability that could just open the door for Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and, with a couple more signings, perhaps Liverpool.” World Soccer – Jonathan Wilson

They Are They, We Are We: The Forgotten Genius Of Vujadin Boskov

“If during the eighties you followed Italian football with any degree of interest, then those words (that, incidentally, mean ‘penalty is when referee gives it’) should sound familiar. As should ‘se vinciamo siamo vincitori se perdiamo siamo perditori’ (if we win we are winners, if we lose we are losers) and ‘loro sono loro, noi siamo noi’ (they are they, we are we). Those were the words of Vujadin Boskov and those were the kind of soundbites that made him popular with the waiting journalists after games. It was through such aphorisms that Vujadin Boskov entered Italian society’s public consciousness and it is for them that he remains most widely known.” In Bed With Maradona

Anzhi chaos could send Samuel Eto’o falling into José Mourinho’s arms

“There were two big stories in Belarus in the last week of July. On the plus side, their premier, Alexander Lukashenko caught a catfish bigger than the pike Vladimir Putin had landed in Siberia a few days earlier. More difficult to comprehend, though, was the news that Uralkali, a Russian firm run by Suleiman Kerimov, had broken off a business agreement with a Belarusian company that effectively fixed global potash prices. It’s hard to say precisely what the consequences will be, but pressure has already been placed on the Belarusian rouble, while a surge in the supply of potash should lead to a decrease in the cost of fertiliser (and thus perhaps food). It could also lead to the sale of Samuel Eto’o to Chelsea.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

David Moyes And Glasgow Football

“In the last winter of the second world war, a British soldier named Matt Busby received a letter from Manchester United’s chief scout Louis Rocca. It said, vaguely: ‘I have a great job for you if you are willing to take it on.’ The job turned out to be manager of Manchester United. On February 19, 1945, Busby showed up in Manchester in his army uniform and signed his contract. It wasn’t really a ‘great job.’ United hadn’t won a trophy since 1911, the club was penniless, and the German Luftwaffe had blitzed Old Trafford. But Busby rebuilt United. In 1968, his team won the European Cup. Later, Alex Ferguson took the club back to the heights. And this season, David Moyes is charged with the mission Busby took on in 1945. There’s something these three men have in common: They are all from the poor city of Glasgow, or its surroundings.” AskMen

‘For The Liverpool Fans Who Think Deeper’

“As a football mad lad growing up in Dublin in the 1970s and 80s, I looked forward to every Saturday evening when my Dad or brother would come in with the now defunct Evening Press newspaper. Back then, buried in the middle of the paper was a page given over to syndicated football writing from some of the best in the business at the time. Special features, interviews, opinions and tales from not just the English leagues, but from Scotland, Europe and even beyond. As a Liverpool fan, I scanned the page for news and comment on the club, but recall often a sense of frustration that Liverpool in its pomp often seemed to be ignored. Perhaps writing about the most successful formula in football had become boring – and it tended to be the troubles of others that drew more column inches.” Football365

Grazie Ambro: A Tribute

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“And so it ends. After 18 seasons of running around, snarling and tackling all whilst sporting a flurry of long blonde hair with a band, come August, MASSIMO AMBROSINI will be a Milan player no more. Football has changed over the years and with changing times, even the clubs have changed their systems and policies. Milan too has changed its approach as they have decided to take a different path now, focusing on youth and ‘building stars instead of buying them’. The new campaign was labelled as ‘Year Zero’ as they wanted to start a fresh cycle and concentrate on youth. This year, once again the Rossoneri fans bid farewell to another long lasting servant, Massimo Ambrosini. After the mass exodus last season when Alessandro Nesta, Pippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso ,Gianluca Zambrotta and Flavio Roma decided to jump off the Milanese train, this year it’s the club captain who will not be with the side in the coming campaign.” Outside of the Boot

Tactical Analysis: How will Bayern Munich set up under Pep Guardiola?

“After the much talked-about, controversial acquisition of rising Spanish star Thiago- which many deem unnecessary and ‘a waste’- Bayern Munich arguably possess the best midfield, if not the strongest squad in Europe. What’s more, they have frightening strength in depth in virtually every position on the field. A consensus could easily be reached regarding the Bavarians’ brilliant pre- season as well, where they cruelly dispatched their opponents with immaculate and impeccable perfection. Considering this, it would be fair to say that Bayern are well on course to win the Bundesliga again, for their second successive league title. Having said that, there seems to be a lingering doubt in every fan’s mind about the core composition of the playing eleven: what formation could the industrious Guardiola implement and who would make it to the starting line-up on a regular basis?” Think Football

Premier League 2013-14 season: Club-by-club guide

“The 2013-14 Premier League season could be one of the most unpredictable to date with so many changes at the top. This will be the first Premier League campaign without Sir Alex Ferguson in charge of Manchester United and there are at least four teams hoping to take advantage of David Moyes’s inexperience of winning trophies. Manchester City and Chelsea, both also under new management, and Tottenham have all spent big this summer, while Arsenal have kept hold of their key players and still have money to spend.” BBC

New man, new strategies

“In a world in which the rich are getting even richer and success seems increasingly the preserve of a select handful of clubs, this season’s Premier League promises a rare openness, with the big three of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all changing manager. It is an instability that could just open the door for Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and, with a couple more signings, perhaps Liverpool.” World Soccer

Seedorf thriving in Brazil

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Clarence Seedorf
“When Clarence Seedorf went to play in Brazil last year I was sceptical. So were wiser heads than mine. Oswaldo de Oliveira, his coach at Botafogo, was unsure how he could fit the veteran Dutchman into the wide-open spaces of the Brazilian midfield. Twelve months on our fears look ludicrous. The move has been a triumph. Going into the weekend’s 13th round of the Brazilian Championship, Botafogo is only denied top spot on goal difference, and Seedorf is proving the undoubted star turn.” The World – Tim Vickery (Video)

Last Rites For The Myth Of Loyalty In Football

“There is a reasonably good chance that the summer of 2013, should it come to be remembered for any one thing, will be recalled as The Summer of Hate. From female journalists receiving death threats for having the sheer temerity to point out to an audience that we might have thought would be old enough to know better that being a vile misogynist online is, well, vile through to the English Defence League, whose idea of the defence of this country from Islam – whatever the hell that means – is to drink seventeen pints of cheap, fizzy beer and try and fight the police on Saturday afternoons, this has felt like a period during which Britain has, somehow, lost its mind.” twohundredpercent

England v Scotland: after 141 years of rivalry, clash must rediscover its edge

“When you start at the very top, the only way to go is down. And the famous England-Scotland football fixture has been slowly but steadily losing its cachet for, ooh, nearly 141 years now. The first match between the countries – a goalless draw at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick in November 1872 – was also the first international in football history, so by definition it was a summit meeting between the best teams in the world. Stovepipe hats off, everyone.” Guardian

During transfer windows, managers matter most

“On learning that rivals Bayern Munich had activated Mario Goetze’s buyout clause and would be signing him ahead of this season — the news broke just one day after the first leg of Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg versus Malaga back in April — coach Juergen Klopp compared how he felt to suffering ‘a heart attack.'” ESPN -James Horncastle

Boris Arkadyev – The Soviet Genius Behind Total Football and Tiki-Taka

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Around 100,000 turned up to see Chelsea vs Dynamo at Stamford Bridge
“Boris Arkadyev was born on September 21, 1899, in St. Petersburg. He had a playing career, appearing as a midfielder for Russkabel Moscow, Sakharniki Moscow, RkimA and Metallurg Moscow, between 1920 – 1936. Yet Arkadyev was to influence football to this day with his footballing ideas, from his time as a manager. Before the Russian revolution, football in Russia was widespread, with nearly 200 teams competing in czarist Russia in 1914. After the 1917 revolution, interest in football continued to rise, thanks to the RSFSR Championships. However, the Championships were of a poor quality and standard. In 1936, Russia finally installed a national football league, called the Soviet Top League. While the league was organised better than the RSFSR Championships, it was soon exposed that the change had come too late.” Russian Football News

Four burning questions for 2013-14 Bundesliga season

“1. Will Pep Guardiola bring in continuity or dressing room upheaval at Bayern Munich? Pep Guardiola’s fans have hailed him for the building of the world’s greatest team (Barcelona), while his detractors have dismissed him as an extremely lucky manager who found himself in charge of the best player of his generation in Lionel Messi as well as an equally superb supporting cast (Xavi and Iniesta) on his first day at work. …” ESPN

Germany: 2013-14 season preview
“At each and every step of the forthcoming season, the fortunes of new Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola are guaranteed to be the number one narrative, with the twists and turns of the ex-Barcelona boss’s Bavarian adventure chronicled and examined in the minutest detail.” World Soccer

How can we interpret and ‘handle’ the current hand ball rules?

“In the modern footballing era there have been many criticisms of refereeing performance and the clarity of the laws by which our players are to abide by whilst playing the game we all love. One rule that will always come into the spotlight is that relating to the law against handling the ball. ‘That was never deliberate’ or ‘he never meant that’ are two phrases used on countless occasions where a decision has been made where it is deemed a player has handled the ball. But the pain does not end there, when in similar situations, sometimes in the same match, the same decision has not been given. The modern approach seems to accept that referees make mistakes and that is an inherent part of the game, but can more be done to make this problem simpler? We can try to understand the root of this issue by looking at the wording of the relevant law set out by FIFA in their Laws of the Game.” Think Football

Anzhi shy away from the overpriced spotlight

“When Suleiman Kerimov purchased Anzhi Makhachkala and thrust the club onto the back pages of newspapers across Europe, thanks to their extravagant transfer budget, the world was led to believe that this was the birth of a team that could propel itself to domestic and European success. The signings of Samuel Eto’o, Roberto Carlos and Yuri Zhirkov proved to be a minor flurry, before the likes of Willian, Igor Denisov and Aleksandr Kokorin followed suit for equally impressive sums. But like any fairytale, there are always a few bumps along the way and over the past 24 hours the club has been thrown into turmoil.” Slavic Football Union

Anzhi Makhachkala: Why are big-spending Russians cutting back?
“When news broke that Anzhi Makhachkala, the billionaire-backed Russian Premier League club, were cutting their budget and selling their top players, many journalists – myself included – thought it was a late April fool. But this was no joke. In the hours that followed a series of announcements, each more puzzling than the other, confirmed “The Anzhi Project”, at least as we previously knew it, was coming to an end. Suleyman Kerimov, Anzhi’s billionaire backer since January 2011, was no longer happy to finance a gravy train. The club’s budget, officially quoted at an extravagant £116m per season (second only to Zenit St Petersburg in Russia), was to be reduced to between £32m and £45m.” BBC

The sad truth the Luis Suarez saga reveals about modern soccer

“This has been the two-speed summer. At the start there were the deals done smoothly and swiftly — Fernandinho joining Manchester City, Simon Mignolet going to Liverpool, Emanuele Giaccherini signing for Sunderland — and now, with a little under four weeks of the transfer window still to go, there are the deals that feel as though they have already been going on for ever: the eternal and increasingly tedious trinity of Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Tactical Analysis: What’s the solution to Barcelona’s defensive frailties?

“With less than two weeks before Barcelona kick off the 2013-14 season the Catalans have made just one signing, Neymar, for €57m. Many fans had expected a more proactive transfer market for Barca this summer, with the defence in particular need of strengthening. Last year Barca conceded 40 league goals in comparison to 29, 21 and 24 in their three previous campaigns and it was particularly noticeable how badly they struggled at defending set plays and crosses into the box. They also conceded 17 times in their 12 Champions League matches including twice to Celtic and Spartak Moscow.” Think Football

Invisible Men? Racism in Honduran Soccer

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“… In the United States we hear a lot about racism in soccer, but it is always in the context of events in Europe. Most people who follow the sport know about the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand affair, for which Terry was stripped of the England captaincy. And many are familiar with the more recent cases involving fans making monkey sounds at Kevin Prince Boateng and Mario Balotelli. Even when a Latin American player is involved–such as in the Luis Suárez-Patrice Evra incident–the question of whether or not something qualifies as racism is interpreted through a European (not to mention a U.S.) lens.” Soccer Politics

Transfer window comes second best to controversy in eastern Europe

“The interminable transfer sagas of Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Luis Suárez and Robert Lewandowski are dominating the headlines around western Europe but there is also plenty going on in the east of the continent.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Can Neymar and Messi co-exist? and four other things to look out for this season

“Every one of Europe’s top five leagues has the potential to have a thrilling title race this season. Sam Thompson, of TTTFootball, takes a closer look at who will be challenging at the top in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France…” Think Football

Is the Premier League providing corporate cover for ‘corrupt’ foreign owners and regimes?

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“‘In this meeting of a desperate UK economy with Abu Dhabi’s fortunes’ wrote David Conn in the Guardian this week, ‘there is a limit to the UK government’s disapproval over allegations of torture and flaws in the UAE legal system.’ But then domestic attitudes have always been a little on the liberal side when it comes to owners of Manchester City. Six years ago nobody in a position of much authority had anything very accusing to say about Thaksin Shinawatra after his £81million take-over of the club, save for the Thai authorities who spent a couple of years frantically posting out arrest warrants like junk mail over a catalogue of offences against the state.” Think Football

Jury remains out on Michel Platini’s financial fair play project
“For all of Michel Platini’s tough talk, conspicuous consumption has once again been the order of the day this summer from the gilded boulevards of Monaco to the fast-changing post-industrial landscape of east Manchester. Arsène Wenger has labelled the situation ‘a joke’. As Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur haggle over just how much the Spanish giants will pay for Gareth Bale and in how many instalments, the likely world record fee will add further to the volume of disgruntled muttering surrounding the implementation of the Uefa president’s financial fair play project.” Guardian

Book Review: Real Madrid & Barcelona: The Making of a Rivalry

“Rivalry is that most beloved topic of the footballing internet with keyboard warriors across the globe queuing up to proclaim their particular enmity as the fiercest. I’ll admit to a degree of ennui when followers of giants clubs indulge in such debates given the increasing propensity of Arsenal v Tottenham or Liverpool v Manchester United to resemble the contest between multinational firms to increase market share. No, I don’t especially care whether Apple or Google win out, so why should I be bothered to check in on events at St. James’ Park or the Stadium of Light?” thetwounfortunates

The Importance of home grown players

“Over the past few years, spending on transfers and wages by football clubs has increased dramatically. 7 of the 10 most expensive transfers have taken place in or after 2009, 3 of them occurring in this (incomplete) transfer window. Higher fees, and the greater brand value of every star footballer has also led to an inflation in the wage rate for footballers. While this is all good news for the players, it gives the boardroom staff a right old head-ache. The higher costs lead to lower profits (if any), leaving a number of clubs closer to insolvency. In order to stem the rot, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play, a scheme that prods clubs to live within their means. So, with a sort of cap enforced on their transfer spending, clubs are forced to look inwards for their supply of players, as a result of which, greater emphasis is suddenly being placed on youth academies, and academy products.” Outside of the Boot

A potted history of Benfica

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“As incredible as Real Madrid’s five consecutive European Champions’ trophies were, it was inevitable that one day they would be toppled. In a seemingly relatively even playing field, Hamburg, inspired by Uwe Seeler looked well placed to step up, as did Barcelona with their skilful Hungarian imports. The side that stepped up a gear, however, were the leading club from the other Iberian capital, Lisbon.” World Soccer (Part 1)

“One of the great pioneer African players in European football was Larbi Ben Barek. The Maghrebi superstar was hugely successful in both France and Spain enjoying memorable spells with Marseille and Atlético Madrid among others. It’s worth noting that the introduction of African born players to Portuguese players pre-dates Eusebio by some time.” World Soccer (Part 2)

Radamel Falcao’s move to Monaco will boost Colombia

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“The French first division, Ligue One, kicks off at the weekend and newly-promoted Monaco will be hoping to recapture former glories after spending big money over the summer. Their two most significant signings have been the Colombian pair, striker Radamel Falcao and left-footed attacking midfielder James Rodriguez. Both are magnificent players – the former a goal machine at the top of his game, the latter rich in strong, creative promise. While it surprised some that both players decided to move to Monaco, there is little doubt the transfers will benefit the Colombian national team.” BBC – Tim Vickery

Neymar dips his toe in at Barcelona

“It is not that Neymar didn’t try to crown his home debut with a goal. In the 45 minutes he spent on the pitch in Barcelona’s 8-0 drubbing of FC Santos in Friday night’s friendly, the Catalan club’s new signing had three shots on goal and almost began celebrating before realizing he had actually hit the bar. His true mission, though, was somehow accomplished. With a classic tee-up for a wondrous Cesc Fabregas strike, Neymar provided an assist and showed with his feet what he had already said in his pre-match news conference: He’s happy to take one for the team.” ESPN

Football League 2013-14: Who would be a manager?

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“A new Football League season is about to start, but just how many managers who begin the 2013-14 campaign will still be employed next May? There were 52 managerial changes in the Football League between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013, of which 34 were dismissals. ‘Recent figures are alarming as, including the Premier League, more than half of the 92 clubs now have a different manager to who started last season,’ League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan told BBC Sport. On the eve of the 2013-14 Football League season, BBC Sport explores the precarious nature of the job and speaks to two managers at different ends of the managerial ladder – one just starting out and the other well established.” BBC

TTU Go Predicting: Teams to Watch

“After a 25-year absence, Newport County returned to the Football League in May with an extraordinary play-off final win over Wrexham. For a club who were wound up, reformed and exiled to Gloucestershire in the intervening years, it is a phenomenal and heart-warming achievement. What’s more, they actually look half-decent, and we certainly wouldn’t bet against them to carry last season’s winning form into League 2 and trouble the top 10.” thetwounfortunates

Pep Guardiola’s public perception already shifting at Bayern Munich

“Bayern Munich have hardly played a game that did not end with some suit thrusting a trophy into their hands underneath a ticker-tape shower in recent months. On Thursday night, last season’s European champions, German league and cup winners were at it again, horsing around in front of an advertising board, the Audi Cup in hand.” Guardian

The new Scottish Premiership season – the fans’ view

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Virgil van Dijk
“At the start of the new season, the first of the Scottish Professional Football League, how are the fans viewing their teams’ chances? We spoke to supporters of all 12 clubs in the top flight – rebranded as the Scottish Premiership – to find out how they thought the season would go.” BBC

New Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino’s tactics fit Barca’s style

“All events depend, to an extent, on chance, on a thousand, a million circumstances coinciding. It may be that Gerardo Martino is ousted from Barcelona at the end of the season having finished second in the league and having failed to take them to a seventh successive Champions League semi-final and his appointment will be seen as a regrettable short-term move necessitated by the dreadful news that Tito Vilanova requires further treatment for cancer. Or it may be that he achieves glory, a new dynasty is begun, and the world looks on the turbulent events of this summer and reflects on what a peculiar business appointing a manager can be.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Tactical Analysis: Bayern’s 4-1-4-1 in German Super Cup

“This match was touted as being “the one to watch” across Europe because of the escalating rivalry between these two sides. Last year, Bayern were the dominant force across all competitions, yet with Guardiola now at the helm, a new era of Bayern dominance has seemingly just begun. On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund (BVB) was viewed as a wounded animal after finishing 2nd to Bayern last season. A win for BVB in the Super Cup would send Bayern the message that Die Schwarzgelben shouldn’t be taken lightly, not only by Bayern, but by the rest of Europe. Of course, BVB’s loss of young superstar, Mario Götze, to Bayern only increases the intensity of this match up. So the scene was set, Pep’s Bayern vs. Klopp’s Dortmund, with more at stake than ever before.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Injuries- Ignorance Is Not Bliss

“Former Internazionale manager Andrea Stramaccioni will tell you the value of having a fit squad. In the 2012-2013 season, the amount of his players contracting injuries was so vast, and those players so vital, he could have almost smiled. In no particular order, poor Stramaccioni lost Diego Milito, Rodrigo Palacio, Antonio Cassano, Esteban Cambiasso, Yuto Nagatomo, Dejan Stanković, Walter Gargano, Fredy Guarín, Walter Samuel, Gaby Mudingayi, Joel Obi, Ibrahima Mbaye, Luca Castellazzi, Javier Zanetti, Cristian Chivu, Jonathan and Matías Silvestre to injuries during the tail end of the 2012/2013 Serie ‘A’ campaign – and most were serious. His team were 2nd in the league on the 22nd of December 2012, but only finished 9th after their 38th game on 19th of May, 2013. This freak, albeit not necessarily unavoidable depletion of the young manager’s match day squad was certain to reduce Inter Milan’s competitiveness, yet it was only Stramaccioni who paid the price. Far from being consoled, Stramaccioni was fired.” Outside of the Boot

Championship Finances 2011/12 – Numbers

“Back in April I posted a summary of the 2011/12 Championship finances on Twitter, but since then I have received a few requests to post them in a blog as a useful resource for fans of those clubs, so here we go. I’m not going to provide detailed analysis at this stage, just the key figures from the accounts plus some graphs for comparisons against others. All these figures have been taken from the clubs’ published accounts, though I have made a couple of presentational adjustments in order to prepare like-for-like comparisons between clubs. In particular, not all clubs use the same revenue classification, so I have had to make estimates on the revenue split for Barnsley, Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Hull City and Peterborough United (though obviously leaving the total revenue unchanged).” The Swiss Rambler

Brazilian fans paying the price for modernisation

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“In last week’s second leg of the final of the Copa Libertadores, Atletico Mineiro of Brazil did not only win the trophy – they took the extraordinary sum of nearly $7 million at the box office. A quick, back of the envelope calculation reveals that the average ticket price was over $100. This was a case of exceptional circumstances – the most important match in the history of a big club. But the trend is already out there in Brazilian football.” ESPN -Tim Vickery

Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool legacy intact, but one regret looms

“It may be a fortnight before the new Premier League season begins, but Anfield will be a sellout this weekend. The occasion? Steven Gerrard’s testimonial — Liverpool probably could have sold out the stadium twice over for the contest against Greek champions Olympiakos, such is the enthusiasm for the Reds’ long-serving captain, both within Merseyside and from Liverpool’s legions of supporters across the globe.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Modric too good to be part-exchange sweetener

“The off season is a time of desperation for the football section of newspapers. So much space is dedicated to a topic about which there is so little to write for three months every year. That desperation might indeed explain the emergence of rumours that Luka Modric could be on his way back to Tottenham, used as a makeweight in any move Gareth Bale is supposedly craving to Real Madrid.” ESPN

How Will This Season’s Bayern Munich Pep Squad Compare to Barcelona?

“I don’t really know why I’m bothering to show up for soccer season this year. Bayern Munich’s complete dominance is, after all, a fait accompli. Last season’s Champions League winners only went out and added their biggest rival’s best player, Mario Goetze from Borussia Dortmund, and possibly the best coach in the world, the architect of the all-conquering 2008-12 Barcelona, Pep Guardiola. Bayern’s possession-based style is a perfect match for Guardiola. Last season in Europe’s five biggest leagues, Bayern was the only team besides Barcelona to average more than 60 percent possession. We’re all playing for second, right? Well, maybe.” Grantland

Tactical Analysis: Can Ibrahimovic and Cavani work together in the same PSG starting line-up?

“Two summers, two transfer windows, two world class strikers. After the capture of Swedish marksman Zlatan Ibrahimović sent shock waves through world football in July 2012, Paris saint-Germain have gone onto secure yet another centre forward feared throughout Europe in the form of Uruguayan Edinson Cavani. This £54 million transaction provides new manager Laurent Blanc with a wealth of talent in the striking department, in spite of the departure of Frenchman Kévin Gameiro to Sevilla. However, it also begs the question: is this club big enough for the two of them?” Think Football

Ronaldinho joins select club after Atlético’s debut Libertadores crown

“As Matías Giménez stepped up to take Olimpia’s fifth penalty, Cuca, the Atlético Mineiro coach, knelt on the touchline. Clad in jeans and a T-shirt, he rocked back and forth, head bowed, arms crossed over the sequined pattern on his chest. He didn’t look as Giménez’s shot struck the top of the post. The noise of the crowd told him the kick had been missed and he pitched forward, to lie still for a second or two before being engulfed by his celebrating coaches: Atlético, after another unlikely comeback, were Libertadores champions for the first time.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Celtic’s Saturday Afternoon At Brentford

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“Apparently, last Saturday, I and hundreds of others went on a hooligan rampage and “destroyed” the West London suburb of Brentford, while attending a pre-season ‘friendly’ between weakened sides from Brentford’s League One club and current Scottish champions, Celtic. That last event was actually how I spent my Saturday afternoon; which I why I was very surprised to discover my role in the first. Let’s get some things straight straightaway. The behaviour of the 6,000+ Celtic fans at Brentford was raucous and loud both outside and inside their Griffin Park ground. Some of it was, frankly, wrong; fireworks and drunks on the pitch during the game, for example. However, I would be hard pushed to describe it as worse than the behaviour of many of the football crowds I have observed in, ulp, 40 years watching the game at various levels. In fact, in some aspects it was fabulous. And I would certainly not describe it in the emotive terms used by others of a, shall we say, non-Celtic persuasion – many of whom were nowhere near London, let alone Brentford, last Saturday.” twohundredpercent

Radnički radical no more?

“The south of Serbia, with its rich and complicated past, is something of a historical and political melting pot. Niš, the region’s most populous city, is no different. Over the years, the city bore witness to the coming and going of a multitude of would-be conquerors, each of whom recognised the city’s importance as a gateway between East and West, a metaphorical confluence of cultures, ideologies, and nations. Consequently, Niš has long been possessed of a certain flexibility of nature, an ability to seamlessly adjust to the incursion of a previously unfamiliar authority. This year, the city’s illustrious football club, Radnički, has been obliged to exhibit a similarly acquiescent character.” World Soccer

Crying Out Loud

“There’s this Felt song called ‘I Will Die With My Head in Flames’ that I sometimes think of when I think of Landon Donovan. Not because he’d like it — it’s existential mid-’80s jangle-pop, and his taste trends more toward SUV-Bluetooth music, or whatever you want to call the Venn diagram intersection that includes both T.I. and the Fray. A certain type of SoCal white-dude uncoolness has become as central to his image as his rank as the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. men’s national soccer team; if you doubt this, please examine the covers of the first two 9-and-up children’s biographies to answer an Amazon search for his name.” Grantland

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino’s ideology shaped by Old Boys’ network

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“For three days nobody saw Marcelo Bielsa. He was in his room at the Conquistador Hotel in Santa Fe but he had not emerged since arriving, chewed up by the 6-0 home defeat Newell’s Old Boys had suffered against San Lorenzo in the Copa Libertadores earlier that week. His project, his great plan, was falling apart and El Loco was suffering a crisis of faith. Newell’s had won the Apertura championship in 1990-91, playing brilliant, vibrant football but, exhausted, they had stuttered badly in the Clausura championship and were even worse in the Apertura in 1991-92.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson (Video)

Martino planning for Messi and Neymar
“Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said he will have failed in his role as new Barcelona coach if he is unable to get Lionel Messi and recently signed Brazilian star Neymar to play to the best of their ability in his starting lineup. Martino, speaking at a news conference to announce his arrival at the Camp Nou on a two-year contract, has the task of accommodating two of world football’s biggest stars next season — one of them from his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. But he is certain that Neymar, who arrived this summer on a five-year deal, and four-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi will complement each other perfectly on a Barca team that he believes can go on winning for many years to come.” ESPN

Ronaldinho joins select club after Atlético’s debut Libertadores crown

“As Matías Giménez stepped up to take Olimpia’s fifth penalty, Cuca, the Atlético Mineiro coach, knelt on the touchline. Clad in jeans and a T-shirt, he rocked back and forth, head bowed, arms crossed over the sequined pattern on his chest. He didn’t look as Giménez’s shot struck the top of the post. The noise of the crowd told him the kick had been missed and he pitched forward, to lie still for a second or two before being engulfed by his celebrating coaches: Atlético, after another unlikely comeback, were Libertadores champions for the first time.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Atlético Mineiro and reborn Ronaldinho attain Libertadores glory
“There might not be second acts in American lives, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, but it seems that there are in Brazilian football. At least in the case of Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Atlético Mineiro, the new champions of South America, after an exhilarating, at times improbable, Copa Libertadores penalty shootout victory over Paraguay´s Olimpia, at a tempestuous Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte last night.” SI

Arsenal fans, players caught up in the transfer window frenzy

“In most walks of life, if you can buy something for less than it’s worth, it’s considered a positive. If you see a painting in a second-hand shop, hand over $10 for it and it looks good in your hallway, you’ve done well; if it turns out to be by a noted artist and you can sell it at a profit, even better. If you find a grocery shop that sells vegetables a little bit cheaper than at the supermarket down the road, you shop there. Cheap is good. But soccer, especially in the transfer window, is a game of bluff and counter-bluff, when image is at least as important as the reality, and value seems something that is only considered long after the fact.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

O Glorioso Benfica – Stolen From Africa

“As incredible as Real Madrid’s five consecutive European Champions’ trophies were, it was inevitable that one day they would be toppled. In a seemingly relatively even playing field, Hamburg, inspired by Uwe Seeler looked well placed to step up, as did Barcelona with their skilful Hungarian imports. The side that stepped up a gear, however, were the leading club from the other Iberian capital, Lisbon. Benfica were the second side from the Peninsula to make their mark on the European Cup, quickly establishing themselves on the international stage on the basis of their continental exploits in the 1960s. To this day the Portuguese side boast one of the highest memberships of any club in the world, and enjoy a huge national and international fanbase on the basis of their 1960s exploits.” In Bed With Maradona

The top 10 most expensive Bundesliga flops

“Marcus Berg’s departure this week to Panathinaikos on a free transfer was confirmation that the Swedish striker has been a huge Bundesliga flop. However, he is not the first (and won’t be the last) player to cost a club millions of euros, not perform and leave for a small fraction to another club, or even for nothing at all. This is not a list of the most expensive transfers or even the biggest transfer flops; this is a list of the worst bits of business that Bundesliga clubs have made.” Bundesliga Fanatic – Part 1, Part 2