Author Archives: 1960s: Days of Rage

About 1960s: Days of Rage

Bill Davis - 1960s: Days of Rage

Black Wings…

“It’s just over a year since Robert Enke, Hannover 96 and Germany goalkeeper, committed suicide at the age of 32. It emerged after his death that he had struggled with depression for years. To mark this bleak anniversary, BBC Radio 5live produced a half-hour special, featuring candid and illuminating interviews with, among others, Enke’s biographer, agent, and therapist.” (In Bed With Maradona)

5 live Sport
“Eleanor Olyroyd hosts a 5live Sport Special a year on from the tragic suicide of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke. Eleanor visits Enke’s home town to speak to the people who knew him best and looks at a story that stunned Germany.” (BBC)

River Plate 1 – 0 Boca Juniors: the goal

“River Plate have beaten Boca Juniors in a competitive match for the first time in over three years, with a 1-0 win in El Monumental on Tuesday. Former Boca defender Jonatan Maidana scored the only goal of a game River dominated, and in which Boca star Juan Román Riquelme was non-existent in the first half before being taken off at the break. Boca coach Claudio Borghi might well not be manager very much longer now. I’ll post all the round fourteen scores, and a longer highlights video, after having some food and a couple of drinks, but for now here’s the goal.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Superclásico Apertura 2010: live updates
“My first superclásico in Argentina does not, sadly, mean I’ve got press accreditation for this one, but it does at least mean that I can watch the game on a proper telly and thus the updates here on HEGS will be closer to live than ever before.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Tactics: What should England expect from France?

“The press pack accompanying the France squad to England may have been slightly miffed at the lack of attention given to Les Bleus in Fabio Capello’s pre-match press conference, but Laurent Blanc’s side will have plenty of opportunities to make themselves headline news when tonight’s match at Wembley kicks off.” (Football Further)

Liverpool FC manager poll, November 2010

“Liverpool Football Club have new owners; they inherited a manager who has overseen an extremely poor start to the season. Many players are understood to be unhappy with Roy Hodgson or with his tactics and coaching methods.” Anfield Road

Passing on the Past

Dave van den Bergh
“Last Sunday night, with one final smolder for the cameras, David Beckham conveyed his hairstyle off the pitch and out of the MLS playoffs. The L.A. Galaxy’s 3-0 loss to F.C. Dallas—a game in which Beckham’s slow-wilting sprout of a ponytail was an accurate meter of his side’s fortunes—deprives the competition of its most telegenic team. It also sends unheralded Dallas on to face the Colorado Rapids on Sunday in the least obviously glamorous sports final since, oh, the 2010 World Series. Instead of mashing CTRL-V on Beckham and his teammate-turned-World-Cup-hero Landon Donovan, the marketing wing of MLS now faces the task of selling a championship game contested by two teams who don’t even fill their own stadiums.” (Slate)

On Talent, and Using It

“It might not be obvious every time we watch a game of soccer, but there’s a tacit contract between players and observers of the sport. In it, we the viewer expect nothing less than maximum effort, maximum fun, and we can never see that soccer is not the be-all and end-all for our heroes. Blood, sweat, tears, and none of the complaining that comes from living a more ordinary life. In exchange, our offering is simple. Love. Worship. Respect.” (Run of Play)

Wigan 1-0 West Brom: Positive Substitution Makes The Difference

“Saturday’s match that sent West Bromwich Albion north to DW Stadium against Wigan Athletic provided an entertaining match of two clubs looking to assert themselves, albeit in different ways. Albion has been riding a strong first month, and wanted to continue to maintain real estate in the top half of the table, while the Latics have been clawing from the bottom ever since their Week One shock loss against visiting Blackpool. Wigan found success this day, thanks to a shrewd halftime replacement.” (EPL Talk)

Harry Redknapp’s Tactical Theorems Make Jonathan Wilson Look Like Goodluck Jonathan

“Some say Harry Redknapp’s tactics are simplistic. Others are like, ‘no they’re not.’ Still others are barely even paying attention. When your mere presence is food and light to the players who follow you, you don’t just blunder into a room and start garrumphing about wingers who cut inside in the 4-3-3.” (Run of Play)

(Not-so-) friendly fire

“Trying to make sense of all these international friendlies going on during the heart of the club season? Here are five key questions that will help provide some context.” (ESPN)

Why Ajax Are No Longer Dutch Masters

“For football fans of a certain age, the name Ajax resonates with history, bringing back memories of the early 70s when the famous club from Amsterdam won the European Cup three years in a row, displaying a brand of ‘total football’ that also inspired the Dutch national team in its dazzling run to two World Cup finals.” (Swiss Ramble)

Superclasico Time

“A midweek clash between two mid-table teams that brings a country to a standstill? Sam Kelly builds up to Rive Plate v Boca Juniors, the biggest match in the Argentine calender.” (In Bed With Maradona)

River Plate vs Boca Juniors: starting lineups
“The superclásico will be upon us in around four and a bit hours, at 7pm local time (10pm Greenwich Mean Time) with Argentina’s two biggest clubs doing battle in what has become a mediocre middle-of-the-table clash, but which will grab all the attention of the country’s football-watching public anyway. The latest indications are that each team’s most important player will play, after a late injury scare for one of them during the week: Juan Román Riquelme has shaken off a knock in training to feature for Boca, and Matías Almeyda returns after a spell out injured for River. Former Boca defender Jonatan Maidana is also in the River lineup, whilst Jesús Méndez, the midfielder who started out at River, is playing for Boca. Both XIs are right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Roman returns as the gladiators prepare to do battle
“After the will-he, won’t-he saga surrounding his contract negotiations, after the repeated demonstrations, in nearly every match, of how much his team are missing him, and after a long injury layoff, Juan Roman Riquelme returned for Boca Juniors on Saturday. Perhaps fittingly, he did so against his first club, Argentinos Juniors – who also happen to be the club that current Boca manager Claudio Borghi took to the title back in May.” (ESPN)

Depression and Dreading: Life as a Red.

“It’s never a good time of year in England, is it? British Summer Time is at an end and with it goes daylight beyond 5pm at night. Seasonal Adjustment Disorder (SAD, aka Seasonal Affective Disorder) is very real: sunlight makes us feel more optimistic. Right now I – like a lot of others – am suffering with HAD: Hodgson Adjustment Disorder. We’re not adjusting at all well to him and his methods, and he’s not adjusting at all well to Liverpool and its demands and expectations.” (Tomkins Times)

Love Thy Neighbour

Pietà – Domenico Zampieri
“Ask someone to name a Portuguese derby, and they’ll inevitably cite the age-old rivalry between Benfica and Sporting, which has divided the city of Lisbon since 1907. They might also reference O Clásscio, the meeting between Benfica and FC Porto which, as was discussed last week, has become the pre-eminent derby in Portuguese football. Yet despite the stranglehold that these two encounters hold on the footballing calendar, there are others. Plenty of them, in fact. Admittedly none are as well-attended and widely-covered in the media as those involving the três grandes, but for fans of those involved, they are as important an occasion as when the likes of Benfica come to town.” (In Bed With Maradona)

Ten steps: how Sunderland beat Chelsea

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“For the second weekend in a row, a north-east side went to London and picked up a shock win. Like Newcastle in their 1-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend, Sunderland recorded a win over Chelsea by playing with two nominal strikers. Unlike Newcastle, they pressed high up the pitch, attacked in numbers in open play, and took the game to the opposition.” (Zonal Marking)

For the love of the Danes

“For the past couple of years I have had the pleasure of working during the week in Scandinavia. Whilst this means spending a few nights away from my girls, it does mean I get to experience a different culture. I live in Copenhagen, consistently voted as one of the best cities in the world to live in. You can see why – lots of green space, a focus on the family and all those things that go with a socialist society. Virtually every Dane I have ever met shares the same three pleasures – beer, sausages and football.” (The Ball Is Round)

Inter 0-1 Milan – Nerazzurri

“Milan were fairly comfortable despite playing with ten men for the final half hour. Rafael Benitez chose a 4-3-1-2 formation to accommodate both Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito upfront. Maicon was out, so Ivan Cordoba played at right-back, with Marco Materazzi in the centre. Joel Obi started on the left side of the midfield three, with Esteban Cambiasso only fit enough for the bench.” (Zonal Marking)

Inter 0-1 Milan – Nerazzurri
“In a 4-3-1-2, Inter were attempting a new formation under Rafa Benitez, one borne from players available and a willingness to place Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito in attack together. However, the team’s uncharacteristic high-line was stung by a simple lofted ball that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic outmuscle, outpace and outsmart Marco Materazzi for the decisive penalty inside five minutes.” (Football Italia)

Inter Milan 0-1 AC Milan – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Serie A
(The 90th Minute)

An Assist for Soccerreform: Why Promotion/Relegation in U.S. Soccer Might Be the Answer

“Yesterday on the American Soccer Show, Ted Westervelt, founder of Soccerreform.us, shared his views on why he finds the current MLS structure to be an impediment to the soccer’s growth in the United States. He then attempted to lay out his alternative vision for the professional U.S. soccer system. After listening to Westervelt deliver his argument using a variety of metaphors and anecdotes (there’s talk of wolves and various canine experiments), I realized that several important details were missing from his vision (although a more robust argument can be found on his here on his website). As a public service, I want to help Westervelt out.” (Nutmeg Radio)

Third-World Football: 1/3rd Season Review.

“A third of the Premier League season, and not even a third of games won. That’s how bad it’s been. As noted here, Liverpool won just three of the first 10 league matches, and in the next three, it’s been only one win. There’s a pattern present. Roy Hodgson sees the Stoke result as a ‘blip’, but when you’ve failed to win nine of 13 games, the blip appears to be the victories. Maybe he’s spent too long as a big fish in a small pond. His own words tend to prove the theory.” (Tomkins Times)

Can Godoy Cruz make history?

Godoy Cruz
“Buenos Aires is calling to the faraway towns this week. In Argentina and all over South America, plenty of attention will be given to the modestly entitled ‘superclassico’ – the Buenos Aires derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Both clubs grew up in the working class docklands area of the Argentine capital. River have long since fulfilled the immigrant dream and moved out to the leafy suburbs. Boca have defiantly stayed put. The strength of the rival identities helps give the game its flavour. Over the years, the game has acquired a weight of tradition that makes it important even when it isn’t – like this Tuesday.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

Good Day, Bad Day: Mou ‘flicks the V’ as Real sneak win

“It’s that time of the week again – Tim Stannard runs through the winners and losers of the weekend’s action in Spain…” (FourFourTwo)

`Low Life` Mourinho Causes Chaos…
“It should have been a weekend in la Liga dominated by the Super Sensational Sexy Saturday Showdown clash between Barcelona and Villarreal. It was a key, strategic encounter between second and third to see if the plucky, as glamorous as a gangrene-infested granny, east-coast club could prevent la Primera’s prime-movers from breaking away with less than a third of the season gone.” (Football 365)

IBWM Meets EFW

“European Football Weekends is an absolute treasure trove of away days around Europe, from the San Siro to the Dripping Pan. The man behind it all, Danny Last, speaks to Dave Hartrick…” (In Bed With Maradona)

Rock bottom

“At 1.30pm on Saturday afternoon I was handed my ‘Get out of jail free’ card. This was supposed to be a treat for Lolly, but my little battle hardened football daughter finally admitted defeat on her heavy cold and declared herself unfit to go to West Ham versus Blackpool. I had a five minute window to decide. Go to Upton Park and undoubtably come home as depressed as Avram Grant on a good day, head down the M23 to watch Lewes amongst the Lewes Lunatic Fringe as they played St Albans City or even pop down the road to Thamesmead Town for a new adventure.” (The Ball Is Round)

Hodgson: Dalglish chants do not help Liverpool

“Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson was disappointed to hear fans chanting for former boss Kenny Dalglish during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Stoke and said such singing is unhelpful to the club.” (ESPN)

Hodgson: Putting the Gaffe in Gaffer.
“A few weeks back, someone emailed me a list of Roy Hodgson’s PR gaffes, to put onto this site. I decided against using them, thinking it might be seen as unfair, but they do paint the picture of a man who underestimated the pressure at Liverpool FC, and who has looked hopelessly out of his depth.” (Tomkins Times)

Stoke City 2-0 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

English Premier League Match Of The Day (MOTD) Video Highlights

“Below are MOTD highlights for all the Premier League matches on November 13, 2010. (The 90th Minute)

Everton 1-2 Arsenal: two main points of interest

“Arsenal took the lead, then threatened to lose it late on. David Moyes picked a 4-4-1-1 side with few surprises. Marouane Fellaini was suspended so Johnny Heitinga played in the centre of midfield. Louis Saha was given the nod upfront ahead of Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu.” (Zonal Marking)

Barcelona 3-1 Villarreal: open, exciting game

“Barcelona eventually passed their way past an excellent Villarreal side in a superb match at the Nou Camp. Barcelona played their usual 4-3-3 shape. The major absentee was Gerard Pique, with Eric Abidal coming into the side alongside Carles Puyol.” (Zonal Marking)

FC Barcelona 3-1 Villarreal – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – La Liga
(The 90th Minute)

Golazo: Víctor Aristizábal, Chile vs Colombia, 1993

“On 30 May 1993: Chile played Colombia in Santiago, the game was a friendly warm-up match for Copa América 1993. The result was 1-1 and the highlight was this scorpion kick style goal from 21 year old striker Víctor Aristizábal.” (Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol)

Partidazo: Argentina 0-5 Colombia, 5 September 1993 – Argentina’s shame
“On 5 September 1993 Colombia travelled to Argentina to play a World Cup qualifier at Estadio Monumental. What happened in the game sent shockwaves through the world of football.” (Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol)

Juventus 1-1 Roma: different systems but an evenly-balanced match

“A cracker from Vincenzo Iaquinta and a Francesco Totti penalty meant it was a point apiece.
Juventus stuck with the 4-4-2 system they’ve used for most of the campaign. Frederik Sorensen was a starter at right-back, whilst on the other side Fabio Grosso continued. Alessandro Del Piero was omitted with Fabio Quagliarella and Iaquinta upfront.” (Zonal Marking)

Ladies & Gentlemen, presenting the 2010 AFR Website Awards!

“Good evening and welcome to the 2010 AFR Website Award ceremony. Granted, it’s not an actual ceremony – we don’t have the financial finesse of an injured striker picking up £150,000-a-week for holidaying in the United States, and so the idea of renting a hall, hiring a DJ, and providing drinks and food sends shivers through our pockets.” (A Football Report)

European football weekends…gone wrong!

Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto – The Wedding at Cana
“So last month we covered some of the best places to go in Europe to watch football. Hamburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Cologne all scored very highly from our expert panel, but what about places to avoid? Well here we present our bottom 6 places to avoid in watching football in Europe…be prepared for a surprise or two… Now here is a shock…straight in at my number one is… (The Ball Is Round)

La semaine en France: Week 12

“For the first time in many years, Sunday night’s ‘clasico’ between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille actually felt like an important game in its own right, as PSG’s 2-1 victory at the Parc des Princes took them above their hated rivals to third in the table. Delays meant the Marseille team coach did not arrive at the stadium until an hour before kick-off and it appeared to take their players around 20 minutes to realise the game had actually started, with Mevlüt Erding and Guillaume Hoarau putting the hosts two goals to the good before Marseille responded through Lucho González.” (Football Further)

Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United: Villa move into commanding position but United hit back

“A poor first half followed by an entertaining second half, and a characteristically improbable comeback from United. Villa had an injury crisis in midfield, starting Barry Bannan and Jonathan Hogg in the centre. Gabriel Agbonlahor came in upfront, with Ashley Young just behind.” (Zonal Marking)

Some Updates: Referees, Partick Thistle and Pakistan

“Time for a few brief updates on stories that we’ve been covering recently. These are all ongoing stories but there have been developments of varying degrees of seriousness lately. Firstly, the Scottish refereeing debates, following the saga which I refuse to call Cravengate. Just over a week ago, Celtic called the dogs off, with a statement from John Reid welcoming and agreeing to wait for the review to be carried out by the SFA under their new Chief Executive Stewart Regan. What this will involve, and whether Celtic will be happy with it, we’ll just have to wait and see.” (twohundredpercent)

Untackling Homophobia In European Football

“The broadcaster Mark Chapman once said that homophobia is football’s last taboo. The truth in his words has been evidenced by two recent controversial incidents in the European game. The president of the Croatian Football Federation, Vlatko Markovi, said that homosexuals are not permitted to play for the national side, mirroring comments made by former Croatia manager Otto Baric in 2004. Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi was also criticised for using the word ‘homo’ on Twitter and, like Markovi, he apologised for his comments. The biggest concern, though, is that such an apology in other European countries would be seen as a major breakthrough in tackling homophobia.” (In Bed With Maradona)

Football, Blogs, and Newspapers Unite? Part One

“When I was a precocious thirteen year-old, my favourite part of the morning was grabbing my dad’s Toronto Star on the front stoop, taking it inside and laying it flat out on my kitchen table, and opening it up on the editorial page. There, I would find the Letters to the Editor, featuring rebuttals, corrections, and general complaints about recent articles posted by staff journalists and columnists. I always found the letters more interesting than the carefully prepared screeds they were attacking, and was fascinated that the newspaper would devote an entire page to reader dissent. I even sent a few letters in myself, and some were printed, much to my astonishment.” (Pitch Invasion – Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4), (Part 5), (Part 6)

English Premier League Match Of The Day (MOTD) Video Highlights

“Below are video highlights for the Premier League matches on Wednesday, November 10, 2010. If a match doesn’t have a link, it’s not yet available but should be added soon.” (The 90th Minute)

Wigan 1-1 LFC: Reds invite pressure and pay the price

“Had Steven Gerrard‘s shot that hit the crossbar bounced down and in to give Liverpool the three points against Wigan, Roy Hodgson’s side would have moved up to fifth in the league – just three points behind Man City in fourth. However, had Liverpool won this game it would have been a huge case of papering over the, rather large, cracks in their performance and manager’s tactics. Not to mention a huge injustice for a Wigan side who outplayed their more illustrious opponents for 70 minutes.” (This is Anfield)

What the hell is Moneyball?
“I’ve seen many reference to ‘Moneyball’ since John W. Henry prised Liverpool F.C. from the cold, obnoxious palms of Tom Hicks and George Gillette last month, but what does it mean? And, given that it’s a baseball thing, can it be applied to football?” (The Long Ball Tactic)

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United: dull game with no drive from the centre of midfield

“A disappointing match that produced very few goalscoring chances. Roberto Mancini went with his usual 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 system. Mario Balotelli was suspended so James Milner came in, with David Silva switching to the left. Sir Alex Ferguson went with his one-striker formation, seeking to match City in midfield by playing Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick. Nani was on the right with Ji-Sung Park on the left. Rafael continued at right-back.” (Zonal Marking)

Match of the Midweek: Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
“Perhaps it was ‘The Curse Of ITV’ returning to haunt us again. Last night, they showed a documentary about football in Manchester which examined, through the eyes of Eric Cantona, the current and historical state of the rivalry between Manchester City and Manchester United. The two clubs have had their fair share of drama from the matches between them in recent years, so perhaps it was understandable that ITV should choose to schedule this match at this time. Other corners of the press had, after all, also been been building the match up in a wearyingly predictable manner.” (twohundredpercent)

Highly-anticipated match offers little for most to cheer about
“Few Manchester derbies have ever been so hyped; few have ever been so disappointing. It was a game that yielded just one chance of note: the free-kick that Carlos Tevez curved toward the top corner after 35 minutes. The effort lacked pace, though, and Edwin van der Sar was able to make a simple enough diving save. And while most were probably bored rigid, Sir Alex Ferguson could congratulate himself on a job well done.” (SI)

Mad genius Jürgen Klopp takes youthful Dortmund to new heights

“It’s too early to tell whether Jürgen Klopp can follow in the footsteps of Bayern manager Louis van Gaal and win the Bundesliga championship this season. But the 43-year-old Klopp is certainly on course to have a similarly positive impact as the Dutchman had on the German national team.” (SI)

Dreams, Dutchmen, & Despair

“Wisla Cracow have forced their way to the top of the Polish game but are struggling to make it to the Champions League promised land. With a look at the reasons why, here’s Michal Zachodny.” (In Bed With Maradona)

Meet Portugal’s Boy Genius

“Some coaches get their shot with a major club at a relatively tender age (in coaching years, anyway). Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola was 37 when he got the gig. And there are those who get a crack at the big time without ever having played beyond amaetur level, like Aston Villa’s Gerard Houllier. There’s another, smaller subset which includes those who advanced to top jobs with little or no head-coaching experience, like Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho when he took over at Benfica.” (WSJ)

How do we spot diving? Why do players do it?

“Diving. Or simulation to use its FIFA approved name. Ask any player, manager or fan in the country and no doubt they’d tell you that they hate it, that conning a referee is never acceptable and that they don’t want to see their club benefit from flagrant cheating. Yet watch any match, from grassroots pub football to the World Cup, Premier League, La Liga, and you will see players accuse each other of feigning contact, referees booking players who they feel have dived and supporters getting angry that the opposition are cheating scumbags who should be in a swimming pool rather than on a football pitch.”(mindgames)

Josep Sunyol: The Chronicle of a Death Foretold

“English football, for all its quirks and layers of social influence, is a relatively apolitical animal. In a direct comparison with the politically charged clubs of Italy and Spain, English teams are arguably far less representative of ideology and cause. With that in mind, the highly politicised regional struggle played out by Barcelona and Real Madrid can seem somewhat alien to the British football fan, the friction between centralism and the movement for Catalan independence a sketchy intellectual argument between two abstracted factions. That conception of the situation, as it happens, could hardly be further from the truth.” (Equaliser Football)

Coaching badges: The Grassroots Coach

“In the third instalment of an intermittent series of interviews about coaching badges and the standard of coaching in the United Kingdom, Football Further spoke to Pavl Williams, a Level 2 coach working towards his UEFA ‘B’ licence. Pavl has been coaching youngsters of varying ages since 2004 and is (amongst other things) currently working with elite local players aged 6-16 at Manchester United’s Carrington training centre. He is also the editor of Better Football, a coaching website that offers advice and learning resources for developing better coaches.” (Football Further)

Italia 1990: It’s Gut Czech Time For the Americans

“June 10, 1990 — Control your emotions. I know national anthems can be moving, but there’s a game to be played. In fact, there are three games to play. If you can’t handle these early moments, maybe this isn’t for you. If you find this stressful, you should be concerned because it will take a herculean effort for you to make it through the Backstreet Boys, the internet and financial armageddon, three things that I’m just guessing are on the horizon. What’s the internet you ask? I’m not sure. It’s 1990.” (Nutmeg Radio)

‘Pay As You Play’ Day

“This week sees the long-anticpated (by at least three people) release of ‘Pay As You Play: The True Price of Success in the Premier League Era‘. The Transfer Price Index website is now fully live, and includes extracts and links to order the book. It will also feature new articles based on the TPI work used in Pay As You Play.” (Tomkins Times)

Ten out of 20 Ain’t Bad.
“Now that the Reds have got some kind of foothold under Roy Hodgson, unless results take a disastrous turn for the worst, the 20 game mark appears to be the fairest time to draw further conclusions. (And as such, I’m not going to say too much until then, for fear of repeating myself; I will of course continue to interact with subscribers of this website and write about Liverpool FC, but not analyse every last performance in a make-or-break fashion.)” (Tomkins Times)

Damien Comolli at Spurs: A TPI Case Study
“2nd November 2010. Tottenham beat the European champions Internazionale 3-1 at White Hart Lane with a scintillating display of attacking football. Exactly two years earlier they were rock bottom of the Premier League after 11 games (and 17 points behind Liverpool). Tottenham’s manager in that period has been Harry Redknapp and he has done a fine job, albeit with a lot of the components already in place.” (Pay As You Play)

SKP at the Pacaembu and the Brazilian Football Museum!

“Loyal readers (if I’m priveleged enough to have any) will be aware that SKP occasionally drifts away from the cut and thrust of the Campeonato Brasileiro, and into more anecdotal territory. Previous examples have concerned my trips to see games to the Engenhão and the Morumbi; you can have a look at those articles here and here. On this rainy day, I’ve decided to delve a bit further back into the past; to 2009, when I visited the Pacaembu, home of the mighty Corinthians…” (Snap, Kaka, and Pop!)

Bjorn Again, Again, Again And Much ADO

“NEC Nijmegen might only be sitting in a mid table Eredivisie position right now, but their pin-up striker Björn Vleminckx is emerging as something of a cult hero. Ajax lost at home to ADO too. With a review of the latest games from Holland’s top flight, here’s John Dobson.” (In Bed With Maradona)

Milan’s Age Of Austerity

“Although Milan more than played their part in last week’s thrilling 2-2 draw at the San Siro against old rivals Real Madrid, especially the effervescent Pippo Inzaghi, it is fair to say that the rossoneri have started the season in somewhat inconsistent fashion, having already suffered painful defeats against Cesena and Juventus in Serie A and only winning one of their four Champions League games to date (at home against Auxerre). It remains to be seen whether Milan can mount a challenge for honours this season, but the early signs are not overly convincing.” (The Swiss Ramble)

The only coach who loves la Liga life

“A growing and probably quite unhealthy obsession with the concept of Unai Emery caused La Liga Loca to spend Monday musing whether the Valencia manager actually enjoyed his job. It certainly didn’t look like it during the 2-0 loss to Sevilla, Emery watching Mehmet Topal’s rather harsh sending-off scupper any chance of success in the Sánchez Pizjuán.” (FourFourTwo)

Musings on Madrid
“Just in case you wanted to know, Atletico Madrid’s veterans stuffed Real Madrid’s 7-0 on Friday afternoon, and Ricky Carvalho beat Diego Forlan 1-0 in the FIFA 11 (virtual) game in a Madrid hotel the same day. The scorer was Ronaldo, of course. Interestingly, in the real thing on Sunday night, Carvalho opened the scoring and Forlan failed to find the net, but the Uruguayan was at least remaining faithful to tradition. Atletico have now failed to beat their neighbours in the Madrid ‘derbi’ since the 1999-00 season, and often stand accused of not really going for it, particularly in the Bernabeu.” (ESPN)

Accounting Battle Distracts From Barcelona’s Success
“Johan Cruyff, the Dutchman who both played for and coached F.C. Barcelona, once noted that, in soccer, ‘it doesn’t matter how many goals they score, as long as you score one more.’ Winning, however, has not been the only thing that has mattered recently at Cruyff’s former club. Instead, one of Barcelona’s most successful presidents, Joan Laporta, found himself last month on the receiving end of a lawsuit initiated by his successor, Sandro Rosell, alleging unlawful accounting.” (NYT)

Football Manager 2011 – It’s Really Good

“Earlier this year, I cracked like a soft-boiled egg. Fed up with losing three hours of my life to the navigation of a pretend pre-season, I wrote THIS. Now, in blogging terms, criticising Football Manager is sacrilegious, the equivalent of taking a red pen and scribbling, “3/10 could do better” on the inside of a bible. You just don’t do it. But the strange thing was that people agreed with me. From around the world, new players and old sent little messages thanking me for vocalising their growing concerns. Of course, a great many more called me some very mean names while Miles Jacobson, head honcho of the series, got in touch to pointedly direct me to the iphone version if I ‘just wanted a game.’ I don’t blame him. If I’d devoted my life to creating the most realistic football simulator in the history of gaming, I’d doubt I’d have appreciated having a snotty journalist tell me that it was too realistic. Thank God then that Football Manager 2011 is a such an emphatic return to form.” (Iain Macintosh)

Lazio 0-2 Roma: two penalties settle tight game

“Two similar systems and little creativity in open play. Top of the table Lazio set up with a 4-3-1-2 formation, a shape they’ve used in roughly half of games so far, the other option being a 4-2-3-1. Tomasso Rocchi started his first game since mid-September upfront alongside Sergio Floccari, whilst Guglielmo Stendardo started in place of the suspended Giuseppe Biava at the back.” (Zonal Marking)

Sevilla 2-0 Valencia: Emery doesn’t change despite red card, both Manzano subs score
“Sevilla eventually broke through after Valencia’s Mehmet Topal was sent off in the first half. For the home side, only Martin Cacares remained from the back four that conceded five goals at the Nou Camp last week. Further forward, it was the same midfield and attack, with Frederic Kanoute pushed up closer to Luis Fabiano.” (Zonal Marking)

Video of the Week: Match of the Eighties, 1985/86

Jock Stein
“This week’s Video Of The Week sees us return to the BBC’s Match Of The Eighties collection for the final episode in the series, for the 1985/86 season. The season before had been the one in which English football had finally been found out with the twin tragedies of Valley Parade and Heysel exposing the extent of the rottenness at the core of the game. English clubs were banned from European competition indefinitely and, as if to mark the fall from grace of the game, a dispute over television rights meant that no live matches in the First Division were shown until Christmas.” (twohundredpercent)

Champions League Chalkboards

“Beginning with this installment, the Goal blog is inaugurating a new feature that offers a statistical (courtesy of OPTA) and graphic representations of select matches from the European Champions League. At the end of each week when matches are played, the editor of zonalmarking.net, will provide analysis powered by the Total Football iPhone/iPad app, which is available at totalfootballapps.com and the iTunes App Store. Similar Chalkboards can be dissected at the Web site of the Guardian of Britain and at the zonalmarking Web site.” (NYT)

First quarter report card

“So here we are after 11 games, all the SPL teams have now played each other, and it’s time to reflect on the early season title race, ahead of Wednesday’s big match on ESPN – Hearts v Celtic. It should be a cracker. Right, let’s start at the top – Rangers. Things could hardly have gone any better for Walter Smith’s side and Sunday’s victory at St Mirren Park on ESPN put the Gers back on top of the table. Only one slip up to date (a home draw with Inverness) has Rangers ahead of Celtic by one point. The question remains though – do Rangers have the stamina to stay there?” (ESPN)

Ref or end ‘em: Scottish football shrouded in refereeing controversy
“Nani’s recent goal for Manchester United against Tottenham caused a frisson of controversy in England. But you think Mark Clattenburg has it bad? Try refereeing Celtic or Rangers in Scotland. Making his debut for Just Football we welcome William Heaney who has more…” (Just Football)

Argentines Abroad: 6th & 7th November 2010

“This weekend Argentines were in fine form in Spain, Portugal and Mexico, whilst in the USA a Boca Juniors legend might have played his last game, as Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s Columbus Crew exited the MLS playoffs. The selección’s first-choice centre back pairing both had poor weekends, though. Martín Demichelis’ Bayern München dropped points, whilst Walter Samuel injured his cruciate ligaments and will miss the match against Brazil later in the month, as well as quite some time thereafter. All this and more, right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

The IBWM Ligue 1 Roundup

“No huge changes to the Ligue 1 table after Round Twelve of the French season as all the leaders failed to win. Brest began the weekend top of the standings but were blown away by a resurgent Lille who went ahead late in the first half through Moussa Sow. Lille had the better chances in the first half but had to wait until Emerson was sent down the left and his cross was half blocked by Johan Martial, diverting it onto Sow’s forehead a mere two feet from goal. He couldn’t, and didn’t, miss. Six minutes after the break, an intricate passing move ended with Gervinho free in the penalty area to tuck away the second, the Brest defence looking at each other bewildered as Lille’s one-touch passing guided the ball through them at speed.” (In Bed With Maradona)

Liverpool vs Chelsea – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

The Battle of San Romano, Paolo Uccello
“Liverpool got their best result under Roy Hodgson by beating Chelsea 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday. The performance was far from vintage, but with Chelsea being unusually poor, the Reds rarely looked troubled. Let’s take a look at the tale that the chalkboards tell us.” (Tomkins Times)

16 Conclusions On Liverpool v Chelsea
” After Liverpool’s past couple of wins, the opinion has been voiced by a number of their fans that they had mixed feelings about the victories – happy with the points, but frustrated that the successes would buy Roy Hodgson some extra time in charge. So will this win be enough to convince those who still doubt? And if not, how many wins will it take before they cast aside their stubborn stance and accept Hodgson as their own?” (Football 365)

Winning, the Liverpool Way
“After the draw at St. Andrews I contended that Liverpool needed to change the way they played to get results. They were too narrow, with no pace and their full-backs went nowhere. It led to a dour game of football and a nil all draw that kept Liverpool in the lower regions of the table. The problem then was a lack of invention, a resistance to change and a team still getting to know each other, yesterday that all changed.” (EPL Talk)

Good Day, Bad Day: Incredible Carvalho and Devastating Depor

“Shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, maybe because much of the forward’s game is played in the 30-metre ‘zone of terror’ where little Leo has scored in five consecutive matches for Pep’s Dream Boys.” (FourFourTwo)

Real Madrid 2-0 Atletico Madrid: early goals and a routine victory for Real“Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Oezil’s first half goals gave Real a commanding lead.
Jose Mourinho kept the same side as in the 2-2 draw in Milan in midweek. No change in formation either – 4-2-3-1. Qique Sanchez Flores went for the usual 4-4-2 with inverted wingers, Simao Sabrosa on the left and Jose Antonio Reyes on the right. Luis Perea was out, so Tomas Ujfalusi moved over to the centre-back position he made his name in, whilst Juan Valera started at right-back. Mario Suarez made his second start for Atletico in the centre.” (Zonal Marking)

Bielsa’s early exit such a waste for Chile

“A successful and promising relationship has come to a premature end with the news that Marcelo Bielsa will not continue as coach of Chile. There is little point in appointing a foreign coach unless he brings something fresh – which the eccentric, but highly respected Argentine certainly has in the course of his three years in charge.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)