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About 1960s: Days of Rage

Bill Davis - 1960s: Days of Rage

Is Pelé Underrated?

Pelé
“I have a piece in Slate today about the Pelé-Maradona feud and how it’s the index of all meaning in soccer. The short version is that for all the old-mannish ego-nostalgia and general crappiness of its discourse, their rivalry is irresistible because the two players represent radically opposed imaginative possibilities…” (Run of Play)

Pelé and Maradona
“In the summer of 2000, FIFA, which does not understand computers, decided to celebrate the arrival of the millennium by hosting an online poll. Its object: to determine the best soccer player of the past 100 years, with the victor to be fêted at a gaudy banquet in Rome. The organizers of the vote assumed it would be won by Pelé, soccer’s silky ambassador, who’d been cheerfully ensconced in his Greatest of All Time sinecure for 40 years.” (Slate)

Sobering reality check for U.S. team

“So much for the post-World Cup celebration. OK, so the operative word following Brazil’s 2-0 win over the U.S. on Tuesday was ‘friendly.’ There was nothing at stake. Over half of the U.S. starting lineup was comprised of overseas players who looked like they hadn’t recovered from their preseason fitness regimens. And on a team that lacks creative guile in the best of times, the absence of a player like Clint Dempsey was always going to be keenly felt.” (ESPN)

Michael Bradley key to U.S.’s future
“He bulled his way into vacant spaces, barreled into opponents taking too much time on the ball and strode wherever his long legs would take him. ‘That No. 4 must be the heart and soul of this team,’ a fan observed. It became ever clearer Tuesday night against Brazil that No. 4, Michael Bradley, the U.S. national team’s breakout player of this summer’s World Cup, will be the core around which the rest of the side orbits for the foreseeable future.” (ESPN)

United States (USA) 0-2 Brazil – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly – 10 August 2010
“The United States hosted Brazil in an international friendly match on Tuesday, August 10, 2010. It would be the first match for both sides since the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” (The 90th Minute)

Chinese Investor Is Said to Be Bidding for English Soccer Club

“When reports began circulating last week that a Chinese investor was bidding to take over the Liverpool soccer club in the English Premier League, British tabloids quickly called him King Kenny. That little-known investor is Kenny Huang, 46, a globe-trotting sports enthusiast who has made marketing deals in China with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Yankees, and has entered into a business partnership with Leslie Alexander, the owner of the Houston Rockets.” (NYT)

The 15 most intriguing managerial appointments of the summer

Rafael Benitez, Inter
“It’s been a summer of few big-name signings, but plenty of interesting managerial moves across Europe. Here’s the most exciting 15…” (Zonal Marking)

2010-11 English Premier League Preview, Part III: EPL Talk Podcast

“Wednesday is here, and time for the EPL Talk team to tackle the strength of the league. No league in the world has the kind of depth the Premier League has four through eight. Today, Laurence McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself talk about Aston Villa, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham and pick which teams will miss-out on Europe and which team will go to Champions League.” (EPL Talk)

Football’s not the place for choreographed chanting

“One of the main complaints about the vuvuzela was that its ongoing monotone bleat failed to reflect the changes in the patterns of play. Perfect through pass – parp! Contortionist reflex save – parp! Studs-up attack on an opponent’s shin in the centre-circle – parp! The same could be said for choreographed chanting, which in many modern stadiums has become the preferred method of creating a decent atmosphere. But while it’s impressively co-ordinated and far more pleasing to the ear than the plastic horn of hell, this Germanic phenomenon lacks an ingredient crucial to football – spontaneity.” (WSC)

The Premier League Previews 2010/11, Part 14: Stoke City – Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

“It is a reflection of the financial rewards on offer in modern football that teams have to do what they have to do on the pitch in order to survive and that sometimes what they have to do isn’t that pretty. Stoke City’s promotion into the Premier League just over two years ago was something of surprise in itself and they were, accordingly, widely tipped – the point of unanimity – to drop straight back into the Football League. Two full seasons on, however, they are still there and without having to spend too much of that time worrying that much about getting relegated back. They’re not often that pretty to watch and there are plenty of purists that would like to see them crash and burn, but Stoke City are still in the Premier League, and it is likely that they still will be come the end of this season, too.” (twohundredpercent)

The Premier League Previews 2010/11, Part 15: Sunderland – An Unknown Quantity
“They spent four years bouncing between the Premier League and the Championship, the rubber ball that is Sunderland finally seems to be coming to rest. The question now facing Steve Bruce is how to make the next leap forward and take his team into the top half of the table. The jury, currently, is out on whether he will be able to manage it this season and, for Bruce, this might not be particularly good news. Sunderland’s average attendance crept over the 40,000 barrier last season, and how long the club’s supporters or owners will tolerate lower mid-table finishes is open to question. They have had three since they returned to the Premier League in 2007, and the concern is that stagnation or worse – a return to pitched battles against relegation – may follow if they don’t improve this year.” (twohundredpercent)

A season of sense?

Philips Wouwerman
“Back without much of a bang and certainly with a whimper from those suffering from World Cup burn-out, the Premier League’s return would seem low-key compared to its previous big build-ups. When Johnny Heitinga is among your list of top performers in South Africa, it’s perhaps best to draw a Barclays-sponsored veil over the summer’s events, and especially when your prime stars flopped to a man, give or take Cesc Fabregas’ late cameos for Spain.” (ESPN)

2010 English Premier League Preview, Part II: EPL Talk Podcast

“Yesterday, Laurence McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself focus on some of the issues that have carried over from the summer into the beginning of this Premier League campaign. On today’s edition of the EPL Talk podcast, we move to the clubs, talking about which teams we feel are going to make-up the bottom half of the league and potentially battle relegation. We start the conversation by discussing the newly promoted clubs – Newcastle, West Brom, and Blackpool.” (EPL Talk)

Twente’s dominant midfield triangle undone by cleverly organised Roda… Missing Kenneth Perez?

“Yesterday evening saw the much awaited kick-off of the Dutch Eredivisie. And it was the defending champion’s honour to feature in the first match, away against last year’s number nine, Roda JC. A potentially tough fixture as Roda performed particularly well in the second half of last year’s competition and, in contrast to Twente, succeeded in keeping much of their squad together during the summer transfer window.” (11 tegen 11)

USA vs. Brazil Preview

“Does this week’s spat of international friendlies represent an incredibly awkwardly timed set of fixtures being shoehorned into a tiny window and conflicting with many league schedules while needlessly interrupting the lead up to the Western European club season? Yes. Should we shut up about it and enjoy the matches themselves while eating, drinking, and acting like we know everything about certain players we’ve never even seen play because they were fleeting transfer targets of a club team we like at some point in the past month? Even more so, Yes!” (The Yanks Are Coming)

‘Obama We Are Sorry’ – possibly best World Cup memory from Ghana

“Flashback: This video captures the euphoria in the streets of Ghana just after the Black Stars knocked the US out of the World Cup.” (From A Left Wing)

Moans and groans strike La Liga

“La Liga Loca loves a good moan. Really, really loves it. More than sleeping, in fact. And that show where Jennifer Love Hewitt talks to ghosts through the medium of her boobs. In a mere eight-minute spell this morning, LLL grumbled that someone else was using what the blog considers to be its personal lift. And that it had to wait at the traffic lights before it could cross the road. And that the newspaper kiosk attendant refused to acknowledge LLL’s presence, despite it playfully waving its AS in his grumpy face for a good ten seconds.” (FourFourTwo)

English Pride

“This week it seems the latest trend in the football world is retiring from the international game, after both Wes Brown and Paul Robinson called time on their England careers. It’s probably for the best as the last thing a true England fan wants is to be watching players whose hearts are not in it. Representing your country is surely the highest honour of all in the professional game and at the risk of sounding cliched, there really is no ‘I’ in team.” (Beyond The Pitch)

An example of why three-man defences struggle against three-man attacks

“ZM rarely covers anything other than top-flight football, but with 2010/11’s Premier League action not starting until next weekend, here’s an opportunity to focus on a lower league game. The match? Exeter City v Colchester United, and it provided with a brilliant example of how three-man defences struggle when up against the 4-3-3 system. This has been covered at length before on ZM, but a case study on the subject is overdue.” (Zonal Minute)

Chivas make Libertadores final against the odds

“Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara have endured a journey over time and space to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores. First, because they are outsiders in South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. Mexico is in North America. The distance between Mexico City and Buenos Aires, for example, is further than that between London and Mumbai. Guadalajara and Porto Alegre, home city of final opponents Internacional of Brazil, are even further apart.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The Premier League 2010/11 Previews Part 11: Manchester City – Great Expectations

“‘Where now for Manchester City?’ has probably been the hottest Premier League question of the summer. Such has been their level of spending that the Champions League was regarded by some as the minimum target for last season, and Mark Hughes paid the price for this increase in expectation with his job. Whether the improved that much under new coach Roberto Mancini is open to question, and City were beaten to the fourth Champions League place by Tottenham Hotspur with a game to go of the season. City’s reaction has been, perhaps unsurprisingly, to go out and spend more money, though perhaps not as much as some had expected. This season, qualification for the Champions League is the minimum expectation for Manchester City, and that’s a phrase that not many people would have considered likely as recently as three or four years ago.” (twohundredpercent)

The Case for the US 4-3-3

Jozy Altidore
“As I promised at the end of that roster discussion, I am writing now to discuss US tactical strategy going forward into the 2014 World Cup cycle. In the last 4 years, outside of one disastrous night at the Saprissa, we’ve seen two lineup formations employed by Bob Bradley’s men – the traditional 4-4-2 and the traditional 4-5-1. In fact, what may shock some USMNT supporters who are less familiar with Bob’s lineup choices until recently, we didn’t settle into the 4-4-2 formation until the 2009 Confed. Cup where two things happened: 1.) Charlie Davies emerged as a viable option at striker. 2.) We used the 4-4-2 to beat Spain.” (Yanks are coming)

2010-11 English Premier League Preview, Part I: EPL Talk Podcast

“In the first of four parts, the EPL Talk team returns from their post-World Cup hiatus just in time for the 2010-11 English Premier League Season. Richard Farley, Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer, in the first quarter-hour of a recording from Sunday night, talk about some of the summer’s overriding issues – the sale of Liverpool, 25/7 – as well as the direction the show will take in the next week and over the next season.” (EPL Talk)

Prepared Blanc wastes little time undertaking French challenge

“Why take on a challenge in which you can’t do any better when you can go somewhere you can’t do any worse? That would seem the gist of the rationale behind Laurent Blanc’s reported decision to turn down the coaching job at European champions and Italian double-winners Internazionale and instead take over the France side after the most embarrassing World Cup campaign in its history.” (SI)

The 1929 FA Cup Final – with sound

“In 1929, pioneering firm British Talking Pictures Ltd went to Wembley and made a – talking picture! of the FA Cup Final. It was what Mitchell and Kenyon would have done, but by 1929 new tech chose other, newer vehicles. Considering its subject, this film is astonishingly early.” (More Than Mind Games)

Argentine Soccer Politics: Fútbol Para Todos, Continued

“Presidential interest in national soccer is nothing new to us. With so much popular will and attention fixated on national teams, national soccer has long been mixed with executive politicking. The recent World Cup has illustrated this phenomenon more clearly than ever, with notable presidential “arbitrations” occurring in the French, Nigerian, and North Korean football associations in the wake of poor tournament performances.” (Soccer Politics)

Expect reactivity not proactivity to be the shape of things to come

“This has been a decade of broadly attacking football, at least at the highest level, but at the start of 2010-11 the game stands at a crossroads. Internazionale’s triumph in the Champions League, the predominance of reactive football at the World Cup and the growing realisation that nobody can match Spain/Barcelona at their brand of possession football, though, might mean a turn into defensiveness.” (Guardian – Jonathan Wilson)

Where Has All of the Quality Soccer Writing Gone?

“Yes, it’s summer, which means most of Europe is on vacation. And yes, it’s the silly season when transfer speculation is rife and the season hasn’t kicked off yet. But I don’t know about you, but I’ve been really disappointed with the level of football journalism post-World Cup. That pertains to both the blogosphere and traditional news organizations. Hopefully coverage will pick up as soon as the season begins. But right now, if you eliminated the preseason friendly and transfer speculation articles from most football blogs and online newspapers, you wouldn’t have much to choose from. And even with what is leftover, the quality and creativity is quite poor.” (EPL Talk)

Football’s Greatest Managers: #18 Jack Reynolds

“A name that has unfortunately been lost in the mists of time, regularly overshadowed by those who followed in his footsteps, Jack Reynolds is arguably one of the most important figures in the history of twentieth century European football.” (The Equaliser)

The Premier League 2010/11 Previews, Part 9: Fulham – After The Lord Mayor’s Show

“So, just how do you follow an act like Roy Hodgson? Since Fulham’s own chairman appears unable to express any appreciation for just what he did for the club over the course of two and a half seasons, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves just how good a job he did. Arriving midway through the 2007/08 season with the team apparently destined for relegation, he kept them up with a terrific late season run. The following season he steered them to seventh and qualification to the Europa League, then last season of course he took them all the way to the final of it and to within a few minutes of a penalty shoot out that might have won it for them. All achieved on a relative shoestring – at least insofar as there is such a thing in the Premier League these days.” (twohundredpercent)

The Premier League Previews 2010/11 Part 9: Liverpool – Out With The Old, In With The New

Steven Gerrard
“Benitez out, Hodgson in, then. If we take it as read that Rafael Benitez had outlived his usefulness at Anfield (and, whilst there are plenty of supporters that remain unhappy at his departure at the start of the summer, Liverpool last season were a team – and club – in decline, rather than a team – and club – in transition), then he probably had to go at the end of the season. There are two conflicting views on the appointment of Roy Hodgson, and both of them have merit. One the one hand, it could be argued that Hodgson is a steadying hand on the tiller – a managerial journeyman with a reputation for treating his players well but drilling some discipline into them both on and off the pitch. Perhaps he is the perfect choice to arrest Liverpool’s recent and sudden decline.” (twohundredpercent)

Premier League preview No10: Liverpool
“Certainties are fewer than Gary Neville worshippers in Liverpool right now. But one thing that is clear amid all the transfer and takeover talk is that it is a good thing Rafael Benítez has gone. Decent chap and all that, but would you have trusted the Spaniard to make optimal use of any transfer bounty that eventual new owners may brandish? No, his strike-rate in the transfer market is too haphazard for that.” (Guardian)

Premiership season predictions

“Here is my read on how the 20 Premier League clubs will finish this season, although rosters could still change since we’re in the midst of the transfer window and with a week to go before the season begins.” (SI)

UEFA’s regulation uncertainty, economic woes cause few transfers

“As most economists will tell you, the more times are uncertain, the more folks hunker down and count every penny. Judging by transfer activity (or lack thereof) this summer, most clubs feel the same way. As of Thursday, the Premier League’s traditional ‘big four’ of Arsenal, Cheslea, Manchester United and Liverpool had signed just two players for more than 10 million euros ($13 million): Laurent Koscielny, who joined the Gunners, and Ramires, whose move from Benfica to Chelsea is all but wrapped up. Last summer, those same clubs made five signings north of the 10 million range. Serie A’s big three of Juventus, Milan and Inter broke the 10 million mark six times a year ago.” (SI)

Cesc Fabregas and the Arsenal-Barcelona transfer saga: timeline

Cesc Fabregas
“The protracted will-he won’t-he transfer of Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal to Barcelona shows little sign of reaching a timely conclusion. From Arsène Wenger through to Xavi, here’s who said what and when.” (Telegraph)

Football’s Greatest Managers: #19 Bela Guttmann

“A footballing nomad and a wandering tactical evangelical, the hot-tempered Bela Guttmann has come to be regarded as one of the most astute coaches to emerge from the sporting intellectual set that arose in Eastern Europe during the 1930s. An adventurous centre-half by trade, Guttmann’s playing career saw him undertake spells in his native Hungary, Austria and New York before he joined Hakoah Vienna in 1933 to embark on what would become a marvellously successful, if fragmented, coaching career.” (The Equaliser)

Liverpool 2-0 FK Rabotnicki – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Europa League – 5 August 2010

“Liverpool hosted Macedonian side FK Rabotnicki in the second leg of the third round of UEFA Europa League qualifying. The reds had a 2-0 lead from the first leg and would move into the play-off round with a one goal margin loss, a draw, or victory in the match.” (The 90th Minute)

The Premier League 2010/11 Previews, Part 8: Everton – Steady As She Goes

“It may surprise some younger readers to learn this out, but when Bill Shankly retired from Liverpool Football Club and football in 1974, Everton were historically as successful as his club had been to that point. Liverpool had, in 1974, eight championship wins and two FA Cup wins, while Everton had seven championship wins and three FA Cup wins. To that extent, the man that blasted a hole between the perception of the two clubs in Liverpool was Bob Paisley and, by 1990, Liverpool had eighteen championship wins to Everton’s nine, and the blue half of Merseyside have been firmly regarded from the outside as the junior partner in the city’s football landscape ever since.” (twohundredpercent)

Liverpool As England

“From the perspective of someone who’s barely been paying attention, one of the more intriguing stories of the offseason has been the weird swerving of the Liverpool crisis-drama, which is still producing twists well into its 24th act. Just when you think the action is about to go stale (with trembling hand, Martin Broughton places a phone call to the Royal Bank of Scotland), they go and follow up the not-one-hundred-percent-intuitive Roy Hodgson hiring by signing Joe Cole, thereby forcing you to realize that, waltzing Elizabeth, the dominant cultural influence in the Anfield locker room next season is going to be…English.” (Run of Play)

Celtic’s Champions League failure is down to flawed transfer policy

“The impact of Europa League football for a second successive year will be felt more strongly on Celtic’s balance sheet than on the morale of supporters. The likely sale of Aiden McGeady has shown mere participation in the Champions League represents the difference between a heavy annual loss and a lucrative financial year for either half of the Old Firm. On the field, the Glasgow duo’s diminishing standing actually makes the Europa League a more viable environment.” (Guardian)

The Premier League Previews 2010/11 Part 7: Chelsea – Next Stop, The Champions

“It was an optical illusion of Escher-esque proportions, but Chelsea went into their final match of last season uncertain of whether they would win the Premier League championship and the FA Cup Final against Portsmouth might even have turned out differently had Kevin Prince-Boateng not missed a penalty for Pomey with the scores tied at 0-0.” (twohundredpercent)

Why are two holding midfielders so crucial in the modern game?

“The efficiency that holding midfielders provide teams makes them very important in the modern football. International competitions are always fascinating tactically if anything for the inflexibility they confront managers with. Arrigo Sacchi, in charge of the Italy side who reached the final of World Cup ’94, stated it was “impossible” for a national manager to drill the same understanding that club level coaches are afforded due to the lack of day-to-day availability of personnel. The sporadic amount of time they have with players means it can be difficult for coaches to develop plans so they usually are forced to stick with philosophies they think are correct – and that in turn highlights the common trends in the thinking of modern coaches. And certainly, what has become oblivious from the recent World Cup in South Africa and indeed club football for the past few years is that the use of two holding midfielders in front of the back four is become crucial in the modern game.” (Arsenal Column)

The Question: Is 4-2-1-3 the future?

“Evolution never stops. As the World Cup showed, 4‑2‑3‑1 has come to replace 4‑4‑2 as the universal default (18 of the 32 teams played some form of 4‑2‑3‑1 at some stage, with another three fielding a 4‑4‑2 that perhaps should have become 4‑2‑3‑1) so the system at the very highest level has already begun to mutate. Spain, by the end of the World Cup, had followed what Barcelona did at times last season, what Arsenal seemed to be reaching towards, and set up in a 4‑2‑1‑3.” (Guardian)

Fictional Moldovan Soccer Phenom Tells All

“On a typical weekday, the English soccer press devotes itself to unsubstantiated rumors, manufactured scandals, and bikini pictures of players’ girlfriends (who seem to roam the earth together in a giant conjugal yacht, like the Beatles in Yellow Submarine). This week, however, thanks to an ingenious hoax that took in the Times of London, the soccer press has been engrossed by Moldova. Specifically by one Moldovan teenager, who is not, as it happens, a real person.” (Slate – Brian Phillips)

Out with the old, in with the new

Rome – the Basilica of Constantine, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot
“England’s reverse alchemists managed to ensure the so-called Golden Generation produced only leaden performances at the World Cup finals and, like any struggling scientist, Fabio Capello now has to reassess his formula for success. But who are the corrosive elements within his squad, and who should form part of his new experiment?” (ESPN)

England’s Premier League introduces new financial rules

“England’s Premier League has introduced new ownership and financial regulations for the upcoming season in an attempt to avoid a repeat of Portsmouth’s downfall last season. Under a series of owners, Portsmouth ran up debts of more than $159 million to creditors, including the British government’s revenue and customs authority. The league said Tuesday that it now requires prospective new owners to prove they have sufficient funds to sustain a club for another year and can now contact the government directly to check that clubs are up to date with taxes.” (SI)

The Premier League Previews 2010/11: Bolton Wanderers – Time To Turn Those Frowns

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling as if every season is likely to be a struggle for Bolton Wanderers, but their recent Premier League history doesn’t really bear this out. After they returned to the Premier League in 2001 they struggled for a couple of seasons but, broadly speaking, they have had a decent record since then, managing four consecutive finishes in the top eight during the middle of the decade. Even last season, they pulled clear of the relegation places during the second half of the season and ended up nine points clear of the relegation places, in fourteenth place in the table. Bolton Wanderers supporters will probably be looking for a season of consolidation and improvement over the coming nine months, and there is nothing to suggest that their team won’t be capable of exactly this.” (twohundredpercent)

Fernando Torres confirms he will stay at Liverpool next season

“Fernando Torres has seemingly confirmed he is staying at Liverpool this season, saying ‘My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed’.” (Guardian)

Inner Life of Fernando Torres
“Louis Armstrong – ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’” (Run of Play)

A tale of two city teams

“When the fixtures for the forthcoming season were made public, many fans would have immediately checked to see when their team were due to meet their big local rival. Derbies are part of the essence of football, perhaps even more so in South America than in Europe. The logic is clear. Distances are vast in South America, forcing the game to develop locally. Brazil has only had a genuinely national championship since 1971, while the Peruvian league was restricted to Lima until 1967.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

TTU 2010/11: Season Preview: Championship (Part One)

“Our week of 2010-11 previews starts here and, rather than sound off with our own views once again, we decided this year to canvass the opinion of fans of all the league clubs. Thankfully, we have been overwhelmed with a warm hearted response and no little wit. The Championship previews appear today in two parts, with Leagues 1 and 2 to follow later in the week. Here goes and needless to say, the opinions are those of the contributors and not necessarily The Two Unfortunates…” (thetwounfortunates), (TTU 2010/11: Season Preview: Championship (Part Two))

The Premier League 2010/11 Previews, 5 – Blackpool: Reasons To Be cheerfulAug 03

“The first decade of the new century saw Blackpool take a most modern route from the basement of the Football League into the Premier League. A decade ago they were in what we now know as League Two, but they will start the new season in the Premier League having been promoted three times via the play-offs. They’re the the first team to have managed this, but will this promotion prove to be a step too far? The obvious statement to make is that they are the pre-season favourites to return from whence they came, but there are reasons for Blackpool supporters to feel optimistic about the new season.” (twohundredpercent)

The Changing Landscape of FC Barcelona

“Today’s announcement that Rafa Márquez has agreed with the club to rescind his contract, making him eligible for a move to the New York Red Bulls, should come as no surprise to anyone. Márquez played for 7 years at FCB, amassing 242 appearances and 13 goals in all competitions. His first goal for us was in the 2-1 home win over Real Betis on November 9, 2003 while his last goal was this stunner of a freekick in the 4-0 home win over Racing Santander on February 20 of this year.” (ESPN)

Download your printable Serie A fixtures guide

“Another Serie A season is on the horizon. Will Inter maintain their grip on the domestic stage? Can Milan make a serious challenge? Are Juventus a force to be reckoned with once more? Could Roma surprise yet again? Get ready for the new campaign with our special Serie A fixtures PDF.” (Football Italia)

Blown calls are human nature

Frank Lampard
“It was the World Cup goal seen around the world but missed by the eyes that mattered most: England midfielder Frank Lampard’s shot that dropped cleanly past the German goal line but was not given by the referee. The avalanche of complaints about that missed call and others during the largest soccer tournament in the world raised the philosophical question of whether instant-replay technology improves games or turns them into soulless events run by a bank of blinking lights. Scientists who study the human brain say it is surprising that bad calls do not happen more often.” (The Globe and Mail)

The Ball Day 50 – Visiting the Dogon Country pt. 1

“Here is part 1 of a 2 part piece following The Ball as it journeys in the back country of Mali to the Dogon area searching for some off the beaten track football action. Music in this EP is from Akwaaba Music artists Baba Salah from Mali with ‘Borey,’ Alou Sangare with ‘Dugu Djeto,’ find the song here and check out the music video here. Then we have another spin for Mic’Mo Lion with ‘Niengo’ and finally a track from the awesomely named Peace Singers of Adabraka Official Town with ‘Take Four’.” (The Ball 2010)

Football transfer rumours: Mesut Özil to Manchester United?

“Yelling football chants in the street. Puffing on tabs. Urinating beside bins. Contrary to what you might expect, the Rumour Mill doesn’t frown on such loutish behaviour. Indeed, anyone who saw us strutting proudly into work this morning, head back, chest out and arms spread in the classic Big Brave football-fan-backed-by-his-mates “you want some?” pose will know we’re wholeheartedly in favour of it. It impresses people. It earns us respect. It leaves our scent and a puddle on the street.” (Guardian)

Arsenal 3-2 Celtic – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Emirates Cup – 1 August 2010

“The 2010 Emirates Cup wrapped up on Sunday, August 1, 2010 with hosts Arsenal taking on SPL side Celtic. The match highlights can be found here at Free Soccer Highlights. Arsenal would take a comfortable 3-0 margin but another late surge from Celtic made for a close match.” (The 90th Minute)

Benitez settles at Inter, Adu’s future uncertain and other musings

“By the time Rafael Benitez’s six-year tenure as manager at Liverpool drew to a close this summer, it was clear to longtime observers that he was a changed man from the once quietly confident Spaniard who had first walked through the doors at Anfield. Appearing visibly stressed at times, the constant political infighting with the club’s board and the continuous criticism from sections of the English media seemed to have finally taken its toll. When he succeeded Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan in June, one wondered if he would have been best served taking a year off and recharging instead.” (SI)

Brazil looking to rediscover itself by embracing tactics from abroad

“Less than a month after the disappointment that accompanies any World Cup not won, Brazil has already put South Africa behind it with the hiring of coach Mano Menezes and the naming of a renewed squad for next month’s meeting with the U.S. Half of Menezes’ group of 24 play their club soccer in Brazil, but this will be a difficult line to maintain; within weeks Robinho is due to return to Manchester City, midfielder Sandro will join Tottenham and striker Andre will move to Dynamo Kiev.” (SI)

Polishing the Future in Barcelona and Madrid

” Sports must sometimes send out the most confusing messages to its young. Over the past weeks, Spanish teams and athletes have been the best in the world in soccer, basketball, tennis and cycling. Yet the country’s two major sporting institutions, F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid, pursue disparate philosophies in reaching for the major club trophies in soccer.” (NYT)

Goals for Galilee and Arab Soccer in a Jewish State

“Editor’s note: Our regular book reviewer Alex Usher delves into football in Israel with Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler’s Goals for Galilee: The Triumphs and Traumas of the Sons of Sakhnin, Israel’s Arab Football Club and Tamir Sorek’s Arab Soccer in a Jewish State.” (Pitch Invasion)

Cosmos: Twice in a Lifetime?

“The title of the film about the world’s most famous defunct soccer team was ‘Once in a Lifetime.’ Anyone for ‘Twice in a Lifetime’? The team in question is the New York Cosmos, a club that was the flagship team in the North American Soccer League, which ceased operations in the mid-1980s.” (NYT)

Accidents of Fate: Rättskiparen (The Referee)

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“Rättskiparen (The Referee) is short documentary about Martin Hansson, the referee who missed Thierry Henry’s handball. A Swedish television program had already committed to this project before the infamous incident which kept Ireland from going to South Africa. The station’s plan had been to track the country’s top ranked referee in the months leading up to the 2010 World Cup – as fate would have it, the story of course got more complex with that one game. It’s an incredible portrait – part of a wave of films looking at referees. This one has an unusually personal quality to it.” (From A Left Wing)

Football’s Latest Pointless Rule: The 25-Man Squad List

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Exequias de un emperador romano, Domenico Zampieri
“Arsene Wenger is today being quoted as stating that the new Premier League rule reducing squad sizes to 25, as being “a disastrous decision for football and for the players”. When the rule was introduced, the rules stating that Premier League clubs had to have a ‘Squad List’ of just 25, with eight of these being ‘Home Grown’, it was seen as a great thing for the England football team.” (twohundredpercent)

Whatever happened to Senegal?

“Cast your mind back, if you will, eight years to the 2002 World Cup. It’s a sultry night in Seoul and France, defending champions and one of the hot favourites for the title, are facing Senegal, a country playing its first ever game in a World Cup finals. A momentary lapse in concentration sees Youri Djorkaeef loses possession on the half-way line and the Senegalese break with Omar Daf putting El-Hadji Diouf – a relatively unknown forward plying his trade for Lens – away down the left side. Diouf, balanced and composed, comes slightly in-field and reaches the by-line before cutting the ball back into the box.” (The Equaliser)