“The first matchday of the Champions League is in the books, and, pleasantly, there were some surprises. Let’s have a look at the biggest.” Grantland (Video)
“A game of football is punctuated by moments of spectacular nature. The overhead kick, the unbelievable save, the superhuman burst of pace are all instances that take the breath away. However these headline hogging events are simply a small part of a grand narrative. In terms of overall importance to the outcome, the role of the defensive midfielder is sadly ignored at times. Marvyn Paul addresses this by heaping praise on Atleti captain, Gabi.” Outside of the Boot
“Usually clubs with wealthy benefactors aren’t simply attempting to buy success. They’re also attempting to buy style — and it’s extremely difficult to achieve both. … Paris Saint-Germain is a peculiar case, because there doesn’t seem to be any emphasis upon playing beautiful football. Since QSI bought the club in 2011, the results have been excellent — PSG have won the title for the past two seasons and have performed reasonably well in Europe, too.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“Rarely do footballers come around that experience a whirlwind trip to the top of the heap, get embroiled in a dirge of controversy, and somehow maintain a level of play that allows them to weather the massive storm. Franck Ribery is no ordinary soccer story, and his play is always anything BUT ordinary. The Bayern Munich winger, now 31, has amassed every success possible at the club level, and has accomplished all of this while being a huge part of the French national team that has not found the success that Ribery experienced in 2006. So, when a player like Ribery decides to lower the curtain on his international career, the process would seem relatively simple.” SoccerPro
“What do you do if you’ve just managed a team that reached the World Cup final? The truth is that you probably don’t go and manage in the English second tier, and particularly not for a chairman as prone to sacking coaches as Massimo Cellino. The reports linking Alejandro Sabella, who left his post as Argentina manager after the defeat to Germany in the Maracanã, to the vacant position at Leeds United all cited the 59-year-old saying he had ‘unfinished business’ at the club after his disappointing season there as a player in 1980-81, and it is the case that the only other club team he has managed, Estudiantes, was a side he had played for.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“There must be an absolute fortune to be made for the psychologist who could affect what goes on inside the heads of players on a big night of Champions League action. Who can explain why Arsenal, whose team has played in this tournament for 17 consecutive seasons, should appear so stricken by fear or inertia that it failed to compete on every level in Dortmund on Tuesday night? Sure, Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion is a mighty cauldron, a sea of yellow and black raucously supporting their team, Borussia. But so rampant were the bees of Dortmund and so submissive was Arsenal that the 2-0 victory by the home team could, without exaggeration, easily have ended 7-0 or 8-0. On the same evening, in another of Europe’s most imposing stadiums, Liverpool needed a questionable penalty three minutes into injury time to see off Ludogorets Razgrad, 2-1.” NY Times
“It is always a tough ask to think of how to improve upon a Champions League winning campaign. However, when you couple the capture of the CL crown with a third place league finish (in a league with only three actual competitors), there is definitely room for improvement. So, how do Los Blancos gear up for a year of possible improvement? By selling two of the most important players in their side…and by avoiding their biggest weaknesses in the transfer window. Still, if any team can still succeed, it has to be Madrid…right?” SoccerPro
“Seven years ago, Roger Schmidt worked in a machine shop. He was an automotive engineer. In his spare time, he managed Delbrücker SC, a semi-pro team in the Fußball-Oberliga Westfalen, then one of Germany’s regional fourth divisions. This past Tuesday, he stood on the sidelines as his team, Bayer Leverkusen, took on Monaco in the Champions League. Not a bad career move, right? From the machine shop to the Champions League in under a decade.” Fusion
“Plumes of thick black smoke and a rapid-fire echo of explosions rose into the afternoon sky. Several hundred people from eastern Ukraine, almost all of them men in black T-shirts and balaclavas, were singing nationalistic songs as they threw smoke bombs onto the soccer field in front of them. They were members of the Shakhtar Ultras, a group of hard-core soccer fans who support Ukraine’s champions, Shakhtar Donetsk, anywhere they play. On this sunny August day, they were watching the Donetsk derby between Shakhtar and Olimpik. But the match, like all of Shakhtar’s matches these days, was not taking place in Donetsk, which has been battered by months of shelling. Instead the fans traveled hundreds of miles west to the capital, Kiev.” NY Times
“The 3rd Derby between the two sides already this season recording an important win for Rojiblancos and a dramatic fail for Real Madrid in their second consecutive game with only 3 points out of 9 conceding 6 goals in two matches. … Every time Real Madrid faces Atletico we’ve seen some characteristic features that both coaches deployed in the match in order to exploit the weakness of the other. Simeone is always trying to make the field very narrow so that none of Real players have much time on the ball whilst Ancelotti responded in attacking from the wings depending highly on fullbacks for stretching Atletico’s narrowness.” Outside of the Boot
“The drought continues – Paris Saint-Germain go three away games without a victory. PSG fans ‘It’s a problem’ replied an abrupt and clearly agitated Salvatore Sirigu in his Canal + post-match interview. The problem of course that the Italian international, who signed a new four-year contract with PSG this week, was referring to is his club’s lack of conviction on away trips this season. So far, PSG have performed impressively in their opening matches of the season, however they have failed to do better than drawing in their first three away matches.” backpagefootball
“Bayern have no shortage of central midfielders in truth. Bastian Schweinsteiger leads the contingent with Javi Martinez, Sebastian Rode, Thiago Alcantara, Pierre Højbjerg and Gianluca Gaudino, who are outright central mids but are also given support from the two wingbacks, Captain Philipp Lahm and David Alaba. That makes it a total of eight players who can play the CM role, but in truth only two are needed. With Xabi joining the list, it makes it nine. Nine players fighting for two spots when all are fit; that’s the epitome of squad depth, and more.” Outside of the Boot
“Autumn is my favourite time of year. The weather starts to get cooler, the leaves change colours and all that nonsense, but the main reason is clear: the group stages of the Champions League begin. It is a time when hope is high, a time when people will walk into school or to work and brag about how they know that their team will go all the way this year, and claim Europe’s biggest prize. Of course a lot of banter will follow; especially after those first day jitters get out of the way and your team, let’s say Chelsea, succumb to a home defeat for their first game against FC Basel. But that is the fun, and beauty, of the tournament. In the beginning, every team has a chance; every team has that hope, however realistic or utterly unimaginable it may be, that they will make a good run of the tournament. This season, some new faces come into the Champions League, some new, and some very familiar. I will take a look at what we can expect to see this year in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.” backpagefootball
“It’s Champions League time. To help you get set up, we’re going to go on a brief tour around Europe, to get you up to date on all the major non–Premier League teams. Our tour will take us through Germany, Spain, and Italy, with a brief stop in Paris to round things out.” Grantland (Video)
“Amidst the usual release of FIFA Rankings recently lay a statistic which only a keen-eyed observer would notice: the biggest drop in places had been awarded to the small nation of Guyana, a Caribbean country geographically located in South America and neighbour to one the most famous footballing nations of all: Brazil. Guyana was a team which only two years ago, reached their furthest ever point in 2014 World Cup qualifiers, and were giving Mexico a run for their money at the Azteca Arena after previously eliminating Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago. Yet fast forward to 2014 and the National Team now finds themselves comprehensively losing to St Lucia and St Kitts & Nevis in recent Caribbean Cup qualifiers. The question therefore is: how did this decline occur?” In Bed With Maradona
“Eight weeks into the 2014 Liga MX Apertura – otherwise known as the last eight weeks before Ronaldinho Mania takes over Mexico – Club America remains at the top of the table after a hot start. There’s more to that than meets the eye, though. The team seems to be heading in the wrong direction with an attack that has stumbled ever since leading scorer Raul Jimenez bolted for Atletico Madrid.” SI
“If there was one over-arching principle for analyzing soccer statistics, it might be “context is king.” For example, Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna averaged 54.5 passes per 90 last year and West Ham’s Mark Noble averaged 53.2 passes per 90. Intuitively, our first reaction is probably that both players exhibit roughly the same level of passing influence—with maybe the slightest of edges given to Sagna. But we are not controlling for the fact that Arsenal led the EPL with 569 passes per game while West Ham was second from bottom, averaging 326 passes per game. To adjust for this disparity we take each player’s passes per 90 and divide it by their team’s passes per 90, thereby creating a pass usage rate for each player.” Statsbomb
“In this city defined by the rivalry between its two biggest soccer clubs — Celtic and Rangers — there were no team colors on display Sunday night as fans filtered into a gloomy pub to watch Scotland play Germany in its first qualifying game for the 2016 European Championship. There is, however, more than soccer to talk about at the moment. Scotland is wound tight, waiting to uncoil next week, when the country will vote on whether it should be independent from Britain. The debate has generated the kind of tension and engagement usually reserved for soccer rivalries in Scotland, and in fact the country’s stadiums have become key battlegrounds for the yes and no campaigns.” NY Times
Scotland – when politics and football clash
“The Scotland independence referendum centers mainly on political and social issues, but as is often the case, the implications run far below the surface. One such area is the beautiful game itself. While many follow football in an attempt to forget about the problems of the world, the current climate in Scotland makes it impossible to ignore the reality of the impending referendum – from aggressive chants to verbal attacks on Scottish players, Scotland’s football takes first stage on the referendum.” backpagefootball
“Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City | Arsenal came into the game after a rather disappointing end to a window that did see them capture a man that has everything to prove, and a disappointing draw with Leicester. Manchester City had a quiet end to the window, much like their previous game which resulted in a shock home loss to Stoke City. Three points wasn’t crucial at this stage, but could prove to have been as the season wore on.” Outside of the Boot
Manchester City display direct, rugged edge at Arsenal
“In strategic terms, Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini is a subtle manager, more likely to change the balance of his team with a minor alteration rather than a sweeping, dramatic shift in formation. His starting XI for the 2-2 draw against Arsenal, however, was a surprise. Without Yaya Toure in midfield, he was forced to select Fernandinho and Frank Lampard, both starting their first game of the campaign. The Brazilian looked rusty, and Lampard struggled to cope with the speed of the game. Both were eventually substituted on a booking — although Fernandinho had recovered to become one of the second half’s standout players.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“There was a time, in the not too distant past, when English clubs feared only each other in the later stages of the Champions League. Such was the dominance of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool that one or the other of them reached seven out of eight Champions League finals between 2005 and 2012 and they claimed nine out of the 12 available semi-final places between 2007 and 2009. How times change. As the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition get under way on Tuesday, English clubs find themselves fighting to re-establish themselves at the top table.” BBC
“While the 2016 UEFA European Championship qualifiers commenced this week, the cream of South American football was running around in mickey mouse games that will have little bearing on what will occurs next year when the likes of Brazil and Argentina play for something far more important than bragging rights and some cash to stock up the coffers.” The World Game – Tim Vickery
“What a weekend. Manchester United won, 4-0! Alan Pardew personally ensured that Newcastle lost, 4-0! Arsenal’s beautiful attack scored two goals! Arsenal’s woeful defending gifted Manchester City two goals! Liverpool lost! So many unexpected things happening all at once. Let’s wade through the weekend’s results using a little game I like to call ‘Credit or Blame.’” Grantland
“With both the Champions League and Europa League group stages kicking off this week, what impact will Dutch sides AFC Ajax, Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven make in their respective competitions? First things first: How did they get there? Ajax have made the groups this year by winning the Eredivise, as first place automatically qualify for the Champions League. Last season’s second place Feyenoord had a chance to qualify for the Champions League, but crashed out to Turkish giants Besiktas; they lost 5-2 on aggregate. Therefore Feyenoord had a chance to enter the Europa League, in a qualifying match against FC Zorya Luhansk, who Feyenoord defeated 5-4 on aggregate.” backpagefootball
“There is an unhelpful idealism about international football, or at least about the way England approach international football. Everybody has their favourite to promote, the key creator who cannot be left out, the grand scheme that will secure success, and the result is often a terrible mish-mash – a team designed, if not by committee, then certainly with so many voices at play that a manager’s thinking can become clouded.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“When a young footballer outgrows their youth academy and the time comes for them to impress on the senior stage one of a few things will inevitably happen. Whether the player is slowly transitioned into the squad, being afforded the odd substitute appearance, or is thrown straight in at the deep end – through necessity, as injuries thin the squad, or because the manager wishes to scrutinise the player’s mentality under intense pressure – both scenarios will give some indication of the player’s aptitude. Solid performances will enforce the manager’s trust as well as the player’s belief and their playing time will grow, eventually allowing them to slot seamlessly into the squad.” Bundesliga Fanatic
“Mauro Icardi scored his first ever hat trick as Inter Milan thrashed 10-man Sassuolo 7-0 on Sunday for its first victory of the fledgling Serie A season, while AC Milan won 5-4 at Parma in a highly entertaining match, which saw both teams reduced to 10 men. New signing Paolo Osvaldo netted twice and Mateo Kovacic also recorded his first league goal for Inter, while Fredy Guarin capped off a fantastic day for the Nerazzurri. Sassuolo, which lost at home by the same scoreline in its first meeting with Inter last season, also had forward Domenico Berardi sent off for an elbow on Juan Jesus.” SI
“That was a long two weeks of nothingness with only a Ronaldo/Pérez spat-and-backtrack to keep the blog going for a fortnight. Spain’s rebuild is underway, nobody got fired and as far as La Liga can recall, Barcelona managed to avoid being investigated for some kind of tax/contract/signing misdemeanour. All very disappointing. Aside from all the posers detailed below ahead of the weekend to come, LLL is also pondering whether Valencia’s promising start to the season can continue at home to Espanyol and is keen to see if Villarreal can live without the injured Giovani dos Santos at Granada. In the meantime, here are some bigger fish to fry.” FourFourTwo
“With the international programme officially over Andy Brassell, James Horncastle and Julien Laurens bring you their Talking Points ahead of this weekend’s action” Guardian
“Portugal has for some time now looked at itself as a country that competes far above its weight class in international football. It has produced three World Footballers of The Year. Its best result at a World Cup was third-place in 1966. And it lost a European Championship Final on their home soil just a decade ago. The so-called ‘Golden Generation’ that emerged in the early 2000s lifted many Portuguese fans spirits after several dark decades. However, this talented group of players that included Luis Figo failed to deliver the elusive senior title. But currently, there is a new generation of talented youngsters that could finally propel the modest European nation into the elite of global football.” Outside of the Boot
“Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini had two players in tears at the club’s training ground five days before the Premier League opener at Newcastle. Yes, they were only 11. And yes, they were tears of joy at being invited by Pellegrini to watch City’s first team train at close quarters. But this touching little scene at Carrington provides a small insight into the affection in which he is held and the quiet, understated but tranquil atmosphere Pellegrini has brought to City in his 14 months in England. It is all in stark contrast to the turbulence of his predecessor Roberto Mancini, whose tenure was a boom time for local photographers. Daily they pitched up with their ladders, strode down the public right of way that runs down the side of City’s training complex, climbed the steps and waited for the explosion.” BBC
“Maribor placed Slovenia on Europe’s elite football map once again. The smallest club in this year’s Champions League edition is preparing to fight the elite clubs as an underdog. Champions League football is a lifetime opportunity for the Slovenes, especially for the in-form winger Damjan Bohar, one of Maribor’s biggest prospects.” Outside of the Boot
“Three quick points on Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Albania in their opening qualification fixture for the 2016 European Championship: 1. Finding creativity minus Cristiano. After the painful sight of seeing him strain every frayed sinew at the World Cup, it was almost a relief that the indefatigable Cristiano Ronaldo dropped out of this Euro 2016 qualification tie through injury.” ESPN
“Johan Cruyff has come home to Amsterdam and, on a cloudy day in the old city where he was born, grew up and made his professional debut for Ajax 50 years ago this November, he moves with good-humoured elegance through the crowds calling out his name and trying to touch him. At the Olympic Stadium, walking around an arena which has been taken over for the day by his Foundation, this is an exercise in the familiar art of being Johan Cruyff. The 67-year-old reacts to the adoration, and even being cuddled by a grown man dressed up as a ‘Cruyffie’ mascot, with a wry smile. This is how it feels to have been a football icon for five decades.” Guardian
“I answered some questions for the excellent French language website Footballski.fr which deals with football in Eastern Europe. I present the English version here – it was a chance for me to clarify my views on a number of different issues, the Polish FA, fan culture in Poland and the enigmatic Zbigniew Boniek. Read on for more.” Rightbankwarsaw
“A decade on from Euro 2004 and England’s teenage messiah in Portgual has become a fully-fledged pariah. Wayne Rooney was an exciting blur of brutal, brilliant potential 10 years ago. Today he is cast as some tragic disappointment. But what if the problem is that perception rather than his performances? Rooney became one of Europe’s most interesting and modern forwards during the mid-to-late 00′s. Though he arrived from Everton as an already versatile and prodigious young striker, the needs of his new team led to him to progress into being an even more complete and multi-functional player.” Squawka
Ronald Koeman
“Sorry is the hardest word in football. It can be used as a tactical device or a timely diversion. Very occasionally, it is employed with due respect. That sombre moment has arrived, now the distraction of the international break is over. The return of the Premier League offers the opportunity to apologise to those whose powers of motivation and professionalism were prematurely written off. Here are five managers who would be forgiven for wearing ‘I told you so’ smiles when the action resumes. Sorry, chaps.” BT Sport
“As the transfer window closed in early September it was possible to draw the first conclusions about what could be expected for the season based on TPI (Transfer Price Index ©). All figures below are based on current values, so the the latest inflation figures have been applied (using the inflation index of all transfers in the relevant season). Amidst all of the hype in the Sky Sports studio, it was clear from an early stage that all records were about to be broken. Man City were hamstrung by FFP regulations and so were unlikely to spend significantly in an attempt to defend their title, but below them Chelsea and Liverpool had sold expensively (David Luis and Luis Suárez respectively) and so had funds to spare, whereas Arsenal wanted to cement their position in the top four, with Man United expected to spend heavily to regain after they missed out on European football for the first time since football began – as Sky Sports would have you believe. All this came with the first influx of money from the new increased television deal.”
Tomkins Times
“Bořek Dočkal, Czech Republic midfielder. It is great, of course, but we definitely expected a really difficult game. We met a team that got to the semis in Brazil, they showed their quality. So we just tried to defend well and wait for counterattacks. It is a great victory for us. [For my opening goal] I received a good ball from our striker. I didn’t want to lose the ball, so I just tried to shoot and hit the top corner, so it was one of the best goals of my life.” UEFA
“On December 3, 2005, Harry Redknapp resigned as manager of Southampton Football Club. Five days later, he turned up some ten miles away in the city of Portsmouth, where he announced that he had become the new manager of Portsmouth Football Club. Redknapp has a reputation for courting controversy, to put it lightly, and in that sense, this move was about right. Portsmouth and Southampton are the South Coast’s two biggest clubs (historically anyway; Portsmouth is now in League Two, England’s fourth division), and they share a fierce, local rivalry. Fans weren’t thrilled by the move, but it turned out to be far more controversial than a matter of rivalries.” VICE
“You would be hard-pressed to find another sport that’s had a revolution in analysis the likes of which soccer has experienced in the last few years. Where a decade ago post-match analysis began and ended with guts, determination and hustle, the modern pundit relies on an array of technical minutiae to justify their conclusions. Tactics, heat maps, possession rates, successful dribbles, aerial duels won, distribution percentages, expected goal differentials, goal impact, man-marking, zonal marking, expected goals created, inverted wingers, inverted full backs, false nines, false coaches, training methods, choice of breakfast, team selection, nominal GDPs, and even jersey tightness are just some of the tools in use to break down a team’s performance.” Fusion
“While AC Milan have begun their season on the tail-end of a surprisingly successful transfer campaign; acquiring the likes of Menez, Alex, and Diego Lopez, there is one piece of business which was a huge disappointment for Milan fans around the world: the sale of 19-year old Bryan Cristante. Over the past few seasons, Cristante has been the shining gem of Milan’s youth set-up and it seemed that this year would be the one where he would get the opportunity to showcase his talent. Technically he will be doing just that, but not with Milan. Cristante will be plying his trade in Portugal this season with Benfica. There was plenty of speculation regarding the future of the midfielder at the start of the transfer window, with both Benfica and Sassuolo seeking out the services of the player. However these rumors were quickly put to bed by Galliani who stated that Milan had no intention of selling Cristante, much to the relief of the fans.” Outside of the Boot
“At first it was hard to work out what exactly was going on. The Copa do Brasil first leg tie between Grêmio and Santos at the Arena do Grêmio in Porto Alegre two weeks ago was dwindling limply to a close, with the visiting team leading 2-0, when all of a sudden Santos goalkeeper Aranha started screaming and pointing at the crowd behind his goal, visibly upset. When the TV cameras zoomed in, they revealed a group of young men, some black, some white, shouting and jumping up and down and moving their arms in imitation of monkeys. Elsewhere in the ground, a well-dressed young woman was filmed cupping her hand around her mouth and shouting ‘macaco, macaco’ (‘monkey’) in Aranha’s direction.” Fusion
“Sitting in the Weserstadion, one can’t help but feel that Werder Bremen’s fans do have an impressive support going for their team. I was there for the match against Hoffenheim, and it was lovely to see the way Davie Selke was applauded off the pitch despite not having had the best of matches. The attitude the youngster had put on display was right though, the Under-19 European champion had worked his socks off throughout the entire match, and Werder’s fans showed him their appreciation for that. Even the people sitting behind me in the VIP lounge were getting into the match, which happens fairly seldom at other grounds.” Bundesliga Fanatic
“15 August 1987, Upton Park. West Ham v QPR on the opening Saturday of the season. West Ham had finished 15th in the First Division the previous season and QPR 16th; no one expected much more than the usual rough and tumble of a London derby. And yet a significant piece of English football history was about to be made. QPR lined up in a 3-5-2 system, with wing-backs, two man-to-man markers in central defence and a sweeper. It was the first time a major club side in England had opted for the formation as a first-choice strategy and, perhaps more significantly, it worked. QPR won 3-0, and went on to win six and draw one of their opening seven games. In a world that had been dominated by 4-4-2 since the 1960s, this was a radical departure and it took QPR to the top of the league.” Guardian
“It’s me, and I’m sorry. I am the nascent American soccer fan. I am the one who has rewarded the editors that fill their sites with SEO-friendly ‘New soccer fan? Start here!’ posts. I am the brand new fan who, after running out of ideas for Tim Howard memes, took the ‘Which Premier League team should you follow?’ quiz, and considered abiding by the result. I am the soccer fan who, until six weeks ago, knew three players: – Landon Donovan – Pele – Ronaldo (Without knowing that there are somewhere between two and ten important Ronaldos). I am presuming that you have been around longer than that, living through the dark years when American soccer fans had roughly the same social standing as leprosy victims and Michael Bolton enthusiasts, so I do not begrudge you your sighs and scoffs. But while you can be frustrated with this new legion of American soccer fanatics, you can’t hate us, or at least shouldn’t.” The Classical
“Within the context of any form of entertainment it is intrinsic for us, as spectators, to direct our support towards one particular camp, to root for one distinct winner, whether this be the protagonist of a film or an athlete in a race. This is how any spectacle is made to be entertaining because by investing emotionally into what we are watching we are suddenly made to feel part of it, despite playing no real part in it ourselves. This is the simple science behind the long-lasting adoration any football fan feels for their team and is also why, to some, the concept of supporting a ‘second team’ sounds nothing short of blasphemous.” Bundesliga Fanatic
“It is a phrase embedded in the game’s vernacular, a character from a bygone age and a team that, somehow, overcame the odds on a weekly basis. Sixty years ago Roy of the Rovers was first published as a comic strip – six decades since Roy Race’s golden locks and debonair charm first enraptured youngsters and adults alike to evoke dreams of glory and unlikely tales of sporting bravura. … Say the words Roy Race and Melchester Rovers to someone of a certain generation and the eyes mist up, a reflective pause follows before a wistful smile. To many those names represent childhood, escapism and sheer joy – the weekly ritual of buying a comic, reading in rapid time before poring over the same pages again and again until the next edition hit the shelves.” Guardian, Guardian: Roy of the Rovers and other classic comics return to newsstands
“There were two recurring themes about transfers this summer. Firstly, murmurs of doubt from people discussing Manchester United and Arsenal, asking why they haven’t signed defenders when they so clearly need them. And secondly, splutters of incredulity when Paris St.-Germain bought David Luiz for £50 million; Manchester City paid £32 million for Eliaquim Mangala; Bayern spent £21 million on Mehdi Benatia and Roma replaced him by shelling out £10.5 million on Kostas Manolas; when Liverpool bought Dejan Lovren for £20 million and Barcelona paid £16 million for Jeremy Mathieu, the same price United ending up splashing on Marcos Rojo.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“Monday’s Transfer Deadline Day business done by Ronald Koeman and Southampton was the icing on the cake of a brilliant rebound by the Saints, after it all could have turned into a catastrophic set of events that would have set the club on their way to a state of pure bedlam. Their well-documented struggles in the transfer window with losing the majority of their influential players were dealt with in a very calm and collective way.” Outside of the Boot
“Who are the best African youngsters to keep an eye out for in Africa Cup of Nations 2015 qualifying? Matt Carter runs down 10 of Africa’s finest young players….” Just Football
“When Radamel Falcao was a child, he would watch his father toiling for a series of sides of ever-decreasing quality and it upset him. “I watched my dad play in defence and it disappointed me,” he said. “I wanted him to go up and score a goal.” Radamel García once scored a famous goal against Millonarios in Bogotá, but he was more generally known for two things: his aggression and his religious devotion. “For every foul, another prayer,” as the joke had it at the time. But his son didn’t share the joke. His son wondered why anybody would ever settle for playing at the back.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“Top-level footballers often tend to generate a very specific kind of emotion. In happier times this is a simple sense of joy at seeing them capering about in pursuit of a ball. Dwight Yorke for example – even in the later years when you half expected to look down and notice he was out there running around in a leotard and a pair of plimsolls – always managed to make the basic act of playing football seem unavoidably hilarious. Similarly, the sight of David Beckham scurrying about in an England shirt like a doomed, faithful cartoon horse tended to inspire above all a desire to burst into brave, hot husky tears of moon-faced joy.” Guardian
“Despite missing many of its veterans, the United States men’s national team opened the cycle that will lead to the 2018 World Cup with a hard-fought exhibition win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday in Prague. The United States started strong, with a solid performance from its central midfield, composed of Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud and Joe Corona. It was through those three players that the Americans scored the game’s only goal. Through it all, the team got outstanding goalkeeping from Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando, who are seeking to supplant Tim Howard during his hiatus from international play. Central defenders John Brooks, Michael Orozco and Tim Ream played well as well.” NY Times
For U.S. youngsters, win vs. Czechs about ideology, not victory
“Future editions of U.S. Soccer’s media guide will note Alejandro Bedoya scored the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Czech Republic. Press reports will praise goalkeeper Nick Rimando for his stalwart second-half showing and box scores might indicate that Joe Gyau, Greg Garza and 18-year-old Emerson Hyndman made their international debuts. But that’s all it is – trivia. The performances and moments that shaped Wednesday’s friendly will have no bearing on U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann when he selects his team for the 2018 World Cup. And that’s no slight against those men. Four years can be a soccer lifetime.” SI
“It was another record-breaking transfer window in terms of money spent, but sometimes the most intelligent transfers cost extremely little and clubs that take a chance on overlooked players are frequently rewarded with fine performances. Here, then, are five of the bargains of this transfer window…” ESPN – Michael Cox
“Roma 2-0 Fiorentina | A match that was about discipline and pressing culminated in the home side grapping their first 3 points of the Serie A 2014/15 season. With the result, Vincenzo Montella’s record in the Olympico as a coach reads an uninspiring 8 matches, 0 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses.” Outside of the Boot
“Angel di Maria set up three goals and scored the fourth himself as Argentina trounced Germany 4-2 in their friendly game Wednesday to get a small measure of payback after losing to the host in the World Cup final. Argentina was up 4-0 after just 50 minutes to dampen the home side’s World Cup title celebrations in its first game since winning the final 1-0 in extra time in Brazil in July. With Lionel Messi absent due to a right leg injury, Di Maria assumed the instigator’s role, setting up Sergio Aguero in the 21st minute, Erik Lamela’s outstanding volley in the 40th, and Federico Fernandez’ headed goal two minutes after the interval.” SI
“Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Liverpool | Two young managers, similar systems, exciting football, insistence on ground play, hard pressing, and quick pace. Both these sides and the men in charge had similarities, which even extended to their ambitions for the season. The game was meant to be close on paper, and turned out as planned for large parts of the opening 45, but the gulf in class showed as the game wore on with Liverpool emerging the better side.” Outside of the Boot
“When you see someone running on the field during a sporting event, you probably think, That will never be me. Announcers shake their heads so vigorously it produces an audible rustling of their collars. The word ‘idiot’ gets tossed around a lot — ‘idiot on the field’ is often the phrase of choice. In fact, the Great American Idiot, Homer Simpson, ran onto the field once: The headline read ‘Idiot Ruins Game.’ It seems like there have been a lot of these idiots recently. There was Jordan Dunn, the man who took the free kick in West Ham’s opening match against Tottenham.” Grantland (Video)
“Imagine if Chelsea, the team that ranks third in the all-time Premier League table, wasn’t challenging for the title every year, but rather was fighting to avoid relegation. That’d be strange, right? Like watching a drunken executive wallow in the gutter. Chelsea isn’t supposed to be down there. To continue this thought experiment, imagine Chelsea’s answer, because it’s a “big club” that aspires to more, and because it has some resources, was to bring back a former star–let’s say Arjen Robben–to save the team. That’d be cool right? A returning hero riding into town to set things right again? This is basically the situation in the German Bundesliga, at Hamburger SV–the hero being Rafael van der Vaart, who returned to the club in 2012 but has been unable to affect much change.” Fusion
“Ruthless, hard-working and able to wind up the opposition – new Chelsea striker Diego Costa is turning out to be what you might perceive as being Blues boss Jose Mourinho’s perfect kind of player. The £32m summer signing from Atletico Madrid scored twice in Saturday’s thrilling 6-3 win over Everton and managed to annoy the Toffees players and their boss Roberto Martinez in the process. Costa’s goal tally stands at four in his first three Premier League games, which is some start for any striker at a new club in a new country.” BBC
Scissors Kick 