The Arsenal.
“Here at PNIG, we love football and we love art. As you’ve seen with my piece on Pirlo, my hook-up with the great people at The Illustrated Game, and my recent piece on World Cup photographer Ryu Voelkel, the beatuiful game really can be the beautiful game in the hands of some people.” Put Niels In Goal
“Perhaps, given England’s perceived lack of success, it’s only natural that we should hark always back to 1990, that we should be forever trying to recapture what made that tournament so compelling. Yet it is a little odd. It doesn’t take much of an examination of England’s World Cup record to see how fine the margins sometimes are. In the last eight World Cups, England have reached the last eight (in 1982, the second phase comprised four three-team groups; so for the purposes of this stat I’ve counted the teams who finished second in those groups as losing quarter-finalists) on five occasions. Put like that, England’s World Cup record doesn’t sound too bad – in fact, only Brazil and (West) Germany can beat it.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“Ever wanted to be Roy Hodgson? It’s a common condition. His is a life of easy charm, muted bookishness and lovely warm coats. But there’s one unenviable task looming for the England manager ahead of Fifa World Cup 2014 in Brazil, and that’s picking 23 men to make up a squad capable of avoiding humiliation. With Hodgson set to announce his provisional list of players on Monday May 12, we’ve cast the net wide for potential England squad members, from the players who are on the plane barring a late metatarsal injury (Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Joe Hart), the youngsters who may or may not have done enough to impress (Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley) and the longshots (Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, ideally both at once).” Telegraph – Henry Winter
“For advocates of supporter-ownership, the current standings in League Two will make pretty grim reading. Two of the division’s fan owned clubs, Exeter City and Wycombe Wanderers are in the very heart of the fight to avoid relegation to the Conference, while another two, AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth have had dismal seasons.” backpagefootball
“While most football fans from Ireland adopt an illustrious English side to support, their own national league serves as little more than a sideshow. Growing up in Ireland I was never given the choice, so to speak, to support an Irish club as my ‘first team’. Like most Irish football fans, I support Liverpool. Strong cultural and historical links between Liverpool and Ireland make the connection, alongside the fact Liverpool were immensely successful for over 30 years straight, quite easy.” backpagefootball
“The final international break of the season produced some interesting results, and perhaps more importantly, offered a few hints about how major contenders might play in Brazil. Here are four conclusions from the week’s matches…” ESPN – Michael Cox (Video)
“England’s friendly against Denmark on Wednesday is not just the much-discussed final audition for players hopeful of forcing their way into Roy Hodgson’s squad for the World Cup, but also another episode in the oldest rivalry in international football – other than those between teams from Britain and Ireland. It was never, it must be admitted, a particularly ferocious rivalry, but England (representing Great Britain) did beat Denmark in the finals of both the 1908 and 1912 Olympics, while no continental European nation took football as seriously as Denmark did in the years up to the first world war.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“Ever wanted to be Roy Hodgson? It’s a common condition. His is a life of easy charm, muted bookishness and lovely warm coats. But there’s one unenviable task looming for the England manager ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, and that’s picking 23 men to make up a squad capable of avoiding humiliation. … You can select your 23 using our interactive graphic, share and compare it with your buddies across social media, then see how it stands up in comparison with five of our World Cup experts. Henry Winter, Michael Owen, Paul Hayward, Alan Hansen and Alan Smith picked their 23 in December ahead of the finals draw. Who knows, perhaps Theo Walcott will still make it to Brazil?” Telegraph – Henry Winter
“Niall Couper is UK spokesman for Amnesty International. If you follow the news, you’ll understand that means he’s a busy man. You’ll also understand why I, having never met him, was nervous about emailing to ask if he’d like a chat about football. He replied within three minutes: ‘Friday?’ I shouldn’t have been surprised. Niall Couper is a Wimbledon fan, and Wimbledon fans are always happy to talk football. In fact, it is their enthusiasm for the game that has made Wimbledon possibly the finest football club in the world.” Roads and Kingdoms
“From Gareth Bale’s off-field persona, you wouldn’t expect him to be a superstar. He’s shy, retiring, quiet and modest and, although his commercial activities have increased significantly to reflect his development into one of Europe’s most exciting players, he’s generally keen to evade the spotlight. In pure footballing terms, however, Bale is highly egotistical. Not in a rude, arrogant, spoilt-brat manner but in terms of his playing style. Many expected Bale to become a rampaging left-back, including the manager who made him a regular at Tottenham, Harry Redknapp.” ESPN – Michael Cox (Video)
“Researching the sporting history of a local area can be a frustrating and frequently painful experience. Perhaps worst of all is that persistent nagging voice that questions the relevance of the research itself. “What’s the point?” a little voice whispers, ‘Who actually cares?’ It probably doesn’t help when your area of interest is an untrendy town (Greenford), in an unremarkable area (Ealing) in a now defunct county (Middlesex). To confound it all, like a moth to a light bulb I’ve recently found myself inextricably drawn to a particular part of sporting Greenford, Birkbeck College sports ground, the former playing fields of the University of London’s Birkbeck College.” In Bed With Maradona (Video)
“At some point, probably during the early 1960s, the nasty side of football was born and promptly garrotted its parents with the chain of its first birthday bike. And while we may not see much traditional hooliganism in the football of 2014, the hate lives proud and strong in the songs sung in stadiums across the country, making life tricky for anyone who thinks the term ‘meathead’ is not a compliment.” Backpage Football
“There are some interesting firsts in Irish media history, one of them is the first live field sports broadcast in Europe on the national radio station, 2RN as it was then, which covered a hurling match between Galway and Kilkenny. This was not without controversy though; the GAA worried that live broadcast of the game could affect attendance and insisted that the coverage of the game start only after a post kick-off delay. This was not unique to the GAA; in Britain such was the concern that radio or TV coverage could affect the all-important revenue generating gate receipts that for decades conservative forces in the FA and club ownership fought against the regular live broadcast of matches or even of extended highlight packages.” Backpage Football
G Nev exhorts his boys.
“In the first of two posts, Jonny Sharples picks his favourite squads, from the nearly men to the gloriously overachieving. Managers are often heard discussing the importance of having a squad: the depth of it, the balance of it, the blend of it. If you get the right mix of players and you could challenge for, and sometimes win, trophies; get it wrong and you could see fall outs within the squad and trouble on the pitch. Sometimes, though, the squad that a manager brings together can just been really fun or really interesting. It can capture your imagination and strike a chord with you for nothing more than being exciting or having a somewhat cult feel. I decided to pick five of my favourite squads that, for whatever reason, have stuck in my head throughout the years. Each squad is selected on the basis of a particular season or tournament that they were brought together, reflecting the temporary nature of players being teammates one minute and opponents the next…” Put Niels In Goal – Part 1
“The stage is set for the greatest show on earth and the ball is rolling. The countdown has begun for the grand World Cup in Brazil next year, as the beautiful game goes to its spiritual home. Of course, it’s inevitable that the competition would attract interest, but a few old men in suits hogged all the World Cup attention this week. The draw for the competition was released, and the customary search for the group of death ends with Group D. Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica find themselves pitted alongside England.” Outside of the Boot
“England have been drawn in Group D for the 2014 World Cup, meaning they will face seeded team Uruguay as well as Italy and Costa Rica. Hosts Brazil are in Group A, reigning world and European champions Spain are in Group B and three-time champions Germany are in Group G. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, speaking before the draw was made, takes a closer look at the eight seeded national teams…” BBC
“I’ve been living in the London Borough of Haringey for over four years now. Though I’ve been writing about football for only the last few months, my interest in and passion for the game has obviously been around for a lot longer. It is, therefore, with something bordering shame that I have to admit that my visit this Tuesday to Haringey Borough Football Club was my first ever. It will not be my last.” Put Niels In Goal
“Hungary’s 6-3 victory at Wembley 60 years ago resonates like no other in the history of English football. It wasn’t just that this was a first home defeat to non-British or Irish opposition, the magnitude of the scoreline or the brilliance of the Hungarian display: it was the sense of shock. Over the course of one game – one hour even, given Hungary pretty much eased off in the final third – the complacency and the insularity of the English game were exposed. After 25 November 1953, none of the old certainties were certain any more.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
England v Hungary 60 years on: What lessons have been learned?
“You can normally count on a Scotsman to cut to the chase when it comes to English football’s failings. After all, they have been pointing them out ever since 11 Englishmen went north on 30 November, 1872, for the first ever international match. That game ended 0-0, but the Scots would win nine of the first 13 matches between the teams, and 27 of the first 50. England would trail in the head-to-head series until 1983. Losing to more skilful opponents from a country called Scotland was not that shocking for most of English football’s history.” BBC
“You might not expect the ‘Magical Magyars’ of 1953 and former Manchester United managers Ron Atkinson and Tommy Docherty to have much in common, but they were actually all inspired by the same remarkable man. His name was Jimmy Hogan and, although he played, managed and coached on these shores, he is an Englishman better known – and far more celebrated – in mainland Europe.” BBC
“Alexis Sanchez trod in the footsteps of Marcelo Salas with his two goals to beat England at Wembley on Friday night. Salas scored his Wembley goals – also a 2-0 win – in a warm-up game for France 98, a tournament at which he once more gave evidence of his quality and where Chile had their moments. They made it out of their group but they did not win a single game, going down to Brazil in the second round after three consecutive draws. The current Chile side under Jorge Sampaoli are capable of better things, and not just because the 2014 World Cup is on their home continent.” BBC
“It took just 15 minutes of Southampton’s 4-1 victory over Hull before the inevitable chants started from the Northam Stand, the loudest section of St Mary’s. ‘En-ger-land, En-ger-land, Eng-er-land’ was the first. ‘Come on England!’ swiftly followed. This wasn’t, of course, a message of support for the national side as a whole ahead of England’s upcoming friendlies against Chile and Germany. It was something of a boast: for the first time since the mid-1980s, three Southampton players have been selected the England squad in Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“The scoreline is familiar, as is the fateful date, but surely the title for this article should be ‘The Hand of God’? Everyone knows that this was the game when England’s brave Three Lions and the hapless officials were slyly deceived by the diminutive Argentine, and thus any retrospective of the game must take this key moment as its starting point? Or perhaps not…the moment we always hark back to, with a characteristic tone of moral indignation, is remembered quite differently outside England. The Quarter Final game may occupy a similar space in the Argentine collective memory in terms of its significance, but the epithet that is more commonly used in the Southern Cone, invoking the Uruguayan commentator’s interest in cosmology, refers predictably to the ‘other’ moment of otherworldly intervention that day.” In Bed With Maradona
“No show without Punch as they say. Or, in this instance, without Piara (‘Pipsqueak?’) Powar. He is, grandiosely, the Executive Director of something called Racism in Europe and on the utter non-event of Roy Hodgson’s harmless monkey in the spaceship analogy at Wembley, he opined ‘Hodgson used a very silly term within a diverse term environment. He should know better.’ Pomposity incarnate. But if this body is truly of European dimensions, what you wonder has it been doing about the shameful award to racist Russia of the 2018 World Cup. The country where that talented if somewhat eccentric forward Peter Odemwingie was forced out by the bigoted racist fans of Lokomotiv Moscow, who celebrated his departure for West Bromwich with a repugnant banner?” World Soccer
“World Cup dreams will be realized, dashed or deferred on Tuesday as qualifying continues around the globe. On the home front, the U.S. booked passage to Brazil last month and then clinched first place in CONCACAF’s Hexagonal with Friday’s 2-0 win over Jamaica. The only thing left to play for on Tuesday night in Panama is a seed next summer. Unfortunately for Jurgen Klinsmann and Co., chances are slim. The top seven sides in next month’s FIFA ranking (beside Brazil) will be anointed. According to ESPN statistican Paul Carr, the U.S. would have to defeat Panama while the Netherlands loses at Turkey, Switzerland loses to Slovenia, Poland ties or beats England, Ecuador ties or beats Chile and Uruguay misses out on qualifying altogether. Here’s a summary of what’s at stake elsewhere. Ties in group play are broken by goal differential in all games, goals scored in all games and then assorted head-to-head criteria.” SI
“Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Belgium beat Croatia 2-1 to secure their place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Striker Lukaku, on loan at Everton from Premier League rivals Chelsea, scored twice in the first half, with Niko Kranjcar grabbing a late consolation. Belgium were joined by Germany and Switzerland in qualifying for next year’s tournament. Germany defeated the Republic of Ireland 3-0, while Switzerland won 2-1 in Albania.” BBC
“The fascinating thing about international football is that managers must cope with a very definite group of players. Whereas at club level, weaknesses can be solved by signing new players, at international level it’s not unusual for a top-class side to completely lack quality in one particular position. Sometimes, this forces managers to formulate innovative new tactical ideas to compensate for that weakness – but often, it simply means the side has a weak link. With eight months to go until the World Cup, here’s a look at six big international sides who have an obvious problem position.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“In 2009 the sports economist Stefan Szymanski and I published a book about football and data called Why England Lose. Going into the World Cup of 2010, people kept asking us: ‘Aren’t you worried about your title? What if England win?’ We weren’t very worried, and predictably, England lost. Later we changed the title anyway, because it turned out (amazingly) that English people wouldn’t buy a book called Why England Lose. Still, our original title remains pertinent. England enter their last qualifying matches against Montenegro and Poland on October 11 and 15 very uncertain to qualify for next year’s World Cup. It’s time to explain, once and for all, why England lose.” <a href=”http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8683a198-2bc4-11e3-a1b7-00144feab7de.html#axzz2hFhItdi7FT – Simon Kuper
“The use of well-worn football cliches can be frustrating, but the cliches themselves are generally easy to understand — which, of course, is why they remain so frequently used by fans and pundits alike. It can be confusing, however, when two accepted cliches completely contradict one another. This is particularly problematic when considering a player’s true level of ability. On one hand, we’re told that ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent.’ On the other, ‘You’re only as good as your last game.’ So how are we supposed to view Esteban Cambiasso, for example? Superb throughout the past decade, yet wretched during Inter’s 3-0 weekend defeat at home to Roma — if we follow both cliches, Cambiasso is simultaneously ‘class’ and ‘not very good’.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“The adventures of the Championship season have been mixed for AFC Bournemouth so far but the difficulties and crises of the past remain fresh in the memory. Since the early 1990s the story of the club has been one of promotions, relegations, takeovers and more than one instance of near financial oblivion. Many of the supporters who were at the rebuilt stadium at King’s Park for the first home game of this season will also have been at the town’s Winter Gardens theatre throwing notes into buckets in an effort to save their club during the 1996/97 season. The Cherries became a community club – Europe’s first, so it was said – but their problems were far from over. Similarly, they were hardly just beginning. By the time Tony Pulis left Dean Court in 1994 after two seasons in the job after replacing Harry Redknapp, Bournemouth were in the third tier and set for a troublesome season. After losing their first seven matches and scoring just four goals before eventually drawing against Chester City, they turned to a former Manchester City manager with a promotion in his scrapbook alongside a famous brush with Alex Ferguson in 1989.” In Bed With Maradona
“With all of the talk of FA Chairman Greg Dyke and the targets for the England national team over the past week, it seems many have already written off the team’s chances of success at the coming world cup in Brazil 2014. There also seems to be an acceptance that England will find it difficult to qualify, and with this mood of doubt and discontent there is arguably a perspective whereby many fans would not be surprised if England were to fail to qualify, or at least not directly progress. Once again England fans have been put through a stuttering and inconsistent qualification campaign, with many unconvincing individual and team displays leaving many questions to be answered.” Think Football
Why do Premier League stars keep looking disjointed in English shirts?
“It wasn’t good, but it was good enough. England scrapped and ground its way to a 0-0 draw against a strangely subdued Ukraine to clamber over the toughest remaining obstacle between it and qualification for the World Cup, but it’s debatable how much credit it can draw from a stodgy performance. In a sense, this was typical England, technically substandard but sufficiently determined to drag itself through. In terms of spirit and defensive resolve — if not necessarily defensive shape — there was much to commend; in terms of ball retention and chance creation virtually nothing.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“For a long time football in Ukraine has been backward looking but that is beginning to change at last. For the first decade after Soviet fragmentation everything revolved round Valeriy Lobanovskyi and for the decade after his death everything revolved round Andriy Shevchenko, whom Lobanovskyi had hailed as being closest to his ideal of the ‘universal player’ and who revered the Colonel and his ideas. Lobanovskyi’s genius had been to keep evolving. He stayed at the top of the game for 35 years because of his ability to adapt but his legacy was stasis. Everything came back to his way of doing things; his philosophy became a religion that had to be obeyed.”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Mykhaylo Fomenko reignites Ukraine’s World Cup qualifying campaign
“Out of chaos has come hope. When Oleh Blokhin quit as national coach of Ukraine after the 1-1 draw against England at Wembley to take charge of Dynamo Kyiv, there were three schools of thought. One thought it an outrage that anybody should abandon what was perceived as a patriotic duty; one accepted that, having spent 17 years as a player at Dynamo, the emotional pull was too strong to resist; the other breathed a sigh of relief at the deposition of a cranky and authoritarian manager whose teams had played crabby, bad-tempered football. As Dynamo’s slow decline continues – they lie sixth in the table after eight games and, as Metalist Kharkiv and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk grow, are arguably not even Ukraine’s second side (after Shakhtar Donetsk) any longer – it is the third school that seems most reasonable.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Roy Hodgson and England keen to make a point in Ukraine
“Ever since he unwisely admitted to thoroughly enjoying the dull scoreless draw between Manchester United and Chelsea last month, Roy Hodgson has been castigated for his innate conservatism. The England manager sets his sides up not to be beaten, it has been said, values a draw almost as much as a win and rarely attacks with sufficient aggression to deliver a knockout.” Guardian
Glantraeth FC
“So world club football comes to a sudden halt as we enter the international break. As the weekend’s Premier League football comes to a close, people begin moaning about the return of international football and begrudging the loss of the ‘real’ football (and I’m sure it’s the same in many parts of the world). I for one love international football, partly because I’m a very proud Welshman who loves watching his beloved home nation play football; if I can enjoy watching Wales (attempt to) play football, then I feel no-one else has any excuses. However, I’m not here to talk about international football or my love of Wales (we’d be here a while), but instead another perk that arises from international football weeks: that perk is National Non-League Day.” Outside of the Boot
“Ever since he was five years old, Steve Davies dreamed of playing for West Ham United. He grew up in the rain-thrashed English working-class town of Rushden, where by birthright he should have supported Rushden Town, or Northampton, or even Coventry City. But after watching West Ham triumph over Fulham in the 1975 FA Cup final, he became a long-distance fan, pledging his allegiance to the claret and blue of the Hammers.” Guardian
“Sunday was a grim day for Roy Hodgson. It started badly as the England manager was denied a seat in the directors box at Anfield, seemingly because there were too many sponsors who had to be accommodated. Hodgson initially had to take his place in a section of seats usually reserved for scouts. The day got worse as confirmation came that Wayne Rooney will miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with a head injury, and it deteriorated further as Phil Jones and Glen Johnson were forced out of Liverpool’s win over Manchester United with injuries, Daniel Sturridge suffered a groin strain and Jack Wilshere, battling stomach cramps, had to come off before halftime in Arsenal’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“Last weekend, on August 17, NBC launched its new coverage of the English Premier League, after paying $250 million for the television rights to every soccer match played in the EPL over the next three years. Fox had been paying a third of that price to air a much smaller slate of games than NBC will. NBC’s execs seemed to have made a big gamble, betting that flooding the American market with English soccer would draw casual viewers in, boost NBC’s ratings, and increase the sport’s exposure in the U.S. The reward was the highest overnight rating in U.S. history for a Premier League season opener.” The Atlantic
City’s Bert Trautmann is knocked out during their FA Cup final in 1956
“After the passing of Bernhard ‘Bert’ Trautmann mid-July the obituaries appeared to reduce his life to 2 facts: the re-education of a former Nazi simply by the kindness and humility of the British people and the 1956 FA Cup Final. For Trautmann himself, this was not very particularly pleasing as he stated repeatedly.” Do not mention the war
“When you start at the very top, the only way to go is down. And the famous England-Scotland football fixture has been slowly but steadily losing its cachet for, ooh, nearly 141 years now. The first match between the countries – a goalless draw at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick in November 1872 – was also the first international in football history, so by definition it was a summit meeting between the best teams in the world. Stovepipe hats off, everyone.” Guardian
“Every one of Europe’s top five leagues has the potential to have a thrilling title race this season. Sam Thompson, of TTTFootball, takes a closer look at who will be challenging at the top in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France…” Think Football
“Football, over the last couple of seasons, has been witnessing a ‘change of guard’. Players who we adored in their prime have retired, managers that headed some of the greatest sides in history have resigned. All this has given rise to the next generation of football personnel ranging from talented young footballers to talented young tacticians. In this piece we will be focusing on the Top 10 Young Football Managers, that could be at the helm of some of the biggest clubs in World Football, in the not-so-distant future.” Outside of the Boot – Part 1, Outside of the Boot – Part 2
“Let’s be honest, most of us have at some point been worryingly addicted to Football Manager games. The chance to take control of a football club and replicate the beautiful game in a virtual interface has been a hobby of millions. The sole chance us below average footballers (yet passionate footy fans) have to experience the ‘real’ thing. But it’s one thing to take lowly Southend United to Europe’s holy grail and take ‘Old Big Ears’ back to Roots Hall while playing against managers controlled by computer generated algorithms, and another whole scenario to do it against actual managerial enthusiasts like yourself. SoccerManager.com takes this highly addictive passion and puts it onto the online world, implementing all the necessary features for you arm-chair pundits, and gives you the opportunity to compete.” Outside of the Boot
“When the Premier League started in 1992, it included just one footballer known to be Muslim, Tottenham’s Spanish midfielder Nayim. England’s top division now features 40 Muslim players and they are having a significant effect on the culture of the game.” BBC
“As Albert Einstein once said ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. England’s performances based on this quote and on the opinions of football fans across the country would merit the term ‘insanity’. Over the last few decades England fans have had to become accustomed to mediocrity, in every sense of the word. Performances have not been fitting of a country which claims to be the father of the beautiful game. The current U21 European Championships have epitomised the England of the last decade, they lack imagination, identity and worst of all progress.” Outside of the Boot
“Michael Carrick is a player who often doesn’t get the recognition he deserves for the role he plays at Manchester United. This season he has received more praise from critics and also from the England manager, Roy Hodgson. Fabio Capello didn’t appear to fancy the Manchester United midfielder and often omitted him for his squads and the starting line-up in favour for the most industrious Gareth Barry or Scott Parker. Hodgson though, has identified Carrick as a key player and as such he has featured much more prominently since the former Liverpool manager took over from Fabio Capello.” Think Football
“Superb strikes by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney rescued some dignity for England after Brazil had handed out a footballing lesson at the Maracana. After toiling against Brazil’s dash and panache, two moments of brilliance saw England take an unlikely lead before Paulinho’s excellent volley gave the hosts a draw at the official re-opening of their famous stadium, the very least they deserved. The strikes by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rooney, following Fred’s opener for the home side, were not quite of the same standard as John Barnes’ legendary solo goal in this stadium 29 years ago. Nevertheless they will provide much-needed encouragement for Hodgson ahead of the autumn’s World Cup qualifiers.” ESPN
“There will be those who insist the violence that broke out toward the end of Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal between Millwall and Wigan Athletic was an isolated incident; it’s the usual way of downplaying such things. But it wasn’t. I saw three separate scuffles in the Millwall end before the brawl that was shown on T. I saw around 30 men going toe-to-toe, swinging punches at each other and then turning on police when, belatedly, an effort was made to stop them. Other journalists spoke of at least two other incidents, and there had been an unpleasant edge to the atmosphere all day.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“What a strange, and indeed disturbing, occasion this was. Wigan are in the FA Cup final for the first time in their history after beating Millwall 2-0, but this Wembley semi-final will be remembered instead for the extreme, concentrated outbreak of violence among spectators at the end behind Millwall’s goal – the Millwall end – during the final 10 minutes of the match, apparently a continuation of two smaller second-half flare-ups in the same area.” Guardian
“Probably the last thing English football wanted was another racism scandal, but it’s got one regardless. With Football Against Racism in Europe raising an official complaint about England fans for the abusive chanting directed towards him during the San Marino game, we’re set for yet another round of accusation, counter allegation and all-round ugliness. We have of course been here before – in a situation such as this, there are no winners.” 2nd Yellow
English football is racist, and the FA looks the other way
“Reporting from the Mall during the Queen’s jubilee celebrations last summer, I remember an impromptu rendition of God Save the Queen and feeling quite surprised that its fourth line wasn’t “No surrender”. If you’re used to hearing the national anthem at England football matches, you get so conditioned to those words being bellowed over the four notes between ‘God save the Queen’ and ‘Send her victorious’ that their absence is practically the twitch of a phantom limb.” Guardian
“Branko Brnovic surprisingly started with a lone forward, but ended up with four outright attackers as Montenegro deservedly claimed a point. Brnovic’s selection was hampered by injuries and suspensions – Miodrag Dzudovic, Mitar Novakovic and Simon Vukcevic all came into the side. Roy Hodgson made significant changes from the side that comfortably defeated San Marino on Friday evening, with Danny Welbeck, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, James Milner, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson returning. A game of two halves – England dominated against an oddly passive Montenegro, but were unable to deal with the increased attacking threat after half-time.” Zonal Marking
England manager Roy Hodgson needs to wake up to some harsh realities as spectre of World Cup play-offs looms
” England are in a dark place, a potentially damaging and hugely expensive place. They trail to bullish Montenegro in the race for automatic qualification, face the possibility of a play-off against France and risk losing out on the 2014 Brazilian bonanza of £26m to the FA and £100m to the nation’s economy. Hodgson is confident of overtaking Montenegro, who lead Group H by two points, but the spectre of the play-offs should really focus his thoughts sharply. November’s two-legged examination of psychological, tactical and technical strengths must be avoided. Hodgson needs to stop clutching at draws and start winning, instilling a more assertive culture in his players and his own response to difficulties.” Telegraph – Henry Winter
“England smashed San Marino 8-0 on Friday night, which might lead some fans to get a sense of renewed optimism in their county’s ability to make a mark in Brazil 2014. However, in perspective, despite the fact 8 goals were scored, this was an incredibly low quality opposition and we cannot really read much into the result. What was striking about the squad that faced San Marino and has been selected for the qualifiers is how weak it is, particularly after Rio Ferdinand dropped out. This is in stark comparison to the wealth of quality England had between 2004 and 2010 during the ascent of the ‘golden generation.’” Think Football
“It seemed inevitable that when Roy Hodgson had to choose between John Terry and Rio Ferdinand last year, the manager would eventually end up with neither. Whatever your views of Terry’s international retirement, or Ferdinand’s decision to turn down his call-up this week, citing an ‘intricate pre-planned programme,’ this is typical England. When forced to choose between two options, England always gets the worst of both worlds.” ESPN – Michael Cox (Video)
“Flags in hand, a group of wheezing scribes of questionable fitness are ‘crabbing’ their way left and right along the sideline of an indoor football pitch at St George’s Park, opulent home to the National Football Centre in Burton-on-Trent. As the verb suggests, the exercise involves shuttling sideways at speed in order to keep up with and constantly monitor play, while simultaneously providing a moving target for any projectiles that might be raining down from the crowd behind. The ability to ‘crab’ is an essential skill for any match official and one this reporter has since adopted to maximise efficiency while shopping in supermarkets that are long of aisle.” Guardian (Video)
Sunderland
“In the latest part of our weekly series we bring you the work of American artist Paine Proffitt. Since moving to England 10 years ago, Proffitt has focused on portraying working man’s life. ‘Football is central to who we are and where we come from,’ he said. Proffitt’s paintings are inspired in part by surrealism and cubism, and are created using layers of acrylic on canvas. The colour and texture is steadily built up over a period of several days before the details, collage elements and lettering are added. Proffitt was commissioned last season to produce the cover artwork for West Bromwich Albion’s programmes and is this season working with Port Vale and Aberdeen.” Guardian
“It’s been an incredible year for football, both at the club and international level — with that in mind, here are 10 of the most memorable moments of 2012.” ESPN – Michael Cox (Video)
“In a number of areas, British comics are enjoying something of a resurgence at the moment. There are a slew of intelligent and inventive indie comics creators, particularly working in the autobiographical field, in print and online. British writers and artists are again among the foremost talents pushing the envelope in the mainstream superhero field. And even 2000 AD is going through a fresh purple patch of critical acclaim and publicity for both the weekly comic, and the cult hit Dredd movie adaptation.” New Statesman
“Somebody’s got to say it. The Champions League is, for all the quality of football on show, a bit ‘same old, same old.’ Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, blah, blah… Oh, and Chelsea… usually. The Europa League, for all empty seats on show until its very latest stages, has more of the unpredictability of a genuine cup competition, even if the Iberian Peninsula is beginning to dominate those later stages.” twohundredpercent
“It is probably impossible to regret winning the FA Cup, but if anybody has come close, it’s former Everton manager Joe Royle. When his side lifted the trophy in 1995, it was just a couple of weeks after it survived relegation from the top flight, and just six months from what was until now (apologies, fans of winless Queens Park Rangers) the worst start to a Premier League season.” SI
Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa
“A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of goals. They’re everywhere – in every competition, in every country, in every stadium (apart from games involving Sunderland). Four-goal leads are regularly obliterated (Angola v Mali, Newcastle v Arsenal, Germany v Sweden, Arsenal v Reading). Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao break goalscoring records every week. Everybody attacks, all the time. In the top flights of England, France and Spain, there has been a clear upward trend in the numbers of goals scored per game over the past decade. Last season, for the first time ever, the knockout stage of the Champions League yielded more than three goals per game and that has continued into this season’s group stage, with 3.03 goals per game. And even in Italy and Germany, where goals per game have remained relatively constant for 10 years, this season is showing above average numbers of goals.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
How English game of pace and power benefits from European precision
“More passes, less ‘hoofs’ from back to front, and a slicker goalscoring rate: the Premier League has become a more technical “continental” competition that is a fusion of English pace and power and European subtlety. These are the implications of statistics from Opta that chart a shift over the past five years from a direct approach to a more patient game that now features greater precision in passing and finishing. The national team continue to see little benefit from this evolution, with experts citing the prime factors as the influx of foreign players and coaches, better club pitches and training facilities, a clampdown on tackling and the influence of a Champions League dominated by Barcelona’s carousel-passing style.” Guardian
“Football is becoming increasingly universal when it comes to tactics: the best defenders can start attacks; top-level attackers are expected to defend. Classic number tens have declined in popularity, but then so have traditional wingers — there are more multi-faceted, versatile players. Because of the convergence of player styles, it’s rare that a player’s unusual technique grabs your attention. When witnessing a talented player for the first time, you can generally crudely compare him to a more established player; Argentina has had plenty of “new Maradonas” — primarily because of the overwhelming desire to create another superstar in his mould, something eventually achieved with the ascent of Lionel Messi into the world’s greatest player, but also because it’s easy. Why spend a minute explaining a player’s characteristics when you can accurately summarise it with a quick comparison?” ESPN – Michael Cox
“Iain Dowie, Les Reed and Alan Pardew: The three managerial stooges that brought nothing but doom and gloom to Charlton Athletic. .. Footballing horror stories often involve one depressing afternoon where a team ships goals left, right and centre leaving the fan alone amongst empty seats, miserable and forlorn about a dismal home performance. But Charlton Athletic fans witnessed a horror show that ran for the best part of three years. The capitulation of the team during its slide towards League One was undoubtedly a dismal thing to sit through.” Sabotage Times
“The year of the blog? Very possibly, especially with the current batch of outstanding sites out there which have grown, improved, developed and cross-pollinated in recent time. Aided by social media, an increasingly specialised selection is out there, waiting for you to wade through and bolster your knowledge of the game, and I thoroughly recommend losing yourself in as many of the following as possible.” Guardian
Scissors Kick 