“Eternal foes Manchester United and Liverpool lock horns once again on Sunday afternoon in the biggest derby match for years, with the chance of a top-four finish up for grabs alongside the pride of two of English football’s most successful clubs.” Squawka (Video)
“Sam Allardyce | Bolton Wanderers vs. Ipswich Town. 21 April 1979. Big Sam gets accused of being many things: long ball merchant, unambitious, over indulgent at the buffet. But I can only accuse him of abandoning an excellent mustache. While playing for Bolton Wanderers, Allardyce scored this thunderbolt of a header against Ipswich Town. In the early 2000s, Allardyce’s returned to Bolton as manager and would take them back into the Premier League and the Europa League. Sadly, the mustache did not come with him.” 8 by 8 (Video)
“It was so close. Although Liverpool supporters would naturally have been disappointed that Brendan Rodgers’ team narrowly missed out on securing title winning glory in the 2013/14 season, objectively speaking their surge to second place in the Premier League represented great progress. Not only did they improve significantly from the previous season’s seventh, but they also qualified for the Champions League, a competition that has played an important part in the Reds’ famous history.” The Swiss Ramble
“It was so close. Although Liverpool supporters would naturally have been disappointed that Brendan Rodgers’ team narrowly missed out on securing title winning glory in the 2013/14 season, objectively speaking their surge to second place in the Premier League represented great progress. Not only did they improve significantly from the previous season’s seventh, but they also qualified for the Champions League, a competition that has played an important part in the Reds’ famous history.” The Swiss Ramble
“Brendan Rodgers is very good. We all thought we saw a miserable Liverpool performance; a terrified defence somehow supporting an attack as threatening as a sleepy hamster. We were wrong. What we actually saw was a battalion of tired heroes, the conquerors of Manchester City, the pacifiers of insurgent Burnley, those few, those happy few, that band of brothers.” The Set Pieces
“After another minor break, the Talent Radar Player Rankings return, with the men in the middle of the park the focus of our attentions. A lot has changed since the last time the rankings were out, Borussia Dortmund’s fall was only just starting, Liverpool were still in the Champions League and the Italian Serie A race actually looked interesting. While the rankings itself saw Marco Verratti on top, with a couple of challengers looking to dethrone him. Here’s who continue to impress us as we move into the business end of the football season.” Outside of the Boot
“It is no secret that early in the Premier League season, Liverpool were struggling. They were sitting in 12th place in the Premier League standings, and didn’t have a clue as to which way was up. Somehow, Brendan Rodgers has righted the ship, and Liverpool are making a strong push for a Champions League spot. Liverpool had one of the busiest offseasons in all of world football. The club decided to offload controversial striker Luis Suarez after his World Cup debacle, selling the player for 75 million pounds to Barcelona. This allowed them to go out and buy multiple top notch players. Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi, Alberto Moreno, and Mario Balotelli were all byproducts of the Suarez sale.” Soccer Pro
“After a week where Manchester City were convincingly defeated by both Barcelona and Liverpool, with 2-1 losses flattering the English champions on both occasions, manager Manuel Pellegrini’s tactics inevitably came under fire. For both contests, his 4-4-2 formation was outplayed in midfield and exposed between the lines, leading to many questions about whether the Chilean has the tactical nous necessary to get results against the biggest sides. The 4-4-2 itself isn’t necessarily a problem, although the implementation of the system is surely flawed. Atletico Madrid’s 4-4-2 is an example of the possibilities with that system, although realistically that shape is more like 4-4-2-0, with the strikers dropping back behind the opposition midfielders and keeping the side extremely compact. There’s a huge difference between that and the 4-4-2 used by Pellegrini — and, indeed, by his predecessor Roberto Mancini.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“In the glorious game of football many things are forgiven—cheating, biting, lying, spitting—but there’s one thing that’s inexcusable. One thing so wretched and sickening it deserves no place in the game we all know and love. That one thing, the cardinal sin, is called the long ball. Next year marks the 50th year of hurt for the weathered and beaten English faithful. 50 years since Geoff Hurst belted the ball against the bar and allegedly across the West German line. 50 years without a trophy and what’s to blame? That despicable long ball.” Outside of the Boot
“Liverpool’s season started disastrously. Crashing out of the Champions League in the group stage despite a relatively favourable draw and struggling for consistency in the Premier League, serious pressure was building on manager Brendan Rodgers as his expensive summer signings failed to live up to expectations. However, since December their form has turned around dramatically, and the Merseyside club now find themselves as the league’s form side. Rodgers deserves serious credit for the turn around, having changed both the team’s personnel and its formation, switching from variations of either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 (or, to be pedantic, 3-4-2-1) shape.” backpagefootball
“This is an article that is nominally about football, but is just as much about the pressures of modern life and the plight of men (in particular, but not exclusively). This is both a very personal account and an observation of how others behave. It is about being a football fan, but also the impact of social media on our appreciation of life (and sport), and how constantly striving for more can lead to increased unhappiness – even if you attain it. Football fans – and here I naturally include myself – act as if they are mentally ill. It’s a form of mania: fanaticism, the act of being obsessively concerned with something. As someone diagnosed with depression, and who probably has a few other issues as well, I feel able to make such a comparison.” Tomkins Times
Robin van Persie, of Manchester United.
“Earlier this month, Louis van Gaal, the manager of Manchester United, showed up at a press conference armed with an unusual prop: printouts of statistics from his most recent match, a 1—1 draw against West Ham United. West Ham’s coach had accused van Gaal of playing “long ball,” a tactic that involves repeatedly sending long, searching passes forward to opportunistic strikers, hoping for a lucky bounce or knock-down near the goal. Long ball eschews the beauty of intricate passing play and coördinated counter-attacks for trial and error: more often than not, the passes are headed out of play or kicked back down the field by the opposing team, caught by the keeper, or go out of bounds. The approach calls for tall, muscular center-forwards who can overpower defenders to win the ball; the rest of the team hangs back so that they can immediately launch the ball forward after the play and try all over again. While long ball can be very effective, particularly for teams of lesser technical ability, it makes for deadly dull viewing.” New Yorker
“A fascinating battle between two of the Premier League’s greatest tacticians made for a match of constant tactical tweaks and two vastly different halves of football. Ronald Koeman may have shown greater tactical nous initially, but Brendan Rodgers – reacting and adapting as the game developed – proved to be the greater strategist.” Squawka
“Martin Skrtel has been at Anfield for quite a while now and amidst talks of extending his contract, we look back at his performances starting from the 2012/13 campaign to the current one. Karthik Ramakrishnan statistically analyses the Slovak’s performances to give a better judgement on whether the 30 year old has improved over the recent years.” Outside of the Boot
“I’m thinking about the connection between a fan and an athlete — I mean the essential one, the basic identification, the feeling that the person in the red shirt is representing me out there. That some important part of me is wrapped up in another person’s ability to hit a jump shot, score a free kick, return a serve, make a tackle. It’s one of the simplest forces in sports; also surely one of the strangest, because why should I care whether you can catch a ball or not? Why should that have the power to make me happy or cause me pain? And yet I not only care whether you can, I feel involved when you do, as though my wanting you to do it somehow made you do it — as though desire made you my avatar.” Grantland – Brian Phillips
“The January transfer window ended not with a bang, but with Aaron Lennon being loaned to Everton. Usually, the first month of the year is good for at least one panic buy from a big team looking to turn its season around — and occasionally, those moves work. It seems almost comical now, but when Mario Balotelli went from Manchester City to AC Milan in January 2013, he put that team on his back, scoring 12 goals down the stretch to propel the Italian giants into the Champions League. More often, though, the moves end up saddling a team with an overpriced, awkwardly fitting piece like Juan Mata at Manchester United. And every once in a while, a January signing will result in a Fernando Torres–size disappointment that, yes, in fact, you can see from outer space.” Grantland
“Given that the role of momentum in sport may be overplayed, it’s difficult to know whether cup runs are important. It’s always nice to win silverware, but if that silverware has no great meaning – if it has been devalued (or never was of value) – then it becomes a question of resource management. That is why so many clubs who don’t have big squads are choosing to play it safe. Let’s be clear: Liverpool FC doesn’t exist to win trophies; it exists to win meaningful trophies. (There are plenty of lower league trophies if the club wants to drop down the divisions.) And it also exists to be part of the big occasions. Indeed, it exists to make people happy.” Tomkins Times
“In theory, the FA Cup gives England’s minnows a chance to upset their big Premier League brethren, but that’s so rarely the case. In reality, small teams give their fans a chance to watch their favorite club play host to some of the world’s best players. Or if it’s an away game, the club scores a nice cash infusion with the shared gate money from a big-time team’s big-time stadium. And then they lose and go back to grim Saturdays in the third division. This weekend, though, reality was turned upside down — and Middlesbrough and Bradford City stuffed it into a rocket and kicked it into outer space.” Grantland (Video)
“Over the past 20 years football has changed beyond recognition. The very identity of the football today is very different; the game has moved with society. Football was always a working class game in the 70s and 80s – it was a release for many of the everyday drudgery of life. But times have changed, and so has the working class identity of football. It is a difficult transition for many traditional football fans, money has poisoned the game in so many ways and the gap between players and supporters is now so wide that there is very little connection. A player will kiss his club’s badge one week, and the next he will be off kissing another club’s badge for an extra £10k a week. That’s how the game works these days.” Tomkins Times
“As Liverpool took on Newcastle United in the last match of the Premier League last season, everyone was sure that Manchester City would wrap things up and win the league. But in the facilities of Anfield, there was a Premier League trophy present, just in case West Ham United miraculously did one over the Citizens and Liverpool beat Newcastle. While the unexpected did not prevail, this was after a long, long time that the Reds came that close to the league trophy. It was credit to both the team and the manager that a squad of virtually 14 or 15 players managed to compete with the side that has been spending to win for a while now.” Outside of the Boot
“As you may know, soccer dating is a topic I find particularly funny, and potentially lucrative. Internet dating is as close to mainstream as its ever been, with a variety of options to help you find whatever it is you’re looking for in a prospective soul mate. Why can’t we apply this to soccer? There’s JDate and Christian Mingle for religiously inclined. Black People Meet and Latino People Meet for folks with a ‘type,’ too afraid to luxuriate in the racial deliciousness of our nation. Farmers Only for people who really aren’t down racial deliciousness, but prefer to say so in coded language, and Tinder, for people who want to pretend that the possibility of sex isn’t the only reason they’re leaving the house that night.” Soccer Gods
“Exaggeration seems to be common place in modern day football doesn’t it? For example saying Manchester City are a club in crisis after going two games without a win or calling Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard England greats after consistently failing to make an impact at a major tournament? Actually, throw hypocrisy into that opening line. Can the FA really blame grassroots football for underachievement at the top level when there is a serious lack of real investment in the game at that level? Or can top clubs really bemoan the attendances at FA Cup fixtures when they use the greatest domestic club competition in the world as a reason to play fringe players in their squad?” The Football Pink”>Football Pink
“This article on the This Is Anfield website was brought to my attention (by, amongst other people, its author, Mark Pearson, via Twitter), and I wanted to respond, as I took exception to some of the points raised. I told Mark that I’d respond via an article, and he may respond in turn. (This may lead to an infinite loop, until one of us dies.) My problem with transfer articles like this is that they exist in the vacuum of a Liverpool’s fan’s perspectives on transfers, and come from a position of someone who seems to be a fine writer but who isn’t an expert on the subject of transfers. (See: Dunning-Kruger. Much of the work I do now is based on knowledge that other people don’t have, as they haven’t studied these things. Unless you also study transfers, I find it hard to accept that you’re not just guessing.)” Tomkins Times
“As recently as a few weeks ago, you could hardly open a newspaper refresh a website without seeing a feature proclaiming Chelsea as champions-in-waiting. There was no shortage of premature comparisons to Arsenal’s Invincibles™ of 2003-2004, casting José Mourinho’s against history instead of the rest of the Premier League. Fast-forward to the start of 2015, and Manchester City have quietly crept up and caught the Blues. Ahead of both teams’ Saturday matches, City and Chelsea are level in ever category. If the season ended today, the two would head for a play-off.” Soccer Gods
“Let us spare a thought for the little guys. These denizens of the bottom half of the Premier League table don’t get much pub. And when they do, it’s always as a foil for one the big boys. Burnley’s back-to-back draws against Manchester City and Newcastle haven’t spawned thousands of words of tactical analysis about their effective, underdog tactics, nor have they resulted in any glowing interviews with Danny Ings or George Boyd and his beautiful hair. No, they’re just the temporarily immovable object against the ultimately unstoppable force. What’s wrong with Manchester City always ends up being more important than what’s right with Burnley. But, well, stuff actually happens at the bottom; it’s a place where some people even carve out a reasonably comfortable existence. So, now that we’re just more than halfway into the season, let’s take a look at how the other half has been living.” Grantland
“The FA Cup third round is frequently considered to be all about giant killing, whereas it’s actually all about the possibility of giants losing. It might be a pedantic distinction, but it explains a great deal about the negativity surrounding the competition in recent years. The ideal FA Cup tie is, inevitably, a nonleague side at home against a high-flying Premier League club. The third-round draw didn’t quite provide that this time around, although Yeovil (bottom of League One) and AFC Wimbledon (League Two) were handed ties against Manchester United and Liverpool, while nonleague Dover faced more modest Premier League opposition, in Crystal Palace.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“‘People should change their ideas,’ Louis van Gaal warned after Manchester United had kept their sixth clean sheet of the season in drawing at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. United have conceded only five goals in their last nine games and have the fourth best defensive record in the division. ‘It’s not about new players, it’s about organisation.’ No subject has so nettled Van Gaal since his arrival at United as the suggestion that the club’s summer transfer policy left him short of defensive cover and, given how often United have been saved by the excellence of David De Gea this season, it’s hard to believe he really is as satisfied by his defence as he has made out, but the general point was a sound one.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson, Guardian – Transfer window: Premier League club-by-club guide
“It’s been a busy few days in the English Premier League, with every side — except for Liverpool and Swansea City, who face off later today — playing two matches since Christmas. Here’s a roundup of everything good, bad, and Ashley Young about the three-day weekend that was.” Grantland (Video)
“Hakan Calhanoglu grew up in Mannheim of Germany, before moving on to Karlsruhe, Hamburg and Leverkusen while getting called up to the Turkish National team in 2013. An attacking midfielder by trade, Hakan’s style and elegance on the ball has seen him sought out by some of the world’s best. Mini-Analysis: Operating behind the striker or across the midfield, Calhanoglu’s style of play is easy on the eye. A mainstay in the Hamburg team that narrowly escaped relegation last season saw him bag 11 goals and assist 4 in 32 games.” Outside of the Boot
“By now, Santa has already returned to the darkest depths of Lapland, so it’s a bit late for last-minute requests, but there are a few stocking fillers that would have been very much appreciated in the world of football. Chelsea – at the top of the table – appear to need nothing more than they have already. A couple of alarm clocks wouldn’t go amiss though in Manchester, in time for next season, because both City and United woke up late this season. City at least hold some chance of catching up. United, who probably have more than enough in their cabinet already, will just have to run down the clock, comfortably in the Champions League positions, and wait for next time around.” Football Pink
“I am a fan of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and rate him highly as a coach, but he has spent £206.5m since taking over at Anfield and does not have much to show for it. Rodgers signs a lot of young players and keeps talking about improving them for the future. He has done that since he took charge in 2012 and he deserves credit for having that approach. Unfortunately for him, with Liverpool struggling for form, the bottom line is that he needs players for today, not tomorrow.” BBC
Brad Jones
“I am drenched and broadly speaking lost, trying to get back from Manchester after having discussed Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United live to a nation who would prefer it if I didn’t swear or blaspheme. Bar one shout of ‘God in heaven’ (I became my dad when I was five) I did alright considering it could be the most frustrating football match I have ever seen. BBC Sport in Manchester is what the future looks like. You could set a phenomenal sci-fi there. Everyone was very nice, you’ll be pleased to learn.” TAW
There are pros to keeping Rodgers, but there are also a boatload of cons
“When in doubt, turn to science, and right now, my beloved Liverpool’s full of doubt. But since we’re not real scientists and the more numbers you bring to soccer, the more odious it becomes, the simple elegance of a pros-cons list is our best tool for figuring out Brendan Rodgers’ future. Unless you slept through the weekend, you know Young Brendan’s future is the subject of much doubt. Lose 3-0 to United, face the music. In this case, that will mean a week’s worth of hot takes on how hot his seat has become …” Soccer Gods
A Season of Failed Balance: Why Liverpool Can’t Have It All
“It took Manchester United all of 12 minutes to score against Liverpool. Goals change games no matter what, obviously, but conceding an early goal on Sunday was a particularly difficult pill for Liverpool to swallow. The Reds were desperately trying to reach some sort of equilibrium after being knocked out of the Champions League, and a match against their biggest rival would’ve been a good place to start.” Grantland (Video)
Tactical Analysis: Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool | Rodgers’ approach allows Van Gaal to use his wing-backs
“There were times where this fixtures involved two of the most in form teams in England, and there were occasions where the gulf in class was evident. But the first Manchester United-Liverpool clash of 2014/15, had a slightly altered flavour to it. Two sides fallen from their respective perches, some longer than others, looking to recover before the stagnation persists. Despite the score-line, neither side truly impressed but even if there’s a lack of performance, United showed they haven’t forgotten how to win football matches.” Outside of the Boot
Liverpool – from ruthless to toothless in nine months
“When Liverpool’s team coach pulled out of Old Trafford last March, it was fuelled by the growing belief that years of domination by Manchester United were finally coming to an end. Liverpool’s 3-0 win, built on the thrilling attacking strategy of manager Brendan Rodgers, hugely flattered a United side in disarray under David Moyes and cast adrift of their resurgent rivals by 14 points.” BBC
“The final day of the Champions League group stage saw Manchester City produce probably the best Champions league performance in its history to book its place in the last 16 for only the second time. Barcelona outlasted PSG for first in their group behind goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, and Schalke 04 also secured its place in the knockout phase on a night when John Obi Mikel broke a long-standing personal drought.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“For Chelsea, there was a wry sideline smile in defeat. For Manchester City there were sideline tears in victory. After Chelsea lost 2-1 at Newcastle at lunchtime, City listlessly seized its chance with a dreary 1-0 home victory over Everton in Saturday’s evening game. Chelsea’s lead is now just three points. But as José Mourinho told BT Sports after his game ended: ‘We have to ask the other 19 teams in the Premier League if anyone wants to be in our position and I think they would all like to be. But leader there is only one and that is Chelsea.’” SI
“In the future, managers will be given contracts on a game-by-game basis. Players will be voted off the pitch and out of the club, with new ones voted in and on. There has to reach a point where no one – players, managers, coaches – can withstand any bad form whatsoever. The quicker life gets, and the more disposable everything becomes, the less patience we can afford anything. Employment at a club will become ‘winner stays on’; fail just once and you’re gone.” Tomkins Times
“Look at you, Manchester United, just casually sitting there in fourth place, as if that horrendous start to your season weren’t even a thing. After dismembering Hull City, 3-0, this weekend, United are now the proud owners of a three-game winning streak for the first time in 11 months. The easy victory comes after one-goal victories at Arsenal and at home against Crystal Palace. So, is United nearing the end of an 18-month-long post–Alex Ferguson tunnel, or is that light just another misleading string of results, like last December, when a David Moyes–led squad beat West Ham, Norwich City, and Hull City in the space of a week?” Grantland
CB: Diego Godin
“2014 is nearly in the books, and with FIFPro, the world players’ union, in the midst of releasing its shortlists for the World’s Best XI, it’s time to consider which players stood out above their peers in a year to remember. An epic World Cup in Brazil saw Germany get crowned for a fourth time, while Real Madrid completed its quest for La Decima and captured a 10th European title. Bayern Munich captured another Bundesliga title, doing so in record time; Atletico Madrid was a surprise champion in Spain; Manchester City won its second title in three seasons in England; Juventus won a third straight crown in Italy and PSG went back-to-back in Ligue 1 to headline Europe’s major leagues.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
“In the late 19th century, Paris had a major problem with its sewage system. London, brimming with civil engineers and town planners—the product of the Industrial Revolution—teemed as Paris did but had designed and installed an incredibly effective sewage system. So Paris sought help, and a British civil engineer was sent over. A few weeks later, he presented his plans to a committee of French bureaucrats. ‘It’s a little bit rough and ready,’ he said. ‘but it’ll work in practice.’ At which the senior French bureaucrat stood up, drew himself to his full height, and said, ‘I don’t care if it works in practice. Does it work in theory?’ The French have always loved intellectualism and the pursuit of the abstract, trusting theory beyond all else.” 8by8 – Jonathan Wilson
“Football is unquestionably Britain’s major sport, and its staggering dominance has only increased over the past couple of decades. These days it’s unusual to flick through your Monday newspaper, find the sport section, and be confronted with anything other than football on the front page, but that’s what happened this week after Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 championship. This year’s F1 campaign was peculiarly analogous to the Premier League in 2014-15 in the sense that it was utterly dominated by a single team.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“The idea of this piece (written before the Palace match) is really to get things straight in my own head. After the magnificence of 13/14 and coming so close to winning the league, we have stumbled into something that resembles mediocrity. No, not resembles, is mediocrity. Slap bang in the middle of the league with 14 points from 11 games (1.27 PPG) and four points away from Champions League places, but just five points from relegation.” Tomkins Times
“How to fix a broken team? With the Premier League keeping things weird for another weekend, that’s the question lingering above many clubs. As it stands, Manchester United and Newcastle are tied for fourth place on 19 points, narrow leaders in a seven-team pack all within a measly two points of the ultra-valuable final Champions League spot. And that doesn’t even include Liverpool, who sit in 12th, just barely eclipsing a one-point-per-game pace.” Grantland
“Where would Spurs be without those red cards? Three times Mauricio Pochettino’s side has played away from home and seen opponents reduced to ten men; three times the visitors have scored late goals to win the game. It happened on the opening day against West Ham: Eric Dier’s match-winner after James Collins had been dismissed (this was after Kyle Naughton’s red card too). In the last two away games, Spurs were 1-0 down and struggling at Aston Villa and Hull City before red cards, to Christian Benteke and Gaston Ramirez respectively, allowed them to turn it round and win 2-1.” Pitchside Europe
“Our Talent Radar Player Rankings, along-with our Talent Radar Team of the Week documents the progress of youngsters across Europe’s top six leagues, with those featuring in these regular pieces, eventually being recognised in our end of season Talent Radar Young Player Awards and 100 Best Young Players to Watch list. Read this document for all your queries on Talent Radar and explanation of the features under it.” Outside of the Boot
“Soccer, as much as any other sport, is a young man’s game. Players peak around 24, and by 30 they’re nervously looking over their shoulders for a younger, better, ready-made replacement. Come 35, the few superstars still hanging on get the Turkish, Middle Eastern, or MLS retirement package. Hit 40, and you’re either named Ryan Giggs or retired. With that in mind, it’s a bit odd that the two clubs that fought for last season’s English Premier League crown came into this season banking on the smooth operation of a pair of midfield fulcrums sitting on the wrong side of three decades. While Steven Gerrard and Yaya Touré managed just fine for Liverpool and Manchester City then, this year has been a struggle for their aging legs.” Grantland
“Carlo Ancelotti was pictured touching the famous ‘This Is Anfield’ sign in the tunnel the day before Liverpool hosted Real Madrid two weeks ago, saying how much of an honour it was to bring his galacticos to such an iconic European stage. The ruthless ease with which Karim Benzema’s brace and Luka Modric’s passing saw off their opponents the following day must have rankled with the Anfield hierarchy and support. That sign was to Liverpool what the pinstripes were to the New York Yankees – a symbol of the terrifying aura that engulfed visiting sides and mentally beat them into submission before they had stepped foot onto the pitch itself – but here was a side beaten 4-0 on aggregate only six seasons ago trampling over them as if it were their own home ground.” backpagefootball
“… This was a massive underperformance and an all-round very poor display. Pardew kept his usual 4-2-3-1 formation but gave the young holding midfielder Abeid his first Premier League start alongside Colback. In attack, Ameobi and Obertan started down the flanks while Cisse was passed fit enough to start the game. On the other side, Rodgers made some surprising selection and tactical decisions. For the first time this season, Liverpool lined-up with a back three shape in what was more of a 3-4-2-1 formation.” Tomkins Times
“It’s the derby which has everything – two sides with a simmering rivalry, rich histories and, in recent years, a similar appetite for trophies. When Manchester City and Manchester United meet on the football pitch, there’s generally plenty of goals, drama and even the odd ‘Why always me’ T-shirt. The two teams clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and BBC Sport has compiled an A-Z of one of English football’s biggest games.” BBC
“James Dutton looks at two lessons from Liverpool’s recent past for Mario Balotelli… Mario Balotelli is at a crossroads. In fact, Mario Balotelli is always at a crossroads. Every decision he makes, however crucial or anodyne, is analysed for its far-reaching consequences and wider meaning by somebody somewhere. Every pass, every run, every shot, every turn is scrutinised and pored over in minute detail like every dismissal suffered by Kevin Pietersen. The record-breaking batsman once famously said, ‘It’s tough being me in this dressing room’, and you imagine the Italian knows where he’s coming from.” The False Nine
“What’s more strange: that the lead photo for this piece is of a “semi-robotic” mascot named Hammerhead basking in bubbles at West Ham’s Upton Park? Or that if the season ended today, West Ham would be in the Champions League? Usually the top of the Premier League table is pretty predictable. You have the usual mega-club suspects (you know who), a couple of perennial almost-theres (Spurs, Everton), and a surprise who starts strong and fades away down the stretch. That hasn’t been the case this season.” Grantland
“Things are rarely as simple as they seem. And yet, over the weekend, I had people telling me they knew exactly what was going wrong at Liverpool. And it was often just one thing. (I was told I was ‘naive’ to think that it’s any more complex than that, by the archetypal Dunning-Kruger tweeter.) One comment – stated as a fact – was that last season was 99% down to Suarez, 1% down to Rodgers. I found this odd. Being pedantic, I noted that Suarez didn’t even play when 10 of the 84 points were won; meaning that, at the very most, it could only have been 88% down to Suarez. The Uruguayan scored 31% of the Reds’ league goals, and even adding assists, was still involved in fewer than half of them. Then there’s the assumption that Rodgers had nothing to do with the striker’s improved form, or the other 57 league goals that did not involve the now-departed superstar. It is, of course, a ludicrous suggestion, but stupid is as stupid does. Another blamed Balotelli for everything. Everything!” Tomkins Times
“We’re halfway through the 2014-15 Champions League group stage. The UCL is one of the greatest tournaments in all of sports because we get a chance to catch our breath for a couple weeks after every matchday. So let’s do so. Some groups are mostly decided, others hang in the balance. Who will go through in each four-team sector? To the groups!” Center Circle
“Some stats should come with small print, like financial ads: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Like the fact that Real Madrid has never beaten Liverpool, and has never even scored against the club – quirks that are going to be consigned to history at Anfield on Wednesday in the Champions League, if current form is any guide. If the two teams had met 20 times, it would be notable. But surprisingly, considering the clubs’ pedigrees, the sides faced each other competitively only twice: a 1-0 Liverpool win in the 1981 European Cup final, and Liverpool’s 5-0, two-legged Champions League victory in 2008-09’s Round of 16, a high point of the Rafael Benítez era.” Soccer God (Video)
“If you were to sit down with anyone after Southampton’s own version of The Exodus, you would have been hard pressed to find many that would have argued the club would be where they are currently. Though the season is still in it’s early days, the early signs are promising that Soton are going to be just fine. After seven matches, the Saints have logged four wins, a draw and a pair of defeats – said losses came by way of two away trips to Liverpool and Tottenham, both of which are expected to finish above them in the table in the first place.” Outside of the Boot
“Real Madrid released a statement on Monday saying that Gareth Bale has an injury in the right pyramidalis muscle. After consulting Internet, M.D., we think this means he has, in technical terms, a sore butt. He’s now set to sit out a couple of games, presumably on padded furniture. Bale didn’t play in the 5-0 win over Levante on Saturday , and he’s reportedly going to miss the opportunity to twist Martin Skrtel’s blood at Anfield on Wednesday when Real face Liverpool in the Champions League.” Soccer Gods (Video)
“The Premier League might be only seven games old, but a common theme amongst some of the top teams is the lack of goals from upfront – only Chelsea, and Diego Costa, can be entirely satisfied with their goal return so far. Here are 5 misfiring Premier League strikers, and how they might turn their season around…” FreeBets
“The most striking facet of the Hodgson Sterling kerfuffle of the last week is how what was essentially a matter between the two men was conflated into a club v country, England v Liverpool affair. Somewhere along the line, people seem to have confused the Sterling issue with Liverpool’s lingering displeasure at the handling of Daniel Sturridge by the England camp. The media must take a large part of the blame in this, being too quick to see it as an opportunity to stoke the enmity between Liverpool and Hodgson’s regime for the sake of some column inches and page views.” backpagefootball
“The international weekend gives everyone a chance to look back and take stock of the Premier League season so far. Tactics writers are no different, and there have been a number of notable features since the middle of August to consider. Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea have all provided us with something to consider since the English domestic campaign began. Let’s take a look at five tactical features that have caught the eye in the 2014-15 season.” Bleacher Report – Jonathan Wilson
“Once upon a time, an international break was extremely useful for almost every Premier League manager. In the days before foreign imports dominated England’s top division, relatively few players were selected by their country — put simply, the majority of players in the division were English, but only around 25 were called up to the England side. Therefore, the majority of the squad would continue to train at the club — although they might, however, use the absence of upcoming matches to spend the afternoons at the pub.” ESPN – Michael Cox
“Mario Balotelli has started only four Premier League games for Liverpool this season, yet already he is being doubted, dismissed as a flop. That might not be entirely fair, but it is understandable. Although Liverpool signed twelve players over the summer, Balotelli is the one who stands out. He wasn’t their most expensive signing, but he was probably the biggest name and, more than that, he’s the one who is seen the replacement for Luis Suárez. And that really is the biggest problem: Balotelli isn’t Suárez.” Who Scored
“Another week, another dominant performance by Chelsea. This time it was Arsenal that José Mourinho’s squad dispatched without particularly breaking a sweat. And what’s so incredible for Chelsea, and so disturbing for the rest of the league, is that Arsenal didn’t play badly at all in the 2-0 loss. Chelsea still rolled them with ease.” Grantland
Scissors Kick 