The first two are a couple of articles from earlier this week.
Kevin Eason describes how the new Premiership television deal that kicks in next year will see the “richest-clubs” list being dominated by English teams.
Another insightful piece by Daniel Finkelstein – this time on Arsenal’s up and down season.
Rob Hughes on last weeks international friendlies.
This weekend I was thinking how difficult it is to come up with greatr trivia questions in the age of the internet and goggle. I would interested to see if anyone has a trivia question that can go unanswered for 24 hours - soccer related of course.
Good article by Daniel. All I can say about Arsenal is they need to stop this trend. It's just to nerve recking for as Arsenal fans. I prefer to win games in the 1st half. The positive part about it though is that it leaves non-arsenal funs with the dumbest faces ever. I was with a liverpool fun today and the look on his face after Rosisky scored was priceless same as the Man U game. Henry can't afford to have such games were he misses everything and Cesc needs a break as soon as possible. Next 2 games he should sit out, so to prepare for the CL.We've Flamini, Denilison, Diaby all who can play in that position and with Helb coming back we have another good playmaker to fill the void, give the kid a break Wenger.
Last edited by Gunner44 on February 11th at 9:18 PM.
Bobby, here's another article that I thought made interesting reading. Terry Venables on training camps instead of friendlies. Do you have a view on it?
First of all l will make abrief comment on the arsenal wigan game.l first thought wigan desrved something but now l will say no.Football is a game of taking chances, and henry had four chances in the first half , which meant going down we had only ourselves to blame.wigan had chances and did not take them so l do not have much sympathy for them.if you look at the liverpool and newcastle game the reds had 7 chances but did not take them and hence did not deserve to win.when you consider all the draws arsenal had they got what they deserved because they did not take their chances.l feel that david wheelan and jewel while they might feel agrieeved but every team gets penalities and sometimes gets penalities they deserve or do not.l thought hesky played for the foul and went down treatrically.here is a guy 14 stone falling like a kid.so claiming that dowd should be investigated is out of line.as for the henry and kirkland drama, l was shocked when l heard the commentators and read what andy gray and david pleat thought about it.jibes will always be in the game and to say henry should give a public apology is bull ####.henry was given a yellow card , but no one asked morgan , or barton to give apologies over their fouls
Bobby my first question is do you think the era of the goal poacher has gone, like the ruuds and inzaghi.if you look at the last ten years the best strikers have been alround, like henry, sheva, eto and ronaldo.they could adapt to the different positions in games and give more to the team and you look at fergie getting rid of ruud while even drogba and eto now who are really good seem not to be out and out goal, poachers.the other thing is l read about harry rednap being linked with spurs do you really see that happening and can you see jol being sacked
Bobby I like to get your views on this past weeks friendlies especially the games between England and Spain and Mexico vs. United States. Were these meaningful results or were they just empty results?
Bobby-
Thanks for the great links. I would like to address the "friendlies" last week as echoed by Rob Hughes. Since this FSC site has someone "assigned" (no need to name him) to American soccer whom I believe to be woefully inadequate as a journalist I think a man of your character, talent and knowledge can led some insight to the issue.
I've lived and worked in England and today there truly is no such thing as a "meaningless" friendly when an England side takes the pitch in any endeavor. Losing to Spain is important just as a dysfunctional US side beating Mexico is.
England still can't sort out a side that delivers a 90 minute quality performance no matter whom and when they play.
For the US, they had a C plus side with a handful of "in season" players whereas as Mexico had an A plus side. Mexico should have drilled the US, with a far superior side "in season" and about 64K fans rooting for them and about 300 rooting for the US.
What are the most important elements to take away from these two friendlies of last week? AND if you feel it appropriate....
Why can't the soccer media in this country address the real issues?
Cheers, Gongatore
Last edited by gongatore on February 13th at 8:25 AM.
Bobby, what do you think of Glen Little of Reading?
He flies under the radar, almost nobody talks about him, yet he consistently makes the best left backs in the Premiership look completely foolish. He is an absolute magician with the ball. His ability to get down the line and fire in great crosses defies logic given his utter lack of pace, yet you never hear him mentioned. Any thoughts?
Last edited by spike24 on February 13th at 9:48 AM.
Bobby-
Here is a trivia question that I hope will last 24 hours.
I grew up in Great Britain. I came to the US and played college soccer in the late 1980's- early 1990's. I am currently playing in the SPL (for the second time). I have played in the EPL. I recently earned my 50th cap (now 52) for my country. Who am I? Where am I currently playing? and What US college/university did I play for?
Question for Bobby:
What do you think are the chances of Tevez sticking with West Ham? I see that though he finds the English managing approach a bit cold, he says he is comfortable at WH (of course, I did read that in The Sun). Despite their struggles, this team is not a Watford--they're a talented side that has underperformed horribly. Should they avoid relegation, I can see them finishing much higher next season once they've regrouped mentally. Sordid implications of the third-party deal aside, I can see WH as being an attractive team for Tevez, more so than Mascharano. And it would be nice to see a fantastic player plying his trade somewhere other than the big 4. Thoughts?
Not to kick a dead horse here, but with every article about England I keep reading the exact same thing: Lampard should be dropped for a more suitable partner to Gerrard. Admittedly, Lampard's form for England hasn't been great (and that could be the reason, who knows), but with his club form nearly impeccable clearly superior and his workrate atleast equal, does all the criticism being laid on him make sense?
Do you agree that dropping Lampard for someone else would actually change things? And why, if either, should Lampard be the one dropped?
The comments by Paul Jewell concerning the refereeing are a relief and a breath of fresh air. The FA's unwavering defense of terrible decisions and haughty referees goes completely overboard, simply because their pride stops them from acknowledging errors. PJ is absolutely right, in my opinion, when he says that referees still act in a dilitantish, 19th century way: punish without thinking of the broader picture; acting imperious because they have complete support no matter their conduct. The FA should wake up and realize this is a billion dollar business, not the game played by church groups and colleges it once was.
what do you think about alexandre hleb and mathieu flamini? Are they good players that bring diversity to the Arsenal team or is it that they look good under Wenger's system.
Bobby how do yo feel the reyes and baptista issuse will be resolved, it appears madrid do not want to buy him and baptista seems to be settling and l for one personally would choose baptista, what do you see happening.one more thing l feel ronaldo is saying to madrid and barca come and get me andl feel he might go next season
Last edited by henry14 on February 13th at 7:00 PM.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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