Andrew Jennings on Peter Hargitay, a "strategic adviser" to England's 2018 World Cup bid.
Simon Kuper sits down to chat with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard.
An excellent Monday morning column from Martin Samuel.
Gabriele Marcotti says that 442 is so yesterday and he is not discussing the magazine.
Here is a listing of the January 2008 transfer moves. Hard to find one player who could be regarded as a instant success.
Nigel Reed says that Laurent Robert “has to recapture the desire, the passion and the hunger that distinguishes great players from good players.” Recapture? Great player? Laurent Robert? We will see.
This is the same Laurent Robert who Sir Bobby Robson described as "the most difficult player I have ever worked with in my career". Although Robert apparently saw things differently - “I had four years with Newcastle, one in the Champions League, the others in the Uefa Cup as we finished in the top five,” the 32-year-old said. “Some people may speak bad about me, but I am no troublemaker. If you speak with Bobby Robson, I never had a problem with him.” That from the Times in January.
At best we might get a short glimpse of some of his better past performances - a few decent free kicks, a couple of blistering goals – then the problems will surface.
A while ago I put a link up to a website created by Bill Turianski. Bill’s specialty is sports maps with a lot of them focused on soccer. There is some wonderful stuff here.
David James on making it to Wembley for another FA Cup Final.
With the exception of West Ham and Portsmouth who play on Tuesday, the other Premiership sides have five games left. Five teams have already gained more points than they finished last season with.
The most improved at the moment is Manchester City with 49 points to last season's 42. On the other side of the ledger three teams have already guaranteed that even with 15 points still to be played for they will finish with less points than last season.
The worst of the worst - Bolton. Last season they finished with 56 points and so far they have only garnered 26. Down an incredible 30 points so far.
Bobby, the website with the maps is really cool. Thanks for sharing. I remember driving by St. Johnstone's stadium in Perth. Looks like they're the only team in Perth.
I read somewhere that if Preston had been promoted instead of Derby last season that Liverpool (Anfield) would have been geographically in the southern half of the table. Taking a guess (not in Latitude sequence):
Up norf:
Bar Codes, Boro, Mackems, Everton, Citeh, United, Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan, Preston
Craigy, yeah Carsley appears to be on his last legs.
Interesting comment by SAF about why Middlesboro has done well at home against the top teams ... the large fired-up crowd. It's hard to figure how Boro can beat Arsenal almost beat United and lose at home to Cardiff.
- We should sell Hleb, then your IQ is lower than flash's
- We should sell Fabregas, then your IQ is lower than flash's
- We should let go Eboue, then your IQ is lower than flash's
- We should sell Walcott, then your IQ is lower than flash's
why in the world would you let go of a 21, 26, 24, 19 year olds go just because a bad run on patches of games? when arsenal was winning no one was complaining, just b/c they hit a bad stretch, everybody is trading them!
these guys have over achieved:
- they reached the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL IN 2006.
- they reached the CARLING CUP FINAL last year.
- they almost won the EPL title.
a healthy eduardo next year, this team could be unbeatable. We just need to buy another striker next year, and we are fine.
"As for the catfighting let us Red fans figure things out...and you gooners figure out who needs to go and needs to be brought in after we dismiss you in the second leg."
Good line.
By the way: eventually you will get old enough to understand that the words "funny" and "Adam Sandler" do not belong in the same sentence (see intro and #1). But don't take my word for it, ask other comedians:
With the arrival of awful SNL comedies in the last decade, this phenomenon [of well-known movies creeping their way into conversations] has only worsened, resulting in the all-too-common awkward social situation where one person says something from an Adam Sandler movie and everybody else feels immensely, immensely sorry for them.
Don't worry, you'll get over it-- I remember actually almost smiling once or twice during "Happy Gilmore" back in my younger days, believe it or not!
"... it looks like yer fitness may be dipping the last day or two. We may have to rotate you ..."
Yes, sadly, I'm clearly the Hyypiä of the nattering set-- need a turn on the bench in order to recover in time for the Tuesday post-match ... I hear some new Arsenal-themed Football Lexicon entries may be forthcoming ...
RON_W
I'd still offer him another years contract though.
URSUS
:)
BOBBY
Your game / goal / save / tackle / ref of the week?
What do you make of the increased use of the role that sits between a manager and his hiring of players. Increasing in importance not only in the MLS but in the PL and Championship as well.
Is the disruption felt by the MLS from Summer international tournaments similar to that felt by other leagues which follow a similar calendar?
Should Cardiff get to be in UEFA Competition if they win the UEFA Cup, your opinion please.
Was Rooney’s yellow for his collison with Schwarzer harsh/justified or about right?
Do you know who the TV commenators for MLS Direct Kick are?
TV Viewings aside the FA Cup has been a huge success this season. Your thoughts.
Bobby-Do you think the "conference" format hurts or helps the MLS?
I went to Bill Turianski's website and it showed United having 9 European titles. Am I missing something?
Do you have numbers on the FA Cup Semifinal viewership?
Gabriele Marcotti's article was interesting. I've been trying to put a finger on United's "rotating attack" system. Marcotti was very vague on trying to describe it, how would you describe it?
As an aside I would say your pithy analysis of Laure Robert reveals perhaps an underappreciated expertise of the Auld Alliance.
Dundee United gave Rangers a great run yet again. If as some would have you believe and Celtic supporters have their way running wee Gordon Strachan out of town, do you see them making a play for Craig Levein?
S(et)anta TV will continue to struggle, as more and more punters refuse to pay the fees they charge. If they cannot learn from Sky and later BSB's experiences, at the start of the satelite broadcasting era they deserve to fail.
The Times artical is a quite a good read as was last weeks.
I shall be quite sad if Rafa lets Crouch go b/c he did well Saturday and can do well even as #2 to Torres.
None of the other "strikers" at the club come close to doing what Crouch did Saturday and unless the club go spend 15 - 20 mil to bring in someone like a Villa or a Zarate, Crouchy needs to stay.
Bobby, of the clubs in danger of the drop from the EPL what is your thoughts on the likely changes of managers at Bolton, Fulham, Derby? The press have reported that Megson and Jewell will both keep their jobs if their clubs go down. Will Al Fayed sack Hodgson do you think?
Who else do you think (manager wise) might move clubs in the EPL this summer? Could Big Sam replace Curbs?
Looks like Rupert Lowe wants to come back so as to take Southampton down to League 1. Runs a good club but just cannot run a football one.
Last edited by redfan4ever on April 7th at 8:17 AM.
Bobby, This might be a different comment but here it goes. On a successful U-10 team there is this tall, lanky kid. He has great skills with his feet. Sees the pitch better than most. Crosses with left and right feet. He can score but is unselfish and so typically plays on the wings. He looked absolutely wonderful this last game. His glaring weekness is he lacks aggressiveness with the loose balls (50/50 balls) etc...His coach keeps him on a tight rein. If he loses a ball the coach will pull him even though he is obviously the most skilled at his position. They have talked about getting rid of the boy. That was why I was there. I told the coach that it looks like the kid suffers from the Peter Crouch syndrome:He looks awkward due to his height so he is critized but is effective on the pitch. Assuming my analysis of the boys abilities and weaknesses are correct how do you handle this?
I heard Capello say at a coaches clinic that formation means little in the top leagues. Formation won't win games, players win games. He was talking mainly to coaches about player development so his comments could have been made for affect rather than stating his true beliefs. He seems partial to the 4-2-3-1. I've heard Brazilian trainers say the same thing about formation and players and yet the national team seems to like 4-2-2-2. So what is it? Formation? Players? Both?
At U10 boys or girls the emphasis should be on individual skill development. Dealing with a group of children in a two or one year window can create a huge disparity in physical and emtional development.
For a coach to pull a player because the player was not successful in a singular 1v1 situation is ludicrous. A player will only develop that skill set if they confront that situation on a repetitive basis.
Perhaps the situation is acting as a cue for the coach to remind him he needs to rotate his players, and perhaps not, but it seems if it were as you stated he is doing this child a disservice in developing him as a footballer.
Neo-Since Gers threw in his, I'll throw my two cents forward. For the life of me I can't remember who said this but it made the most sense:
When on attack, the formation means little its the players that make plays happen.
When on defense, the formation is the organization needed so that everyone knows where they are supposed to be and what area/player they need to cover.
Hey Bobby this is the Arsenal fan from Cincinnati. We had some correspondence a couple of years ago. You told me about a CB by the name of Vincent Kompany. I wish we had him now, we wouldn't be going through what we are going trough now. Always enjoy your analysis. Keep it up. Arsene has to spend that money on a CB this off season. It is like we are in a twilight zone when we defend against some of these teams. I couldn't believe we played like we did against Villa! It all started going down hill when we played Middlesbrough and how they dominated us for the total 90! This cannot happen next season. Do you agree that Toure hasn't been the same since he left for the Africa Nations Cup? Just doesn't look the same. We are missing Rosicky too. That hurts as a attacking force. I still believe that Eduardo's leg is still in the psyche of the players especially up front. Bottom line is that we need the results. Even though Boro did well, Manure still got the draw. We have to have that mentality too. No matter what, you have to get the result.
Bobby: What do think of Dave Jones' chances of getting back into the Prem? He's done a good job at Cardiff, grappled as best anyone could with the comatose giant of Wolves and has evolved quite nicely since his playing days.
Could you see him a candidate for Blackburn if Hughes hops over to Celtic? West Ham? Citeh!?
Or is he doomed to be the best tier two manager in England? He would have the derby with Swansea to look forward to next year if he stays.
And tell us what you thought about the Dees-Gers game.
When I coached at the youth level I focused on the skill level of the boys to set formation. I switched between a 5-3-1-1 (w/full backs pushing up), 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1. I never played them with less than 4 defenders because of the team's skill level. It was more about placing the kids to suite their skills.
I would love to see Arsene The Professor sign Diego,Appiah and a CB. These signings would boost our team. Come to think of it, is there a cover for Clichy if he's to get injured?
Last edited by ReggaeGunner on April 7th at 12:29 PM.
I don't think you can get away with not having Lampard, Beckham, Terry, Lescott, Brown and Bridge at least on the bench. Ledley King when available too.
I would definately want Scott Carson, Downing, Hargreaves, Jenas, and Wright-Phillips in consideration to round up the team.
As far as the forwards, I would like to see Capello begin selecting his strikers keeping in mind of current form as well as results on European or International level. That way Owen would not and should not be an automatic selection every time he is not injured. It not fair to his club when he plays more for the country than Newcastle. Regardless, I feel Crouch, Defoe and A.Johnson would be a good selection of players to complement Rooney. Unless Owen finds regular form and consistency I would drop him.
If Wenger signed Appiah to play along side Flamini would be a great match up. The mid would be solid and take a lot off pressure off of Cesc. I think he would still need to keep Gilberto and bring in a young center mid as potential cover. Appiah is currently out with a long term injury if I recall correctly. So if he is on the road to recovery this would be the perfect time for Wenger to make a move for him while he is flying under the radar.
I doubt Diego will be purchased as long as Cesc is at the club. He is also more of an established player and Wenger would shy away from him. Besides there are too many high profiles after Diego.
I assume the Gunners will bring in a CB this summer but also keep Senderos. I think it was Bobby that pointed out that eventually he will be more reliable.
what do you mean by "When the left-wing become much like the right-wing" please explain...
Somebody Free Tibet so the poor tourch can make its way around the world in peace. the poor thing is panic striken now that it pees on it self and that is why it gets estinguished...
CIAO: I appreciate you mentioning several Spurs men for the England side, but have to say this about that.
Ledley King can barely play a game a month. Until he plays a month of games for two or three months in a row, I'd leave him out. I think he's about done, but hope not.
And you'd get more production from Jay Leno than Aaron Lennon these days. Sorry, but he's just falling apart right now.
Though playing for his country makes him miserable, he says, David Bentley needs a good look-see out on the right. I think if he was more comfortable with the whole calling-up process he'd soon become a first choice.
And I can't help but wonder how Dave Kitson would do in an England shirt. I don't see many Reading games, but when I do, he always looks committed, energetic and dangerous. Can't help but think he'd be terrific playing with better players.
Oddly enough, as the season is winding down, Darren Bent is beginning to look like the player he was before Spurs bought him. Not yet worthy of another call up, but showing signs of being a suitable starter after Berbatov is sold.
Bobby: Do you think Spurs would get more selling Berbatov intact, or having his brain bottled and leased out for study to leading psychiatric institutes?
Promised myself I wouldn't comment on anything to do with monotonously over-rated, over-hyped Tower of Babel FC. Then this comes in from the Manchester Guardian's Fiver:
"When he's not busy bearing a passing resemblance to the "groom" at a le$bian wedding, Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky is a big ice hockey
fan. Indeed, during their time at Borussia Dortmund, Rosicky and his giant compatriot Jan Koller used to head home to the Czech Republic
for their winter break, take to the ice and punch, whack, butt, slam and stamp seven bells out of each other in an annual hockey challenge
played in the name of "harmless" fun. But while Rosicky always reported back for football duty with a clean bill of health after his
annual Ice Capades, this January it was a comparatively routine tonking of Newcastle (not 25 stone of stick-wielding, skinhead Czech
brute nicknamed Dino) that resulted in him getting knacked. Now it seems the Little Mozart could have orchestrated his last on-field sonata until next season."
NHL playoffs start this Wed I remember you saying you haven't watched hockey in ages but maybe a peek this year? Its wide open and the new generation is making its debut! Ovechkin Semin Backstrom on Washington, Crosby Malkin Stall on Pittsburgh! Montreal is full of youngsters and a rookie goalie Price! Best part is no one can confidently say who is going to win the east or west its honestly wide open.
Bobby---- what are views on officiating in matches, I think too much games in recent times too much results are dependant on official calls, many that have been wrong, why doesnt football give each team three appeals for video playback as in tennis or cricket, it would not take time because managers would use their appeals wisely and the time could be put back in injury time.. these days refs give 10 mins sometimes of injury. Also is it me or are officials clamping down on handballs this season, I do not recall so much calls for handball in a season before.
These articles do point at some things developing in football that are sure to make it a more attractive and interesting sport to watch (and more difficult to play). Clearly, the fixed formation is going out, and flexible formation is coming in. Also, overall conditioning and athleticism, in addition to technical skill, are playing a much greater role at the elite level. I believe that we will see also even greater emphasis in physical training as well as additional technique that enables players to avoid injury or minimize injury when it occurs. However, this does not mean that all the players will become big and fast (as opposed to small and fast) and that football intelligence will not often trump sheer athleticism. This is CHESS being played at 150 kph, and that implies much more than just strength and speed, even if the pace goes to 200 kph instead of 150. So don't count players who may appear limited in some way out of the mix...they can still succeed if they match the system being used. And that system, becoming more fluid, may enable just about anyone with the requisite talent to succeed...somewhere.
BOBBY, do you see a day when RANGERS and CELTICS would see too much profit by playing in the EPL and decide to join. Kind like CARDIFF, SWANSEA and WREXHAM, who decided it's not worth playing in the welsh league. I think it would be cool to have the BIG 6 instead of 4.
4-2-3-1 wouldn't work for England because they don't have a "1" that would be good enough. A similar "formation" that Man U employs would be more suited to England's attacking "talent". Play a "4-2-4" or "4-6-0" if you have to call it something. Play your choice of defenders and 1 or 2 holding midfielders and pick your attacking 4 or 5 out of Rooney, Gerrard, A. Young, J. Cole, Defoe, Agbonlahor, Lennon, Bentley, A. Johnson, Owen, etc.
neophyte
Michael Bradley was a wee lad growing up so rarely got the same opportunities the bigger lads his age got. He worked at skills to be able to compete and now at 21(ish) and 6'2" he's ####ing them in for fun in Holland.
I'd assume that the coach of your U10 team is just stupid with the win mentality. At U10 The coach should be full of the skills and fun mentalities.
FORMATIONS
Match the players to a formation or match the formation to your players?
4231 is just 451 by another name
I'd say you have your four basic formations
4 at the back
3 at the back
2 up front
1 up front
You pick your defence and attack and the midfield fills the hole
Of course football's fluidity means that a formation is merely a framework for your players
Formation and tactics are different
442 is the most successul formation.
Although if you FSC formation and even team sheets are very hard things to display with any accuracy.
BOBBY CIAO VVV
What is your opinion of the move to Italy for Sissooko?
STUJONESMD
I like your chess analogy - I think that the managers make the moves though. Perhaps it's a bit more like GO?
JAHMIKES
I think you'd have to ask Mike Riley about how much the refereeing fraternity is clamping down on handballs this season.
Love what's happened with Seattle's new MLS franchise. Fans have put down more than 13,000 deposits for season tickets since the league announced the new team.
Now, presented with three kinda lame choices to vote for in choosing the team name, they've gone to a team name that won because of the write-in vote.
Ladies and gentlemen, what's old is new again. Welcome back, the Seattle Sounders.
An' me ma's awful partial to that shade of periwinkle blue in their jerseys.
SOUNDERS
FU_CKING STUPID NAME FOR A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL FRANCHISE!
D.D. FU_CKING Y ANKS!
DO THEY NOT KNOW FU_CKING ANYTHING?
DAN GARBER - C'MON MATE!
FIRST THE FU_CKING EARTHQUAKES NOW THE FU_CKING STUPID SOUNDERS
THANK FU_CK THAT SOME GM'S/OWNERS IN THE MLS HAVE THE BRAINS THEY WERE BORN WITH OR WE'D HAVE THE TORONTO TITANS
COLUMBUS CREW (oops some numpty already picked this one!)
FC DC
I mean all the really cool ones have already been taken by the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA.
JUST CHECKED
OF THE 14 FRANCHISES
TEN HAVE STUPID FU_CKING NAMES
HATS OFF TO DC, TORONTO, SALT LAKE AND DALLAS
(ALTHOUGH I'D love to be educated about CHIVAS' name)
THE NUMPTIES IN CALIFORNIA WILL LOOK AT BIT STUPID IF THE STATE GETS FRAGGED BY THE 'BIG ONE'!
Almost as stupid as the dumb rugby league names they came up with
Huddersfield may be many things to many people...GIANTS? Only in some marketing TW_AT'S wet dream.
Newcastle Falcons is another retarded name - this one belongs to a rugby union club.
United
Town
City
Rovers
Albion
Just the name of the town/city/locale
Argyle
Even Hotspur!
Just like ale, keep it simple and keep it real!
Although it is wonderful and fine for a team to have a nickname. red devils, gunners, shrews, seals, trotters, buelbirds, toffees, railwaymen, baggies, Hatters, etc etc etc
A game against Arsenal in 93/94 and Paul Merson bore down on the Park End building site and, without slowing up, daintily chipped the ball over Neville Southall and into the top corner of the net. Now, in the circumstances of that season, and with an Everton team looking rather disconsolate, it would have been understandable for a chorus of boos to ring out and a wave of abuse to crash down on the pitch, but instead applause broke out from the home end to accompany the delirium in the away bit. Evertonians recognising a good footballer doing what he does very well.
Bobby- About instant success in the Jan transfer window, there is one, Jermaine Defoe, 7 goals in 7 games so far, that looks to me like positives for Pompey. ALso with all the injuries in my teams midfield, why would you say Wenger has not played the young Brazilian Denilson, I would think playing him would allow some of the fatigued players some well needed rest.
flash--good shout on Kitson. Heard that call before (from you?), and it'd be interesting to see him w/talented players.
craigy--Tell us how you *really* feel aboot team names. While yer at it, how aboot dem mascots everybody has these days? "Ed the Evertonian" with a sour expression & a bluenose, perhaps? (c;
Yak got no service, what’s a boy to do...?
Ummm, not pout and flop around?
You didn’t deserve a 2nd – you only scored one because of a post and some shiite finishing.
Potaytow, potahtow. Wasn't trying to start a debate; ye asked, I volunteered. IMvhO, once Fern scored, it was only a matter of how many. YMMV.
Yak experience – getting 19 goals in all comps... How would that make anyone gun shy?
Well, I was talking more aboot flair players vs. DM's preferred max-effort type (which may be financially motivated - Arteta was a steal IIRC?). Yak has had a disciplinary problem already, plus his (perceived?) discriminate application of effort might may him more inclined to add a 'Kuyt-type' rather than a 'Luis Garcia-type', for lack of better examples. And I think you need another game breaker or two.
As I said earlier, I won't judge Pienaar on that game, and haven't seen much more of Manny, so I'll defer to you.
Haven't watched any Juve games, sorry. However, Momo's already scored at least one goal for them, and he had that many in 2 seasons in Red! He's good ppl AFAIK, a physical specimen, and a max effort player. If they don't ask him to make cutting or long passes offensively, he'll do very well.
I find it disconcerning that mistakes by refs are ignored if the result ends fairly. i.e. Hleb's yellow against milan. If he picks up another he could miss an important game. Mistakes are so prevalent that announcers give it the same commentary as a streaker. Flag happy offsides are also way too prevalent. The thought that this is part of football is part of the problem.
GORN
It's All about finding the right blend of graft and craft!
Half a dozen of our players have more craft and half a dozen have more graft, the others are a blend or in development.
DM's thinking is "you can have all the craft yer want lad, this is EFC, I'm DM, we pay you 80K a week you better get some graft or you can fu_ck off" This policy is in evidence in the turn around of yakubu from the early part of the season and is a not unreasonable managerial demand.
Graft will help you not lose games and craft will help you win them.
He's taken a shiite team and made them graft and added craft. Playing at out best only the teams above us (and Fulham) give us problems, to surmount those problems we need more craft. And a blo_ody good number two!
Carsley provides our "cutting edge" and Neville the "facial disaster" so we won't be needing that combination in one player, thankyou verra much.
Wouldn't think, he'd get another striker. We have four (when fit) so unless Vaughn or Anichebe go on loan we'll be fine. Midfield, deffo need more craft from deep and at rb.
I've said it b4 - we need someone to replace carsley who has the ability not just to win the ball and pass it on but who has the ability to receive the ball from the back and play it intelligently forward.
Yak's problem seemed to be attitude (which DM mostly sorted) disciplinary - 3 yellows all season - hardly.
Pout and flop around - only just a bit worse than not pouting and flopping around eh.
What is this problem you seem to have developed on balls into the six yard box? Is it Reina
CONT...or the unfamiliar (relatively) combination in front of him?
CATGOTYERTONG
The flip side to your point is that when refs get it right they don't get praise - a majority seems to expect them to be perfect.
PERHAPS WHEN PHILIDELPHIA GETS IT'S FRANCHISE they can be the Cheesesteaks. Or Maybe the ORLANDO THEME PARKS FC.
KITSON
Nice idea - if he'd have gotten the call up to a friendly we could see if his attributes would transfer to the international stage. Will that happen - ?
We do need more with his mental attributes for england. How many players played like feckless tw_ats for the three lions and like - well - lions for their clubs?
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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