tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27705485950379153432024-03-07T12:46:18.038-05:00Football Fan-aticFootball Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-56695413715577982112008-02-14T10:02:00.000-05:002008-02-14T10:11:30.887-05:00Where I'm AtHi Everyone,<br /><br />Because some of you have been kind enough to inquire, I wanted to let you all know that I am still blogging the beutiful game. I am now the Fiorentina blogger for a great website called www.theoffside.com. To find me, simply go to the main page. If I have posted recently, there will be a "Fiorentina" box with my thoughts. If I have not posted in a few days, you can find my most recent writings by clicking on the Italy sub-page and then clicking on the link for the club Fiorentina.<br /><br />As I said in my last post, I enjoyed blogging about the world game a whole, but it was too much for one person to cover. I am having great fun, however, being part of a very big and very skilled team at The Offside, and I am very much enjoying the responsibilities of covering a single team. Of course it helps that I am coving my favorite team in my favorite league.<br /><br />I may at some point start posting my writings simultanously to The Offise as well as here, just to keep this old page going. But, in the meantime, I strongly encourage you to check out theoffside.com.Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-74877228274539134092007-11-30T16:24:00.000-05:002007-11-30T16:25:17.213-05:00A Note to My Readers (All Seven of You)<p class="MsoNormal">If you regularly check this blog, you will have noticed that there hasn’t been much posting going on since November came around. <span style=""> </span>Part of this is due, as I have explained, to the fact that I went to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> for a good chunk of the month. <span style=""> </span>But since I’ve been back, I’ve hardly blogged, except to detail the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:City> riots. <span style=""> </span>That’s because I’ve decided to close down the blog, at least temporarily, and maybe permanently. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I started the footballfan-atic blog on January 1 because I wanted to write about football, and I wanted to write stuff that was published instantly. <span style=""> </span>(I write lots of stuff for magazines that are published four months after I complete them.) On both counts, I had fun writing about the beautiful game. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The point of the blog, or its point of view, perhaps, was that of an American who was a fan of the worldwide game. <span style=""> </span>That was why I tried to talk about the big stories from all over Europe and <st1:place st="on">South America</st1:place>, and also why I published the “games of the weekend” column every Friday: to help an average American like me get more out of the sport and the joy of watching it. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This was fun, but as the summer turned into fall I began to realize more fully the obvious: that the world game was simply too much for one blogger. <span style=""> </span>Hell, some of the great football blogs (like theoffside.com) have dozens of staffers doing the same thing. <span style=""> </span>And as a result, they are doing it much, much better. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This has combined with some changes in my personal life (all good ones, thank goodness) which has made it more difficult to blog regularly. <span style=""> </span>When I started footballfan-atic, I vowed that I would only do it if it was fun. <span style=""> </span>I would not maintain a blog simply for the purpose of “trudging on” or seeing how long I could keep the posts up. <span style=""> </span>Well, because I am questioning the purpose of this, and because of time constraints making it less fun, I am going to stop maintaining the site. <span style=""> </span>For now.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am going to be effectively taking the rest of the year off from football bloging, and reassess where I am in the New Year. <span style=""> </span>I am strongly considering retooling the site and making it much more specialized, such as being centered on a particular team like Fiorentina or my local team, the New England Revolution. <span style=""> </span>I could also focus more tightly on particular players or even competitions. (I admit I am getting more and more into Series A and Italian football in general.) Or, I may just hang it up.<span style=""> </span>We’ll see what happens in the New Year. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I want to thank all of the readers who checked out what I had to say over the last year, and also thank my buddy Matt for his generous posts on the EPL. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I do want to let everyone know that just because I am giving up this blog (at least temporarily) does NOT mean I am giving up on football. <span style=""> </span>On the contrary, I am actually more into football than ever. <span style=""> </span>I lead a fairly busy life with work, family, friends, and various writing projects on the side. <span style=""> </span>When I have a moment of free time, I am almost always watching or reading about football, and that is one of the main factors that prevents me from writing about it more often. <span style=""> </span>Right now I don’t feel like I will ever be able to let go of this game. <span style=""> </span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-87291883843020591562007-11-20T10:46:00.001-05:002007-11-20T10:46:56.724-05:00More Italy Thoughts<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">I had a few other bits and pieces left over from <st1:country-region st="on">Italy</st1:country-region> before I turn my attention back to other matters, including the Europe qualifiers, Champions League, and some goings-on in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">Italian skipper Fabio Cannavaro had one of the saddest and most poignant quotes relating to the whole mess in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> when he said: 'I play at Real Madrid, a club that has a perfect stadium, full of children, without violence. From the outside I realize the awful images Italian football gives itself. We cannot go on like this.' And he’s right: you go to a match in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> and there are no kids around, because of the potential danger. <span style=""> </span>That is madness.<span style=""> </span>What else do we even have sports for? </li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">Read the full article at <a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=481976&cc=5901">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=481976&cc=5901</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">Robert Gotta has a great article on the state of Italian football here, from ESPN.com</li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=481617&root=europe&cc=5901">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=481617&root=europe&cc=5901</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">CNNSI’s Jonah Freedman reported that Manchester United (Roma’s next opponent in the Champion’s League; who are visiting <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:City>) has offered a FULL REFUND to any of their fans who bought tickets to the game but are now too frightened to attend. <span style=""> </span>Think about that: is there a sadder referendum on the state of Italian football? <span style=""> </span>Manchester United fans being AFRAID to attend a football match?</li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">Finally, and most furiously, even the exchange rate in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> is now killing football fans.<span style=""> </span>I always wear football shirts, and look forward to picking up new ones in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>. I loaded up on a ton of Fiorentina stuff and got a cool SSC Venice shirt, but I paid through the nose. <span style=""> </span>If this keeps up much longer I will have to start wearing MLS stuff – Damn!</li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-72725939567790065362007-11-19T16:53:00.000-05:002007-11-19T16:55:02.408-05:00Rome Soccer Riots<p class="MsoNormal">I want to thank everyone who has stayed with this blog even through my extended absences.<span style=""> </span>I know it can be tough to stick with these things sometimes, and especially when there are not posts on a regular basis.<span style=""> </span>I do appreciate all the people who read this.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As a few of my friends know, I haven’t been posting to this blog for the last week or so because my wife and I took a brief trip to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>We vacation there, of course, because we enjoy it; we enjoy the cities and the art and the museums and the people and the food.<span style=""> </span>It should be said, moreover, that we also enjoy the football.<span style=""> </span>I have sai<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzMIlITBwDdk82OgXDsa5GfrsRIpkhKiNvKh0_NatfD4JNloxou-z4GGXx5T-IjE1QRfxXpPuSGUkUndtp6oLUnVlidegBLWzcQ2wpBd-zB8btphp1Ksp30XMerCflszNWYwrgLRGp7Lf/s1600-h/image3487649g.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzMIlITBwDdk82OgXDsa5GfrsRIpkhKiNvKh0_NatfD4JNloxou-z4GGXx5T-IjE1QRfxXpPuSGUkUndtp6oLUnVlidegBLWzcQ2wpBd-zB8btphp1Ksp30XMerCflszNWYwrgLRGp7Lf/s200/image3487649g.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134673217053159218" border="0" /></a>d on this blog that I believe Italian football is the best in the world, and in spite of all that has happened this last month, I still believe it.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I went to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>Readers know that I am a fan of Fiorentina, but my travels were taking me to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:city> on the weekend, so I purchased two tickets to the Roma-Cagliari game that was scheduled to take place on November 12.<span style=""> </span>The game was originally scheduled for 2:30 in the afternoon, but it was changed to 8:30 at night.<span style=""> </span>This made me a little nervous, as I am aware of the violence that can happen at an Italian football match, but I still wanted to go.<span style=""> </span>Plus, I had been to Fiorentina games at night and everything had been fine.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We spent the day as many tourists do in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Eternal</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>: we went and saw the forum and the Coliseum.<span style=""> </span>At night we went back to our hotel room near the Spanish Steps to relax before the game.<span style=""> </span>We watched some TV, and although we do not speak Italian, it was obvious to my wife and I that things had gone very wrong in the Italian football world that day.<span style=""> </span>There was a protest and violence in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Milan</st1:place></st1:city>, and a game had to be stopped at Atalanta because ultras were destroying the stadium.<span style=""> </span>I suspected the Roma game might be canceled, but we were not sure.<span style=""> </span>The hotel concierge did no know anything, so we decided to take a train ride up to Olympic Stadium to check things out.<span style=""> </span>It was a foolish decision to bring my wife, but she knew I really wanted to go to the game and she didn’t want me to go alone.<span style=""> </span>Plus, we hoped everything would be fine.<span style=""> </span>It was, as I said, a foolish mistake.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course, I now know things I did not know at the time.<span style=""> </span>On the morning of the game, the Italian police accidentally killed a young man who was traveling on the way to a different football game. The Italian ultras decided that all football matches should be cancelled that day to mark the young man’s death.<span style=""> </span>When a policeman was killed last January in football riots the games were postponed for weeks; now the Ultras saw it as disrespect that the games were still to be played.<span style=""> </span>So they marched in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Milan</st1:place></st1:city> and tore up the stadium in Atalanta.<span style=""> </span>And the Lazio and Roma Ultras decided to team up to wreck havoc in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We got on a tram around 6:45 to get to the stadium.<span style=""> </span>We turned a corner when we were about a mile from the stadium and witnessed chaos.<span style=""> </span>We saw about 100 young men, almost all disguised (many wrapped their soccer scarves around their face) fight toe-to-toe with around 50-75 uniformed police officers.<span style=""> </span>And all of them were really going at it: clubs flying, punches and kicks being thrown, flares being thrown, all of that kind of stuff.<span style=""> </span>We saw the police batter the ultras and force them into an alley; we saw fans smashing windows and turning over dumpsters.<span style=""> </span>We saw a bus that later, on TV, we would recognize as it burned to the ground.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remarkably, the tram we were riding on then dropped us off in the middle of this warzone.<span style=""> </span>We had to get in a train that was in the front of the line to get out of there.<span style=""> </span>I was terrified that my wife would be hurt, so we sprinted across the park and boarded a train that, sadly, contained a number of not-so-scared people.<span style=""> </span>They had simply become used to the ridiculous levels of violence and knew that if they kept their heads down and stayed out of the way of the police and the Ultras, they should be okay.<span style=""> </span>They shared none of our fear and outrage.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Twenty minutes later, we were back at the Spanish steps, sitting among children eating ice cream and wondering if we had just imagined the riot scene we had walked through.<span style=""> </span>In our room we watched hours of television coverage of the riots.<span style=""> </span>Eventually the ultras attacked and attempted to destroy a police station, broke into and damaged the headquarters of Italian football, and generally destroyed a bunch of property of innocent people.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My wife and I were unhurt, and spent the rest of our vacation at museums and restaurants and other places where there was no violence.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After last season’s riots, I wrote an impassion plea to clean up Italian football.<span style=""> </span>(See my column from February 4).<span style=""> </span>Now, I don’t know what to say.<span style=""> </span>The chaos, violence and hate I saw at the riot were a symbol of the very deep-seeded and real problems of Italian society.<span style=""> </span>I may love the country, and its people, and its football, but <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> is also a country full of profoundly angry young people.<span style=""> </span>Many have chosen to use football as a means to express that anger, a shame doubly both because of the violence and also because the great sport of football has nothing to do with it.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last winter I wrote that if Italian football did not clean up its act, it would become a joke.<span style=""> </span>It is now another step closer to becoming that punchline, and it becomes harder and harder for me to defend the game.<span style=""> </span>As a reasonable man, I most certainly can never take my wife to a Series A game ever again.<span style=""> </span>As I reasonably sane man, I wonder how long it is before I cannot even allow myself to go again.<span style=""> </span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-82643719274987066192007-11-02T12:14:00.000-05:002007-11-02T12:17:03.285-05:00Weekend Matches: Nov 2-3<o:p></o:p>Solid weekend of football coming up, with two very obvious highlights. One, of course, is the Manchester United v. Arsenal game being featured bright and early on Saturday morning. Jonah Freedman of SI, in his bi-weekly football power rankings, has them listed as the two best teams in the world. We’ll see. Arsenal is clearly firing on all cylinders. <br /><br />The other big matchup is Juve v. Inter in Milan on Sunday. I’m rooting for Inter if only because if my Fiorentina wins (who are playing on Saturday night) then they can slide into second place. Regardless, fun stuff coming from England, Spain, and Italy this weekend. Enjoy it. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Saturday</span> <br /><br />8:30am <span style="font-style: italic;">Arsenal vs Manchester United</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />11:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Newcastle vs Portsmouth</span> FSC <br /><br />12:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Bayern Munich vs Eintracht Frankfurt</span> GolTv <br /><br />1:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Blackburn vs Liverpool</span> FSC <br /><br />3:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Milan vs Torino</span> FSC <br /><br />5:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Sevilla vs Real Madrid</span> GolTv <br /><br />7:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">New England Revolution vs New York Red Bulls</span> FSC <br /><br />10:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Lazio vs Fiorentina</span> FSC <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday</span> <br /><br />9:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Empoli vs Roma </span> FSC <br /><br />1:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Barcelona vs Betis</span> GolTv <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Juventus vs Inter</span> FSC <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-70160631859198005892007-10-30T09:50:00.000-05:002007-10-30T09:53:17.765-05:00Orange DeviousnessCheck out this amusing video from Holland, where a prankster brought a bunch of remote controls into various bars and turned the TV off during critical moments of football matches. The worst nightmare for football fans, but funny, at least.<br /><br />http://current.com/items/85740121_guy_turns_off_soccer_games_during_exciting_partsFootball Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-35701914474709897862007-10-29T15:24:00.000-05:002007-10-29T15:44:32.332-05:00Matt's Premiership ReviewHere is the latest update on all the premiership action from my buddy Matt. Matt looks forward to next weekend's hopefully monumental clash between Manchester United and Arsenal after this past weekend's fun action.<br /><br />If you've noticed that Matt has been posting almost as much as me recently, well, you've been right. As I've said earlier, I am trying to truck through a busy period at work, and I confess I have also been a bit sidetracked by the Boston Red Sox (the local baseball team, who just won the World Series for the second time in four years). Between the Red Sox and the Patriots (the local American football team, for all of my outside-the-U.S. readers) I've had little time for soccer, but I still managed to cram in this weekend's Fiorentina game as well as most of Roma v. Milan. That actually reminds me of that great line from the "Simpsons" when Homer was reminiscing about his early years of marriage: "In spite of working a full-time job, being a newlywed, and raising a young son, I still managed to pack in six hours of television a day..."(I'm paraphrasing here)<br /><br />Anyway, I am glad that Matt is reviewing the English league. My beloved Series A was actually quite boring, with low-scoring draws and 1-0 matches as far as the eyes could see. I'll be back more this week as I get back into the football world.<br /><br />------------------<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Wow. What another great weekend in the EPL with games filled with goals galore, and a big game that actually lived up to the hype. Arsenal and </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > played an entertaining game where both sided were attacking each other from start to finish, and the 1-1 scoreline doesn’t give justice to what a great game it was. </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > took the lead on an early free kick by Steven Gerrard, but eventually Arsenal’s class allowed them to tie it up through Cesc Fabregas, and keep both teams undefeated for the season. The question becomes which team should be happier with the result, and I would have to say, it’s got to be Arsenal. </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > dropped another 2 points at home, and they simply can’t afford to do that if they want to challenge for the title. Although both fans and players of Arsenal might feel that they should have won the game, they still can be happy that they remain undefeated and atop of the Premier League. However, they are now tied atop the League with the defending champs, and sets up this week’s clash between them and Man U at the Emirates. I was knocking on Man U at the beginning of the season, but they are on form now. They are scoring goals in buckets full like they did last year, and the Tevez/Rooney partnership is really starting to jell. Rooney did a beautiful back pass to Tevez to set up the third goal of the game in their 4-1 romp over </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Middlesbrough</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >, and he is starting to show once again why he is seen as </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >England</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >’s savior. I can’t wait for this week’s game between these two powerhouses, but I think Arsenal will hold out for a 3-2 win. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > In other games, Avram Grant has done something that the Special One couldn’t seem to do with </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Chelsea</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >; have them play entertaining football. </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Chelsea</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > demolished </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Man</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >City</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > 6-0, and has pundits pondering whether </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Man</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >City</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >’s early season form was just a flash in the pan. While I don’t think it was anything more than just a bump in the road for Sven’s men, you do have to wonder if Sven is a one trick pony, who can easily be figured out. He didn’t seem to have a plan B for </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Chelsea</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > after his </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >4-4-2</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > formation fell apart, and it was like we were seeing signs of the </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >England</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > team again. One thing for sure is that </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Chelsea</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > are back, and they aren’t going to give up on the title so easily yet.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > Speaking of a one trick pony, those were the words I was using to describe Michael Owen as I yelled at the TV while watching </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Newcastle</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >’s dismal display against Reading this weekend. They are without a doubt the most Jekyll and Hyde team in the Premier League. You never know which team is going to show up; the one that should be guaranteed a spot in </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Europe</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >, or the one battling a relegation dog fight. As for Owen, he is good at doing one thing only. Scoring goals when the ball is delivered directly to his foot or head while he is in the box and there is no one around him. If that doesn’t happen, don’t expect him to do much else except get called for being offside. Why Sam insists on placing him above Martins on his striker depth chart is beyond me. I certainly have my fair share of problems with Obafemi, but at least he is out there trying, has pace, and can actually do something with the ball when outside the box. When he has the ball, I at least have some hope that </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Newcastle</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > might score. I don’t feel the same way about Owen. I pray to God he proves me wrong.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > Finally, as many of you know, Martin Jol was finally given the sack this past week. Despite this, Tottemham still found a way to lose and remain in the relegation zone. Somewhere Tony Soprano, I mean Martin Jol is laughing.<br /></span></span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-50002252080417329362007-10-26T13:10:00.000-05:002007-10-26T13:33:12.726-05:00Premiership ThoughtsApologies to any readers who have noticed I haven't posted all week. To be honest, I've just been crazy-busy at my real-life job as I try to finish some stuff before I take a quick visit over to Europe. And, yes, I will be catching some top-flight football while over on the continent. I will report back in full.<br /><br />The irony of my week-long layoff is that some great football has been played. On Saturday in Italy Roma and Napoli played to a 4-4 draw that was one of the best matches I've seen in ages. And in Madrid on Wednesday Real Madrid cam back from a 2-1 deficit to win 4-2 in the Champions league. That match might finally be the club-level coming-out party for Robinho, who dominated the game.<br /><br />In the meantime, my buddy Matt has a little belated but very interesting look at last week's action in the Premiership and in English football. It was a busy week in England (Martin Jol finally left Spurs) but Matt helps us unravel everything, including what could be a very good title race.<br /><br />----------------------<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > Although not much has changed among the placement of teams in the standings, things are starting to come cleared as a quarter of the season has come to the end. Manchester United have seemed to found last season’s form with another spectacular victory at Aston Villa by the score of 4-1. Meanwhile, Arsenal continued their winning ways at the top of the league with a 2-0 victory over </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Bolton</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >. It wasn’t the usual flair of an Arsenal game, but one in which they showed they could get stuck in, and respond to tough tackling by fighting back with similar tactics. But there is no need to worry that they will change their ways and start to play like </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Chelsea</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > as Tuesday’s Champions League 7-0 victory showed. And what about Theo Walcott? With Van Persie out for 4-6 weeks, he will get his chance to continue to shine and display his blinding pace, that was shown in Arsenal’s last 2 games. Arsenal’s opponents this weekend, </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >, got an extremely lucky win this past weekend over Everton to keep them in 4<sup>th</sup> place and on pace for a run at the title. I have to laugh at that last statement because I don’t think </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > will challenge for the title event though I picked them as my pre-season favorites to do so. The only reason they won last week was because they had the ref in their back pocket, and while they did deserve the 2 penalties they were rewarded, they should have had 2 red cards against themselves for a flying tackle by Kuyt on Phil Neville, and for Jamie Carragher’s take down of Lescott in the box. The later should have given Everton a penalty kick, and a chance to get a point from a draw in this derby. However, it seems that </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >’s luck may have run out based on their defeat to Besiktas this past Wednesday in the Champions League. Maybe this loss combined with the subbing of Gerrard in the Everton derby will cause the eventual sacking of Benitez and his stupid rotational policy. Arsenal can help him on his way if they thrash </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > at Anfield this weekend like they did last year.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > Speaking of sackings, Sammy Lee and now Martin Jol have joined the unemployment line. I’m happy to say that it was </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Newcastle</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >’s fine display at St. James in their 3-1 victory over Tottenham on Monday that hammered the final nails in the coffin of Mr. Jol. Although it didn’t help that Berbatov started on the bench with a sour look on his face, and couldn’t be bothered to warm up or really participate when he eventually got on the pitch. Maybe it was the Bulgarian’s reaction to his benching that really caused the board at Spurs to get rid of Jol. In any event, it seems the next manager to go in the sacking race is between Billy Davies at </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Derby</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >, Lawrie Sanchez at Fulham, and Gareth Southgate at </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Middlesbrough</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >. But I’m sure there are </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Liverpool</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" > supporters out there, that feel as I do, and are hoping that Mr. Benitez soon takes pole position. </span></span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-5995885402126898392007-10-19T12:51:00.000-05:002007-10-19T12:54:04.071-05:00Weekend Matches: October 20-21<p class="MsoNormal"></p> Now this is what I’m talking about. A good, solid weekend of football coming up, especially Saturday, which is the kind of day DVR was invented for. Although I am becoming increasingly tired of English football, the Premiership seems to have the best matches of the weekend, including the Liverpool derby and an intriguing Arsenal v. Bolton match. (Villa vs. Man United could be okay as well.) In Spain, Espanyol vs. Real Madrid should be okay, as should Roma vs. Napoli in Italy. Juventus vs. Genoa and Boca Juniors vs. Juan Sebastian Veron’s Estudiantes looks to be the cream of the crop on Sunday. Thank goodness for the return of league football!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Saturday</span> <br /><br />7:30am <span style="font-style: italic;">Everton vs Liverpool</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />9:30am <span style="font-style: italic;">Bochum vs Bayern Munich</span> GolTv <br /><br />10:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Arsenal vs Bolton</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />10:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Middlesbrough vs Chelsea </span> FSC <br /><br />12:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Aston Villa vs Manchester United</span> FSC <br /><br />2:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Villarreal vs Barcelona</span> GolTv <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Reggina vs Inter </span> FSC <br /><br />4:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Espanyol vs Real Madrid</span> GolTv <br /><br />8:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Roma vs Napoli</span> FSC <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday</span> <br /><br />9:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">AC Milan vs Empoli</span> FSC <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Juventus vs Genoa</span> FSC <br /><br />3:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Atl. Madrid vs Zaragoza </span> GolTv <br /><br />3:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Boca Juniors vs Estudiantes</span> FSC <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-36932576943826796822007-10-18T08:50:00.000-05:002007-10-18T08:51:40.674-05:00Now That’s a Free Kick<p class="MsoNormal">Below find a link brought to my attention by the FourFourTwo website, which refered to this as “possibly the greatest free kick of all time.” <span style=""> </span>I don’t know about that...but Jesus.<span style=""> </span>It’s pretty impressive.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=L7P6HQDe-_s">http://youtube.com/watch?v=L7P6HQDe-_s</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-72198132570550402152007-10-16T08:50:00.000-05:002007-10-16T08:51:38.158-05:00Mid-Week Reading<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve decided to continue my semi-break from the Fan-atic page for a few days longer. <span style=""> </span>One reason is that these Euro qualifiers just don’t interest me at all; I CAN”T WAIT to get back to league football this weekend. <span style=""> </span>Also, frankly, I am little busy in my “real life” job (I am a writer and editor in that life as well, but in that life I get paid to do stuff, so that comes first) so I’ve put football writing on the back-burner until I watch some meaningful games this weekend.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I did, however, want to draw your attention to two very fine articles on ESPN.com.<span style=""> </span>The first is Roberto Gotta’s analysis of the Italian National Team head coaching job, and more specifically, an examination of the culture of Italian football and how difficult it is to make a success of oneself there.<span style=""> </span>If you are like me (Series A is probably my favorite league at this point) this is a solid read.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The second article is a piece by the much-linked-to Phil Ball, who writes about his son’s U-12 league and uses this to explain the Spanish National Team.<span style=""> </span>I stand by my often-made claim that Ball is one of the best writers in the business.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One final point: one of my good friends have suggested that I link to ESPN too much, and probably at the expense of other really good stuff out there.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps he is right; it is true that I don’t often link to sites that I actually like very much, including sites based in <st1:country-region st="on">England</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>I don’t link to ESPN as much as I do because I have the typical American worship of all things ESPN (in fact, I hardly watch the channel excepting Champions League matches) but because they are able to recruit and keep an extraordinary group of international writers.<span style=""> </span>Their coverage of <st1:country-region st="on">Spain</st1:country-region> and <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>, most obviously, is quite good, especially as we are an English speaking readership.<span style=""> </span>Their English League coverage is weaker (I tend to go to the English newspapers for that) and, strangely enough, I thing CNNSI.com’s coverage of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> soccer knocks ESPN’s out of the park.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I link to ESPN’s stuff often because I think it is good.<span style=""> </span>You be the judge: </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Phil Ball: </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=472599&root=euro2008&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos3">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=472599&root=euro2008&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos3</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Roberto Gotta:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=472655&root=euro2008&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=472655&root=euro2008&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-32992519732733020182007-10-12T12:22:00.000-05:002007-10-12T12:23:32.643-05:00Weekend Matches, October 13-14<p class="MsoNormal"></p> Since the beginning of the year, I have produced, every Friday, a list of matches that are to be televised that weekend in the United States that I recommend to my readers. I did it even in the dregs of July when there was little, if anything, going on. In the interest of keeping the streak alive I offer you a meager selection of one game, in the MLS, between two very poor teams. David Beckham will not play. <br /><br />This, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch. All else that’s televised this weekend are ridiculous Euro qualifying matches between mismatched teams. If there has ever been a weekend to spend time with your family, go for a long walk, clean out the garage, or yes, even play a little impromptu football, this is it. See you next week. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday</span><br /><br />10:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">LA Galaxy vs Toronto</span> FSC <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-82828324565473618912007-10-12T07:50:00.000-05:002007-10-12T07:51:52.351-05:00That makes two of us...http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=471884&cc=5901Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-51758141444314912007-10-11T10:44:00.001-05:002007-10-11T10:44:41.086-05:00Quick News Updates<p class="MsoNormal">Just a few quick things today, as I continue to be a bit busy with that pesky “real life” that gets in the way of my football watchin’: </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">Check out this story by the always-good Grant Whal on Michael Bradley, son of the U.S. National Team head coach.<span style=""> </span>Interesting stuff not just about Michael but about how an American makes it overseas in the football world: <span style=""> </span></li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/10/09/michael.bradley/index.html">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/10/09/michael.bradley/index.html</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="">See any of the major soccer websites for updates on Euro 2008 qualification, and especially for news on <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>Stories this week include John Terry’s various injuries, the English striker situation, and whether the perennially-hurt Michael Owen should play. <span style=""> </span>Wake me in June when the Euros start, please.<span style=""> </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Finally, it looks like my man Neil Warnock has taken the QPR job. <span style=""> </span>Good luck, Neil.<span style=""> </span>They’re in 19<sup>th</sup> place right now.<span style=""> </span>Of course, if your team collapses down the stretch like it did last season, you can always blame Carlos Tevez again…</li> </ul>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-42530044854955297402007-10-09T11:23:00.000-05:002007-10-09T11:24:23.989-05:00Early Week Thoughts<p class="MsoNormal">This is my first post of the week largely because we have celebrated a holiday here in the United States this weekend called ‘Columbus Day,’ in honor of the man who discovered a continent already occupied by millions of people. <span style=""> </span>Next week I might fly to <st1:city st="on">Tokyo</st1:City> and discover <st1:place st="on">Asia</st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>But I digress.<span style=""> </span>My apologies on the lateness of this post. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also accept my apologies on the thinness of today’s content and the presumed short posts that are likely to come this week. <span style=""> </span>It just looks like one of those weeks where the real-life work is going to get in the way of the fun footballfan-atic work. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Drab weekend coming up, too, with the European qualifiers.<span style=""> </span>Prepare yourself for endless stories on who will start for <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> and whether they will make Euro 2008. <span style=""> </span>God, I hope they win both games just so we can be subject to less of this in the future. <span style=""> </span>If I read one more “referendum” article on Steve McLaren, I am going to fly over there and fire him myself. <span style=""> </span></p> <div style="border-style: none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; border-width: medium medium 1pt; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none ; padding: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Since the posts will be thin this week, I encourage all of you to check out the ESPN soccernet podcast that is done each and every week on Mondays and Thursdays.<span style=""> </span>It is available for free on itunes, at least to people in the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> (I don’t know about the rest of the world.)<span style=""> </span>I’ve listened to a bunch of podcasts and I find this one to be pretty consistently the best. <span style=""> </span>The Monday show is always a good wrap-up of the week, and the Thursday episode is a good preview of upcoming action. <span style=""> </span>The show is a little heavy on the premiership, but it is still a fairly balanced roundup of what is going on in the football world. <span style=""> </span>The guys on the show are also pretty unbiased, aside from their universal, unrelenting disgust for all things Andrei Shevchenko. <span style=""> </span>Fair play to them, then.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-90462515160386753022007-10-05T10:39:00.000-05:002007-10-05T10:41:40.793-05:00Weekend Matches: October 6-7<p class="MsoNormal"></p> As I said in an earlier post, it is a fairly weird weekend for football. There are almost no English games on Saturday, and a bunch are either not being televised at all or being shown scandalously late. Sad. I am excited to see my favorite English club, Sheffield United, play in a rarely-televised Championship match, but most of the good stuff seems (again) to be coming out of Italy. AC Milan vs. Lazio could be interesting, and the pick of the litter is probably Juventus vs. my Fiorentina. I do believe Fiorentina can nick at least a point here; they advanced in the UEFA cup yesterday and are looking good.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday </span> <br /><br />7:30am <span style="font-style: italic;">Manchester United vs Wigan</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />12:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Bristol City vs Sheffield Utd</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Inter vs Napoli</span> FSC <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday</span> <br /><br />6:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Arsenal vs Sunderland</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />10:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Bolton vs Chelsea</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />10:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool vs Tottenham</span> FSC <br /><br />12:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Fiorentina vs Juventus</span> FSC <br /><br />3:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Lazio vs AC Milan</span> FSC <br /><br />10:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Barcelona vs Atl. Madrid</span> GolTv <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-26871065891086679362007-10-04T09:13:00.000-05:002007-10-04T09:19:30.414-05:00When Saturday Comes...No Football?The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">web page</span> of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">FourFourTwo</span> has a brief but interesting article on why they are only playing one game in the English Premier League at the traditional kick-off time of 3PM on Saturday. It seems <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">to</span> be the result of a combination of TV, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">UEFA</span> Cup Matches, and travel difficulties. Whatever. This weekend the Premier League is all screwed up, and its going to be tough for viewers (especially in the US) to catch many of the games. Football purists have been going on for a while now about how football has become more and more of a business; this has both good and bad aspects to it, but it is hard to argue with the fact that tradition (the Saturday game) was probably best in this particular case.<br /><br />http://www.fourfourtwo.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PlanetFootballTop/0,,11442~1127092,00.htmlFootball Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-58673440598316012282007-10-03T10:25:00.000-05:002007-10-03T10:26:45.869-05:00Manchester United NewsToday the red half of Manchester is on the mind, seeing how the Devils played an excruciating Champion’s League match last night. I watched it on ESPN, but my wife (an indifferent fan of football at best) summed up the match better than I ever could by falling asleep at halftime. A fairly lucky Rooney blast was the difference (coming only moments after a gorgeous Christiano Ronaldo backheel goal that was ruled offside) and of course they will gladly take the three points. But is Manchester turning into Chelsea? Ugh.<br /><br />More bad news for Manchester yesterday included the report that Owen Hargreaves will be out for at least another month as his knee continues to trouble him. (Obviously making him unavailable for England as well.) Hargreaves Owen-like ability to stay healthy might make United rue the day they purchased him; especially with Nani, Anderson, and even Carlos Tevez providing indifferent results after a very expensive off-season.Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-45671121524604522352007-10-02T13:09:00.000-05:002007-10-02T13:10:47.443-05:00LA Galaxy Playoff Bound?<p class="MsoNormal">Here is an interesting, but weird, column by SI soccer writer Greg Lalas, brother of LA Galaxy President (and former <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> national team standout) Alexi Lalas.<span style=""> </span>Greg essentially argues that the Galaxy need to step it up next year when Beckham is back, and not just when he is hurt and out of the country, or LA and the MLS in general will never be taken seriously on the world stage.<span style=""> </span>The article then gets a little weird, and at one point he suggests his brother “choked” along with the rest of the team, but does not elaborate.<span style=""> </span>The piece does make a couple of interesting points, but ultimately Greg seems to be trying a little too hard to be critical of his brother.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/10/02/galaxy.dp/index.html">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/10/02/galaxy.dp/index.html</a></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-29013526516195383112007-10-02T10:26:00.000-05:002007-10-02T10:33:56.482-05:00Premiership Week in ReviewBelow find my buddy Matt's review of the weekend in the Premiership. In this week's edition, Matt looks at the English keeper situation, why Spurs shouldn't get too excited about yesterday's win, and why Stevie G is a good guy. Good analysis here...<br /><br />------------------------------------<br /><br />This week’s update is a day late due to the additional game between Spurs and Aston Villa being played on Monday night, and it is with that game where we begin. This game was to celebrate the 125 year anniversary of Tottenham Hotspur, and they had all their legends on the field before the match began. Berbatov gave Spurs the lead, before the horror show began with lead actor, Paul Robinson, and his supporting cast of the shambolic defense. It all started with Robinson dropping a ball that was in his hands which lead to the first Villa goal. By the 60th minute of the game, he had let in 3 more and the Spurs were down 4-1 as crowds of fans exited from White Hart Lane. There has to be someone in England who could actually be a good goalie for the national team. Since the “big four” have foreign keepers, and Tottenham are usually just outside looking in, Robinson seems to get his caps by default. Why doesn’t McClaren look to the Championship or the lower leagues for a keeper if he can’t find a reliable one in the Premiership?? Peter Shilton was one of England’s greatest keepers, and he wasn’t playing for any big clubs. Of course some would say that Scott Carson should be given the chance, but then he let in 3 goals in the last 30 minutes for Tottenham to salvage a draw. Now not all the blame could be placed on him, as one of the goals came off of a penalty thanks to the sheer stupidity of Marlon Harewood, and Villa fans must be in shock at how they blew 2 points in a game they were winning comfortably. Tottenham’s late equalizing strike as time was expiring led to all the players surrounding and hugging Martin Jol as if they just won the Premiership. And while it was impressive to come back from 3 goals down in under 30 minutes, all they got was a point, at home, on their special anniversary to keep them in 18th place!! Somehow I don’t think staying in the relegation zone is going to keep Jol’s job no matter what show of solidarity the players show him on the pitch.<br /><br />Moving on from the bottom of the table to the top, all 4 top teams remained in the same position as last weekend as each won their respective games. 1-0 to the Arsenal was a common saying of the Gunners of the 80s and early 90s, and so that sentiment was echoed this weekend with their 1-0 victory over West Ham, a team they couldn’t beat last season. It must be said that while the score line echoes the past, the style of play is completely different with the current team showing why they call it the beautiful game.<br /><br />The same can’t be said of Manchester United’s 1-0 victory over Birmingham. The Blues dominated the game putting more shots on goal than the Red Devils, but it was a lapse in Birmingham’s defense in the second half that allowed Ronaldo to knick a goal. Man U still haven’t displayed the goal scoring form of last season, and hopefully tonight’s game with Roma in the Champions League will bring back the goals from last year’s 7-1 demolishing of the Italian club, but Man U continue to do what Champions are required to do which is finding a way to win no matter your form. They went to a hostile environment in Birmingham and got 3 points, while the week previous Liverpool hosted Birmingham, couldn’t score a goal, and dropped 2 points in a 0-0 draw. Once again, I hope Liverpool are paying attention because this is what they have to do if they ever want to capture their first Premiership crown.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKR5JsI7cQrjyntDKRFxwH4YoUfWPuWZzuMYHl-0Bdy073uuaEvyI-rHN1J2c-ec95MRaHZjnJOBHXJZGNseMUjRZ_AdboinVjq7Ka2j5bkEi1I4CLMKBJDO2RYnkrQrg38wGYDf9iFXnA/s1600-h/officialhomekit1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKR5JsI7cQrjyntDKRFxwH4YoUfWPuWZzuMYHl-0Bdy073uuaEvyI-rHN1J2c-ec95MRaHZjnJOBHXJZGNseMUjRZ_AdboinVjq7Ka2j5bkEi1I4CLMKBJDO2RYnkrQrg38wGYDf9iFXnA/s200/officialhomekit1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116762013370088338" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ></span></p> Speaking of Liverpool, they held onto their 4th spot in the table with a blah 1-0 victory over Wigan, but that’s what they need to do. See above. Which leaves the 3rd place team, Man City, staying put thanks to a 3-1 win over my unfortunate Newcastle United. It was a bad week for the Magpies, with Owen getting hurt (again), getting knocked out of the Carling Cup by Arsenal (are we ever going to win a trophy?), and then leading by a goal at Manchester before letting it slip away. I have recently been reading the season preview from When Saturday Comes, and each team is compared to a type of food. Newcastle is like a 2 day old glazed donuts at Dunkin Donuts; they have the glaze of the all their star players, but the’re always on the (injury) shelf and there is a big whole in the middle. I sure hope Joey Barton comes back soon, as they need some creativity in the midfield, but if he doesn’t get injured as soon as he comes back, he will probably instead get arrested for attacking one of his teammates.<br /><br />Then there was the goal fest between Portsmouth and Reading, with Pompey winning 7-4, and in the process setting a Premiership record for most goals scored in a game. It could have been more, as David James saved a penalty shot from Nicky Shorey, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he still gave up 4 goals, I would be pushing for him to reclaim his England slot. It should be noted that Pompey, Reading, Spurs, and Villa each scored more goals then the combined goals scored by the “big 4” (4-3 thanks to Chelsea failing to score again). What does this mean? Absolutely nothing, except that the Premiership is certainly been entertaining so far this season. Let’s hope it keeps up.<br /><br />One last note: Apparently Steven Gerrard was involved in a car accident in which he hit a 10 year old boy causing him to break his leg. Cue the stories of millionaire player carelessly and recklessly driving his Bentley and hitting small children, but nothing can be further from the truth. While he was driving his Bentley, he wasn’t speeding when the boy ran out between 2 cars causing the accident. He immediately exited his car, knelt down and held the boy’s hand comforting him until the paramedics arrived, and was extremely distraught according to witnesses at the scene. He also has been in constant contact with the boy’s family to check up on his condition and how he is doing. It is nice to see for once a star athlete doing the right thing, and just goes to show that not all footballers (soccer players) are like those portrayed on Dream Team and Footballers’ Wives.Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-64628632015543049792007-10-02T09:28:00.000-05:002007-10-02T09:32:47.696-05:00Champions League: Tuesday and Wednesday<p class="MsoNormal"></p> Here is the US Television line-up for the next two days in the Champions League. Lots of good games here (especially Man United v. Roma and Real v. Lazio), but I do wish the big American channels (especially ESPN) would show more than just the English teams and Real Madrid and Barca. I’m a big Madrid fan, but we see those teams all the time, and the Champions league is a good chance to see good, but different, teams. At least Setanta is showing the Portuguese teams.<br /><br />Anyway, also keep an eye on the Liverpool v. Marseille game, if for no other reason than to ensure that Steven Gerrard doesn’t hit any kids with his car on the drive to the stadium.<br />http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=468744&cc=5901<br /><br />(As Triumph the Insult Comic Dog says: “I Keed, I keed.”) <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday </span> <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Manchester vs AS Roma</span> ESPN2 <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Steau Bukarest vs Arsenal</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />5:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Stuttgart vs Barcelona</span> Setanta Sports, ESPNCC <br /><br />6:45pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Dynamo Kyiv vs Sporting</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday </span> <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool vs Olympique Marseille</span> ESPN2 <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Valencia vs Chelsea </span>Setanta Sports <br /><br />5:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Lazio vs Real Madrid</span> Setanta Sports, ESPNCC <br /><br />6:45pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Besiktas vs Porto </span> Setanta Sports <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-87238425544799430092007-10-01T11:44:00.000-05:002007-10-01T11:45:27.150-05:00Who’s the Best?Below find a link to (big surprise) Phil Ball’s latest Spanish roundup. Good stuff in there, but also interesting because Phil looks at the ever-changing question of whom is the best in the world. Ball suggests that it might be Barca’s Leo Messi, who has certainly played like it lately.<br /><br />What we all know for sure, however, is that the title of anointed one changes all the time. Kaka will probably win this year’s player-of-the-year awards, and he is, without question, a deserving candidate. He was also named the best player in the world by FourFourTwo magazine. Christiano Ronaldo, however, was “the best player in the world” last spring, and Ronaldiho was “the guy” just a little over a year ago. Last year also, don’t forget, Fabio Cannavero was world player of the year. This year’s European season is only a few weeks old but it already looks like Leo Messi and Cesc Fabregas must now be considered in any argument about the best players in the world.<br /><br />In other words, the game right now lacks a truly clear-cut number one. Which is probably good for the game, and good for debate.<br /><br />http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=468523&root=europe&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-48167221240120684702007-09-30T22:45:00.000-05:002007-09-30T22:46:53.992-05:00Did Someone Just Play a World Cup?Below find a game report of the 2-0 victory today by the German Woman’s National Team over Brazil in the final of the Women’s World Cup. This was a strangely underreported tournament that really went underground in this country after the US Women were eliminated. Tonight, for instance, the game was only reported on the ‘Fox Soccer Report’ (a soccer news show broadcast every night at ten on FSC) at the twenty minute mark, after the scores of the Everton-Middlesboro were reported, along with a bunch of other meaningless games. Keep in mind that this was <em>World Cup Final</em>. If women’s football can’t make the top story on a soccer newscast on <em>this</em> day, than the sport is in trouble. As I said in an earlier post, if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t put a lot of money down on the Women’s Football League opening next year to be open for very long.<br /><br /><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/09/30/worldcup.final.ap/index.html">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/09/30/worldcup.final.ap/index.html</a>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-1294385900715763022007-09-28T11:52:00.000-05:002007-09-28T11:55:15.604-05:00Weekend Matches: September 29-30<p class="MsoNormal"></p> It's football dawn-to-dusk this weekend with good matches being played out all over Europe and even in the MLS. I have been particularly drawn to Series A all season, as some of the best games this year have come from Italy. This week we have a Turin derby as well as Milan and Fiorentina playing in separate, interesting matches. The match of the weekend, however, will hopefully be Roma-Inter, as Inter is getting back on form and Roma sees if they can recover from the draw put on them by my boys from Florence on Wednesday. Hope you enjoy it!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday</span> <br /><br />7:30am <span style="font-style: italic;">Manchester City vs Newcastle Utd</span> Setanta Sports <br /><br />10:00am, <span style="font-style: italic;">Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich</span> GolTv <br /><br />10:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">Chelsea vs Fulham</span> FSC <br /><br />12:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Birmingham vs Manchester United</span> FSC <br /><br />1:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Roma vs Inter</span> FSC <br /><br />4:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Livorno vs Fiorentina</span> FSC <br /><br />7:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">New York vs Salt Lake</span> FSC <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday </span> <br /><br />9:00am <span style="font-style: italic;">AC Milan vs Catania</span> FSC <br /><br />1:00pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Getafe vs Real Madrid </span> GolTv <br /><br />2:30pm <span style="font-style: italic;">Torino vs Juventus</span> FSC <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770548595037915343.post-63303540734262382282007-09-27T12:28:00.000-05:002007-09-27T12:34:18.140-05:00More US Women FalloutYikes. Check out this video of US Women's National Team starting goalkeeper Hope Solo (no relation to Han) ripping her coach and her teammate for being benched in favor of backup Briana Scurry. Not that she's wrong (Scurry was apparently terrible) but its rare to hear an athlete go off like this on a coach and teammate. Good times are apparently NOT being had by all.<br /><br />http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3039111&categoryId=2378529Football Fan(atic)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04237678679896967856noreply@blogger.com0