I suppose it’s a pretty safe bet that no one would argue against the idea that soccer is all about movement? Running, jogging, jumping, twisting, turning, falling — that sort of thing.
Category: SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who Cares?
The English Premier League will be decided later this week and, as we all knew before the season even started, it will be either Chelsea or Manchester United that wins it. Maybe Arsenal could have won it, but, to no one’s surprise, the Gunners didn’t last the course.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Remembering Gordon Bradley
So Gordon Bradley has left us, carried away by the dreaded Alzheimer’s. To be honest, I guess I said goodbye to Gordon Bradley a decade or so ago — certainly I hadn’t spoken to him for years. And now I’ll not have the chance to bid a proper farewell. Well, so what? It’s not something I want to do, because above all, I want to remember Gordon.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Chivas USA’s identity crisis
Chivas USA started life with one enormous advantage, one that no other MLS club has: it knew, right from the start, who its potential fans were, and it knew that there were a lot of them. They were the Chivas fans living in the States among the huge Mexican-American communities, particularly in the Los Angeles area, which is where Chivas USA set up camp.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Lack of Fair Play Will Force Courts to Act
It remains, as it always has been, a mighty difficult task to decide exactly how much violence is permissible on the soccer field. It is all very well for the rules to condemn the use of “excessive force” — but how to define “excessive”? Very much to the point, who is going to define it?
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
More Goalkeeper Baloney
I must confess: I did not know that MLS has a new ball. But I learned, during a Red Bulls telecast this weekend, that this seems to be the case. A new sideline reporter, Tina Cervasio, asked commentator Shep Messing what he thought of this new ball (which I have never heard of).
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Lost in Translation
A multilingual dictionary of soccer terms sounds like a pretty good idea. Indeed, it is a good idea — provided it includes the terms and the languages that really matter.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The winning formula? There isn’t one
Extraordinary! How do these things happen in soccer? I’m looking at the stat sheet for the New England vs. Colorado game. Which shows that the Revs had nine shots on goal, all of which Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul saved, while the Rapids managed only one shot on target — which Matt Reis failed to save. So Colorado wins 1-0.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Oddities of the Cuban Defections
I cannot say that I find the story — or is it the saga? — of the defecting Cubans a particularly edifying episode. Which puts me at odds with those who will no doubt see it as a heroic dash for freedom. Possibly it is that, but there are other aspects that I find disturbing.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The Partisan Truth of Coaches: Laudable or Laughable?
Deplorable as it is, the traditional coaching habit of coming up with silly post-game comments must be respected. We are, after all, under no obligation to listen to the hogwash, and need pay attention only to those occasional moments when something worthwhile is said. The hogwash is plentiful, and can at least provide a laugh or a snicker or two.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The Perils of the MLS Skill Gap
Just what the Los Angeles Galaxy needed: Carlos Ruiz out of action for four or more weeks. His injury, courtesy of a primitive tackle from Colorado rookie Ciaran O’Brien, should ring some pretty noisy alarm bells for MLS and for MLS referees.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Not simply a ‘Beckham league’
Apart from the unfortunate Galaxy happenings in Denver, I would suppose that the MLS guys are reasonably satisfied with their opening weekend. While there was nothing wildly spectacular to report, there were no dreary games either — and the home teams did well, always a good thing when the larger-than-usual opening day crowds have been lured to the game.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
English refs get it wrong – yet again
The image of Graham Poll handing out three yellow cards to the same player at the 2006 World Cup sticks in the mind as emblematic of English referees. Totally confused.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Time for Beckham to Show Respect
What a bore! What a tedious, brainless megabore Beckham and his 100th cap have become. Who cares any more if Beckham gets 100 or 1,000 caps?