Technology on a Shoestring
Posted by Paul Gardner on Jan. 6, 4:47 p.m.
I have noticed -- as I was very obviously meant to notice -- that soccer's technonerds have been at it again. Last month we got official notification of their busy-bee activities with the announcement that the MLS 2013 season will feature a brand new ball.
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The Latest Rot Mystery Show
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 27, 8:57 p.m.
New readers begin here: When the MetroStars were around, I anagrammed them into the RotMasters. Rots for short. A rather appropriate alias, it turned out, as the team stumbled and bumbled through 10 years of screw-ups, failures and farces.
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You'll win nothing with kids especially if they're unexceptional
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 23, 10:01 p.m.
There is a hallowed phrase in English soccer -- "You win nothing with kids." A phrase that must have echoed thunderously around the ears of Aston Villa coach Paul Lambert Sunday as he surveyed the wreckage of his young team after that 8-0 demolishment by Chelsea.
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More curious tales from the world of English refereeing
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 18, 2:23 a.m.
If you watched last weekend's English Premier League game between Stoke and Everton (for your sake, I hope you did not -- this was just awful stuff) you will have seen, thanks to television replays, three examples of extremely violent play.
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Is the defensive striker a toothless tiger?
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 14, 1:09 a.m.
Allow me to present the latest (I think they're the latest) developments in the realm of soccer tactics and terminology.
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A Splendid College Cup Surprise
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 12, 1:59 a.m.
The contrast at the College Cup bordered on the grotesque. From the sheer excitement and the unbridled, non-stop attacking action of the Maryland-Georgetown semifinal, the event quickly collapsed into the trite defensive boredom of the Indiana-Georgetown final.
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MLS Cup hits right tone for Beckham farewell
Posted by Paul Gardner on Dec. 3, 12:08 a.m.
A strange day, Saturday. A triumphant one for MLS and for David Beckham, yes. But a low-key sort of triumph, without the fanfares and the swagger that can so easily overwhelm such an occasion.
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Goalkeeper footwork needs some explaining
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 30, 3:43 a.m.
Some rather random thoughts after watching three recent English Premier League games:
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Who says defenders deserve the benefit of the doubt?
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 25, 2:20 a.m.
In the 38th minute of Saturday's Manchester United-Queens Park Rangers game QPR thought it had scored a goal. It certainly looked like it ... but the assistant referee's flag had gone up quickly. Jamie Mackie, who thought he had scored with a header, was ruled offside. No goal.
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The soul of soccer under threat
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 21, 1:22 a.m.
Future historians -- say some 200 years hence -- researching the regression of soccer back into the brainless, bloody melees from which it sprang, will do well to study the 2012 statements of two Premier League coaches, Tony Pulis of Stoke City, and West Ham United's Sam Allardyce.
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Belief in playoff system again sorely tested
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 17, 12:56 a.m.
It looks like a pretty good bet that, when this weekend is over, we shall find ourselves back where we were a year ago ... with an MLS Cup final between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.
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Referee gaffe does Dynamo a big favor
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 12, 3:27 a.m.
Way to go Alexi! For telling it like it is. "A botched call," said Alexi Lalas in tones that brooked no ifs or buts or maybes. He was speaking on ESPN and referring to referee Ricardo Salazar's decision right before halftime in the Houston-D.C. United playoff game.
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The Bittersweet Departure of Hans Backe
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 11, 12:33 a.m.
I found Hans Backe's vision of soccer, and his teams, quite appalling. Under Backe, the Red Bulls were never particularly worth watching as they lumbered along, over-weighted with their cumbersome Scandinavians, under-skilled with their naive college-style Americans.
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MLS playoffs -- a good idea that needs more pizazz
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 6, 1:03 a.m.
Again, yet again, we are being reminded from all sides that this is playoff time. Which means playoff soccer. Which means ... well, what the heck does it mean?
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The sad - and sadly predictable - death of a Task Force
Posted by Paul Gardner on Nov. 2, 1:17 a.m.
The demise of the FIFA Task Force Football 2014 is as sad as it was inevitable.
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