Ronny Blaschke traveled the world researching for his new book, “Playing Fields of the Powerful.”
Ian Plenderleith
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Soccer’s TV schedule — like eating a whole box of donuts
As my wife used to sigh when I turned on the TV at kickoff time, “There’s always a game on somewhere.”
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
A caution for dissent — we don’t need blue cards for that
It was Valentine’s Day, which must be why FIFA was struck by the urge to show more cards. Not just cards with pink hearts and roses on the front.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Soccer cries out for more joy, fewer prim and proper puritans
The Simpsons’ satirical depiction of snooze soccer unwittingly foresaw the most tedious tactical tenet of the 21st century game.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Soccer’s way forward without the likes of Mourinho
Even if you can stomach Mourinho’s anti-style of play, you may find it harder to take his aggressive, bullying behavior.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
What Saudi Arabia can learn from China and the NASL
You can’t turn on the soccer news these days without hearing about Saudi Arabia. Wow, look – there’s both the Madrid derby and El Clasico being played in … the Saudi capital Riyadh! And here’s the plan for a super-stadium for 45,000 spectators being built on top of a cliff with all kinds of buzzers, […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
When it comes to FIFA, we all share Beckenbauer’s flaws
The day after Franz Beckenbauer’s death at the weekend, German state TV channel ARD aired a recently completed documentary about the elegant libero’s life that, as fate would have it, had been scheduled for this time slot weeks ago. German weekly newspaper Die Zeit commented: “There was always this saying, When Franz jumps out the window, he […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
The expanded Club World Cup: To hell with player welfare, give us the revenue!
The envious, avaricious eye of FIFA President Gianni Infantino has for several years been wandering to the zeros at the end of the revenue streams generated by UEFA’s successful and globally popular Champions League (UCL). The almost complete lack of public interest in FIFA’s Club World Cup (a seven-team tournament currently taking place in Saudi Arabia, the […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Violence against referees — FIFA and Collina must act now
Following the brutal assault on referee Halil Umut Meler at the end of a Turkish top-flight game by the now former Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, Pierluigi Collina has issued a call for action. The Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee has declared that “it’s a responsibility for all those who love the ‘beautiful game’ to take action and […]
Posted inStory
Bodycams for referees: Is there no better solution?
I spend a lot of time getting around my home city of Frankfurt am Main by bicycle. This also means I spend a lot of time locking and unlocking my two-wheeled means of transport. And every time I turn the key and look at the row of secured bikes next to me, I feel a […]