There is plenty of evidence pointing to the Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro being a decidedly physical player. From what I’ve seen of him (not a great deal, admittedly) I wouldn’t hesitate to define him as one of those players who seem to enjoy playing, consistently, on the edge of a yellow card. And like most […]
SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The non-existent legacy of Earnie Stewart
Well now — I’ve just finished reading — twice over — a long (nearly five pages, wow!) story about Earnie Stewart. Telling us that he is leaving his job at the U.S. Soccer Federation (where he was the Sporting Director) and returning home to the Netherlands to work for PSV Eindhoven. And telling us what […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The TV analysts — are they really necessary?
I’ve recently watched — on television — four English Premier League games. The games themselves can remain anonymous — they’re not really relevant to what I’m about to discuss. Not the games, then — but the telecasts. And one particular aspect of the telecasts: the commentators. There are always two voices on these telecasts. There’s […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Mighty Close to Never: How often Latin soccer is discussed at the Coaches Convention
My visit to the 2023 Coaches Convention is quite likely, it seems to me, to be my last to this enjoyable get together. I go back a long way with the Convention, back to my first memory of a New York session (in those distant days the Convention was always held in New York). Allen […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Adeus Pele — my 17-year-old mentor
Pele — maybe the greatest of soccer players — has left us. It hurts, feels almost personal to me, for it was Pele who became, during the 1958 World Cup, probably the most important influence in the development of my soccer understanding. Sixty four years ago, on a friend’s primitive back & white television set, […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Random thoughts after a great World Cup final
A month ago I let it be known what I wanted to see during the World Cup — “A World Cup that features, at last, the genius of Lionel Messi. A World Cup, taken over by Messi, in the way that Diego Maradona took over the 1986 World Cup and led Argentina to victory.” Was […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Departing friends
The unexpected deaths of two former journalism colleagues — Grant Wahl and Alex Yannis — have left me with a sadness, and a spell of that “this shouldn’t be happening” feeling. Grant I ran into frequently enough, but I was never close to him. Always pleasant to talk to, he brought a sharp mind to […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Will Qatar 2022 be a Qatarstrophe?
We’ve grown accustomed, over many years, to hearing the organizers of each World Cup claim that theirs will be the best ever. There’s always some truth in that — the four-year gap between tournaments gives technology plenty of time to come up with wondrous improvements in all manner of things — from greater comfort for […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
When Video Review gets too clever, it's time to rely on a referee's instincts
Baseball, we’re told, is a game of inches. Right, and soccer is a game of feet. Ha ha, hilarious joke. But hold the knee-slapping if you will, for soccer can, much more seriously, be measured on another scale. That of time. Soccer is a game of seconds. A game in which results hang upon what […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
MLS Cup 2022: At Last — a final to be remembered
Much of the uncritical, almost hysterical praise that got piled on to MLS Cup 2022 — the game, I mean, just what happened on the field — sounds pretty silly when you listen to it 24 hours later (which I’ve just finished doing). Which is a pity, because this really was a damn good final […]