I have been pondering how I shall vote in the U.S. Soccer presidential election. Of course, I do not actually, officially, have a vote. But who knows, maybe some zany chain of events will force U.S.Soccer to acknowledge my expertise in these matters, so I intend to be ready. Rather a lot of candidates. Eight […]
SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
J'accuse!!
Why is soccer ignoring the problem of goalkeeper violence? I have an accusation to level at the sport of soccer. Against FIFA, IFAB, theinternational confederations, the national federations — in fact all the governing bodies of the sport, everywhere in the world. Plus all referees. Consider … Germany. September 17, 2017. Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Wenger and Guardiola on English refs — too chatty and too focused on diving
It’s taken a while, but a top coach in England has had the nerve to criticize the Premier League’s high-minded, not to mention seriously flawed, campaign against diving. Pep Guardiolawas actually criticizing English referees for allowing too much violent tackling, when he added “maybe there is too much focus on diving and not enough on […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
On replacing warm-ups with a pill
NBC’s coverage of EPL games regularly features occasions when we’re transported early to the stadium, way before kickoff. Both teams are on the field, usually in track suits, going throughtheir various warm-up routines. I’ve taken to studying these warm-ups as closely as the cameras allow (they keep cutting away or giving us close-ups of an […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
College Soccer: A game in search of definition
Is college soccer ever going to wake up to the reality of the outside (soccer) world? The question poses itself acutely every year when the Division I final gives us an instructive lookat what is happening on the college fields. For about a decade — at least — not very much has been happening. The […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Pro-defense bias continues to mar English refereeing
Watching a couple of English Premier League games on Sunday provided a telling insight into what, for me, is the major weakness of English refereeing — a serious weakness that is routinely disguisedas a strength. To wit: the tendency to overlook serious fouling. This is manifested in two ways: when confronted with a close call […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Oh dear, Toronto vs Seattle again. Here's hoping for a real game this time.
Coming up — the MLS final between Toronto and Seattle. Well, we’ve had that before. That’s the trouble here. We had Toronto-Seattle last year. And a pretty damn awful game it was. Toremind you: a game played in inhospitably arctic weather, a game that lasted 120 minutes, a game that featured no goals at all […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Big Sam — the worst possible candidate for U.S. national team coach
Steve Nicol’s opinions as a soccer-panelist guru do not often coincide with mine. No matter — I like listening to Nicol when he takes part in those TV soccer panels. Because he brings to thestudio, to the frequently tedious and over-clever discussions, a genuine soccer voice that, it seems to me, has managed to remain […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Attack-minded goalkeepers? Not Really.
It is one of the persistent claims from the goalkeeping fraternity that, in addition to making saves and preventing goals, they also contribute to a team’s attacking play. Hmmm. I cansee that they would not cherish the notion that they have only a defensive role to play, a notion that really characterizes them as negative […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Is it the ball? Or is it simply bull?
The German soccer legend Uwe Seeler once told us: “The secret of soccer is the ball.” It’s pretty clear what he meant — even though I think he got the wrong word. I’m not a believerin a soccer “secret” — just one? — that, once discovered, will presumably allow everyone to understand everything about the […]