By Paul Gardner We haven’t seen anything like this for quite a while. In fact it was beginning to look as though soccer had lost its identity, had shrunk from being theworld’s most exciting sport, and withered away to tedious 90-minute installments of scoreless running around. Then, out of the blue, as though finally fed […]
SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Pep snubs Kun — modern soccer at its worst
By Paul Gardner Back in 2005 the word from Argentina was that maybe — of course maybe — a new Maradona was appearing. Independiente had a precocious 16-year-old already playingfor their first team, already scoring goals. I started to watch as many Independiente games as I could (TV, of course) — actually I was a […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Where soccer fails, the NFL gets it right
By Paul Gardner An impertinent book, this. The title and subtitle tell you succinctly what you are getting: “ Soccer bowing to football? Preposterous! Not at all says author Martin Calladine. In his reckoning, the battle between the two sports is alreadyover, and football has come out way ahead. Calladine, growing up in England, immersed […]
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More urgent than Van Basten's rule changes: soccer needs a total reversal of referees' negative mindset
By Paul Gardner The problem is this. To praise Marco van Basten for speaking out on a topic that the soccer biggies never deign to address. Or to heap ridicule on him for makingsuch a hash of his welcome declaration. Dutchman Van Basten you will remember as one of the sport’s greats, a goalscoring forward, […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Clearance: an ugly play, a useless stat
By Paul Gardner For some time now I have been wondering about the soccer term “clearance.” A term, admittedly, that I have been hearing, and using for decades withoutgiving it much thought. But what, exactly, does the term mean? My pondering reached the point at which I decided that it didn’t mean anything at all. […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Roberto Cabanas & the Beautiful Game
By Paul Gardner From the happiest of thoughts and memories about Roberto Cabanas to total bewilderment and sadness … all it took was a few days. Thememories started with a brilliant goal scored by Arsenal’s French striker Olivier Giroud. His version of what has become known as a scorpion kick. A truly wonderful goal — […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Soccer & Concussion (Part 2): What needs to be done — before the lawyers move in
By Paul Gardner The suspect nature of the enforcement of protocols is by no means the only barrier to any campaign that aims to reduce concussion injuries. In a web sitestory headlined “Germany Lags Behind on Concussion Risk-Awareness,” author Jens Krepela quotes Dr. Werner Krutsch, a trauma surgeon and specialist in soccer injuries, on concussions: […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Soccer & Concussion (Part 1): A Disgraceful Lack of Action — Protocols are not enough
By Paul Gardner There is, it seems to me, one thing above all others that soccer totally failed to get right in 2016. And I can see little to suggest that things will be anybetter in 2017. Head injuries. Specifically, concussion. Not a minor matter. A deeply serious problem that keeps getting more serious as […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
MLS Goal Award: A Modest Suggestion (again)
By Paul Gardner I’ve been looking at the Goal of the Year winner. A wonderful free kick by Colorado’s Shkelzen Gashi. A hell of a goal. A worthy winner, then? Wellthat depends. The MLS award is clearly intended as an individual award — the goal comes with a player’s name attached, and that’s the guy […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Toronto 0 Seattle 0 — Another Forgettable Final
By Paul Gardner Another decidedly non-memorable final. Maybe we get the finals we deserve. Scrappy, at times ill-tempered, incoherent — all of which can be excused, will beexcused by those who specialize in making excuses, as “competitive.” That sounds good, now doesn’t it? The only problem being that it doesn’t look good. Readingthe stats is […]