• The nonsense of analyzing goals solely from the defensive angle
    One of the dopier notions that circulate in soccer -- a sport that is certainly not short of inane ideas -- is the one that tells us Why Goals Are Scored.
  • Booze and Gambling: Soccer's Unsuitable Partners
    I think it's safe to say that there is a general feeling that soccer, being a vigorous, healthy sporting activity in which millions of young people are involved, should pay attention to its image. Meaning that it should not be linked to products and activities that do not reflect that wholesome image.
  • Winter World Cup looms after FIFA's mistake
    We can now take it as official that FIFA screwed up when it awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. We've heard it from the horse's mouth. Sepp Blatter himself has neighed in with the admission that it "may well be that we made a mistake" in naming Qatar.
  • Brave they are, but lose they will
    Can't say I'm a great devotee of Northern Irish soccer. But they came up against Portugal in a weekend World Cup qualifier, so I watched -- because of Cristiano Ronaldo.
  • SNAFU at Toronto FC, but club expects gain without Payne
    It can't be a good day for American soccer when one of its liveliest and most knowledgeable general managers is summarily fired. OK, he may well be one of the prickliest GMs, too. It's Kevin Payne I'm talking about, suddenly defenestrated by Toronto.
  • Transfer Deadline Drama: Much Ado About ...
    Utterly exhausted as I am by the incredible nail-biting, heart-stopping, nerve-wrenching, mind-boggling excitement of the final hours of the transfer window in England, I feel the necessity of revealing to you all the fabulous excitement of these tension-wracked 24 hours.