No More Onion Bags

Weekend Preview

// October 31st, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Here’s what looks good.  And, completely unrelated, I can’t believe Maradona is going to be manager of Argentina:

Saturday

• - ManU v Hull, 10:45am in bars – Chelsea finally ened Hull’s giantkilling, but it didn’t look that easy for them.  (But what a goal for Lampard…)  Hull get another chance in quick order.  As someone else said, “I would really, really love it” if they got a point here.
• - Tottenham v Liverpool,  12:30pm on FSC.   Can the Tottenham revival continue?  What an effing game the other day.   Is Jermaine Jenas actually useful?  Which Luka Modric is the real one?  Find out all this and more.
• - Malaga v Barcelona – 3pm on GolTV.  How many can they score this week?

Sunday

• - Almeria v Real Madrid,  1pm on GolTV.  Almeria left Uche on the bench against Barcelona.  Here’s hoping he gets to make more highlights against Cannavaro this week. 
•  Milan v Napoli, 2pm on FSC – #2 versus #3 in Italy.  Old guys versus young guys.  Watch Southern Coners Lavezzi, Denis (both Arg) and Gargano (Uru) run rings around 40-year-old defenders.  Watch Ronaldinho pass the ball three yards to the side with great technique.

Posted by Lazar

You’ve Got to be Kidding Me – Part 2,673

// October 28th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Uncategorized

Maradona says he has been named the new coach of Argentina.  Oy veh.

Exasperating Highlights – Part 7,781

// October 27th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

In case you didn’t catch the goal in the Turin derby this weekend, here it is.  Simply fantastic stuff from Amauri.  Of course, the higlights that I saw on Fox Sports News barely showed the whole sequence once, never mentioned the best part, and then showed just the finish a couple times more.  It even took me about six or seven youtube clips to find one with a good replay of the move itself, which is shown in all its glory here at 0:55.  Now the finish was fine, but it’s a crime not to higlight that first touch.  Instead of trapping, he lets the ball run across his body and toward the defender, does a stepover with the outside of his right foot to create a bit of space, and his first touch is actually with the inside of his left foot, nutmegging the defender.  Yum. 

Posted by Lazar

Landon to Abandon?

// October 27th, 2008 // 9 Comments » // Uncategorized

One of our loyal readers notes that Landon Donovan wants to leave MLS, to play in either the Premiership or Spain.  Said reader writes:

I’ve warmed to him as a player tremendously in the last year or so; which has been helped by him seeming to have a very clear sense of the type of player that he is and what he can and can’t do.  Plus, after a few years of seeing Dirk Kuyt do what Dirk Kuyt does, I can see Donovan as a Kuyt-type of player on a decent team if he can handle the increase in tempo.  Villareal would be perfect – small, ambitious, three English-speakers on the side, and a squad that’s bound to get stretched thin playing from playing in the CL.  He’s a player that could somewhat – somewhat – fill in (or give a rest to) for Cazorla, Pires or De Rossi.  My two cents.

I don’t completely agree, in that I think what makes Dirk Kuyt effective is decent skill, and incredible work rate, and mental toughness.  Landon might have Dirk on skill, but can’t work as hard or as effectively, given his tiny frame, and certainly is not as tough — the quote in the article where he already surrenders to John Terry is not the frame of mind that produces results.   (As Raul has taught us the past few years, unadultered belief in yourself, no matter your abilities, can get you a few goals.)  But I agree that it’s time for Landon to give Europe another shot, this time without the burden of being America’s Next Big Thing.

The question is where?  I do agree that Landon would be pretty good on a midtable team that doesn’t pride itself on physicality.  I wouldn’t suggest Villareal because Jozy’s already there, and I don’t want them eating up each other’s time, but that’s definitely the style that would suit him.  In Spain, a Recreativo or Getafe, or even Sevilla, who are short on strikers this year, might work.  In England, it’s hard to say, but Tottenham is definitely lacking a short/quick striker off the bench.  (Landon’s kind of a poor man’s Jermaine Defoe, and a destitute, homeless, starving and dehydrated man’s Robbie Keane.)

Your thoughts?

Posted by Lazar

Lessons From The Weekend

// October 27th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

• - Best start to a premiership campaign ever
• - First time Benitez has beaten one of Chelsea, Man Utd or Arsenal away
• - Have beaten both Man Utd and Chelsea without Torres

The weekend’s near — where’s the party?

// October 23rd, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Uncategorized

Here’s what looks tasty:

Saturday

• - Everton v. ManU, 7:30am on Setanta - the only reason I watch any of this is because I like to watch before I play.  Otherwise, I told myself that I would never watch Everton again this year.  Bore.  Ing.
• - Juventus v. Torino,  2:30pm on FSC.   I still love the way Juventus hold the ball, even when they’ve got the old boy network in there.  And who doesn’t love a derby?  Too bad Torino sucks.
• - Barcelona v. Almeria,  4pm on FGolTv.   Might look easy on paper, but Almeria beat Barsa last year.  Their coach left for Valencia this year, but they still have great players like Negredo and Uche, who I will always love for humilliating Fabio Cannavaro  just after he won the Ballon D’Or. 

Sunday

• - Chelsea v. Liverpool,  Bars and P2P.  Annoyingly, this isn’t being shown on any of the cable channels, and have fun heading to a bar at 7:30am 9:30am.  I imagine that Nevada Smiths and Floyd’s might be open, but I won’t be there.  Better luck with P2P here.  *** UPDATE. The UK ends Daylight Savings Time on Saturday Evening/Sunday Morning so the game is live at 9.30am  EST. ***
•  West Ham v Arsenal -  11am on FSC.   London derby between the two London teams I could actually find myself rooting for.  Not that this is about me.  The Hammers tend to take points off of Arsenal at Upton Road.  Too bad West Ham sucks.  Really, look at that roster.
• Villareal v. Atletico – 1pm on GolTV.  Villareal put in 6 midweek in the CL and are looking good.  Atletico are not, but this still has to be a decent game, right?  After playing Sevilla, Barsa, Real Madrid and Liverpool in succession, surely they’ll want to beat up on somebody.  Or maybe they’ll straggle in and get hammered.
• Real Madrid v. Athletic Bilbao -  3pm.   Athletic fight hard, go up a goal, Madrid pull one back off a scramble in the box, then win a pen… yawn.

Posted by Lazar

Beckham Confusion

// October 22nd, 2008 // 7 Comments » // Uncategorized

 thick and thin

It appears that David Beckham is about to sign for AC Milan in a 6 month loan deal to span the upcoming MLS close-season. I’m confused for 3 reasons:

1) What’s in it for Beckham?
Why put yourself through laborious training schemes at Milan when you can be hanging with Katie and Tom in LA? Beckham has said previously that playing for England was his number one priority. I took this to be an outright lie because if playing for England was his highest priority then he would not have signed for LA Galaxy (sorry guys, but it’s true). Is it possible that he was too stupid to think that signing for Galaxy was a bad move for his England career and now he’s trying to rectify things? This seems extraordinarily narcissistic even for his majesty beckham, but is the only explanation I can think of.

2) What’s in it for LA Galaxy?
With all the money they have spent on him, why would they want to risk injury and exhaustion. As he gets older, a close-season rest is more important than ever. It’s not like they’re trying to increase his profile in order to gain from an increased image (lets face it, his profile isn’t going to get any bigger) or possible transfer fee (he’ll be well into retirement age by the time his contract expires). The only explanation I can think of is that Milan will pay Galaxy a healthy loan fee.

3) What’s in it for AC Milan?
Is adding even more fading superstars to your team the answer? I wouldn’t have thought so, and the following comment from AC Milan VP Galliani “Football today is about full stadiums and sponsors and superstars like Beckham fill them up. With him, Kaka and Ronaldinho, it will be a dream team” seems to suggest it’s a Galactico type move. Hello? Real Madrid? Do people just not learn?

What am I missing?

posted by Cass

Golden Onion Bag Nominees, pt 1.

// October 21st, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized

It’s been a long campaign.  There have been many debates recently, and it’s getting time to choose.  It’s time for a change in leadership.  That’s right, it’s the homestretch before we give out our Golden Onion Bag, to this year’s best player!  We’ll use the France Football “short list” (quotes required to express irony at thirty names being a short list) to do some preliminary analysis. 

Today, we’ll look at the first 15 candidates:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo.  — A deserving candidate, hampered by lack of summer play.  Also in his favor is the new haircut, which is a major, major improvement.  Can’t stress this enough. 

Adebayor: Looking good

Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid), Argentina.  — Also has a great haircut, and has played wonderfully.  Impregnating Maradona’s daughter gives him bonus points.

Andreï Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Russia. — UEFA Cup and a great summer tourney.  Until he played Spain.  Led Europe in suprised acknowledgements by fans that he is older than he looks.

He’s 27?

Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany.  — Really?  Top 30?  I know he kind of ran Chelsea for the final month in the Spring, but this one feels like they thought they needed a German candidate.

Karim Benzema (Lyons), France.  — I guess you have to put the top scorer from France on this list, but he did not impress in international play.  That said, he had some great goals in the Champions League, and will obviously be great pretty soon.

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy. — The save against Romania.

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.  — The best keeper in the world.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal. — Who?  Oh, right. 

Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast. — Did he play three straight games this year?  I’m confused.  this is 2008, right?

Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona), Cameroon. — Maybe in at number 30, but again, this feels like they needed African representation. 

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.  — Deserved, I guess.  Hasn’t done much this Fall, but played well for Spain (if off the bench) in the Summer.  Can’t say he ahd the best Spring as Arsenal fell apart.

Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain.  — Now here’s a serious candidate.  And good for him.  Seems like a lovely guy.

Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England.  — Puh-lease.  Really?  Let’s see: Liverpool were terrible in the Spring, he didn’t play in the Summer, and he’s been okay this Fall (some goals, but a lot of giveaways, per usual).    The following midfielders might take issue with this nomination: Diego, Mancini, De Rossi, Pirlo, Essien, Robinho, Iniesta…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Sweden.  — yes.  I love you, Ibra.  Oh yes, I do!

Posted by Lazar

Lessons From the Weekend

// October 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Offside: It’s time to admit the impossibility of one man being able to look in two places at the same time (from where the ball is being passed AND from where the man who’s going to receive it is standing at the exact moment it’s passed). I witnessed 2 goals wrongly denied for Real Madrid against Athletico Madrid and one goal wrongly given for Tottenham Hotspur against Stoke City.

Real Madrid: Last minute winners are just too predictable for Madrid these days and not even exciting anymore. Boring.

Liverpool: See Real Madrid above.

Amir Zaki: Wigan fans should enjoy him while they can as there’s no way he’ll sign once his loan expires. He’s too good!

Stretching: If you’re playing your first game of Soccer for 6 weeks it’s a good idea to stretch afterwards! My hamstrings are so tight I’m having to physically lift each leg up stairs.

Stoke City:  Perhaps the biggest, strongest, most physically dominating team I’ve seen since Wimbledon in the 90s.

Juanda Ramos: Taxi! We’re talking days till Spurs are being linked with Veneables! (don’t do it! – actually do! it’ll be funny!)

Chelsea: Looking a little bit tasty, even Kalou and Malouda are scoring.

Man United: See Chelsea above (substitute Rooney and Berbatov)

Tottenham Hotspur: Selling your 3 best strikers and not buying replacements is not the smartest of ideas. (okay, they got Pavlyuchenko but the manager has admitted that he doesn’t think he can play alongside the ineffective Bent).

Fantasy: Forgetting to swap the injured Torres for your backup striker Zaki and watching him score two goals is really annoying. Really really annoying.

posted by Cass

They say you should never mix Sports with Politics…..

// October 17th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

 With the US currently in a transition from unfettered capitalism to a strange kind of corporatist socialism it reminded me of the contradictions between European and US sporting political infrastructure. The US has always had some really strong sporting socialist structures which seem so at odds with the regular political climate in place outside the sporting world.

The draft system in NFL is a socialist dream whereby the weakest team get’s first choice of the best new talent in a bid to encourage equality between teams. A look at the list of previous superbowl winners shows that there is a much wider variety of teams taking the honours than compared to most European soccer leagues. England, Italy and Spain have all been dominated by a small number of teams in each country with this dominance only looking set to increase. It’s possible to very confidently predict the winners for each soccer league from a small set of only 2 or 3 teams in each country. It would not be possible to do the same in the NFL. An area where the NFL could improve in the excitement garnered from a level playing field is in doing away with the protectionism of no relegation. Regardless, in terms of keeping the excitement alive that’s attached to the dream of becoming champions, the NFL definitely betters most European soccer leagues.

Even Marx couldn’t improve the socialist framework of the MLS with it’s central ownership and control. Revenues are shared throughout the league with player contracts negotiated and owned by the league. Indeed, the league has even forced players to move from one team to another against both their and at least one of the involved team’s will. Add in salary caps and again we have a system that is so at odds with the generally capitalist outlook of the US. We have the mirror opposite situation in Europe where club teams get richer and richer, paying more and more money to the best players and increasing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. I’m not really sure what my point is, except, isn’t the contradiction strange?

posted by Cass