It’s not uncommon for a bloke in England watching a football news program to hear the phrase “manager lose the dressing room”. An idiom referring to a situation in which the players cease to respect and follow their manager’s instructions, this phrase is such a popular term to use in speculating any disputes within a… Read More »
At some point of my football fandom, I’ve developed this irrational hostility towards the “top” teams in football leagues – Bayern Munich, Barcelona, the two Manchester teams, Paris Saint German, and many other teams capable of winning titles. A good part of that hostility comes from their ego-bloated transfer policies, which seem little more than… Read More »
As I read Christopher Gaffney’s Temples of the Earthbound Gods, one issue that particularly struck me was the excessive nature of the barrabrava, the fierce fan group that exists in most of the Argentine and South American football clubs. In the book, Gaffney suggests the unclear, shady relationships between the clubs and their barrabravas, or… Read More »
I have been fortunate enough to realize in a younger stage that fields of immense stardom also bear huge shadows beneath them. Here’s yet another evidence of that notion; Soccer’s Lost Boys is a documentary released prior to the 2010 World Cup that dishes out a sample of the dark situations that the prospective football players in Africa… Read More »
Branding a football player as a symbol of some sorts is perhaps as an overdone and exaggerated trait as the football fans in derby matches. After every good game players have, every move they make, even every comment they utter are followed by tens of labels; “legend”, “golden boy”, “judas”, along with thousands of insulting… Read More »
Let’s talk statistics and tactics – or rather, let’s not. This is just a fan’s viewpoint of the strengths and drawbacks of Everton’s style of play, courtesy of their current manager, Roberto Martinez. I’ve been watching Martinez from his days as a manager of Wigan Athletic, and the style of play he demands, and the type… Read More »
Here’s an interesting interview between John Motson and Brian Clough; the former, a news pundit, and the latter, one of the best managers in the history of English Football. The discussion revolves around the issue of over-emphasis of the media that overshadows the actual game. Pre-match and the post-match discussions and hypes are integral parts… Read More »
Well, not exactly; more like “borrowing” an old but still functional squirt gun that your little brother picked up for free from a garage sale, and using that to annoy its previous owner in every way possible for an entire year. Here’s my quick pre-apology to all Manchester City fans, and to Frank Lampard for… Read More »
Flash back to the England versus Germany match in the 2010 World Cup Knockout Stage, where Frank Lampard picks up the ball trickled off from Jermaine Defoe, and chips it over Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper of Germany; the ball hits the crossbar, bounces off the line, and Neuer quickly recovers it; Lampard raises his hands… Read More »
|