I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but then I love books that combine a story with data. This is Moneyball for soccer. Just like its full title, Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey–and Even Iraq–Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World’s Most Popular[.....]
Its an important question to ask, yet I think using the words “holding back” is a little off the mark. It should be realized that television affects the evolution of football, to be sure.
As always, Pitch Invasion offers up an extremely interesting piece on The Gambia.
This week, Thierry Henry professed the desire to return to North London after his playing career was over. His ultimate aim is the manager’s job but he said he’d be the “water-boy” if required.
Arsene Wenger became Arsenal’s longest-serving manager on Thursday and his latest squad appears equal to anything that has gone before. Great managers are judged on their ability to rebuild teams when key players either get too old or move on and both Wenger and Ferguson are masters at it. I’ve only known Arsenal with Arsene[.....]
Tom Dunmore asks the important question. Not only are there racist and abusive chants, there are those that are morally reprehensible. For instance, in a World Cup qualifier in Mexico (against the USA), fans were heard singing “Osama, Osama”, referring to the figurehead behind the 9/11 attacks. That, to me, steps over the line.
Here was a country with a national identity so integrally connected to the success of its soccer team that one mistake on a playing field dashed the pride of an entire society and cost a man his life. Looking into the incident, I learned that the dramatic rise and fall of Colombian soccer was inextricably[.....]
