A Football Report

“I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art. When you read some books they are fantastic, the writer touches something in you that you know you would not have brought out of yourself. He makes you discover something interesting in your life. If you are living like an animal, what is the point of living? What makes daily life interesting is that we try to transform it to something that is close to art. And football is like that.” - Arsene Wenger

So I may be old fashioned, but I don’t think anything really captures the beautiful game better than the 22 men on a pitch playing with pride, skill, honour, and most importantly joy. That being said, the artistic aspect of football has taken its hold on the game and has made what we all know and love truly surreal. From expensive commercials to new stadiums that push the limits in modern architecture to simply artists expressing themselves using the means of the world’s best footballers, I have to say that “art” in the more traditional sense has combined to produce an absolutely stunning product in recent years. I wanted to hear what your opinion was on this, so I thought I would contrast a bit of football “art” with the “art captured by football.” I think that the Zidane clip below captures the “art in football” rather well.

I’d love to hear what you have to say below! Do football and art go hand-in-hand or are they two completely different animals that should be kept separate?

While infamously known for letting Thierry Henry get away with the “hand of fraud” that led to France clinching a spot in the World Cup, Swedish referee Martin Hansson has consistently shown just how unsuited he is for refereeing at the highest level.

The latest team to suffer (though not even nearly as badly as Ireland) from Hansson’s ineptitude was Arsenal as they took on Porto in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. Hansson rightfully awarded Porto an indirect freekick after Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski had a moment of total incompetence by picking up a Sol Campbell backpass. However, the Swede allowed Porto to take the ensuing quickly and score the second goal despite taking the ball from Fabianski’s hands just a moment before, leaving the keeper out of position, and blocking Sol Campbell from getting to Falcao, who scored the match-winner. (Full highlights of the match are embedded after the jump)

While I am usually the first one to recognize just how difficult the task of being a top-flight referee, the fact that Hansson seems to just lose control of games makes me wonder how exactly FIFA thought that this guy is suitable to perform all of the duties expected of a referee at the highest stage. With so much riding on every decision Hansson will make in South Africa, can we really expect him to command respect from the best players in the world?

Read More

We’ve all heard it for ages. Cesc Fabregas is constantly linked with Barcelona, a team that is almost unanimously considered the best team in the world. At least within the past year.

So let’s talk about Cesc. The great talent has always believed that individual success comes second to winning trophies, but all he has won so far with Arsenal is an FA Cup and a Community Shield. Even those trophies date back to 2005. Yes, that’s five years ago. Cesc was just turning 18 years old. You can’t help but compare Arsenal’s amount of trophies to Barcelona’s SIX trophies won last year alone.

The (still) young Spaniard has always maintained that he wants to play for the Blaugrana at some point in his career. Coming through La Masia, the legendary youth system at Barça, it makes one wonder if Cesc wants his career to be defined in North London or back where his roots are. Sorry Arsenal fans, the logical answer is not in North London. But the aspect of this dilemma that is begging the question is whether this should be Cesc’s last season with the Gunners.

Read More

Portsmouth, Reading, Stoke City, and now Wolverhampton Wanderers. As Liverpool fans are asking the football gods what they have done to deserve this, they should really be looking towards the club’s leader, Rafa Benitez, for answers.

Read More

You might ask, “Wait, the same Charlie Davies that experienced this car accident only four months ago?” Yes, yes indeed.

The accident right before the United States’ final World Cup qualifier in October left Davies with numerous injuries that had an estimated year of recovery time, and then a few more months of rehabilitation. But guess what? Charlie Davies is not only out of his wheelchair, but he is already jogging and is well on his way to reclaiming a spot on the United States’ World Cup roster.

ESPN Correspondent Ives Galarcep cannot help but marvel at this “remarkable path to recovery.”

Galarcep writes, “The strongest reminders of how fortunate Davies is come from Davies himself as he pushes through what is shaping up to be a miraculous recovery from that laundry list of major injuries. Less than four months after the crash that threatened to end his promising career, Davies is already jogging at a good rate and working on agility drills that would have seemed impossible just weeks earlier, when simply getting out of a wheelchair was an exhausting exercise.”

If you’re not impressed by that then how about this?

Galarcep continues, “The multiple broken bones in his leg, face and elbow have healed. So has a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and he has recovered from bladder surgery, which left a foot-long scar on his stomach. He has regained the 15 pounds he lost after enduring six surgeries following the crash, and is days away from undergoing his final surgery associated with the accident, a procedure to remove a bone, plate and screws from his left elbow. After a week to recover from that surgery, Davies expects to be back training with Sochaux by the end of February.”

Charlie Davies, a man who plays with confidence and swagger, already seems like he is back to normal.

Davies said, ”The World Cup is easy for me to be back for. I want to get back to France, and I don’t want to just get back — I want to be good.

“I don’t want to be that guy just to make the [World Cup] team and just sit there. I want to be back and starting and scoring, playing well and doing the things I know I can do.

“People haven’t seen the progress I’ve made, and maybe they don’t know the kind of person I am and the motivation and new appreciation for being able to play that I have.”

With the kind of adversity and determination that the 23-year-old striker has, how could you doubt his ambitions?

“Right now, I am learning and Florentino has given me great freedom to learn all the aspects of Madrid. My dream, some day, is to be manager of the club.” - Zinedine Zidane.

Zizou, now working as an advisor to Real president Florentino Perez, admitted in an interview he has enjoyed life back at the Bernabeu since re-joining the club seven months ago.

We all have dreams, and that’s all and good, but do you think Zidane would make a good manager? I could see it in 5-10 years, but the guy needs experience. You don’t just hop into the position of manager at a club like Real Madrid. But even Pep Guardiola had to coach the Barcelona ‘B’ squad for a bit before he got his shot. That being said, I wouldn’t even place a free bet against him turning into a great manager.

Zidane was obviously an unprecedented midfielder, and a truly great captain for France. Every footballer in the world would put his ego aside under the great Zizou, so respect would probably not be an issue. The question is, could a player that saw the game in a way almost no one else could be a successful manager? Sounds like easy question. I hardly doubt his tactical knowledge his something to scoff at. But you never know, the sheer magnitude of the transition from player to coach can be a problematic gap to hurdle for a decent amount of players trying to make it as gaffers.

So the true question for me is, where should he take his first job? Perhaps a La Liga side with lower expectations would suffice, like Getafe (aka Real Madrid fan club). Now we open Pandora’s box. Let me hit both extremes of the spectrum. He could simply do the ‘Pep’ and coach Real’s up-and-comers, oh those little Galacticinos. Or he could headbutt Raymond Domenech out of position as France manager and do his BA thing to win France the World Cup. My god I would love the latter to happen, but we all have dreams.

Anyway, go on and make your bonus bet with the AFR masses! Will he be one of Real’s greatest managers ever or will he go on to only be wanted by Notts County in 20 years?

With some of the undisputed best players in the world hailing from Africa, the beautiful game’s product is clearly reaping the benefits from Africa’s footballing prowess. While there is the argument that African football is not as rich tactically and technically in comparison to European and South American countries, the fact is that everyone who cares about the modern game wants to see Africa blossom into a powerhouse.

The United States may be the only market for football that has not truly been tapped, but the vast potential for the sport to succeed in Africa is clearly visible. Didier Drogba is arguably the world’s best striker, and the Ivory Coast captain knows how important the next year will prove to be for his continent. Every great African footballer is either already in Europe, or realizes he should be in Europe because the wealth and the resources for the game are there.

This summer is the first opportunity for Africa to utilize the resources FIFA has to offer. As we see often in sport, results on the pitch can do much more for a nation when fueled by the hope and pride it provides. I won’t go so far as to say that football will be the reason why some African nations develop, but the transcendental mentality that the sport can supply certainly is a factor.

With all eyes on Africa, how do you think African nations should try to develop and promote the African product of the beautiful game?

(Another thing to think about: 16 Years ago Nelson Mandela managed to get the native South Africans to support the white rugby team. How utterly incredible is it that the nation’s primarily black football team will be supported by the entire nation united, even possibly playing at Nelson Mandela stadium? I believe society spurs sport, and sport spurs society. What do you think?)

While European clubs complaining about the fact that they have to give up their African internationals may dominate the headlines, the truth is that this African Cup of Nations will probably be the biggest ever.

All eyes are already on Africa because of the summer’s big event, and while the host is Angola, and not a traditional powerhouse such as Ghana or Nigeria, viewers from around the world will be hoping to see glimpses of magic from the teams that will be showing up in South Africa come June.

As for the club complaints, few realize that the African Cup of Nations will only last from the opening match between Angola and Mali on January 10th to the Cup Final on January 21st. That is 12 days. And obviously only two teams will even make it to the final. So in a short response to the Euro-centric critics: shut it and have some respect for some of the best national teams in the world.

The groups for the African Cup of nations are these:

Group A: Angola, Mali, Malawi, Algeria

Group B: Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo

Group C: Egypt, Nigeria, Mozambique, Benin

Group D: Cameroon, Gabon, Zambia, Tunisia

You’ll find a snazzy statistic about each participating nation after the jump.

Read More

While I am not going to deny that Liverpool’s victory over Aston Villa was spectacular, I still believe that Rafa Benitez must add to his squad during the January transfer window. Jamie Carragher has said that the victory over Villa has given Liverpool a “fighting chance” to finish in the top four, but if Benitez wants to live up to his “guarantee” of a top four finish then changes must be made.

Rafa Benitez’ men currently sit just four points off 4th place with just over a half of the season now gone but with Tottenham, Manchester City and tonight’s opponents Aston Villa all looking more than capable of challenging,  Liverpool need a catalyst to propel themselves from their pathetic start to the season.

While I cannot say enough about Liverpool win over Villa, this massive leap forward in confidence was met with the terrible news that Glen Johnson’s was ruled out for AT LEAST a month with a tear to the medial ligament in his right knee. Liverpool will need to find a suitable replacement for Johnson, and Andrea Dossena does not count. Putting a natural left-back like Fabio Aurelio and Emiliano Insua probably isn’t good enough for an aspiring Champions League side either. But enough talk about Liverpool’s defence, the Reds have a bigger problem they need to address immediately.

Read More

As teams reach the half-way point of the Premier League season, Boxing Day is a crucial test for teams to make a statement as to where they will end up in May. The fixtures this year are some of the most intruging so far. Fulham hosting Tottenham and Aston Villa traveling to the Emirates to face Wenger’s lads seem to be the two biggest matches on the surface, but every match has its own story line.

An in-form Birmingham welcomes a struggling Chelsea side.

Mancini will be welcomed be Man City fans as Stoke City heads to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Liverpool NEED a win at Anfield against Mick McCarthy’s deceptibly strong Wolves.

Hull will try to get something from their clash with Man United as they play in front of their supporters.

Other fixtures include: Sunderland v. Everton, West Ham v. Portsmouth, Wigan v. Blackburn

Go on, have your say!