Monthly Archives: October 2009

live blog: north london derby

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i’m going to try something new today. something i’ve never done before, but have always wanted to try. i’m going to do a live blog of the first north london derby of the season! (yes, i do realize that i’m totally ripping of bill simmons here… inspiration is the word i would use to describe it).

london derby

experimenting by live blogging the first london derby of the 2009-2010 season

this is a particularly interesting derby today, as tottenham and arsenal are both even on points going into the game and are fighting it out for a champions league place. arsenal’s on a dip in form lately, allowing the opposition to come back and draw from 2-nil down each of their last two games. while tottenham are coming off an embarrassing home loss to stoke last weekend.

a bit of a psychological game has played between the teams in this week leading up to the match, with the most infamous coming from spurs’ robbie keane. the irishman boasted that he thinks the teams are now level on talent, and that his side are “deeper” than the gunners. really robbie, have you had one too many guinesses lately? i hope you didn’t just jinx it.

4 min: tottenham look sloppy. the continued absence of modric worries me, as we need his creativity and midfield presence. and they’re making a big deal about david bentley getting “earning” his first league start of the year after a good midweek performance in the carling cup. he only “earned” it because aaron lennon is hurt.

8 min: bentley was lucky to not have a yellow card for his challenge on vermaelen. definitely in late, not to mention that he had a clear hand ball just minutes ago. not making the most of his first start in the EPL this year.

13 min: arsenal have looked dangerous going forward the last few minutes. bendtner blew an open opportunity first by blasting over the bar (shocking), arshavin keeps finding and uncomfortable amounts of space (he doesn’t need much), and clichy picked off a pass at midfield and spearheaded a dangerous drive ending in a shot on target by arshavin. open/attacking tottenham = exposed in the back tottenham.

20 min: HUGE SAVE by gomes on a fabregas shot from close range. and i didn’t think he should be playing over cudiccini. he proved me wrong in his re-debut against portsmouth, it looks like he’s doing it again today. so far.

26 min: another failed spurs attack is making me realize that tottenham could really use lennon’s pace and creativity today. bentley is looking like the benchwarmer he has developed into. his “world class” crossing that he made his name with has been non existent, and he’s not done anything to impress as of yet.

28 min: terrible clearance out of the back by assou-ekotto falls right to fabregas at the top of the box. my man crush plays a smart slotted ball to van persie breaking behind the backline onside in the box. thank god van persie doesn’t know how to use his right boot, as he slumps it well inside the near post with his left at an awkward angle. it’s things like that awful shot that don’t have me convinced that robin is as good as everyone thinks he is.

35 min: great throughball to bentley from huddleston, and he puts in a decent ball to crouch. vermaelan breaks it up with a brilliant sliding tackle. best tottenham attack so far.

37 min – SUBSTITUTION: bendtner makes way for eduardo. the big dane has been largely innefective anyway, so probably a convenient time for him to pull his groin and get off the pitch.

42 min – GOAL – spurs 0 arsenal 1: clinical finish by van persie for his fifth goal in the last five games. he just beat ledley king to the ball by a fraction to poke it past gomes.

43 min – GOAL – spurs 0 arsenal 2: more tottenham misery. fabregas picks off a pass straight off the restart and runs the length of the half and has a classy finish past the brazillian keeper to put spurs two down. that’s a freaking huge hole to dig out of really fast.

half time: tottenham have lacked their offensive spark in the first half, and are definitely missing the injured lennon and modric and the suspended defoe. arsenal are playing well, with fabregas the star of the show once again. what a horrid way to end the half too for tottenham. two quick goals before half time has to give the gunners the mental advantage going into the break. hopefully robbie keane should be eating his own words at half time. see i knew he was jinxing it all like a jerk.

53 min: both teams have come out roaring, but again, arsenal have had the better of the opportunities. eduardo had a nice break through, but gomes was able to make a good save on the brazi… i mean croatian.

55 min – SUBSTITUTION: my boy gareth bale makes it into the match, coming on for huddleston. that’s a surprising sub by ‘arry. i would have expected kranjcar to come on instead.

57 min: what timing for bale to come on, with a nice opportunity for him to hit a left footed free kick just outside the arsenal box. he instead runs over the ball and let’s bentley have a go. it’s a nice hit and almunia is forced into a save for a corner. good stuff from the yids.

59 min – GOAL – spurs 0 arsenal 3: everyone (and i mean everyone on both sides of the ball) stops as the linesman waves for a foul by tottenham. referee clattenburg instead decides to let play continue. gallas starts running again as the entire spurs backline is still standing waiting for the whistle, and gallas finds van persie for another poke in goal. unfortunate.

64 min – SUBSTITUTION: keane comes off for pavylechenko… great now the spurs have absolutely no pace up front. i better get used to watching long balls from spurs for the rest of this game.

66 min: eduardo clean in with miles of space. gomes charges to edge of his box and then some, and forces eduardo into a long shot. which he misses. mercifully.

70 min: here come the olés from the arsenal fans… i think arsenal just strung at least 25 passes straight without spur touching the ball.

74 min: they just showed a shot of wenger slamming his sport coat down on the bench, pissed off about something his team had just done. what the hell is he so upset about!? his team is 3-0 up against their biggest rival and are dominating. i know he’s a perfectionist and all, but come on dude. calm down.

77 min: vermaelen is unfairly given a yellow. unlucky for him as he’s had a nice game. unlucky for me, because he’s on my fantasy team. damn.

79 min: wilson palacios fouls fabregas out by the touchline. i think it’s the first time today that i’ve even noticed palacios on the field. he’s done a terrible job of trying to clamp down on cesc, as the spaniard has run the show today. speaking of which, i haven’t seen the other spurs central midfielder, jenas, contribute at all yet either. why haven’t we seen niko kranjcar come on for jenas at all yet?

85 min – SUBSTITUTIONS: instead of putting on someone with some offense in them, we’re seeing them pull out a defender (corluka) for the most accident prone player on tottenham, alan hutton. he’s also a defender; i don’t get this sub either. why is niko still on the bench!?!?!?!? young gooner aaron ramsey just came on for van persie. let’s see if the youngster can impress.

89 min: bentley makes a nice dummy run over the ball, expecting hutton to making an overlap run up the right to pick up the loose ball. nope, hutton is about 5 seconds behind the play and barely makes it there and gives up a throw. we put in a defender in the last 5 minutes when we’re 2-nil down and he isn’t even pressing forward? frustrating. hutton drives me insane.

93 min: another break for the gunners up the right flank to ramsey, and the chasing bassong pulls up with a hamstring injury just outside the box. thank god hutton isn’t playing offense, as he his able to pick of ramsey’s pass to eduardo at the last second. but bassong is still down and is going to have to come out. when it rains, it pours.

final whistle: tottenham looked shaky all game, and the 3-0 loss is befitting of their performance. a rough result for the spurs for sure. i hate the way we play with crouch in the line up. there’s no possession up front at all. most times they just lob the ball long to him up front, and hope for him to head it on to someone running through. problem is, that’s not keane’s thing as he likes to sit in behind a running striker like defoe. of course, then  they sub the player out who is supposed to be running through for another tall striker. harry’s subbing today was puzzling, and i think it hurt the team.

arsenal, however, looked like a team that could challenge for the premier league title this season. fabregas and van persie both produced and played well. arshavin was ever present and dangerous. and they dominated possession, especially in the second half with the showers of olés from the home supporters.

long story short, arsenal were the better squad today. tottenham were clearly not an equal team today, and keane needs to learn to do his talking on the pitch. spurs are coming back down to earth now it seems.

man of the match: fabregas for sure. he pulled all the strings for the gunners today. and his goal today was simply amazing. job well done cesc.

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i’m alive

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hello to all of my infrequent visitors, and sorry i haven’t posted in the last week or so. you’re probably very happy to hear that i haven’t:

a) died from the swine flue (though i have been sick with some non-pig-related bug),
b) given up writing the blog (though maybe you think i should) or
c) forgotten how desperate you all are to read my next piece (though i realize that this is only true in my head).

it’s been a busy ten days here on the wrong side of the pond. my real world job has been owning my life lately, i went to new york city to visit my sister, and have been battling my mystery ailment. so it’s been difficult not only to share my grandiose thoughts about the footballing world here, but it’s made it very difficult to even watch a professional match or two to even have any thoughts about in the first place.

(side note: i did however watch a ncaa d3 match in hoboken, nj, between stevens institute of technology and ithaca college. wettest. game. ever. i’ve never seen water pool on a turf field like that. unreal amounts of rain fell. anyway, stevens won the match 3-0 after an hour long rain delay. they have a kid up front that could be pretty damn good if he had a solid work ethic. terence johnson, if you find your way here, start working harder and you could be a solid player.)

anyway, i’ve got a few posts that are brewing right now. hopefully you’ll see a few out in the next few days if i can find some free time. so don’t forget about me here and check back soon. in the mean time, enjoy the following video:

round up #8

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there’s just too much going on in the world of football for me to even keep up lately, which is just a part of the reason why i started up the twitter account (don’t forget to follow me @wrongsideofpond!). world qualifiers have dominated the headlines the last week or so, but the league’s are picking back up again and the winter transfer window is just around the corner already. so, in turn, the rumor mills are beginning to pump out the stories left and right. and like that, it’s time for another round up!

fergie’s doting on crock defour – thesun.co.uk
it’s no secret that many admiring eyes have been cast upon standard liege’s belgian international steven defour, and man utd gaffer ferguson is no different. and with united under intense scrutiny for their recent transfer practices (obertan, berbatov, etc.), sir alex has had to come up with some unique ways to “convince” his targets to come to manchester. defour was recently set back by a broken foot, which may or may not hurt his chances of earning a january transfer. sir alex was kind enough to send the guy a get well note, even though he’s not even on his team and has never been. reportedly, fergie even said:

I’m going to follow your progress closely and I will remain in contact with your club to have news of your recovery.

if that’s not tapping up, i don’t know what is. the next person who tells me they don’t tap players up will be getting a swift punch to their mouth.

avram would have probably looked this unhappy coaching new york

avram would have probably looked this unhappy coaching new york anyway

avram grant considered MLS move with red bulls – soccernet.com
despite the fact that former chelsea manager recently joined struggling portsmouth to help stave off relegation, it seems the islraeli almost came to america to help save MLS’s biggest mess of a franchise. red bull new york is near to completing one of the worst seasons in MLS history, despite playing in one of the league’s biggest markets and having one of the best players in juan pablo angel.  it seems that grant was in advanced negotiations with red bull and would have taken charge at the start of next season. landing an actual big name coach would have been an incredible coup for not just the club, but also MLS as a whole. in my humble opinion, bringing in big name, quality coaches is just as–if not more–important to improving the league than bringing in big name designated players. so close on this one, and yet red bull strike out yet again. bummer.

england keeper david james highlights paper plane danger fear to unsuspecting world – telegraph.co.uk
we have tons of problems in the world of soccer: growing disparity between big and small clubs, rampant racism, diving/simulation, illegal transfer activities, crowd violence, and on and on and on. but you know what david james is worried about? paper airplanes. yes, flying pieces of folded paper scare the portsmouth keeper more than everything else. granted, in england’s shock defeat to ukraine a few weeks ago there were paper planes thrown in his general direction, and he worried that one could have hit him square in the eye and blinded him. and i get his concern there, seeing as how seeing is so important and all. but seriously david, there are bigger things to worry about than freaking paper planes.

call me motherwell football club – bbc.com
it’s not unusual for just about anyone these days to name their child something completely asinine. a few years back, i recall hearing about a couple in england naming their kid “fifa,” which up until now i thought was the most ridiculous soccer-based name ever. well, that’s all been trumped. although this time it’s not a crazy parent naming their helpless child something ridiculous. no, no. this time it’s a crazy fan changing his name to the name of his favorite football club. the former frazier boyle, a 20 year old from north lanarkshire, has changed his name to “mr. motherwell football club.” even more awkward than introducing himself as motherwell, or mr. football club? he’s the only one in his family that supports the club.

the atlantic league, including the old firm, is back on the agenda – telegraph.co.uk
i’m not going to lie. prior to reading this article, i had never heard of the proposed “atlantic league.” if you haven’t either, i wouldn’t be surprised. in a nutshell, the atlantic league would be a new league comprised of the top clubs from some of the smaller leagues in europe that would attempt to help the clubs compete with the more competitive larger leagues that dominate europe. some of the proposed teams are the old firm clubs from scotland (rangers and celtic), the larger clubs in portugal (porto, sporting and benfica), the more famous dutch clubs (ajax, psv eindhoven and feyenoord) as well as top clubs from denmark, sweeden and belgium. it’s not surpising the old firm clubs are interested, as they’ve been trying to ditch the SPL for years for more lucrative league play. but what’s more interesting is that apparently the SPL isn’t opposed, as i feel like that would be the death of any future tv deals for that league. i’m actually fascinated by this entire idea. how will they handle their proposed relegation system back to the national leagues? how do they pick who get’s to come in initially? how successful would the league actually be? it will be interesting to see how uefa handle this entire situation.

wrongs side of the pond… now tweeting

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I did it. I finally caved, even though I said never would. I never really saw the point. “It’s like Facebook status updates, but without all of the other perks,” I had argued.

Twitter had always confused me, to be honest. All of this “tweeting” seemed to be a lot about nothing. You only get 140 characters for crying out loud. If you’ve read any of my posts here, you know that I’m probably a little long-winded in my thoughts. I have a lot to say, so the character limit definitely turned me off.

the familiar looking wrongsideofthepond on twitter

the familiar looking wrongsideofthepond on twitter

But there’s a flip side to having a lot to say: I don’t have enough time to write as much as I would like.

There are literally dozens of things I want to write about every week. And since I (regrettably) have a job outside of this blog, there are simply not enough hours for me to write about every one of those topics and not get fired. This is where twitter comes in.

Twitter is perfect for dropping small thoughts here and there. Like right now, I’m watching the USMNT last qualifier against Costa Rica. I don’t have enough time to write a full article about how the US is mailing it in during a game where they should be infinitely more inspired, or how Connor Casey is virtually guaranteed to make next summers roster despite the fact that he’s only had one good game in a national team jersey and he sucks. Twitter allows me to get my thoughts out there, feeding my appetite to share — and hopefully your appetite to read — my thoughts.

Not only that, but tweeting can be done from anywhere straight from my phone. My laptop and the blog aren’t exactly ideal to take to the pub when i’m watching a match. Or if i’m over at a buddy’s house. Or if I actually get off my couch and go to a game in person.

Now I get it. And so now I shall tweet… but only for footballing reasons. I promise not to bore you with any of my personal life happenings, like when I go to eat a taco or have a great night at my arm wrestling club.

So now you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wrongsideofpond… so click the link and add me. I’ve also added a new widget to the sidebar to the right that shows my last five tweets, and a permanent link to the page as well. So be sure to check it out, and if you’re a fellow twitter-er (?) be sure to sign up to follow.

And if you’re a close friend who has heard me say I would never use twitter, I eagerly await your abuse.

a davies disaster

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Though I doubt you are learning about it here for the first time, I’ll go through the motions just in case you hadn’t yet heard… USMNT and Sochaux striker Charlie Davies was involved in a deadly car accident near Washington, DC early this morning. It’s simply devastating news for the up-and-coming national team star, and it has sent shockwaves through the US soccer community.

davies suffered serious injuries in an early morning car accident

davies suffered “serious injuries” in an early morning car accident

Davies was in Washington for tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica, which [luckily?] wasn’t a vital game as the US team clinched qualification against Honduras over the weekend.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • The accident occurred on the Southbound side of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, on the Boundry Channel Bridge, in Virginia around 3:15 am. The driver of the vehicle is believed to have lost control of the SUV, smashing into the metal guard rail so hard that it “pretty much split in half.”
  • Davies sustained “possibly career threatening” injuries in the crash, though they were not life threatening. The striker required nearly five hours worth of surgery, which began around 11:00 am this morning nearly 8 hours after the wreck. His condition is currently considered serious, but stable.
  • Davies was, according to one source in the USSF, not the driver. However that has not been confirmed.
  • Pronounced dead at the scene was 22 year-old Ashley Roberta. Reportedly, Roberta was not the driver of the vehicle either.
  • The unnamed supposed driver was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
  • A full accident report has not been issued, and the involvement of alcohol or high speeds have not yet been determined.
  • The accident shut down the Southbound side of the highway until 8:00 am, causing a significant back-up during the morning rush hour.

Pretty scary stuff if you ask me. And while I’m certainly grateful that Davies and one passenger didn’t die, it’s tragic that someone did regardless of who it was. Though the fact that anyone is still breathing is certainly lucky, especially when you look at the pictures of the crashed SUV. The cop who said it pretty much split in half is a moron: it’s completely split in half (see the pictures below).

And while it makes me feel selfish after such tragic news, it’s hard not to think about how this will affect the national team.

Charlie was certainly one of the rising stars in the national team, and was a shoe-in for South Africa next summer. His performances during the Confederations Cup cemented him as a starting striker, his pace and work ethic making him popular amongst the public and pundits alike. Davies was part of a budding partnership up top with… well… someone (Altidore, prove yourself buddy). He even supplied the opening assist for Connor Casey’s opening goal against Honduras during the weekend. I was expecting big things out of the New Hampshire native. His summer move from Hammarby in Sweden to French Ligue 1 side Sochaux shows that others expected much of him, too. In my personal opinion, I think the stage was set for Davies to shine in the World Cup.

the back half of the crashed SUV davies was riding in

the back half of the crashed SUV davies was riding in at the time of the crash

But all of that could have come to a literal screeching halt in the early hours of this morning. First there are the “possibly career threatening” injuries to consider. But assuming his injuries aren’t as bad as we thought, he still has to get over it mentally. And though he reportedly wasn’t driving, if he was, he could be charged with vehicular manslaughter. That’s not even considering if he was driving under the influence or not.

How will the US team react tomorrow night? Who will the find to replace him if he’s sidelined indefinitely, let alone permanently?

The situation really begs to ask, why was Davies even out that late two night’s before a world cup qualifier? One would have to assume that if you’re out at that hour, you’re probably doing a bit of partying. Normally, there are curfews in place for the national team. Though it’s possible that the rules were relaxed with the team already qualified, it hardly seems professional. And too I don’t want to be judgmental, seeing as how we don’t have the full story yet.

Either way, the entire incident is definitely a tragedy. As a soccer fan I’m devastated; but as a human, I’m equally sad. A young person lost their life, and potentially two others lives have been completely derailed. Charlie Davies’ potential, talent and stature are just a part of that tragedy.

Here’s hoping that everyone recovers fully. My thoughts are definitely with all of the victims, as well as their family and friends.

UPDATE: Some small updates are starting to creep out now. According to Fox Soccer Channel, Davies sustained a broken leg and some internal injuries in the crash. The other passenger who survived the accident was the driver and is female, though her identity is still being withheld. Lastly, there was a curfew in place last night per normal national team protocol… which, of course, was well before 3:15 am.

round up #7

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there are only about a million things i want to write about, though madrid’s first loss of the season and tottenham’s slump in form have me less enthusiastic about detailing their misfortunes. however, my life has been super busy the last few weeks and there hasn’t been as much time to write as i would prefer. so you know what that means… it’s time for another round up!
young wenger
a young wenger was a virtual unknown when he took charge at highbury 15 years ago

wenger: i was a crazy signing – thesun.co.uk
arsenal manager arsene wenger celebrated his thirteenth anniversary in charge at the club this past week, and almost every major footballing syndicate had some story to tell about him. i figured it couldn’t hurt to tip my hat to the frenchman either. in a day in age where managers’ positions seem to be more of a revolving door (cough… chelsea… cough… real madrid), wenger’s staying power is nothing less than amazing. that’s especially true when you consider that he was more or less anonymous to the soccer world before he was hired by the gunners. the club he managed prior to arsenal? japanese j-league side nagoya grampus eight… go stump your buddies at the pub with that little tidbit.

and while hated north london rivals tottenham hotspur are my favorite team in england, there’s really no way you can hate arsene’s arsenal. under his direction, the club have gone from being a traditionally boring, defensive team to being the flag bearer for modern, free-flowing, total football. his philosophy of buying young, promising players on the cheap and nurturing them into world class talent is also fast becoming the model for developing squads the world over. and you have to admire the guy for sticking to his guns all of these years over how he wants to run his team. truly, he is a giant in the world of coaching and is one of the best.

and after hearing him declare this week that he developed his keen sense for the game and coaching philosophy by growing up in his parent’s pub, well… it makes me want to buy a bar and raise my kids there. crap, that would never work in this country.

beautiful game: born in england … raised elsewhere – timesonline.co.uk
after england qualified for next summer’s world cup, much was made about them making a return to the major international stage after missing out euro 2008. it’s no secret that heads of the football world prefer to have the inventor’s of the game taking part in it’s biggest party. and while the article’s author, celebrated soccer journalist patrick barclay, doesn’t refute that the game was born in england, he calls for us all to stop calling england the birthplace of the game. long story short, barclay argues that the game didn’t truly come in to it’s current form until other countries were able to evolve the game piece by piece. the scots developed passing, the germans/hungarians developed tactics, and the brazilians turned it into an art form.

his point is certainly interesting, and i see the point he’s trying to make. but let’s look at it this way: when a man father’s a child, and the mother raises that child with another man, it’s still the biological father’s child. and if it weren’t for the brits spreading the game to those other countries, barclay’s argument wouldn’t exist in the first place.

portsmouth’s second takeover is confirmed – espnsoccernet.com
it’s been fair to say that pompey have suffered a tumultuous start to their season on and off the pitch. it took them eight league games to register their first win, a hard fought win over wolves, that also saw them score their first goal this term. and while it may have seemed rough on the pitch for the south coast club, it’s been even more rough off of it. reports surfaced that the club were days away from going bust, and that they didn’t even have enough money to pay their players. not even the supposed billions of owner sulaiman al-fahim, who took over the club just 42 days ago, were enough to bail the club out. not to mention that he was unlikely to provide funds necessary to strengthen the club come january.

but an eleventh hour savior has arrived, in the form of saudi investors al-faraj. the musical chairs of ownership of the club seems to have finally stabalized, after two owners in less than two months decided they couldn’t handle the club’s debt problems. in my opinion, the club has been living beyond it’s means the last few years. high wages and poor transfer dealings (buying high and selling at cut rates), coupled with a small stadium in a small market, meant the club were hemorrhaging money. and while i’m glad the club has found a solution, you have to think that this trend is getting worrisome. how many more billionaires out there are going to be willing to bailout all of these over spending clubs?

gareth bale is finally a winner for tottenham – dailymail.co.uk
for those of you who don’t follow the game that closely, or are new to following the premiership, you might not even know who gareth bale is. spurs boss martin jol signed the welsh left back before the 2007 campaign from southampton, as he was one of the rising brittish stars in the game at the age of 17. i couldn’t have been more stoked about it at the time, as i had followed him closely after discovering him in EA sports’ fifa 2006 (yes, dorky reason, i know). he rewarded my enthusiasm by scoring twice for spurs in his first three competitive matches, including an incredible free kick in the north london derby.

unfortunately, neither were wins (a tie and a loss) and he soon sat out the rest of the season due to a dirty tackle from fabrice muamba. the big-eared youngster was used sparingly during juande ramos’ short term in charge at white hart lane, and niggling injuries have limited him during redknapp’s time.

to that point, his 24 league appearances without a win were a premier league record. that all came to end in tottenham’s 5-1 win at burnley on 9/26, when bale made a short cameo appearance. it’s hardly the kid’s fault though. blame should fall more on juande than anyone else for the streak. bale has so much promise, and i think if he can gain more of redknapp’s confidence, i think he could be pushing assou-ekotto for playing time at left back.

alex ferguson gives jonny evans marriage counseling – boxofficefootball.com
it seems that when sir alex isn’t berating referees (despite them typically giving his side “added” advantages), the scotsman moonlights as a relationship counselor. while sitting with up-and-coming centerback jonny evans during sunday’s prematch press conference, sir alex argued that wayne rooney has settled down on the pitch after getting married. ferguson then turned to evans, whose girlfriend was sitting in the audience, and suggested he should do the same (see the video below).

this of course led to the crazy english paparazzi hounding her until she responded to the suggestion, to which she replied that it wouldn’t be any time soon. talk about awkward; i’m sure that after the game she was nagging him, asking why he didn’t say in front of the press that he would want to marry her. that was every guy’s most dreaded question in front of their girlfriend. even more of a reason to think sir alex is a bit of a prick.