Tag Archives: frank lampard

not gonna happen

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Forget this writing gig… I’m going to become a bookie. Because if I’m really ever going to make some money out of my life long love affair with soccer, that’s clearly the best avenue.

Mourinho Caught Back in London

turns out having this guy pop up back in london will cause quite a stir. and just in case, i'm NOT talking about the dude on the right.

In order to get paid to play, I’d have to be good (I’m not). In order to manage, I should probably have first been a player (Ditto). I could be an agent or an administrator, but only if I knew the right people (I don’t know enough of them). Or I could always referee, if only I was a bit mental (I’m not that mental). And there’s a million writers out there, so I’m currently a dime a dozen (Sigh). So that narrows my options to just sports betting and organized crime… which are more or less the same industry, anyway.

For instance, take a look at the current betting odds on who will be the permanent manager at Chelsea Football Club at the start of next season, when Roberto “The Players Hate Me More Than AVB” Di Mateo’s stint as caretaker is currently scheduled to end. At the time of writing, the favorites are as follows:

Rank Manager Odds
1 José Mourinho 13/8
2 Fabio Capello 11/4
3 Pep Guardiola 4/1
4 Rafael Benítez 5/1
5 Roberto Di Mateo 10/1

So what about those numbers has me contemplating a career switch? Oh I don’t know… probably because there’s not a chance in hell that the man currently sporting the best odds will actually end up taking the Chelsea job. I think anyone putting their hard-earned money on Mourinho is simply giving it away to someone… why shouldn’t they be giving that money to me?!?!

Now after reading such a bold claim, I can understand if you’re questioning my confidence about the matter, what with so much time before the position will be filled and so many possible indicators already seeming to hint as much. I mean, he made no secret of his recent house hunting trip to London. Many fans will be quick to place a quid or two on Mourinho taking the job for just that reason, like they’ve forgotten that there will potentially be two other high-profile job openings in the same city this summer.

Either way, trust me when I say it’s not gonna happen. And it won’t happen for two very important reasons: what’s happened in the past, and what has to happen in the future.

Study the past, if you would divine the future.
Before we can even truly consider the Special One returning to Stamford Bridge, we have to look at why he left to begin with. It’s very important to remember that prior to leaving, José was literally a Messiah at Chelsea. He led the Blues to Premier League titles in each of his first two seasons with the club — their first in 50 years — and a club-first FA and League Cup double the following season. And while his departure seemed sudden and abrupt in September 2007, the seeds of discontent for the Portuguese manager were actually being sowed as early as 2006.

shevchenko and mourinho at chelsea

mourinho was never a fan of shevchenko, and yet roman insisted that he stay in the squad.

The first major sign of any trouble brewing between the Russian and Portuguese came with the 2006 summer signings of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack. Neither fit the mold of a typical Mourinho signing — both were proven/veteran superstars instead of up-and-coming youngsters or relative unknowns — and many rightly wondered whether they were more of Roman’s signings than José’s. Shevchenko in particular had long been admired by Abramovich, and when his €30m signing effectively ate up all of Mourinho’s transfer budget for the summer, he was bound to be displeased.

Of course, the media were quick to jump all over the emerging rift, labeling these so-called “Abrambovich signings” as the proof that the Chelsea manager was being undermined by his owner. And while neither player ever lived up to their star billings, Shevchenko’s inability to adjust to life in West London was particularly glaring. Yet despite the Ukrainian’s obviously poor form, Roman continued to pressure his manager to play his pricey signing… something that did not sit well at all with Mourinho.

But even as these troubles were brewing in the background, José was able to rally his troops and produce successes. Disciplined counterattacking and a vice-like defense were the key tenets of the Mourinho’s ability to produce trophies, but by late 2006 it became quietly known that Roman was not pleased with such “unattractive” methods. The Russian oligarch desired free-flowing, attacking football out of his side. He wanted Chelsea to be the Barcelona of London, yet the complete opposite was on display week in and week out with Mourinho at the helm.

So when Roman appointed Avram Grant as a Director of Football — a position normally responsible for overseeing player transfers – at the beginning of the 2007/2008 campaign, the not-so-private lack of backing was finally enough to push the Special One to the breaking point. After a string of disappointing results and a series of crisis meetings between Mourinho, Abramovich and the rest of the board, it was clear that there was no reconciling and the Special One walked away.

Saying that “bridges were burned” between Mourinho and Abramovich would be a gross understatement. It was more like the bridge had been bombed by Allied troops in World War II: if you hadn’t known there was a bridge there before, you would never know one had been there at all.

And though there’s been talk that some reconciling has taken place since, you have to wonder how much José trust his former employer anymore. If he were to come back to Chelsea, would the boss man be able to guarantee Mourinho the total (and I mean total) autonomy to run the club as he sees fit? Judging by the latest rumors indicating that Mou would be willing to return only if that autonomy is promised — along with absurd wages and that the guarantee that Ronaldo would be purchased too — shows that the Russian will have to put his money where his mouth is if he wants to convince him to go against his gut instinct.

To be honest, aside from the ridiculous wage demands, I don’t think Roman can promise Mourinho any of those things.

The future ain’t what it used to be.
Let us imagine for a minute a strange world where Roman Abramovich would actually be willing to give Mourinho all of the control his heart desires, and that Mourinho accepts said offer and returns to Chelsea. What tasks await him before he can right the ship? To answer that question, you have to first look at the current state of affairs at Stamford Bridge.

drogba, terry and lampard at chelsea

would mourinho even want to break up the "old boys club" that he help put together?

The anchor that’s been dragging the Blues down this season hasn’t necessarily been the manager — though AVB’s tactical and personnel choices weren’t always the wisest for the squad that he’s had — but rather an aging core of players that have an unusually large amount of influence at the club. Terry, Cole, Drogba and most notably Lampard were all reportedly at fault for undermining Villas-Boas both in the locker room and the board room. Yet aside from perhaps Lampard, none have performed well enough this season to justify such importance and sway.

When André Villas-Boas was brought in this summer, his first action should have been to break up the veteran-core. One thing that would allow him to do is implement his new playing system without the friction of the older players who are used to the old style of play. Secondly, breaking up that group would also lessen the odds of anyone challenging his authority.

Lampard and Drogba could have easily been shipped out for decent money, despite their lofty ages. Ashley Cole could have been put on a tighter, don’t-shoot-the-staff leash. And don’t get me started on how John Terry’s toxic ego is poisoning the drinking well. But due to drawn out nature of his appointment, AVB didn’t have enough time to flip them for new players before the start of the season… so he was stuck with them.

Unfortunately, this core group of influential players still remain very close to Mourinho. After all, he was the one that assembled and guided them to prominence. That they all admitted to regularly communicating with their old boss this season underlines how close they are to the guy still.

How is Mourinho possibly supposed to come back and tell them — the guys he’s still friends with — that he’s going to have to give them the boot?

Sure, he’s got a steely personality and doesn’t take smack from anyone. But would you have the cojones to tell a friend, who you’ve been propping up and reassuring all season through text messages, “Sorry guy, you actually do suck and need to move on”? I don’t think I could.

Even if Mourinho could push some of the old guard out, he still won’t be out of the woods. The Chelsea Mourinho would inherit now is not the up and coming squad that he took over in 2004, but rather a fading one with its best years behind it. There’s still a good deal of rebuilding left to do at the club, and he’ll need not only financial backing to bring in fresh faces, but he’ll also need time adjust them to the Mourinho code.

And time, if you recall, is exactly what Villas-Boas was reportedly assured of when he was charged with the project of overhauling the squad. We saw how well that worked out for the young manager. There’s no way a man as smart as the Special One could have overlooked that as anything but the same type of broken promises he’s seen before, right?

————————————————————-

Think about it like this: to José Mourinho, this Chelsea job is like a hot ex-girlfriend. Despite all of the feelings of nostalgia, the familiarity, and the everyone will totally understand why you hooked back up with her… because she’s hot. But everyone also knows that you really shouldn’t be hooking up with her either, since she’s got a crazy dad that says he likes you one day, but the next day he’s got a shotgun to you pushing you out the front door.

Long story short, I just don’t think there’s anyway that an ambitious Mourinho will take this Chelsea job. There’s too much history there, and deep down he knows he won’t get the control that he wants. Unless Abramovich promises he’ll stay far away in Russia and not pay attention to team affairs, a Mourinho-Chelsea reunion feels very unlikely.

Besides, there are potentially other jobs in London that he would be a much better fit for…

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a troubling transition

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The biggest problem with success is replicating it. The blood, sweat and tears that are shed in the process of reaching greatness always takes a drastically larger toll than any champion is willing to admit, and so they’re almost always at the root of the failure to retain their crown.

chelsea celebrating 2011

chelsea's changing of the guard has been anything but a smooth transition.

In professional soccer, this saying rings particularly true.

Success usually means winning the league or advancing to the late stages of drawn-out knock-out competition(s), both of which require a tremendous amount of energy, focus and planning. For instance last season, Barcelona’s two-trophy haul was the product of a 60 match season, and their pint-sized prince Leo Messi played in 55 of those matches. I don’t care how fit you are, nobody can play that many games in 12 months and be fresh for most of the following season.

The prolonged stress on both body and mind normally don’t manifest themselves until the following season, when all of the energy from last season finally catches up with them. It’s for this reason that we have yet to see a club repeat as Champions League winners, and even more rare that we end up seeing teams that are truly dynasties.

Hell, for some teams, just coming close to sustained excellence ends up consuming them. Just look at Chelsea.

Despite pulling in an impressive three League and FA Cup titles each in the last six years, their billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, has eyes for only one prize: the UEFA Champions League. His vast amount of oily riches has propelled the Blues agonizingly close to his goal on several occasions, but they’ve not been able to clear those last hurdles. And in pursuit of Champions League glory, Abramovich’s actions and itchy trigger finger has left Chelsea teetering precariously in the balance.

In the nine years since the Russian oligarch bought the club from Ken Bates, Abramovich has burned through 6.5 managers (I’m only counting Hiddink as half, since he was technically just an interim manager), some of which were the finest and most successful in the game over the last decade. His tendency to poison relationships with his managers, most notably when the fallout pushed José Mourinho out the door in 2007, has undoubtedly undermined their efforts to be crowned kings of Europe.

chelsea's andre villas-boas

just because AVB doesn't have any grey speckled in his ginger beard (yet) doesn't mean that he isn't a quality manager.

That’s why it’s surprising that when Roman decided to dispatch of Carlo Ancelotti this summer — just a season removed from the Italian leading Chelsea to their first Double in club history — and replaced him with a very young André Villas-Boas, I was still caught off guard by the decision.

Abramovich’s track record with major purchases acquisitions up until last January have almost always had one thing in common: they all had proven track records. Whether it was a player or manager that was being brought to Stanford Bridge, they were already successful in their prior endeavors.

Makélélé, Drogba, Schevchenko, Ballack and Deco were brought in after successful careers abroad. Ca$hley was bribed to swap North London for West London after proving himself, and Anelka had literally played decently for everyone. Likewise, Scolari had won a World Cup, Ancelotti had won two Champions Leagues as a manager and one as a player, and Hiddink has to be some sort of wizard to have pulled off all of the successes he’s had.

But Villas-Boas on the other hand, doesn’t have near the same pedigree. Strike one was always going to be that he never played professionally. Sure, the rosy-cheeked AVB hauled in an impressive two trophies last year in his lone season at the helm of Porto. But prior to that, his only experience as the manager of any professional football team was a surprising 9-month spell with Portuguese minnows Académica de Coimbra. Coupled with his young age, his inexperience in the upper echelons of the game was a stark departure from any of the previous new faces that had been brought in by Chelski.

So while replacing a relatively (by Chelsea definition) successful manager is hard enough at a big club, Villas-Boas was even more under the gun due to these supposed handicaps. Unfortunately, Chelsea’s form so far this season seems to be giving weight all of those fears. And predictably, AVB has been taking the heat for poor results.

And though I love seeing Chelsea in turmoil from a Tottenham fan’s perspective, I don’t think Villas-Boas deserves to be shouldering all of the blame.

One of the biggest issues that most of the punditry thought would undermine Villas-Boas’ legitimacy in the Stamford Bridge dressing room would be his age relative to that of many of the big, influential players at Chelsea. At 36, he’s only three years older than Lampard and Drogba, and a relatively five years older than Terry and Cole. With each of those players casting long shadows of influence at the club (Terry in particular) due to their contributions the last few years, there was always a fear that they would have a hard time taking orders from a man that’s a) never played a minute professionally (though this wasn’t a problem for Mourinho), and b) was significantly younger than anyone else they had ever taken orders from.

It is this power struggle, in my questionably expert opinion, that is the root of the problems at Chelsea. If André Villas-Boas is ever to have any hope of righting the ship and getting Chelsea back to competing for every trophy under the sun, those star names have to go.

And while I’m hardly the first to promote that idea, I think it’s important to examine just why their leaving is so crucial for Chelsea to get back on track..

First and foremost, don’t take my statement above as any sort of slandering of the quality of any of those players. All are still more than capable of playing Premiership football, and I have no doubt that many top teams would love to have them in their sides. However, it is clear that they’re all in the autumn of their careers (though some more so than others).

Normally, a squad full of experienced players would be considered a great asset. But with AVB being brought in by Abramovich to reshape the squad and it’s playing style, these older players tend to become a liability. Remember that one of the main points of beef that Abramovich tends to have with his managers is the style of play they force the team to play. The oil baron yearns for attractive, attacking football similar to that found in Madrid and Barcelona, and heads have rolled when they’ve failed to deliver.

Yet to this point and much to his chagrin, Roman’s most successful appointments have been of the more defensive mindset. Mourinho’s trophies came on the back of highly organized and efficient strangling of the oppositions offense and countering. Ancelotti is Italian… so there’s not much more I need to say about that. This kind of “anti-football” as some have labeled it, requires two things:

  1. A very organized defense-first mentality from the entire team, which often involves sitting deep and allowing the opposition to bring the game to you…
  2. …which leaves loads of space behind them for your team to quickly counter into and score.

Because of this, Chelsea’s current squad was built with a defensive mindset at its core. And with AVB trying to get his Chelsea squad playing with attacking flair, you see where the problems start to develop. If there’s one thing that Barcelona has taught us in the last few years, it’s that offensive, attacking football requires two things from a team:

  1. That your team apply quick pressure high up the pitch, which forces the opposition to cough up the ball earlier and closer to their own goal.
  2. This high pressure requires fit, quick players to apply it appropriately.

Understandably, aging players that have lost a step, or maybe don’t play as quickly as they used to, are far from ideal for this type of system. Lampard, Terry, Drogba

continuing to lean on the fading elder blues will only hamper the club's future prospects.

And the player who highlights this the most is everyone’s favorite punching bag, John Terry. There’s no disputing that Terry was one of the finest center halves of the last decade. His on-pitch leadership abilities, smart distribution, heart, work rate and ability to provide timely runs forward made him a linchpin in Chelsea’s dominance at the turn of the century. But the last two years have been rough on John. His always short temper has gotten shorter, his laziness has increased, and most noticeably, he’s lost some of his pace, too.

Yet, his new manager’s system requires Terry to hold a defensive line that is much higher than what he’s used to. JT’s decreased pace would be cause for concern here, unless he’s partnered in the back by a players that’s fast enough to cover for him. Luckily, the club signed what they hoped would be their center-back-of-the-future David Luiz, a player full of both youth and speed. And all appeared to be falling into place…

Trouble is, both Terry and Luiz are the type of central defender that likes to push forward and launch the attack. With both of them pushing forward and leaving the middle empty, it’s left AVB’s high defensive line extremely vulnerable to the counter attack goals that have plagued them all season. So to help stem the bleeding, Luiz’s susceptibility to caution/ejection has seen him dropped and Terry instead partnered with the more “conservative” Ivanović.

While Luiz’s sacrifice has proven to be marginally more successful as far as immediate results are concerned, it comes off as counterproductive to Villas-Boas’ long-term goal of building an attractive, competitive squad for the future. With a £21 million price tag hanging around his 24-year-old neck, it’s clear Luiz needs to be a cornerstone of that project. Are the short-term results worth  sacrificing the development of the “new” Chelsea squad that the manager is trying to build?

chelsea's meireles, ramires and sturridge

chelsea should rely on their young stars now instead of shelving them for short-term success.

Loads of money has been spent to bring in fresh blood in order to remake the squad, but they need to be playing together as much as possible to build cohesion and gel. Daniel Sturridge (£7 million), Raul Meireles (£12m), Ramires (£17m), Luiz, Juan Mata (£23m) and Fernando Torres (£50m) are all great players that need to grow together as a team, and that can only happen if they can get enough games together. Continuing to rely on Terry and Drogba instead of Luiz and Torres — no more than a temporary band-aid — will just harm their confidence and undermine the goal of creating a team for the future.

Of course, none of this has taken into account the sway that Chelsea’s veteran players still have at the club. The influence that players like Terry still have over their fellow teammates and club management is palpable, and has led to scores of rumors of a divided dressing room at Stamford Bridge. Whether Villas-Boas has more sway at this point remains debatable, and whether he or the elder statesmen of the team leaves first will likely answer that question.

Look, I’m not saying that Villas-Boas is doing a fantastic job and deserves absolute absolution from any of Chelsea’s poor form this season. He’s made plenty of mistakes, for sure, and that’s probably partly due to his age and inexperience and partly due to the normal adjustment time needed to adapt to life in the Premier League.

That said, André has also shown a lot of promise, too. And it’s through that promise that I believe he had to have been smart enough to know that this was the type of season he was facing if he decided to fill the vacant hot seat on Chelsea’s bench this summer. One would also hope that he communicated that to Abramovich when he took the job, buying himself a season or two to transition the club from the current aging squad to a young, competitive squad for the future.

The trouble with transitions — at Roman’s Chelsea anyway — is that they’re expected to be seamless and just as successful as the periods they’re attempting to bridge. His track record of quickly pulling the trigger has blown some of the time with this golden generation, and firing AVB now could set the next generation off-track before it even get’s its feet wet.

ten words or less #36

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freank lampard on andre villas-boas bench

i hate to be frank, but lampard needs to get used to sitting on villas-boas' bench.

Normally, this opening paragraph is an attempt by me to say something interesting, but I know that it likely never is. Yet I still feel the need to write in this space. It just looks better, especially when trying to place an attention grabbing picture at the top of an article. Everybody loves pictures. It’s like I’m conducting one of those tests where a college student will put something completely random in the middle of their paper to see if their professor even reads their entire paper.

Except this isn’t in the middle; this entire introduction is a bunch or pointless babble. And nobody will even notice, because all you want are the links below. Fine… get on with it.

SCIENCE! – plus.maths.org

Initially creative, but eventually pointless, fan protest. – theoffside.com

I wish more clubs would market like Valencia. – kckrs.com

Why is this news!?!? – 101greatgoals.com

If you screw with Maradona’s sign, he will kick you. – dirty tackle @ yahoo.com

Robo-Bob has his work cut out for him in Egypt. – soccernet.com

This is what I like to call “handicapping”. – footballshirtculture.com

Like him or hate him, Warnock’s the reason QPR’s flying. – telegraph.co.uk

the solution set

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Sometimes you have to wonder if humanity would ever get anything done if it weren’t for disasters.

tottenham's gomes prevents the ball from crossing the goal line

you knew i had to complain about this at some point, right?

It took a massive hurricane for New Orleans –a city stupidly built below sea level on a river delta–  to actually spend any money to build adequate levies to prevent rising river/lake/sea water from ravaging the city. Japan needed to have a nuclear meltdown at one of their power plants before they thought, “Hey, maybe it would be a good idea to build impenetrable sea walls around our nuclear power plants!” Apparently, reacting after a disaster is the only way to save face.

And just as in the real world, the powers that be in soccer need to have their lack of action blow up in their faces before they decide to go about making needed changes in the game.

Refereeing has been the bane of FIFA’s existence the last year and a half. Bad decision after horrible decision, missed call after botched call, affected game after ruined game, the overall quality of supposed “top-level” referees in the game seems to have taken a massive dip. Some high-profile recent examples include:

  • The France-Ireland World Cup qualification handball incident.
  • Frank Lampard’s un-awarded goal in South Africa.
  • Robin van Persie’s dismissal for shooting a ball after the whistle.
  • Barcelona escaping any punishment for all of their diving during the Champions League clásicos.
  • Tottenham falling to Chelsea on an offsides goal and a goal that never crossed the line (see above).

Now to be fair, and I have been pretty harsh to the lot on this blog, all of the blame can’t be shouldered by the referees. Yes, some of the poor performances are definitely their fault: not being in the right place on the pitch to see the action, being inconsistent in the calls being made, or just plain making the wrong call. But a lot of this can also be blamed on the dramatic increase in the speed of the modern game. It can be awfully difficult to make a judgement call on a possible infraction that took place in a matter of milliseconds.

Regardless of the reason for the poor quality of refereeing, it’s clear these blind mice need some sort of help. And luckily for us, these events over the last year have finally forced FIFA’s dirty little hand.

Last week, FIFA announced a 2012 deadline for finding a suitable solution to the much maligned goal line technology debate. A long over due pledge, goal line technology is likely the easiest to solve of the issues plaguing the organization (At least they’re finally caving on one issue). And just in time, as it’s an issue that has recently severely impacted the results of some very major games.

So in light of such an important announcement, I thought it might be worthwhile to take some time to look at some of the contenders proposed to solve FIFA’s big problem.

CTRUS W1

a brilliant concept, but can CTRUS actually meet the standards for an actual ball?

CTRUS by agent

Purely conceptual (I think), we’re still a long way from seeing CTRUS as a viable solution for FIFA… and for multiple reasons.

  1. A functioning model has yet to appear.
  2. It requires no inflation, meaning by definition, it’s not a ball FIFA would approve. Massive rule changes would need to be instituted just for this mechanical ball to earn the coveted official “FIFA Approved” logo.
  3. It’s way too cool for an archaic, old-fashioned organization to adopt.

What’s awesome about the CTRUS concept is that it’s not just the referee who will receive notice of a potential goal: everyone will. Thanks to the ball’s on-board GPS, RFID and multiple POV cameras, the ball will be able to determine its location and signal a goal or ball out-of-touch by changing its colors with LED lighting.

All bad ass ideas, but all assuming that Agen can actually get the thing to work.

uefa has been testing the 5-man referee system for two years

"wait, i can't see around this post."

The Five-Man System

Everyone should be fairly familiar with FIFA’s only somewhat-sanctioned form of goal line technology, where an extra official is placed just behind and to the left of each goal mouth. Let’s first diligently declare that this is not a “technology” per se… unless the extra officials are some form cyborgs. And to be honest, this solution is really just four extra eyes to watch a ball from a closer angle.

Problem is, I don’t think that these guys provide that much additional value.

Since these guys are already qualified as professional referees, they’re allowed not only rule on goals, but also on other infringements in the penalty area. Sadly, I can’t think of one occasion where I’ve seen them call anything. Secondly, there’s still plenty of room for human error. In fact, there’s twice as much room for human error. So there’s really no possible way that this “technology” could even meet FIFA’s own 100% accuracy standards.

Goalminder

A relative unknown, at least as far as the media are concerned, Goalminder is a solution that involves placing fiber-optic, high-speed cameras in the posts and crossbar of each goal. Very reminiscent of the NHL’s downward facing camera used to verify goals, check out the video below for a horribly drawn out (and ADD distracted) demonstration:

One major problem with this solution is the time it would take to make a decision with cameras. Someone would need to watch the video, possibly frame by frame, and every angle could potentially be obscured by an errant arm, leg, foot or body. Are the referees supposed to pause the game as they wait for or make a decision? Who watches the video replays? In reality, there are more questions that actual answers with regards to Goalminder.

adidas-cairos teamgeist II goal line technology solution

the infamous sputnik ball makes a return to WSOTP.

Cairos

remember the Sputnik ball that I had stupidly propped up on my site a few weeks back that purported to be the official 2014 World Cup ball? Well, as I said in the story, it’s not the next ball but rather an old prototype utilizing the “Cairos GLT” technology in adidas’ Teamgeist II.

A joint venture between adidas and Cairos Technologies, this system utilizes a series of in-ball sensors that, when the ball completely crosses the goal line, would immediately notify the referee that a goal should be awarded. It requires the posts and bars to transmit electromagnetic fields that would be measured by the ball’s microchips to determine its location on the pitch.

An earlier version of this system was demoed at the 2005 U-17 World Cup, but apparently wasn’t able to make the grade. With a bad taste already in FIFA’s mouth, adidas and co hopefully did their homework a bit better this time around in order to convince anyone that it’s a viable option.

Vegum/Tag-Heuer’s Goal Line Technology (GLT)

Cleverly named product, isn’t it? The famous watchmaker’s system was first developed ahead of 2010 Olympic Hockey tournament, and is currently solely marketed for use in hockey. It utilizes a centrally located microchip within the ball to gauge its position with regards to an electromagnetic field emanating from the posts, crossbar, and goal line.

Other than this link to a promotional video, I can’t dig up much on Vegum and Tag Heuer’s innovative collaboration.

hawk-eye goal line technology

hawk-eye's software uses multiple views to verify a goal. extra sets of intelligent eyes are never a bad thing.

Hawk-Eye

Already the master of millimeter-precise solutions for tennis, cricket, and even snooker, Hawk-Eye is the solution FIFA should already be using.

Hawk-Eye is a computer program that utilizes a set of 6 high-speed cameras at both ends of the stadium, each providing a different angle on the goal line action. The computerized brain then analyzes all of the video feeds to determine the trajectory, speed, and exact location at any given time. Even in situations when the ball is obstructed from every view, the system’s historical database can make accurate assumptions about the ball’s location, based on where it isn’t and historical data. So for those not able to follow, the system can “see” the ball even when it can’t.

The company and Premier League claimed in 1997 that they had the technology ready for in-game implementation, but FIFA was too busy turning a blind eye to the situation at that point. It’s proven to be invaluable in the sports that currently use the technology, which should lend plenty of credence to using it in goal-line decisions.

——————————————————–

Others companies (such as Swiss watch-maker Longines) are reportedly submitting proposals, but they’ve kept their brainchildren hidden away in the depths of the internet where I can’t find them.

It is also important to remember that this isn’t the first time FIFA have attempted to tackle the goal line technology debate. Back in February, FIFA put ten solutions through the wringer only to have them all fail to meet the stringent accuracy standards demanded by the ruling regime governing body. And that begs to question whether or not any of the possible solutions listed above will even be able to make the grade.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope it does. FIFA and UEFA have spent too much time with their heads in the sand, and their precious game is suffering tremendously for it.

the dangers of demand

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i don’t know about the rest of you, but my fantasy team is taking a beating this season. it’s like any semblance of any football understanding has vacated my brain, rendering the equivalent of this type of soccer fan. i just can’t figure it out this year, and it’s infuriating.

even ironmen like kuyt are being over-exerted.

in fact, unless you can somehow swing starting chelsea’s staring XI, you’re probably not doing all that well. i suppose it’s not all that surprising to see the best fantasy players coming from the team that’s sitting at the top of the table. well, that and some fat dude named charlie adam that plays for blackpool. but it is surprising to not see more players from man city, tottenham or arsenal pushing into the top points earners as much as you would think. why is that?

maybe it’s because we are over playing our great players.

injuries to prominent players are on the rise, up 62% in recent years… at least according to a poll i just made up. regardless of whether my statistics are made up or not, just looking at the gamut of class players that are currently crocked (or have been recently) is telling enough:

cesc fabregas, wayne rooney (at least in the head), xavi, robin van persie (mr. glass is always hurt) rio ferdinand, fernando torres (mrs. glass on the account of his hair), cristiano ronaldo, jermaine defoe, leo messi, frank lampard, dirk kuyt.

it’s a lengthy list to say the least, and one that’s sure to grow… especially if we start counting all of the people nigel de jong is gunning to destroy.

part of this, as fans, is our fault: we created the demand. we want to see our favorite players where we live, not just on the boob tube. and in order to make that possible, clubs head out on the road in the summer to play pre-season matches in far flung locations like america, australia and the far east. our thirst for top level football is out of control.

and where there is high demand, there is money to be made. and where there is money to be made, exploitation will occur. the only reason these clubs go on these preseason tours, keeping in mind that these are unnecessary games, is to reap the financial rewards of said tours. schedule five matches, mainly play reserve players while easing your stars in and out of those matches, and charge the same for tickets that you would back home for regular season matches that actually count for something, profit.

remember, we haven’t even thrown in the added grind of national team duties. how many of the players on the list above played at the world cup this summer? oh yeah, all of them. a hypothetical star player could be playing in up to 80 competitive matches in a world cup or european championship year. look at how many injuries those same players picked up while playing/training with the national team.

the problem isn’t that the clubs/fa’s and moneymakers are exploiting the demand we created for our money. no the problem is the clubs/countries are exploiting their players for our money.

now i’m sure some of you out there are saying, “it’s not like these guys aren’t being lavishly rewarded for this ‘abuse’ they’re suffering.” and you’re right, they are being paid what some would call a decent wage. but the price many of them are paying for it is their bodies.

let’s take michael essien as an example. the chelsea man is, in my not so humble opinion, one of the best all around footballers on the planet (you can literally play him anywhere). he’s a vital cog in the blues domestic and european efforts, as well as featuring as the talisman for his national team, ghana.

in september of 2008 essien blew out his ACL  for ghana, prompting fears of him missing the entire 2008-2009 season. though essien was back in march of 2009, he didn’t regain full fitness until the start of the next club season. he fought with the injury in the lead up to the ridiculously-timed african cup of nations, where many speculated it would be a bad place to play him when the team had already qualified for the world cup. ignoring the advice of experts, they rushed him back to play and he reinjured the knee, forcing him to miss all of the rest of the 2009-2010 club season and the world cup.

maybe if we didn't place so much strain on his obviously fragile body, we would be able to enjoy the abilities of a truly fit torres.

i’ve long speculated that fernando torres’ chronic injury issues are tied to the fact that he’s been rushed back multiple times to play in big games for liverpool and spain. relatively young players like cesc fàbregas have been burning the candle at both ends for a solid six years now. look at how he’s falling to pieces at a more regular rate. could all of the games he’s logged on his young legs be the cause of his body falling apart at a younger age than expected? jack wilshire, please be taking notes.

look, i know that this is the part of the sacrifice you make to get the benefits of the commercialization of the game (like me even being able to watch multiple european games a week from my living room). but i worry that if we keep pressing these guys to play more than they can actually handle, that we’ll really be limiting the amount of time we’ll be able to enjoy watching them play.

it’s a viscious circle, and one that i don’t think we’ll be seeing an end to any time soon.

i’d wear those

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We’re taking a small departure from my normal subject matter in this post,straying away from the headlines that are dominating other blogs. It’s a somewhat difficult thing to do right now in the world of football, considering the closing of the transfer window (another ho-hum window I might add… van der Vaart to Spurs the “shocker” of the window) and the retardation that is an international break just weeks into the season (unfounded rumor: del Bosque is in cahoots with someone to make sure Torres stays hurt).

let's talk about boots, baby.

So what’s this new topic of discussion that I want to cover today?

Boots… football boots.

Deep at heart, I’m a huge nerd — as if this blog wasn’t proof enough of that on it’s own. But believe it or not, once upon a time, I was once much more of one. Allow me to explain the depths of my nerdiness.

For those of you who grew up playing soccer here in the States, odds are you had a Eurosport soccer catalog delivered to your door every month. Most kids would leaf through it, find a few things they like, and then they would be done with it.

I on the other hand would scrutinize every single page, looking over it inch-by-inch so I could see everything in that damn magazine. Not only would I’d pick out and circle my favorite shoes and training wear that I would never be likely to receive… but I’d do it for each brand. Prices, specs and colorways would be committed to memory. For the next few days after each edition would landed in my mailbox, you could find me on the family computer drawing my favorite jersey and boots using Microsoft Paint.

Yeah… I told you I was a nerd.

Needless to say, I have a profound love for soccer kits, boots, equipment and apparel. I love the art in the design of the products, their marketing ploys and logo placements. For some people, they love the shape and the lines of car. I get geeked about the lines and shape of new soccer shoes.

So with all of that in mind, I thought I’d give you a glimpse into my super-dork mind and share my all-time favorite soccer boots. Not that this is particularly useful for anyone or anything, but it gives me the excuse to pour through the web looking for tokens from my childhood.

Trust that you will find absolutely no shoes from Reebok or UnderArmour on this list, as they make crap products that are more heinous than you’re average wannabe WAG. Sorry, but I’m judging you if you wear them. And if any of your other favorite(s) didn’t make the list, feel free to reply and convince me as to what I should have included.

Nike Mercurial Vapor III (2006)
worn by: Cristiano Ronaldo

nike mercurial vapor III

on looks alone, the vapor iii's are probably my all-time favorites.

Gifted to me by WSOTP favorite Chris Rolfe (Hurray for having tiny feet!), these boots made me feel like all of those kids from back in the day that said their Jordan’s made them run faster, jump higher, and have my own massive gambling addiction. When wearing these kicks, I felt like I could run a thousand miles an hour and have a first touch that rivals Messi’s. I couldn’t, but I at least felt like I could. This shoe’s fantastic lines alone just made them look fast.

Admittedly, it was a hard choice choosing which model of the Vapors I liked best, especially since I personally owned four different pairs of them (Vapor I’s in black synthetic and black k-leather, Vapor II’s in orange, and the Vapor III’s in the above white). The pair above won out becuase a) they’re ridiculously white — something I highly valued at the time — and b) they were the most comfy.

Adidas Accelerator Liga (1998)
worn by: Raúl 

i loved the looks of this boot, but i have to admit that something always looked funky about the tongue.

One of the few shoes on this list that I never had the privilege of wearing, I love the curling/swerving look of this boot. Throw in the ridiculously huge “adidas EQUIPMENT” logo on the heel and tongue, and you have the makings of a transitional modern classic. A few of my friends sported these back in the day, and I remember the k-leather feeling softer than any other leather I had ever felt before. Needless to say, I enviously eyed their feet at practice day after day… secretly plotting a way to swipe them. Sadly, I never succeeded.

Lotto PU Tacto (2000)
worn by: me, my senior year of high school

my p.u. tacto's helped me down arch-rivals moeller way back the fall of 2000.

Arguably the most comfortable boot I’ve ever worn, I rocked these for my senior year in high school. They hold a particularly warm place in my heart since they wear on my feet when I bagged the solitary varsity goal in my high school career. Extremely supple and very reactive, these were the first boots to feature separate heel and forefoot outsole plates — a feature that also made them remarkably light (for the time). I also loved these because nobody wore Lotto in the States, so I felt like a trailblazer. Oddly enough, I couldn’t find a single picture or reference to any pro player ever wearing this boot. So perhaps I’m a really big trail blazer.

Puma v1.06 (2006)
worn by: Samuel Eto’o

rolfe never let me wear these... bastard.

I loved these shoes, from a distance at least. Another gift from Rolfe, though these were passed down to his older brother, who as my roommate at the time, refused to let me wear them (I got the “shaft” and had to put up with another pair of Vapor III’s… boo hoo right?). They were the only shoe on the market at that time that could challenge the Vapors when it came to weight. However, that’s not what helped them on to this list. What really put them into my favorites was their design: these served as the launching point for Puma’s renaissance and subsequent avalanche of awesome designs that started to spill from their doors in the mid Naughties. Just whatever you do… try to ignore this color scheme.

Nike CTR360 Maestri (2010)
worn by: Cesc Fàbregas

i'm currently sporting this magnificent piece of industrial design.

There’s no way this list would have been complete without first putting up my current boots. The “shoe that Cesc built” is hands down the best synthetic shoe I’ve ever worn. Lightweight, well cushioned, and providing excellent touch and control qualities, the 360′s boast an extremely supple upper that could easily be confused for a k-leather. And while I would love to sport a pair from Elite Series, I just can’t justify spending such a hefty portion of monthly paycheck on football boots for my Sunday league team. Either way, I love this colorway much more than the current crop of neon and silver nightmares.

Adidas Adipure II (2009)
worn by: Frank Lampard

the all black adipures... hard.

A departure from my longstanding preference for white kicks, I loved the murdered out Adipures. You could perhaps best describe the entire Adipure line as “classic with a modern edge.” The shoe clearly pays homage to the Adidas’ classic Copa Mundial (see the toe box stitching and general overall shape), the shoe features a myriad of improvements such as the external heel counter and bladed stud configuration. All of that combined make the Adipure II’s one of the best natural, out-of-the-box feeling boots i’ve ever put on.

Umbro Xai (2001)
worn by: Michael Owen

umbro xai

the xais are perhaps the hardest boots to find pictures of on the internet.

I never in a million years thought I would wear these shoes. At their release, these were the most expensive soccer shoes on the planet ever. But when a senior on my college team realized he’d bought them too small, I hit the jackpot. Super comfy with a very durable k-leather upper, they featured “rubberized leather” strips that allowed you to put excellent spin on the ball without the added weight from Predator-like rubber fins. Were they worth the $200+ price tag? Probably not, but it was a quality boot that looked good and made me feel more important than I really was.

Nike Tiempo Ronaldinho (2007)
worn by: Ronaldinho

nike timepo ronaldinho

is it offensive to say this boot is much more attractive than the player they were designed for?

This was another shoe where I didn’t have any trouble deciding if it was on my list or not, but struggled to decide which colorway I liked the best. Dished out by Nike in four flavors (black, off-white, brown and red), I actually managed to rock two of the models (I couldn’t ever find the brown in my size, and never wanted to sport the reds). Ronaldinho’s first signature boot borrows much of its design from the days of old, with lines that give it a very classic silhouette. You could easily picture a player from the 1950′s digging them. My only complaint? The boots’ extremely thin and supple kangaroo leather did make them very prone to blowing out — a flaw that found it’s way to all three pair that I managed to lace up.

ten words or less #4

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the regular four year reports  that the business world suffered a drastic decrease in productivity due to the world cup are starting to spill out, and those monitoring the economy are probably breathing a sigh of relief now that the tournament is over.

fret not though my dear readers, as i’m still finding plenty of ways to be unproductive with footballing news continuing to stream in. there are too many gems out there not to be unproductive and share!

i contributed to this, my guess is you did too. – mashable.com

you read it here first… after i read it here – mls-daily.com

cheating cephalopod… he’s probably on the juice too. – mirrorfootball.co.uk

the king is dead. long live the king. – gaurdian.co.uk

footballers when they were kids. unsurprisingly, lampard was a fatty. – betfairfootball.com

even with “legend” backing, this guy is still a moron. – american.com

do you love random, useless world cup stats? i do. – optasports.com

dreamed of seeing mike tyson in a peterborough united kit? – dirty tackle

the themes of south africa 2010

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Sixty games into this World Cup finals, and with only four left to go, I can’t help but feel like this tournament has had some distinct, tournament-wide trends. While there have been some outliers, I feel like these themes have been prevalent in nearly every match.

That’s how it feels to me at least. And since this is my blog, I feel like you need to hear about them. So here are the four themes of South Africa 2010, in no particular order…

so many people were scratching their heads about the tournament as to why france kept domenech for the finals. apparently, raymond was doing the exact same thing.

CcCrRrAaAzZzYyY coaches
I thought for sure this space would be dominated by Maradona headlines. But while the legend has kept his trap mostly shut for a majority of the month, his counterparts from other countries are busy fighting with one another over who gets to fill the shoes I expected El Diego to be wearing.

First up: Italy’s Marcello Lippi. Critized long before the tournament for choosing a squad that would — nearly in its entirety – qualify for Social Security benefits here in the States (they’re so old), Lippi was busy laying the foundation of his craziness months ago. And following the Italians’ three-and-out performance, Marcello was so embarrassed that he literally ran out of the stadium. No handshakes with the opposing coaches. Nothing. Class act.

But Lippi was to be outdone, as the much-maligned Raymond Domenech continues to fly the flag as the world’s stupidest coach. Despite having a squad ripe with talent, everyone in the world knew that Domenech was a lame duck and that Les Bleus would suffer for having him there. And suffer they did. Raymond succeeded in letting the team implode, had to send home Anelka for subordination, had a team coach quit, and saw his players refuse to train under him. Further more, the Fench went winless for the second straight competition and were generally awful.

The icing on the cake? After being eliminated by a loss to 89th ranked South Africa, Domenech didn’t shake Bafana Bafana manager Carlos Alberto Parreira’s hand either. No, instead he lectured the brazilian for a comment he made about France’s illegitimate qualification… a comment he made nearly 4 months ago. Brilliant and extremely mature timing by the craziest coach in South Africa.

Blind men are everywhere
Aside from when I’m personally playing in a game, I really do hate to criticize referees. The (un)lucky refs picked to deputize the World Cup games honestly do have some of the hardest, most pressure-filled jobs on the planet. But in this summer’s tournament, I feel like you couldn’t walk through the South Africa without tripping over a crap referee.

Yes, the most talked about topic during this summer’s finals is the unbelievably poor standard of refereeing that we’ve seen almost completely across the board. The biggest poor call so far, at least from an American’s point of view, was the Coulibaly fantom offsides/foul in the USMNT-Slovenia game. But other atrocities so far have included: Tim Cahill being wrongly sent straight off against Germany, Lampard’s non-goal in the England-Germany match, Tevez’s clearly offsides goal against Mexico, the soft yellow that Thomas Müller was given against Argentina that will cause him to miss the German’s semifinal.

Needless to say, the level of officiating in their marquee event should be extremely worrying for FIFA. With mounting evidence to justify the use of some sort of goal line technology — and fifa finally “admitting” as much – this World Cup may finally be the last straw for keeping some sort of referee aid from making its way into the game. Though odds are, FIFA will intentionally pick the worst option just so they can reject it as a failure and go back to the current, mucked up system in a few years’ time.

It is important to remember that they aren’t all doing poorly… England’s Howard Webb has turned in a very consistent set of performances.

Empty seats
 This is a trend of the tournament that I really haven’t heard much talk about to this point: why are there so many empty seats? I figured at first it was just because the opening round games sometimes feature dud match ups. But this empty seat phenomenon has even reared it’s head in the later rounds (Japan’s snoozer against Paraguay being the chief example).

we probably wouldn't be seeing as many empty seats at the world cup if they didn't make the tickets so damn big.

I mean this is the world cup, right? How does this happen? In Germany, there were fans coming to host cities just to be near the stadium. In the ’94 in the USA, there were fans trying to sneak into games. But in South Africa in 2010, there are games with thousands of seats sitting empty.

Perhaps this is due to the African citizens not really being able to afford the tickets, or maybe it’s due to the fact that this game was so damn far away from anyone with money. Whatever the reason though, it’s unacceptable and frankly, a little embarrassing.

This is supposed to best football in the world, right?
Wrong. And in this tournament in particular, I feel like we’re not quite getting the Grade A, world-class level of play everyone expects from the World Cup. Or at least that’s what the American media market keeps telling us to expect.

As moronic SportsCenter anchors go on calling the World Cup the footballing world’s equivalent of the Super Bowl, it has become increasingly clear that the best comparison to the super bowl is still the Champions League. And it’s not just because their formats and functions are similar.

Let’s be honest: South Africa 2010 has proven that the world’s best football can be found in the Champions League, not in the World Cup. The play has been sloppy, disconnected, and at times down right atrocious. How many crosses have been off by about a mile? How many errant passes have been made by world class players?

Maybe it’s the ball. Maybe it’s the altitude carrying the ball further than normal. Maybe it’s even those damn vuvuzela’s distracting everyone. Maybe it can be attributed to an overly-long, drawn-out club season that keeps national teams from training together and pushes players past their physical limits. But it’s probably a combination of all three. Either way, the best football has not been on display this summer.