Thursday, July 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Exporting soccer players - awesome charts
This series of charts do a great job of displaying the globalization of soccer. What it shows is that today players are much more likely to play club soccer abroad then they were sixteen years ago.
Roll over countries on top to see what clubs players are with, or roll over the bottom to see where players from a given club are from. Ribbon width indicates number of players. The greater the width, the more players from that country or team. Very elegantly done.
Roll over countries on top to see what clubs players are with, or roll over the bottom to see where players from a given club are from. Ribbon width indicates number of players. The greater the width, the more players from that country or team. Very elegantly done.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Portugal
What a waste of time. Portugal has one of the best attacking players in the world and he is handcuffed by a negative strategy. I could count on one hand the second half touches that Ronaldo had.
I would have preferred Ivory Coast to get through, they would have atleast made a game of it.
I would have preferred Ivory Coast to get through, they would have atleast made a game of it.
Torres
Looks so dead out on the pitch. I own the man Liverpool shirt and this is how he repays me. I was not surprised when he was pulled in the 60th minute although I don't know anything about his replacement.
Right after the change is made David Villa finds the first goal. The Goal was pure spain slick passing and the finish by Villa. Villa has an incredible goal scoring record for Spain 42 goals in 62 caps.
Right after the change is made David Villa finds the first goal. The Goal was pure spain slick passing and the finish by Villa. Villa has an incredible goal scoring record for Spain 42 goals in 62 caps.
More Spain v. Portugal
At the half Spain looks the better side but Portugal has been solid in the back and are looking to counter. This game needs to open up a little bit.
Christiano Ronaldo still hasn't figured out that showing up the referee is not to his benefit.
Christiano Ronaldo still hasn't figured out that showing up the referee is not to his benefit.
Iberian Derby thoughts
I am watching the Spain Portugal game on delay. 30 minutes I have the following thoughts:
Spain still don't seem to have the bite on the attack that I expected. In this game the size of Portugal in the middle seems to be a problem for Spain. The backline for Spain has been strong although Portugal has not really threatened. I have been dissapointed with Iker Casillas throughout the tournament. He has let up some soft goals and huge rebounds. His start tonight is no different giving up a tempting rebound on a Ronaldo free kick.
Did Sergio Ramos play center back at some point or has he always been a right back?
Spain still don't seem to have the bite on the attack that I expected. In this game the size of Portugal in the middle seems to be a problem for Spain. The backline for Spain has been strong although Portugal has not really threatened. I have been dissapointed with Iker Casillas throughout the tournament. He has let up some soft goals and huge rebounds. His start tonight is no different giving up a tempting rebound on a Ronaldo free kick.
Did Sergio Ramos play center back at some point or has he always been a right back?
US lack of touch in front of goal
Between a porous defense and a lack of finishing we will always be second class. The article below (courtesy ESPN.com) does a nice job of examining the lack of production from forwards and the impact that can have on a team. I didn't consider the fatigue factor. If the US had converted more chances they would have been less gassed against Ghana. You can play these what if games all day long but I think its a valid point.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- It's a hard game, this soccer, but it's a simple one.
To win, you must put the ball in the net.
And while the U.S. continues to improve, the country won't break into the world's elite -- and by that we mean appear in the World Cup semifinals and finals -- until it finds players who consistently show touch on the ball and score goals.
There has been much gnashing of teeth since Saturday's 2-1 loss to Ghana in the tournament's second round. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati called the team's finish here a disappointment. "I think the team was capable of more," he said Monday.
World Cup Rumor Central
Who's doing what, and what does it mean to his team's chances? Insider's Rumor Central has the answers.
A day earlier, U.S. head coach Bob Bradley said pretty much the same thing. "It's a pretty empty feeling," he said, "because coming out of the first round, we felt there was a chance to do something bigger."
But as we've said already, the team got what it deserved -- a loss to Ghana. And we'll hammer home why. The team created scoring chances, as it had all tournament. And then?
It. Just. Could. Not. Finish.
This World Cup cycle, the U.S. clearly couldn't afford that. For much of the four years, the U.S. defense just wasn't that good. It wasn't just that the Yanks gave up early goals. They gave up goals, period. From the Confederations Cup, throughout qualifying, even in their friendlies. The Yanks rank 19th in the world in Nate Silver's Soccer Power Index, and all of the other 18 teams have a better defensive metric.
That didn't mean the U.S. couldn't be a good team. It clearly was. But that's only when the Americans finished chances. And that didn't happen enough at the World Cup, especially not on Saturday. The other team? "On the night, Ghana had three very good chances and scored twice," Bradley said.
Both Kevin Prince Boateng's, and, especially, Asamoah Gyan's goals were outstanding strikes, on dead runs, and perfectly on target. The U.S. just doesn't do that, especially not from distance.
There are few, if any highlights in U.S games where anyone hits a shot like Diego Forlan's strike for Uruguay against South Africa, or Carlos Tevez's bolt to help Argentina beat Mexico, David Villa's 40-yarder for Spain against Chile, or Valter Birsa's blast for Slovenia against the U.S.
Those goals make the game easier for a team, and it's hard to remember the last time the U.S. got one. In more than a year of watching the Yanks' A-team closely, only Ricardo Clark's long, bounding goal against Trinidad stands out as an important shot that came from distance.
What does stand out are missed chances. The U.S. had many in the tournament, and three in the last game: one by Robbie Findley on a breakaway, another by Michael Bradley on a left-footer in the box and the final by Jozy Altidore on a tough turn at close range.
If any of those go in, we are not having this discussion. But they're indicative of the U.S. team's problems with scoring, especially from the forward slot. "We've gone two World Cups without a forward scoring a goal," Gulati says. "That's not a good thing. That isn't blaming the guys who've been playing forward for us. It's just a statement of fact."
Germany's Miroslav Klose had a ball into the box not unlike Altidore's that he turned into a 1-0 lead against England. Mexico's Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez blasted one in from close to the same spot as Bradley's shot. And Arjen Robben turned a run similar to Findley's into a splendid goal for the Netherlands against Slovakia on Monday.
Granted, those are all world-class plays from great strikers. But the U.S. doesn't make those plays. And those plays, as we said, make the game easier.
Consider this. What if Altidore had hit the net instead of the post after a great second-half run down the left sideline against England? Instead of a lucky draw, the Yanks open with a 2-1 victory. They can sit back and defend against Slovenia from the get-go, try to settle for a draw and conserve energy. Or what if the U.S. converted one of its many regulation-time chances against Algeria, including open-net attempts from Altidore and Dempsey, and didn't use up quite as much of its emotional resources just to get through to the second round?
A final hypothetical, based not on finishing but what happens before the finish in the attacking third. After giving up the early goal (words typed too often this year) against Ghana, the Yanks regained control of the match in the latter part of the first half. Findley's miss was the start of a series of threatening possessions. But each one was fruitless. One ended in a too-long Bradley chip, another on a bad touch by Altidore, a third in a poor corner kick, and a fourth with a Steve Cherundolo cross that was too long for an open Clint Dempsey in the 45th minute.
What if just one of those passes or touches had been on? And what if one of them led to a momentum-shifting goal just before the half? Yes, you could play this game all the way to the next World Cup. But it's useful, because it shows what the Americans still lack.
"I don't think it takes a lot of watching to know that Tevez and [Lionel] Messi have a different control over the ball than most of our players, or most of the players in the world for that matter," Gulati says. "We've got to be better."
Until the U.S. touch gets better -- and the country produces players who hit goals that make this hard game easier -- the Yanks will continue to bow out of World Cups sooner rather than later.
Effort is great. Will is admirable. Determination is inspiring.
But that all can get you only so far. Sometimes, you need a few wonder strikes.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- It's a hard game, this soccer, but it's a simple one.
To win, you must put the ball in the net.
And while the U.S. continues to improve, the country won't break into the world's elite -- and by that we mean appear in the World Cup semifinals and finals -- until it finds players who consistently show touch on the ball and score goals.
There has been much gnashing of teeth since Saturday's 2-1 loss to Ghana in the tournament's second round. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati called the team's finish here a disappointment. "I think the team was capable of more," he said Monday.
World Cup Rumor Central
Who's doing what, and what does it mean to his team's chances? Insider's Rumor Central has the answers.
A day earlier, U.S. head coach Bob Bradley said pretty much the same thing. "It's a pretty empty feeling," he said, "because coming out of the first round, we felt there was a chance to do something bigger."
But as we've said already, the team got what it deserved -- a loss to Ghana. And we'll hammer home why. The team created scoring chances, as it had all tournament. And then?
It. Just. Could. Not. Finish.
This World Cup cycle, the U.S. clearly couldn't afford that. For much of the four years, the U.S. defense just wasn't that good. It wasn't just that the Yanks gave up early goals. They gave up goals, period. From the Confederations Cup, throughout qualifying, even in their friendlies. The Yanks rank 19th in the world in Nate Silver's Soccer Power Index, and all of the other 18 teams have a better defensive metric.
That didn't mean the U.S. couldn't be a good team. It clearly was. But that's only when the Americans finished chances. And that didn't happen enough at the World Cup, especially not on Saturday. The other team? "On the night, Ghana had three very good chances and scored twice," Bradley said.
Both Kevin Prince Boateng's, and, especially, Asamoah Gyan's goals were outstanding strikes, on dead runs, and perfectly on target. The U.S. just doesn't do that, especially not from distance.
There are few, if any highlights in U.S games where anyone hits a shot like Diego Forlan's strike for Uruguay against South Africa, or Carlos Tevez's bolt to help Argentina beat Mexico, David Villa's 40-yarder for Spain against Chile, or Valter Birsa's blast for Slovenia against the U.S.
Those goals make the game easier for a team, and it's hard to remember the last time the U.S. got one. In more than a year of watching the Yanks' A-team closely, only Ricardo Clark's long, bounding goal against Trinidad stands out as an important shot that came from distance.
What does stand out are missed chances. The U.S. had many in the tournament, and three in the last game: one by Robbie Findley on a breakaway, another by Michael Bradley on a left-footer in the box and the final by Jozy Altidore on a tough turn at close range.
If any of those go in, we are not having this discussion. But they're indicative of the U.S. team's problems with scoring, especially from the forward slot. "We've gone two World Cups without a forward scoring a goal," Gulati says. "That's not a good thing. That isn't blaming the guys who've been playing forward for us. It's just a statement of fact."
Germany's Miroslav Klose had a ball into the box not unlike Altidore's that he turned into a 1-0 lead against England. Mexico's Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez blasted one in from close to the same spot as Bradley's shot. And Arjen Robben turned a run similar to Findley's into a splendid goal for the Netherlands against Slovakia on Monday.
Granted, those are all world-class plays from great strikers. But the U.S. doesn't make those plays. And those plays, as we said, make the game easier.
Consider this. What if Altidore had hit the net instead of the post after a great second-half run down the left sideline against England? Instead of a lucky draw, the Yanks open with a 2-1 victory. They can sit back and defend against Slovenia from the get-go, try to settle for a draw and conserve energy. Or what if the U.S. converted one of its many regulation-time chances against Algeria, including open-net attempts from Altidore and Dempsey, and didn't use up quite as much of its emotional resources just to get through to the second round?
A final hypothetical, based not on finishing but what happens before the finish in the attacking third. After giving up the early goal (words typed too often this year) against Ghana, the Yanks regained control of the match in the latter part of the first half. Findley's miss was the start of a series of threatening possessions. But each one was fruitless. One ended in a too-long Bradley chip, another on a bad touch by Altidore, a third in a poor corner kick, and a fourth with a Steve Cherundolo cross that was too long for an open Clint Dempsey in the 45th minute.
What if just one of those passes or touches had been on? And what if one of them led to a momentum-shifting goal just before the half? Yes, you could play this game all the way to the next World Cup. But it's useful, because it shows what the Americans still lack.
"I don't think it takes a lot of watching to know that Tevez and [Lionel] Messi have a different control over the ball than most of our players, or most of the players in the world for that matter," Gulati says. "We've got to be better."
Until the U.S. touch gets better -- and the country produces players who hit goals that make this hard game easier -- the Yanks will continue to bow out of World Cups sooner rather than later.
Effort is great. Will is admirable. Determination is inspiring.
But that all can get you only so far. Sometimes, you need a few wonder strikes.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
US v. Ghana
Loyal readers of this space will recall that I feel the US must make it to the Quarterfinals in order to be successful in this World Cup. The US is now one game away from reaching that standard. The Black Stars of Ghana stand in the way.
A few quick points before I depart for the bar:
1. Ghana has not conceded a goal in this tournament. That is not an accident, they have a sturdy defense that is organized and compact. They play a 4-3-2-1 with Gyan as the lone striker.
2. Ghana has only scored two goals this tournament both on penalties.
This tells me that the team that scores the first goal will win this game. The Americans must not concede first or Ghana will park the bus and put the entire team behind the ball. They are athletic and organized this is not going to be easy. Still, its better then playing Germany.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Will American interest last?
Clearly it will die down when the US is eliminated, but I am enjoying the ride. The Ghana game will be historic in terms of viewership. You can't beat a 230pm start on a Saturday that doesn't have much going in terms of sports. Will people care in three months or two years? All I can say is more Americans will care about soccer in the future then they did in the past. The interest will continue to grow as ESPN saturates the airwaves with top flight European soccer.
I didn't know anything about soccer five years ago I watched the legendary 2005 Champions League final and was drawn in by a never say die Liverpool team that willed themselves to victory. I can't imagine I am alone.
The Guardian takes on this question and comes to many of the same conclusions, mainly that ESPN has invested too much in the sport to let it fade away only to return four years later.
I didn't know anything about soccer five years ago I watched the legendary 2005 Champions League final and was drawn in by a never say die Liverpool team that willed themselves to victory. I can't imagine I am alone.
The Guardian takes on this question and comes to many of the same conclusions, mainly that ESPN has invested too much in the sport to let it fade away only to return four years later.
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