Dalglish should try Dirk Kuyt as Lucas replacement for Liverpool

The news that Lucas Leiva has been lost for the season with a torn ACL (something with which I can empathize as I am five weeks out from surgery to repair my own torn ACL, it sucks - best wishes to Lucas) will really test Liverpool’s squad as there is not a natural replacement for the Brazilian. The importance [...]

Can Spurs keep it going to capitalize on City wobble?

Manchester City have looked like Champions-elect since their strong start to the season was capped with the 6-1 destruction of the holders Manchester United at Old Trafford. But with Liverpool giving City their first real domestic contest after another disapointing outing in the Champions League, a Spurs team which has quietly taken 28 from its [...]

U.S. gets win and goals but defense looks porous against Slovenia

Scoring more goals in one half than the team had in Jurgen Klinsmann’s first six games in charge combined was a welcome change, as was the resulting 3-2 victory, only the German’s second as manager. For the first time in his tenure, Klinsmann set out two dedicated strikers and the change in tactics certainly contributed to the [...]

Five lessons from USA v France

It is hard to find positives from the dismal performance of the United States during their 1-0 defeat to France in Paris. Yes, it was very disappointing and it would be easy to go the full Lalas and limit analysis to whining incessantly “where is the possession this Jurgen Klinsmann keeps talking about?” But just [...]

Is Arsenal the best place for Brek Shea?

News that Brek Shea will join Arsenal on a two-week trial following the USMNT’s games in Europe against France and Slovenia is big news and clearly an indication that the FC Dallas left-winger is likely the next American to make the leap to Europe. But are the Gunners really the best landing spot for Shea? [...]

Five lessons from Klinsmann’s first five games

What hope does Jürgen Klinsmann’s USMNT have against France on Friday and Slovenia on Tuesday after mixed fortunes in his first five games in charge? Progress not Miracles Just one win and two goals is probably not what Jürgen Klinsmann imagined the return would be through his first five games in charge of the U.S. [...]

Association Football is Back!

We’re back. Life intervened—we both got married and got new jobs—to make it very difficult to devote the kind of time necessary to keep up the blog at the frequency posting we wanted and as a result, we got away from writing anything. But we’ve missed it, and thanks to the strong admonitions of friends [...]

Merge Gold Cup and Copa America for genuine tournament of the Americas

This is the second post in a series of five recommendations for USSF President Sunil Gulati International tournaments are soccer’s Holy Grail. Club soccer has exploded around the world and changed the business of game, but it’s still the World Cup that grabs the attention of fans like no other competition. Europe’s continental championship is [...]

Starting the Jurgen Klinsmann campaign for US national team coach

This post is the first in a series of five recommendations for USSF President Sunil Gulati Bob Bradley has had a successful run, but it’s time for him to move on to a new challenge and for US soccer to bring in a new coach to take soccer in America to the next level. There is [...]

Spain’s negative tactics and broing soccer killed the World Cup

That was miserable. It is remarkable what Vicente del Bosque has done to an awesome collection of skilled players. Spain’s most potent attacking play is a corner kick. Spain’s negativity is entirely elective – with that array of attacking skill they could overwhelm teams. But they choose to destroy the game by clogging  the middle of the field and keep [...]

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.