I’ve never liked the sack of crap known as Joey Barton, a man most recently in the news for looking to have given a nazi salute after his goal for Newcastle over the weekend. He later explained the motion referred to his shaving off the superstitious mustache he had grown now that his goal scoring drought is over. But if it weren’t for some of the displays in the videos below (including the altercation that saw him do jail time—hit “read more” at the bottom of this post), it’s unlikely the celebration would’ve come into question. So vile is the man that suggesting him a nazi just seemed the proper thing to do first.
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Commentary
Dembele & Dempsey: Too Many Cooks at Fulham
Fulham 2 – 2 Manchester United
Moussa Dembele, a Belgian striker 23 years of age who played for AZ Alkmaa in the Eredivisie, made his first run out for the Cottagers this weekend, replacing Clint Dempsey in Fulham’s attack. Dempsey looked lively through the first half, finding space and playing clever balls quickly around the Man United players. He made a couple of poor passes, but his creativity made up for them. Then he was brought out in the 60th minute, replaced by the much, much quicker Dembele.
Dempsey has always been a collected player with the ability to continue an attack with some smart passing and intelligent movement in the final third, but compared to many of the athletes around him on the pitch, he’s just plain slow. Dembele has speed in abundance, and a fine touch to go along with it. He turns well when receiving the ball with his back to goal, and for not having played with this squad much at all, he already seems to sense where his teammates are around him.
Dembele was courted by both Milan sides after scoring a double against Italy in a 2008 Olympic quarter-final match, so it’s a bit of a shock to see him entering the Prem for a mid-table team. What shouldn’t be a shock is the eventual moving on of Dempsey, who will certainly find it more difficult to book steady minutes with Mark Hughes’ younger and faster signing quickly settling in. Might “Duece” follow Hodgson to Liverpool, where he could find playing time in the Europa league at the very least?
Commentary
Stoke vs Tottenham recap
A quick recap coming up for today’s Stoke vs Tottenham game, just as soon as I go and ask Sepp Blatter why we don’t have goal line technology yet…
First Half
Leaving the late controversy for one moment, this was a great game of football. Tottenham came out strongly in the first half and showed the organisation and discipline that was lacking in their midweek Champions League game. Despite only having Crouch available up front (with Defoe, Keane, Pavyluchenko and Dos Santos all suffering from plastic pitch injuries) and a midfield including Jermaine Jenas, Spurs enjoyed the better of the first half and deserved a 2-1 lead at the break. The first goal came from Lennon on the left flank cutting inside and passing into Bale who’s shot was saved, the rebound was straight to Crouch who’s attempt on goal was blocked by Stoke’s captain Ryan Shawcross, only for his clearance to hit Bale in the face and end up in the back of the net – a very fortunate goal. Shortly after, Stoke were level thanks to a corner from former Spurs player Matthew Etherington that ending up at the feet of Fuller, after Gomes had been blocked, who finished nicely. Just five minutes later, Spurs were back ahead. Lennon, this time from the right, had space from defenders backing off him fearful of his pace, looked up and crossed to Bale on the left side of the area who hit a sweet left foot volley into the top right corner of the goal. An absolute gem and a goal worthy of winning any game.
Second Half
The second half was a totally different game, with Stoke coming out determined to get a result from the game. There was sustained pressure for most of the half, but only one particularly notable save from Gomes. In the 67th minute, Tuncay took a shot from distance which was deflected by Kaboul and Gomes, back peddling, had to reach back and tip it over his own crossbar. From the resulting corner, Tuncay had a free header and really should have equalised but put the ball wide of the post. Minutes later, from another corner, Stoke missed another good chance when Shawcross blazed over following another Etherington corner.
Commentary
New Players, New WAGS
Super Mario Balotelli, who scored on his debut for Man City in their Europa qualifying game, is bringing more than his wild disposition and playing potential to Cottonopolis. Let’s all say hello to his beauty queen girlfriend, Melissa Castagnoli.
It’s doubtful that the Inter Milan transfer will get 90 minutes against Liverpool come Monday, but at the very least his lady friend will add some flavo(u)r to the WAG section at the Eastlands. Of course, Balotelli will stir it up in his own fashion:
Jose Mourinho, a man who does not tolerate eccentric behaviour in anyone other than himself, had called Balotelli “unmanageable”; one performance he rated “close to zero”.
Says Balotelli, “I don’t want to talk about him, he is not my coach any more. Am I a bad boy? I don’t know and, really, I don’t care.”
CommentaryNews
Surprise!
World Cup Stadiums Unfit for more Popular S.Africa National Sports
It will be no surprise that the rush to finish the stadiums and infrastructure upgrades before July’s World Cup opener left a rude wake. In a nutshell, the stadiums S. Africa built don’t look like they’ll easily accommodate rugby and cricket, two of the country’s more popular sports, though $1Billion dollars were spent along the way.
CommentaryUnited States
How to Attend to a Soccer Game: A Beginner’s Guide
As I watched the nearly sold-out USA v Brazil game, I was reminded of thoughts I’d had while watching the sold-out Red Bulls v Galaxy matchup: New Yorkers don’t know how to get to a soccer game on time. It’s obvious when you tune in to watch on TV and see over half the stadium empty for the first 15-20 mins. But don’t blame the fans entirely. Baseball, (American) Football, Basketball—our homespun sports are very forgiving to the tardy and have surely created a mindset that simply isn’t applicable to the footy.
I can’t be bothered to look up the actual statistics, but I imagine baseball games average 3 hours. Football always seems to take four, but I’m usually watching at home (pre&post-game etc.). Basketball seems like it moves along more quickly, but there’s still plenty of breaks in play to get up and refresh a drink or grab a bite.
Soccer isn’t like this at all. You can’t be fifteen minutes late for soccer, because then you’ve missed nearly 17% of the game, and it’s not coming back. You can barely get up at halftime to grab a drink before the play is back on. And I don’t know about you, but unless I have a beer somewhere within reach I’m not completely enjoying myself at a professional sporting event.
Commentary
Will the real Tottenham Hotspur please stand up…
I repeat…Will the real Tottenham Hostpur please stand up. We’re going to have a problem here…
There’s the obvious question of which one the “real” reflection of Spurs is: the fantastic, everything-but-the-win game against Manchester City on Saturday to start the Premier League season; or the tepid, inept, throwaway performance against Young Boys of Berne in the Champions League playoff last night. But there’s also the more long term view.
For 20 years, we’ve been the “nearly” team. The team that goes 3-0 up to Manchester United at half time and loses 5-3 (and proving lightning can strike twice, followed that up with this 2004 FA Cup performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e58rdYk1rPE) The team that throws away a season-long stay in 4th place on the last day of the season after some dodgy lasagna and a frustrating defeat to West Ham (cf. 2005/2006 season). Or is the real Tottenham now the one that went up to Manchester City for the penultimate game of last season and earned a hard-fought 1-0 win to guarantee themselves 4th place. Honestly, I have no idea which one will show up on Saturday away at Stoke, (my gut is telling me a 1-0 defeat) or for the second leg against Young Boys at White Hart Lane next week.
It’s the return of the “Ah wait, no way. You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
I guarantee that’s how every Tottenham fan was feeling after thirty minutes of the game yesterday. So many individual and collective mistakes had led to a 3-0 deficit which threatened to derail our Champions’ League adventure before it had ever really begun. The obvious mistake for the first goal was Assou-Ekotto, who gave away a cheap free-kick from which the goal came; but in the build up to that play Luka Modric attempted a ridiculous cross-field ball which fell way short of the intended target (Bale on the left wing) and put Spurs under unnecessary pressure.
CommentaryNews
What about Geovanni?
San Jose has added the Brazilian known simply as Geovanni to their squad, making him their first designated player in the club’s history. Another good grab in a DP slot, and while the 30-yr-old’s legs might not me as springy as they once were, he’s an excellent technical player who has a knack for showing up late in the box and latching on to a final pass.
He can run hot and cold, as I’ve seen him both intensely passionate and seemingly disinterested from week to week. His run at Man City never amounted to much, and the time he spent at Hull only saw them to relegation from the Prem. He is capable of great distribution, but speed isn’t his thing, and he doesn’t come off as a particularly motivational leader either. The slower pace of the MLS should suit him well, though one wonders how a player of his technical ability will get along in the Earthquakes’ system.
Exciting news regardless, as the MLS is definitely elevating play through such additions. Steady onward!