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AfricaCommentary

Players of African Origin: Chelsea v Arsenal

October 3, 2010 — by Suman — 2

African power: Drogba spreads his wings

We here at CultFootball have been kicking around the idea of doing a series of post focusing on African football: its players, its nations, its history, its future.

For a quick start, note that today’s highly anticipated Premier League clash between Arsenal and Chelsea will prominently feature a number of African players:

Chelsea

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Michael Essien (Ghana) are among Chelsea’s stars, and keys to their success; John Miel Obi (Nigeria) is also starting today, while Salomon Kalou (also Ivory Coast) may come off the bench.

Arsenal

Arsenal’s Bacary Song and Abou Diaby are both of French nationality, but are of Senegalese and Ivorian descent, respectively. Emmanuel Eboué is also Ivorian, while Alex Song is Cameroonian. Both Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh were born in France but of North African descent (Algerian and Moroccan, respectively)–Nasri has chosen to play the French national team, while Chamakh opted for Morocco.

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What to Watch This Weekend (Oct 2-3)

October 2, 2010 — by Suman

We’re back with our weekly guide to Sat/Sun footy TV action (here in the US).  Here’s what catches our collective eye–again culled from SoccerInsider’s full TV listing, with some notes from various members of the CultFootball team:

Saturday Oct 2

England, Sunderland-Manchester United 10 a.m. ESPN2: Another former Man U player now managing and probably hoping to replace Sir Alex one day.  Plus Ghanaian striker Asamoah “Baby Jet” Gyan partnering with Darren Bent up front for Sunderland, and a good northeast crowd

England, Spurs-Aston Villa 10 a.m. FSC: Uncle ‘Arry brings flair to White Hart Lane–most recently with the big win Wednesday in Champions League action–while Gerard Houllier tries to keep last season’s thriller team in it. Gareth Bale really turning it on this season for Spurs–and Dutch import Rafael van der Vaart playing all over the field, and doing it well

England, Birmingham-Everton noon FSC: Everton still looking for their first win (with USMNT stalwart Tim Howard in goal), and Birm looking to win another against Merseyside

Brazil, Botafogo-Flamengo 6 p.m. GolTV: Just for a look at some Brazilian club ball

Sunday Oct 3

But really Saturday is just prelude to Sunday, when we get the first really big match of the season:

England, Chelsea-Arsenal 11 a.m. FSC: Both teams coming off disappointing losses in their previous Premier League games last weekend (see here), but both bounced back with wins mid-week in the Champions League.  This London rivaly will have an impact on the table, and it’s one that a long and storied history–see the Guardian’s “Joy of Six” feature, this week about six classic Chelsea-Arsenal matches.

For good measure, we’ll throw in a handful of add’l  Sunday matches–from Spain, Italy, Mexico and the MLS:

Spain, Real Madrid-Coruna 3 p.m. ESPN2, ESPN Deportes: Will Madrid–and in particular Cristiano Ronaldo–break out of the funk?

Italy, Inter Milan-Juventus 2:30 p.m. FSC: Even if Juve have struggled since the match-fixing (they have) this is still a first-class, traditional Serie A fixture

Italy, Napoli-Roma 9 a.m. FSC: Another big meeting of the Derby del Sol (though a bigger meeting in the 70s and 80s), with Roma is trying to get out of the bottom of the table while Napoli challenges for a champions league spot

Mexico, Cruz Azul-America 6 p.m. ESPN Deportes: A longtime rivalry between two Mexico City clubs–a derby known as Clásico Joven

MLS, Chivas USA-Los Angeles 8 p.m. ESPN2: a clash of local rivals, probably the biggest rivalry in the MLS

Commentary

Random pregame thoughts on today’s Champions League matches

September 28, 2010 — by Suman

Didier Deschamps - Sporting Hero

Will Real Marid be able to score away from home? Will all the talk and camera time get monopolized by Mourinho, or will Marseilles manager Didier Deschamps also get a bit of attention?

Will Arsenal rebound from their debacle Saturday? Will Lukasz Fabianski prove any more capable than the injured Almunia?

Will Martin Stekelenburg do as well (or even better) against AC Milan’s, compared with his stellar albeit losing performance against Ronaldo, Higauin, Ozil et al two weeks ago? Will he get any help from Luis Suarez if the need arises?

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Weekend wrapup: The big dogs of Europe disappoint

September 28, 2010 — by Suman — 2

Un buen delantero...y un buen hijo tambien!

It was an interesting weekend in Europe, filled with unexpected results–the big dogs all across the continent came up short. Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich all suffered ignominious defeats, while Manchester United and Real Madrid could only manage disappointing draws. The only power that didn’t disappoint their supporters was Barcelona, which won convincingly. (Question: Are there other European club sides that rank with these six?)

In England, previously perfect Chelsea lost to Manchester City 1-0, the lone goal coming off a tremendous individual effort by Man City’s dogged and talented Argentine captain, Carlos Tevez. (Keep scrolling down for video of Tevez’s goal, among others.)

But the two sides chasing Chelsea in the standings failed to capitalize: Man U had to come from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw against Bolton. That was far better than Arsenal, who were shockingly down 3-0 against unheralded West Brom late in the 2nd half. Two late strikes by the young Frenchman Samir Nasri (a replay of one of which is included below) made the score a more respectable-looking 3-2, but Arsenal came off their home pitch with many more questions than points.

Meanwhile, on the Continent, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, last season’s Champions League finalists, and the clear favorites to win their respective domestic leagues, both lost as well. Bayern lost 2-1 to minnows Mainz, while Inter went down 1-0 to AS Roma–a club with a rich history, but this year’s edition had struggled at the start of this season.

But last year’s Champions League finalists and their respective pursuits of finishing atop Serie A or the Bundes Liga are secondary compared to the annual epic struggle between Barcelona and Real Madrid for the La Liga title.  The drama d’Espana is especially intense this year, as Real Madrid have of course brought in The Special One, whose tasks are to win the Champions League and La Liga–any less will be considered a failure by the demanding Madridistas–and by Mourinho himself.  But Mourinho’s Madrid failed to bring the flair, being held to a very surprising scoreless draw against Levante.  Meanwhile, Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1, slipping ahead of Real Madrid in the table, though still second to surprising Valencia.

For more on these matches, check the links below–and the videos.

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Arsenal find some luck before it turns on them

September 20, 2010 — by Sean

Darren Bent

If you haven’t heard, the gunners haven’t won a cup for a few years now and the team and its supporters are restless. Their lack of hardware has been generally chalked up to their youth and inexperience – they may be fun to watch, but in the grind-it-out fixtures they’ve been beaten into submission. Beyond their lack of physicality, I’ve always though they’ve missed that key bit of luck that sees top sides through to championships.

I honestly thought Fabregas’ opening goal was a sign that their fortune was about to change. His goal, which rebounded off his foot and into the net from a preposterous distance, seemed like just the thing that would break the back of a stubborn Sunderland side. Of course, Fabregas would soon go off with a hamstring injury aggravated by his goal-scoring motion, Alex Song would pick up a soft first yellow and was later ejected from the game, Rosický would miss a PK, and Darren Bent would score in the 95th minute to undo what would’ve been a great win against a Sunderland team that has caused Arsenal to drop points in their last few campaigns.

What has last weekend brought them then? Their injury list expands, they miss out on two points while Chelsea and United plowed through with the full haul, and they start playing twice a week what with the Carling Cup and the Champions League. It’s still early in the season of course, but have they already bled their shallow pool of luck?

Commentary

Champions League: What We Saw

September 16, 2010 — by Sean

What more can I do?

The cultfootball brain trust was huddled around a giant screen for three of yesterday’s matches, though we tended to pause longer on Real Madrid v Ajax a bit more than the others. Whereas the Chelsea and Arsenal matches were blowouts, Real always looked like they might give one up on the counter, and Ajax are no slacks— though their real standout was the keeper Maarten Stekelenburg (who you may remember from the World Cup). We didn’t have the chance to see the other games as we don’t have Direct TV, the bastards.

On a night when Real’s strikers had ample opportunity to shut down the game, Stekelenburg consistently provided no angle for glory. There were nearly 20 shots between Higuaín, Ronaldo, and di María, and only Higuaín put the ball away (and only from very close range for what we thought were a couple of slop goals). Ronaldo’s shots  were particularly funny to us, sour grapes mostly because once he breaks his duck you just know the goals will come pouring in.

Higuaín on the other hand doesn’t look like much of a superstar striker. He does have a deceptively quick first step, exhibited mostly in closing down defenders, but he doesn’t exactly play with his head up. Still, he finds himself the right positions to slam home easy goals, and that’s a skill of high value, though often overlooked for carefully crafted movement finished off with a precision volley or some curling dipper.

Real’s attacking movement was created almost completely by some combination of Marcelo, Özil, and di María. The three looked fantastic, especially the Turkish German, and it gives me some sense that Mourinho won’t settle on an entirely defensive-minded strategy in the season to come. Only time will tell of course, as the true test will be El Clásico on the 28th of November.

Oh, and did I mention the most important member of the cultfootball team?

What up, ladies?

CommentaryPreview

Premiership Preview – As seen on TV

September 10, 2010 — by John Lally

Sir Tony admiring his horse?

A preview of this week’s Premiership fixtures coming up, just as soon as I add some shows to my Netflix queue…

Everton vs Man United (Saturday 7:45 ET)

The game: Rooney returns to the club where he started his career; I can’t wait to hear what the Everton fans sing at him…

If these teams were TV Shows:

Everton – Lost – a couple of their main characters are of interest (Arteta, Cahill, Jack, Locke) but you get the feeling they’re ultimately going nowhere.

Man United – The Sopranos – with Alex Ferguson as Tony: a ruthless leader, feared and respected by his men – both had unsuccesful stints as racehorse owners (though at least Rock of Gibraltar didn’t have the same fiery fate as Pie-O-My)

The Prediction: Everton just aren’t good enough this season – 2-0 United

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What to Watch This Weekend (Sept 11-12)

September 10, 2010 — by Suman — 1

Milan's new signings

We’re finally launching what will be a weekly feature (aimed at our US readers): a guide to the televised matches you’ll want to schedule your weekend around.  With the plethora of leagues (Prem, Champion, Bundes, La Liga, Serie A, etc.) and channels (FSC, FSE, ESPN/2/3, GolTV)*, plus all the time zone and tape delay issues–and it can be no small task to figure out when and where to watch (or record) the most relevant game(s) of the coming weekend.  Our plan is to do that task for you.

WaPo’s SoccerInsider usefully compiles and posts a full listing of televised matches for the coming weekend; see here for this weekend’s edition. But nothing really jumps out of that long list as must-see TV.

Indeed, I checked in with the CultFootball brain trust and got feedback from Coach Larry:

There isn’t much to watch this weekend in terms of known quality playing each other.  I am hesitant to highlight an internet-only broadcast and I especially don’t like ever recommending a match being shown on tape.

Having said all that, the best pure matchup is Bilbao v Atletico Madrid, unless you guys have an insight into the Mexican league.  If forced to watch one of the “big” teams play, I’d lean toward either the Gelled One returning for Real, or Arsenal hosting Bolton (true live and most accessible).

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