I'll figure out a better name for this weekly feature at some point. One thing I'm learning from this blogging business is that it's very karmic. Traffic you put out comes back to you tenfold. Or something. Better leave it to somebody else to pontificate that stuff. I'm just here about the footy, man!
And there's lots of quality stuff out there. Start with pitchinvasion.net, which as the name suggests covers the culture of soccer supporters worldwide (they even had something about Switzerland a short time ago). PI yesterday tackled the question of potential hooliganism in Major League Soccer. I myself sounded off on this very issue a few weeks ago but they go at it far more extensively than I did.
Throughball.com asks its readers if MLS contributed to Freddy Adu's poor form when he played over here. The theory is that Adu played out of position when he was in MLS and is now finally re-discovering his true ability--a process that started at the U20 world cup this summer. I'm not sure of this myself but that didn't stop me from voting in their poll, as should you.
From a Red Bulls perspective (New York Red Bulls, not Salzburg) the most interesting stuff comes from Ives, as usual. While I was slaving away for my Thursday deadline at the day job, Ives was at Red Bulls practice and reported some very interesting stuff: Most noteworthy of all, Arena has apparently still not decided on a starting goalkeeper for Saturday's do-or-die game at New England. The catalyst was "Ronald Waterreus' best week of training in a while." Uh, Bruce, isn't it a bit late in the season to be on the fence about your starting goalkeeper? Also, Dave van den Bergh may not be fit to play at left back for the Red Bulls, leading Arena to juggle things even more. "He appears inclined to put Chris Leitch in at left back," Ives writes. Great. Just what we need. If Arena is really willing to shuffle the deck that much at this late stage of the season--injuries or not--then he really has a lot to answer for if the team loses tomorrow. We'll be hearing more of this soon, I'm sure.
If you've been reading this blog, you will have heard of Guillermo Ochoa, the 22 year old goalkeeper at Club America in Mexico City. I ranted and raved about Ochoa's play the other night in the Classico game against Chivas and mentioned the rumor about him being a target of Man United. FanNation.com now states that Man U has offered 10 million euros for Ochoa's services, which probably means two things 1) van der Sar is on his way out and 2) Sir Alex & Co. have little faith in Ben Foster coming back from injury and winning the job. I'm a bit skeptical though. Does Ochoa even speak English? I can more see him playing in Spain. But what do I know.
Finally, On Soccer, the Globe and Mail's new soccer blog has a little missive on blogging journalism as high art, especially as it pertains to soccer. Maybe you need to be a professional blowhard journalist to appreciate it. But it's kind of like their mission statement or cri de coeur, which I am told every blog needs, especially when they start out. Advice I have obviously failed to heed, although I have been brainstorming mission statements for some time and intend to have one up soon.
Nov 2, 2007
Friday Linkage, Soccer Style
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On the Guillermo Ochoa link to Manchester United - he is definitely a player Ferguson has had a look at but don't expect a bid yet, rumour has it he is waiting to see how he develops before taking it any further. He's v young for a keeper too.
ReplyDeleteIf Arena starts Leitche, I am convinced he will more than likely do something dumb that hands the game to the revs. And it should very well be on Arena's head.
ReplyDeleteAs to the question of keepers... I remember one rainy, cold, windy night in the meadowlands where Ronny couldn't play the second half due to hypothermia. Forcast for game time tomorrow brings rain, wind gusting into the 40mphs, and cool/cold temperatures. I think Conway is better suited for these conditions. I know, Ronny's older, got the experience, but he's not going to be up to task to play in those conditions.
Such conditions, hopefully, benefit Claudio. He's played in crap like this all the time in England, right? Here's your chance to impress me Claudio, and justify your salary.