Global Futbol: FanPosts

Do American Soccer Fans Care About the NEW YORK COSMOS?

Left Midfield — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:07:20 -0000

For many years we have assumed that the iconic New York Cosmos of Pele fame would be reborn as an MLS side. Does this make sense for futbol here in the U.S.? Should MLS be looking to add a second side to NYC (like LA where we have the Galaxy - Chivas USA rivalry) and should that side be the NY Cosmos?

If so -- when should this happen? 1, 2 or maybe 5 years from now?

Who should the flag ship player be? Ronaldinho? Henry (he seems to like NYC)?

How Important Is Goalkeeping in Football?

Blez — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:33:04 -0000

I've always loved to watch football. It's only in recent weeks though that I've taken a deep interest in football outside of what usually draws me in and that's the World Cup. UEFA was just an awesome tournament and now I can't get enough. I've been going to sleep with the Fox Soccer Channel almost every night.

I played a bit of football as a kid. I think most Americans do. But I'm certainly not an expert on the sport. I'm wondering from folks who've probably followed the sport a lot more closely for a lot longer than I have what impact goalkeepers really have in football? I've always followed hockey closely and that's what football reminds me of which is probably why've I've always been drawn to the sport. And the goalie in hockey is the most important player. A hockey goalie can single-handedly win a game.

But my impression from watching a lot of football in my time is that goalies are important in football, but because of the ginormous size of the net, what they can do is often limited. You definitely notice a difference when there is a great goalkeeper tending the net, like a Buffon or a Boruc, but it doesn't seem like the same impact position that a hockey goaltender is. I did notice that Boruc nearly single-handedly beat Austria in UEFA. But it seems like that kind of impact performance is few and far between.

I guess I'm also baffled because there seems to be so many player jerseys for sale online. Yet it's hard to find a player jersey of your favorite goalkeeper. So perhaps they just aren't the heroes for younger kids like the guys who put the ball in the net? I don't know. Maybe someone could enlighten me on this. I love the goalkeeping mentality because I grew up playing hockey goalie. I'm always immediately drawn to it.

David Beckham: Talented Enigma

Blez — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:00:53 -0000

I've been having some discussions with some friends of mine from England. Not surprisingly the topic was David Beckham. I love watching Beckham because the man is simply a freaking artist with the ball. He can do things on the pitch that not many others can. Usually it comes on a corner, cross or a long ball into the box. I don't get caught up in all the other BS around Beckham. Whether it's the tabloids obsessed with his high profile marriage or his off-the-field advertising deals. For me, who roots for the Galaxy in the MLS, Beckham is just a joy to watch. Granted, he isn't a $250 million joy, but it isn't my damn money and quite frankly, I probably wouldn't pay much attention to the local team if it didn't have Beckham.

But my English buddy calls Beckham "overrated" and even a bit of a "priss". He says that Beckham has never met a tackle he didn't avoid. He said that Beckham doesn't bother to fight for a ball. It's either a clean ball to him or he'll quickly relent and give it to the opposition. I can see that perspective. You don't often see Beckham challenging the opposition for possession of the ball. He'll quickly back off and let the other team take control. I know soccer is very different from hockey, but I kind of view Beckham a bit like Wayne Gretzky in that Gretz was never one to ever really fight for the puck either. And hockey is a hell of a lot more physical than football. Beckham seems to have a more singular skill than Gretz ever did, but he still can do things with a soccer ball that I find unbelievably entertaining to watch.

At the same time, I can understand that a country that has players like Rooney and loves its hard working players as to why he would have little respect for Beckham. That and the fact that Beckham bolted the U.K. for the U.S.

So, anyone out there who lives in England? Or is of English origin? How do you feel about Beckham? I've attached a poll to see how you feel. I personally love watching him play. To me, it's still like watching an amazing artist paint despite Beckham's age (33).

Poll

How do you feel about David Beckham?

Nadal and Casillas

Left Midfield — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:08:28 -0000

What other close futbol non-futbol sporting friendships can you think of?

And are any as successful as Nadal and Casillas?

After the Spanish tennis star beat Fed today to ensure that Spain's Euro 2008 party can role on, I just thought I'd pose the question. The friendship between these two is well documented and I suspect that there is going to be a lot of commercial interest in setting up some advertisements.

German Team

Fiko — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:56:59 -0000

Joachim Low, The coach who has the low Profile,he respects his Team and he didn't feel that he was the great one but he told that the team had the tough players like ballack,poldi,Schweinsteiger,etc

Poldi,I like to see your reaction when you made two goal when german met poland in Euro,You looked not Shock so simple! and looked like you didn't make them.You were so patient when the enemy attacked u

Ballack,i like your loyalty to your team! keep doing that and you 're the best cap

Some thoughts on Euro 2008

Luis (Tribe Fan in London) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:57:11 -0000

Now that its all over, I thought I would just start some discussion on it...see how some people saw it.

Overall I thought it was a fantastic tournament, and much better than the last. For once it was interesting to see a team win with a positive style of football. We all now Greece did it last time doing the complete opposite, and in a general sense you feel that even big teams these days have become to pragmatic, thinking that winning is the ultimate goal...which I guess it is.

I thought Spain were really good throughout, although the Dutch maybe produced the performances of the tournament. Their dismantling of the Italians and the French were amazing, and makes the Russian's display all the more amazing.

It was all shown that sometimes you have to be able to drop the older names. This is strange for someone of my age (28), because the players I have followed for most of their careers are now getting to end of those careers, and its easy to sometimes hark back to the good days. You can forget to take of those rose-tinted glasses and actually see their performances for what they are now. Aragones was brave enough to do it for Spain by dropping Raul, and look at the results. To some extent Van Basten did the same by dropping Seedorf. Where I'm going with this is that 2 powerhouses of the sport didn't do the same. France in particular were a national team in desperate need of cutting ties with the old guard. It was almost sad seeing some of their greats reduced to being run ragged by Italy. But Domenech brought it on himself. Can you imagine what they could have done with the likes of Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna marauding down the wings rather than Abidal and Sagnol...although Abidal isn't old, just very crap! And Makelele should have been replaced with Flamini some time ago, I would imagine Mathieu would have brought some much needed energy to a midfield that looked tired and bored most of the time.

Anyway, some final thoughts:

Player of the Tournament: Ballack - although the Germans didn't win it, I think they would never have got that far without Ballack carrying them most of the way.

Young Player of the Tournament: - Has to be Fabregas for me, everytime he was chucked out there he changed the game and showed what a good player he is, and his poise for taking that winning penalty against Italy was admirable. It can't have been easy for such a young player who has never taken a competitive penalty before.

Game of the Tournament: Holland v Russia - When you consider how awesome the Dutch had been, it was astounding to see the Russians toy with them. A large part of this was due to the Dutch not really showing up, but a large part of that has to Hiddink's tactics.

Biggest Disappointment: Fake Ronaldo - for all the hype that surrounded him, and the Portuguese team as a whole, he never came close to what he is capable of.

Surprise of the Tournament: - The Turkish refusal to give up...I mean seriously how many times were they going to do it. I guess the bigger surprise was that the Germans then did it to them.

Biggest let down after building so much hype: Shared between David Villa and Andrei Arshavin - each had to 2 great matches, and then pratically disappeared. Was Arshavin even on the pitch against the Spanish?!?

Biggest Laugh: Petr Cech dropping that Turkish cross...best keeper in the world my ar*e!

Internazionale and Milan get Stronger

thecoolest — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:02:47 -0000

Though these aren't great sources, these deals have been rumored for a while and seem to have finally gone down:

Milan:

VP Adriano Galliani declares deals for Andriry Schevchenko and Ronaldinho are nearly done.

http://dailysportspages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10423

Inter:

Deals to acquire Ricardo Quaresma and Frank Lampard have gone through.

http://dailysportspages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13749

Filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler, filler

How Do You Guys See the Most Matches?

Blez — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:56:39 -0000

I have Fox Soccer Channel, but I'm wondering how many of you follow your favorite football clubs. Are you Directv subscribers? Do you just catch them late night on your local Fox Sports affiliate?

I'd love to see Artur Boruc play more regularly when Celtic FC starts back up. Do you guys have any tips for the best television coverage out there? I've tried watching MLS and the football isn't nearly as compelling as some of the European football clubs. I imagine it's only going to get worse too as the American dollar continues to weaken compared to the Euro.

Anyone have tips?

Spurs interested in PSV GK Gomes

dbacksfan01 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:50:21 -0000

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=550642&cc=5901

This would be big for the Hot spurs if they could acquire a quality GK in Gomes. Gomes lead the Dutch Eredivisie in clean sheets last year and would definitly be a huge improvement over what the Hot spurs have at GK right now. I don't know what PSV would do but Gomes has been a pretty big key to PSV's recent success in the Dutch Eredivisie.

This would be a very wise move Tottenham.

Team Loyalty Runs Deep, But National Pride Bleeds Deeper

Blez — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:50:07 -0000

There are many out there who bleed the colors of their favorite club. Whether it's Manchester United, Celtics FC, Tottenham Spurs or the LA Galaxy, people all have their favorite football club.

But when I get the most into football is whenever national pride is involved. I grew up in a household that didn't identify strongly with one ethnicity (I'm a combination of Polish Italian and Lithuanian), but because my last name is Bleszinski and my grandmother did make Polish food and my father grew up playing the accordian, I bleed red and white more than any professional football club (it also may explain my inclusion of Artur Boruc's Celtics above). So I'm really excited about Poland being in the UEFA tourney. It's also why I get so into the World Cup tourney when it comes around. My fandom for football is all about national pride.

What is greater for you? The international tournaments like UEFA or the World Cup or watching your Spurs compete against their greatest rivals?

Italy v Romania Open Thread

Left Midfield — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:15:39 -0000

No doubt that this is a must win for the Italians and I firmly believe that the World Cup Champions will win and win well. My prediction for this one is 3-1 Italy.

Here is Zambrotta illustrating the focus that must be central for the Italians to rebound from their thrashing from the Netherlands:

"This is a classic do or die match. By losing the first match 3-0 we have placed ourselves in a real predicament.

"It is vital we give our maximum and fight for every ball.

"We want to wipe out the bad start we have made and everyone is totally focused on getting the win we need."

What do you think -- can Italy do it?

France v Holland Open Thread

Left Midfield — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:12:07 -0000

This should be a cracking game !

Netherlands and France have met each other on 21 occasions. The Dutch team has a slight edge with nine wins, four draws and eight defeats.

The two countries have met twice at a European Championship. In 1996, France knocked out the Netherlands after a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final. The match had ended goalless. Edwin van der Sar and Lilian Thuram are the only remaining players. At Euro 2000, hosts Holland beat France 3-2 in the third and final group match. Both teams had already qualified.

I tend to agree with Desailly who says that Henry is the key guy for France. Sneijder is also correct that the Dutch have to be focused. First Desailly:

"He's not had a great season in Spain so he wanted to show at the Euros that he's the one to count on. The first game was not for him, for the second I'm sure he'll be ready."

Wesley Sneijder: "It was a great result and the fans may celebrate but we still have nothing. Our goal is still to reach and win the final, and therefore we need to stay calm. It was a long time since the Netherlands beat Italy so it was a good job, but we do not have time to celebrate. We have an important game against France and we have to be ready for them. If we lose to them we are back where we started."

Well - what do you guys think?

Can Henry do it for France?

Will the Dutch continue their total futbol play and win?

Use this as a game thread as well!

Open Game Thread: Poland vs. Host Country Austria

Blez — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:53:06 -0000

I'm watching this game right now and and Arthur Boruc has been remarkable. I'm Polish so I'm obviously rooting for my fellow countrymen, but man, Boruc has made some unbelievable stops. Granted, the Austrians haven't exactly made quality moves, particularly when they broke in all alone, but still, Boruc is becoming my new hero.

Poland is lucky to be up right now with the poor defending. Let's go Poland! It would be sad to lose the host country so early, but I'm still all over it.

American Promotion & Relegation

Colts Homer — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:59:54 -0000

This is my idea for promotion and relegation in the MLS and USL.

Right now, there are 14 teams in the MLS and 2 teams that will come in the future. An educated person would guess that the MLS will add 4 more teams to make it an even 20. This would be the start of the process of making the MLS more football-like by adding promotion & relegation.

The 4 cities that I would give MLS teams will be St. Louis, Miami, Vancouver, & Indianapolis. I would keep the conferences, and they would look like this

East
RB New York
Columbus
Chicago
Miami
Chicago
DC
Indianapolis
Toronto
New England
Philadelphia

West
Kansas City
St. Louis
Seattle
Los Angeles
Chivas
Colorado
Houston
Dallas
Salt Lake
San Jose

This would take place in 2014. To finish this off, there would need to be four season of complete chaos starting in 2020. 12 teams would be added with 3 a year. The 12 cities that would get teams would be Montreal, Rochester, Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Portland, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Memphis. 2025 would be an interesting season. First off, there would be no divisions. Just one giant 32 team one. The season would be 40 games. The top 2 teams would play in the championship game. But the most important part is, the bottom 16 teams form the MLS First Division. Now there are 2 16 team divisions. The bottom three teams in the MLS would drop out, and the top 2 teams in the MLS 1 would automatically be in. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams in the MLS 1 would have a playoff to determine who would move up.

The MLS 2 would be made out of the USL teams that didn't get a team.

Crazy, yes. My dream, hell ya.

Fantasy Games for Euro 2008

sportsguymike — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:40:46 -0000

kontend.com, a new site for fantasy sports fans, will offer games for the EURO 2008 tourney. Users can challenge friends head-to-head by playing games to see who can pick the winning teams and top players each day, as well interact with each other no matter where they are located. In addition, you can:

--  Talk to Other Fans: connect with other fans to talk about your
    favorite team and how they are going to do in Euro 2008
--  Track Matchups: stay on top of who your team is playing next and see
    whether they are favored to win
--  Follow News: keep track of what's going on at the tournament no matter
    where you are
--  Play the Euro 2008 Game: pick the winning teams and top players for
    every match
--  Recruit More Fans: to make sure your team has the most fans for Euro
    2008

To begin playing Euro 2008 Games on Kontend.com go to: http://www.kontend.com/user/39/game?gameId=5

Welcome to the new Global Futbol and SB Nation

clockwerks — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:23:37 -0000

Hey Global Futbol,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Global Futbol from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Global Futbol and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of sports material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Breaking News: Liverpool Co-owner asks for Parry Resignation

Left Midfield — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:56:06 -0000

It seems that Tom Hicks has demanded that Rick Parry, CEO for Liverpool, resign. Parry has said no.

It seems that Hicks feels that Parry has sided with Gillett in their fight for control of the club.

More details here:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=524569&cc=5901

South Africa at the 2010 World Cup

Left Midfield — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:55:08 -0000

I like the scouting reports the Guardian puts together. Here is one that looks interesting from a South Africa 2010 point of view -- is this the type of player who could kick on and play a star role?
Andrew Surnam
How he rates
Age 21
Born Johannesburg, South Africa
Position Midfield
Height 5ft 10in
Weight 11st 6lb
From Southampton youth team
Passing 9/10
Pace 7/10
Tackling 7/10
Heading 7/10
Team responsibility 8/1
FULL DETAILS AND WRITE UP HERE:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/02/26/scouting_report_andrew_surman.html

Africans play key role in La Liga Weekend

Right Foot de Koeman — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:44:29 -0000

It looks the African continent has had quite the effect on La Liga this month. The first half of the month saw key players on both sides called to international duty in the African Cup of Nations, most notably Eto'o, Toure Yaya, and Real Madrid's Diarra. During there absences it was clear their respective clubs missed these important cogs. And on the weekend, Eto'o definitely showed his importance to Barcelona's chances of a La Liga title with a clinical 2nd half hat-trick. Unfortunately for Real Madrid it was Getafe's African representative Uche that stole the show. The Nigerian Uche, who was also in Africa for the continent's championship, called his winner against Real Madrid the most important goal of his life. I gotta agree it was pretty important (and wonderful!)

We are clearly not too far off from Africa being represented in the World Cup final. Makes futbol all the more exciting!

Cross Posted at: http://blaugranafutbol.com

Hay Liga! - A look at the top of La Liga since the New Year (or Dec. 23rd)

Right Foot de Koeman — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:53:22 -0000

On December 23rd Real Madrid left the Nou Camp with a 1-0 win and left a Barcelona side in shambles, including losing Ronaldinho for a weeks. Real Madrid were anointed champions and you couldn't blame anyone for the premature king-making. Barcelona was plagued with injuries and fell as far back as 9 points. All this changed within a week. Thanks to a controversial win at Zaragoza it looks like Barcelona have found their footing and have put Madrid on their back foot.

The two teams have gone in different directions since that match, just not how you may think. Madrid had eyes on the treble, but now are out of the Copa Del Rey, down 2-1 in the Champions League, and have seen their hold on La Liga shrink to 2 points. Barcelona are in the Copa semis, won 3-2 away in Champions League, and are only 2 points back.

Biggest factor in all this: Injuries. Barcelona are getting healthy, while Real seems to be getting knocked down one by one.

Here is a more in-depth look:

http://blaugranafutbol.com/story/2008/2/24/171412/812