Wednesday, December 21
Language barrier? - BBC - Tim Vickery on Luis Suarez's ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, and the power of words
What Brazil can learn from Barca - BBC - Why Neymar and co still have lots to learn from Messi's Barca
Five simple steps to help the game walk tall again - London Evening Standard - My new year's resolutions may last as long as the leftover turkey in 2012 but the underlying sentiment of self-improvement is a healthy one that football can always adopt.
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Casa Dempsey - Fox Soccer - Jamie Trecker's London adventures take him to the house of an American soccer icon.
How trouble followed Suarez, the Cannibal of Amsterdam - Daily Mail - Considering Luis Suarez had just received a seven-match ban and been branded the ‘Cannibal of Ajax’ when he moved to Anfield in January, Liverpool should perhaps have realised their new £22.8million signing might land himself in hot water sooner or later. Unfortunately for them, it was sooner.
The issue is not why Luis Suarez said it, but why didn't he know it would cause a storm - THe Telegraph - Suárez claimed that what he said to Evra was not racist, merely a descriptive epithet, but for somebody who has lived in northern Europe for four years, including three years in Holland with Ajax, the Liverpool striker should have understood the sensitivity towards the word “negro”.
Stubborn Keane wrong about Sir Alex - Yahoo Sports - I was disappointed to read Roy Keane's comments about Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday. Though Roy has his reasons for feeling the way he does, he should show more respect to his former manager and team-mates. Roy is being Roy.
Puel's team of 2011 - UEFA.com - There is a Manchester accent to former Olympique Lyonnais coach Claude Puel's Team of the Year, with the "control tower" that is Yaya Touré one of five players based in the city.
Close look at USSF budget - Washington Post - Steven Goff spent part of his weekend leafing through the 604-page U.S. Soccer Federation budget for fiscal year 2013, which covers April 2012 through the following March, and must be ratified at the USSF’s annual general meeting in March. Among his discoveries:
Pep's Eye Makes Him Perfect For Arsenal - Football 365 - Pep Guardiola has what few others do, and that's an ability to spot something in a player that nobody else sees. In these austere times, that makes him perfect for Arsenal
Falling behind - Fox Soccer - Premier League's big guns can't hold a candle against the giants in Europe.
Fighting the Good Fight ESPN - Atletico's despair, Cristiano Ronaldo hits back at his critics and Pep Guardiola adds to his trophy haul after Barca triumphs in Japan.
Rovers need more than a new boss - The Guardian - If Blackburn's owners have any sense they will find a way to let some football values return
Blackburn getting that sinking feeling - New Zealand Herald - There will be no good tidings for Blackburn Rovers this Christmas. Not even the mighty Ryan Nelsen can spark a New Year revival with Rovers rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League table. The latest result - a 2-1 loss against Bolton this…
Kean optimism defies logic - BBC - Another night of agony for under-fire Blackburn boss Steve Kean
F365's Top Ten: Lower-League Targets - Football365 - With the transfer window almost upon us, we look forward to lower-end top-flight clubs gambling on cheap imports from abroad. But maybe they should look closer to home...
Juan Riquelme - FIFA.com - FIFA speaks with Juan Roman Riquelme, with the Boca playmaker touching on a host of issues including his 15 years in football and that 2006 ...
'I'd stab myself with a sausage!' - The Guardian - From Joe Cole to Laurent Blanc, the French football year in quotes
Swap the Premier League for the silky brilliance of Spanish League? Not likely - The Telegraph - There was a marvellous episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads in which Terry and Bob, the mismatched friends of the title, spend the entire time trying to avoid hearing the score of an England football match, which they plan to catch on television that evening.
Replacing Redknapp won't be easy - Daily Mail - A Tottenham fan said to me recently that if Harry Redknapp left Spurs for England next summer the club could just get Carlo Ancelotti in to replace him. But the feeling that Redknapp would be easy to replace and Spurs' upward trajectory would continue unchecked is frighteningly complacent.
Zero tolerance the only option on racism - Yahoo Sports - The charging of John Terry, plus the ban for Luis Suarez, suggest we have reached a new level of zero tolerance of racist abuse in English football. Let's hope so.
The premier soccer league in the U.S. is English - LA Times - A taped broadcast of a Chelsea-Liverpool English Premier League match got more viewers than the live broadcast of last month's MLS final....
Cheer up, Fernando Torres - the only way to deal with a sporting meltdown is to laugh at it - London Evening Standard - Does anyone who doesn't support Chelsea actually feel sorry for Fernando Torres? That's not meant to be a loaded question. I'm genuinely interested to know how far the spectrum of sporting compassion extends.
The 12 Games of Christmas: Americans Abroad on TV - NY Times - The last few weeks of December bring a bleak emptiness to much of the soccer world, with leagues in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries retreating into hibernation for extended stretches.
History in making - Sky Sports - Manchester City are favourites to claim a piece of Premier League history on Wednesday night.
MagicJack's Borislow's e-mails paint chaotic picture - DeadSpin.com - WPS has terminated the magicJack franchise but legal actions have resulted in some of former owner Dan Borislow's vituperative e-mails being obtained by Deadspin.
'He's only here to sell T-shirts' - Daily Mail - An anti-corruption judge today attacked the impending move of David Beckham to moneybags French side Paris St Germain as simply a move ‘to sell T-shirts.’
Kai Rooney as Santa's little helper - Daily Mail - His famous parents are probably sparing no expense for their little boy's Christmas. But before Kai Rooney is allowed his presents, he had to do a little something for his doting mother
Clancy: Not All Footballers Stray - The Sun - Abbey Clancy's footballer brother insists he never plays away in relationships – unlike other soccer stars.
