A superb analysis on Arsenal's newly instilled defensive system [The Backwards Gooner]
After beating Swiss Club Young Boys, Crouchy wants Real, Inter (and some nachos) [The Guardian]
"Messi to Madrid!" and every other reason why we hate the transfer window [Brian Phillips]
Joey Barton is, in fact, not a Nazi.

I wrote recently about Dave Brett's archive of old soccer videos. I received a copy of one of Dave's DVDs since then: the 1977 NASL Soccer Bowl, New York Cosmos vs. Seattle Sounders. This was the league championship, complete with the "bowl" name, a clear attempt to place it on par with NFL's Super Bowl (which itself is kind of a dumb name, if you think about it).

Yes we all know it was going to happen. Might was well get you all on board now.
In my other life, I sing in a well-respected Toronto-based choir. The conductor is famous for his full-bodied direction on stage, a habit that has garnered him the nickname "twinkle toes." He is also known in singing circles for his absurdist directorial metaphors, which involve floating elephants, swinging handbags, a giant Michelin Man walking on the moon.

Good stuff as every from erstwhile Pitch Invasion contributor and Run of Play maestro Brian Phillips, posting at Slate on the forgotten shooting star that was American soccer in the 1920s:

In the 1920s, soccer was big in America. Not big in the way that baseball was big (this was the era of Ruth and Gehrig) or college football was big (these were the days when Ivy League rivalries played out as violent eruptions in the mud), but at its height, the top American soccer league had tens of thousands of fans, featured some of the world's best players, and looked set to challenge the fledgling NFL in the competition to supply the nation with a post-October pastime.

By Ollie Irish

In no particular order, here are the ten footy blogs we rated the highest this year:

In Bed With Maradona It's been a defining year for this brilliantly named site, which has gone from relative obscurity to widespread acclaim in no time.

I've been writing this blog for just over two years now, and I still don't know what it is. If I were forced at gunpoint to discuss who exactly reads the blog, what sort of angle it takes, or how it's fundamentally different from all the other blogs out there, I don't know what I'd tell him. Or her.

It's a Bank Holiday here in England today, so this week's links are little bit later than usual. Still, for those of you that are stuck at work today or have nothing better to do this afternoon than sit around and read about your favourite game, here are another six choice links from elsewhere on the internet, including further reasons why technology to assist referees wouldn't necessarily be to the benefit of football supporters, a précis of the recent woes at Darlington and FIFA sticking its oar in on the debate over hijabs.

But probably not the history you'd expect. I'm an avowed history buff; if the television in my house isn't on Wow Wow Wubbzy, it's invariably on the History Channel, Discovery, or some other...

by Nick Lichtenberg, writing from New York City

"... the last century has been the era of both American global dominance and soccer's rise as overwhelmingly the most popular sport in the world. And surprisingly, those things haven't really overlapped.

What with the World Cup no one wanted to attend going on, Brian Phillips of Run of Play becoming some kind of soccer blogging overlord (who could have guessed that would happen when he spent 2009 blogging almost exclusively about a video game? Now he's linked to by MGoBlog, and yes, I'm jealous), Duane Rollins calling me a know-nothing blogger without using my name over the Athletica piece I still have to revise, Beau Dure hosting virtual watch parties that I didn't get invited to (Dan Loney and Steve Sirk, but not me?

Tiki Taka shares Santiago Calatrava's form and functionality

Brian Phillips lays out the argument very persuasively and I absolutely agree.

When a player like Mark Van Bommel is your poster boy, something is seriously wrong. But this is not nostalgia for the forgotten era of Dutch totaalvoetball.

So you'll remember in my self-loathing post from almost two months ago that I made an off-the-cuff remark about Brooks Peck (of Dirty Tackle fame) doing something sexist. The full context of the statement is below:

*Fine Time to Take a Breather*
What with the World Cup no one wanted to attend going on, Brian Phillips of Run of Play becoming some kind of soccer blogging overlord (who could have guessed that would happen when he spent 2009 blogging almost exclusively about a video game?

What with the World Cup no one wanted to attend going on, Brian Phillips of Run of Play becoming some kind of soccer blogging overlord (who could have guessed that would happen when he spent 2009 blogging almost exclusively about a video game? Now he's linked to by MGoBlog, and yes, I'm jealous), Duane Rollins calling me a know-nothing blogger without using my name over the Athletica piece I still have to revise, Beau Dure hosting virtual watch parties that I didn't get invited to (Dan Loney and Steve Sirk, but not me?

That's right the crying baby is back. And crying babies only mean one thing. No, not that they are hungry. No, not the soiling of diapers. Birth. Growth. Teething. With your lovely support, this second year Futfanatico has done both. Here are a few highlights -

Somehow, someway, we reached a traffic explosion never before seen in these parts.

The United States and England are becoming more intertwined than ever in the world of sport, so what does the future hold for football in the English-speaking world? [by Brian Phillips of The Run of Play]
The Guardian is covering the Hicks-Gillett shenanigans like no other...
Could Rooney be thinking about leaving Manchester?

by Jason Davis
History, specifically American soccer history, is top of mind these days. I'm taking a few days away from the bill-paying job, and while I'm mostly serving as a toddler's jungle gym at erratic intervals that are threatening the viability of my...male paraphernalia, I'm also doing my best to keep up with the goings-on in the soccer world (frankly, I need a 12-step program to break my addiction to my newsreader and Twitter), provide as much content here as vacation-affected motivation will allow, and visit family that deserve a modicum of my attention.

by Jason Davis
History, specifically American soccer history, is top of mind these days. I'm taking a few days away from the bill-paying job, and while I'm mostly serving as a toddler's jungle gym at erratic intervals that are threatening the viability of my...male paraphernalia, I'm also doing my best to keep up with the goings-on in the soccer world (frankly, I need a 12-step program to break my addiction to my newsreader and Twitter), provide as much content here as vacation-affected motivation will allow, and visit family that deserve a modicum of my attention.