Liverpool's owners, die hard practitioners of Moneyball, pride themselves on the rigorous behind
the numbers, value for money purchases that give them a leg up in the MLB. Entering the cash on
steroids environment of the Premiership, they recruited Damien Comolli on the advice of Billy
Beane, Mr Moneyball himself and ended up throwing £120m on transfers.
Usually when I find an episode of Inspector Morse on television it's about halfway through. I
don't mind though – I quite like to just see what they're all doing, John Thaw's character being
particularly intriguing to me. Hade doesn't like this – if we've missed the start we won't know
what's happened, will we?
The Champions League draw will be happening tomorrow and we'll find out who's in our group. We
will definitely be one of the top 8 seeds and that should ensure a much easier task than say,
Manchester City. On one hand, it would be better if we get weaker teams which should make our
qualification to the next stage more comfortable.
Ever the envelope-pusher, Cole introduces his new 'blowing the ball' skillz
From lightweight, free-thinking dribbling genius at West Ham to stocky, underachieving
Mourinho-bot at Chelsea to forgotten man at Liverpool, the career of talented schemer Joe Cole
hasn't really gone according to plan.
Nicks' note: Our moving-towards-resident Chelsea writer Sahil is back with a
criminally late post (the post is because of Sahil, it is criminally late because of me) about
Chelsea; what they're doing, who they're buying, why they're so blue, and pictures of as many
permutations of players lifting the Champions League trophy as he can muster.
FSG are genius saviours returning the club to glory, they have a plan in place, and the
slightest doubt or skepticism means you're a fool for daring to question them. Just never mind
they've been at the club for eighteen months now and are currently looking to sort their second
managerial and director of football hires, while the man presumed to have the most sway in the
matter will be overseeing a move to his fourth manager in two years.
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers has officially turned down an interview for the vacant Liverpool
job this morning, opting to continue with his admirable work in South Wales instead presumably
because he reckons there ain't enough ballast in the world to reverse the fortunes of that
particular sinking ship.
Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup has demonstrated his genius once again by lining up the
brilliant signing of Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez in anticipation for Scott Sinclair's move to
Manchester City.
It was confirmed earlier today that the Swans had accepted a bid from the Citizens in the region
of £8 million and the same source has indicated that Laudrup is engaged in talks with Valencia to
bring Hernandez while Sinclair undergoes his medical in the Eastlands.
Once hated by England fans and then loved by them, Owen Hargreaves, of this video genius, is
now training with Queens Park Rangers in yet another attempt to regain his fitness and to salvage
his injury-savaged career.
Despite signing a one-year deal with Man City last summer, the former Bayern Munich midfielder
managed only 13 minutes of league action as his body, battered by injuries and bruised by countless
operations failed to perform at the requisite level.
The thing here is that Danny Murphy was making important contributions to Fulham matches last
season. It is well established that time waits for no man, but time has not yet left Danny Murphy
behind he could still do his thing, and indeed was doing his thing as the season ran out in
May.
The thing here is that Danny Murphy was making important contributions to Fulham matches last
season. It is well established that time waits for no man, but time has not yet left Danny Murphy
behind he could still do his thing, and indeed was doing his thing as the season ran out in
May.
That was some terrible defending. Kudos to Falcao but he was made to look sensational by a sleep
walking Athletic Bilbao side. One has to say, Falcao seems to be perfecting the art or science of
being at the right place and at the right time (see second goal) to take advantage of those errors
which is a form of genius.
In case anyone needed convincing Radamel Falcao is nothing if not genius. Cue frenzied transfer
rumours. With Chelsea winning the Champions League all roads lead to Stamford Bridge.
Arsene Wenger is well aware that Arsenal have lost a goalscoring genius in Robin Van Persie, but he
is certain that the Gunners new arrivals and our midfielders have the ability to make up for our
loss. After ending the first two League games without a goal it was obvious that the Arsenal-loving
media (sarcasm!
Sometimes getting started is the most difficult part of writing a blog so I'll just jump
straight in with Arsenal's announcement of the squad numbers for next season.
New boy Olivier Giroud will wear 12 while other new boy Lukas Podolski has not yet been
allocated one despite many numbers being free.
Yes, we decide to prank Podolski by not giving him a number
Hello again. Where do we begin today? Squad numbers you say? Right, let's go there. As is
traditionally done, squad numbers are released ahead of the upcoming new season. It allows fans to
deck their new kit with the player's name and make the club some additional money.
I spent too long on Monday explaining how little as fans we really know our team. Instead I
tried to emphasize the anomaly that the club is, in a league of slightly predictable anomalies.
We know what Man United is. We know that when we look at the parts of the machine, there are few
players in that team we would like over ours.
I spent too long on Monday explaining how little as fans we really know our team. Instead I
tried to emphasize the anomaly that the club is, in a league of slightly predictable anomalies.
We know what Man United is. We know that when we look at the parts of the machine, there are few
players in that team we would like over ours.
I got this video sent to me via e-mail, asking me to share and spread the word. I watched it and
by the end I felt confused. As an American soccer fan am I supposed to be amused or insulted? I
assume their implication is that major international tournaments, like the just completed Euro
2012, brings people like this out of the woodwork.
A slightly controversial headline today regarding Monsieur Balotelli from yours truly in
preparation for today's Euro 2012 final. This is something which has been on my mind for a while
but whether any of it is any true is entirely a different matter.
Anyway, firstly back to the game between the Germans and the assured Azzuri which was perhaps
provided one of the most surprising results of the tournament so far.
A deep lying midfielder and a goalkeeper coming off the end of a successful Serie A season where
they could not be beaten in any league game. Both and a few more of their team mates are on the
verge of adding the European Championship to their honours list. A mad man (as many would like to
call him) and the cause of consternation amongst fans, dividing opinions between that and that of a
genius.
Although the FA are famously allergic to him, Terry Venables remains closely nestled in many an
England fans bosom. He was the man who squeezed the last drops of genius out of Paul Gascoigne and
almost seduced football to come home at Euro 96. Since that unforgettable summer, the former Spurs
manager has never been [.
Cristiano Ronaldo's impressive performances at Euro 2012 have led some people placing a bet on La
Liga to suggest that he is now the undisputed best player in the world.
While he still may be slightly behind Argentinian genius, Lionel Messi, in that category, there can
be no argument that Portugal's talisman is gaining ground and, when at his best, is simply
unplayable.
There's always an attempt to replicate great moments — particularly goals — in the
playground, though any young fan who enjoyed Danny Welbeck's winner against Sweden for England on
Friday evening would have difficulty pulling it off. It was an audacious piece of skill; the fact
that it was initially seen as lucky, cynically dismissed as a fluke, made it an altogether
better goal as the replay showed Welbeck react instinctively to Theo Walcott's cross by turning,
then letting the ball gently bounce onto the back of his boot away into the right of Swedish
goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.
While Cristiano Ronaldo was struggling to find his mojo against Germany in Euro 2012, across the
Atlantic, the Real Madrid man's nemesis was doing the business for Argentina against none other
than Brazil.
Lionel Messi was the star of the show in the friendly game in New Jersey, netting a superb
hat-trick, with the third goal the undoubted icing on the cake.
What is the most ludicrously asinine thing one could do, well, ever? How 'bout erecting a
temporary 100ft structure depicting Roy Hodgson as England's Christ the Redeemer on the
shores of Dover, facing France with some 'tude.
Eighteen year old genius Graham Love has created a lovely two minute video featuring the greatest
moments in European Championship history, recreated in Lego with stop-motion camera techniques. The
video includes everything from Paul Gascoigne's...
There's no sitting on the fence with Mario Balotelli vis-a-vis the preemptive racism storm
a-brewing ahead of Euro 2012. The new Italian No. 9 - who has endured more than his fair share of
abuse in the past has vowed to 'kill anyone' who throws bananas at him in the street in Poland
and/or Ukraine, telling France Football:
"If [racism] does happen I would leave the pitch and go home.
I don't care if there's no 'end product'. I've honestly never seen a footballer who's as fun to
watch as Mousa Dembele.
We sit in what I used to think of as "Paintil Corner", the area of the Riverside where John
Paintsil was most active when defending the Hammersmith End. The thing with being that close to
the action is that you lose a lot of perspective, but you do grow to appreciate the speed and
nimbleness of top level football.
I don't care if there's no 'end product'. I've honestly never seen a footballer who's as fun to
watch as Mousa Dembele.
We sit in what I used to think of as "Paintil Corner", the area of the Riverside where John
Paintsil was most active when defending the Hammersmith End. The thing with being that close to
the action is that you lose a lot of perspective, but you do grow to appreciate the speed and
nimbleness of top level football.
Beating Andrew 'The Toad Lord' Lloyd-Webber squarely to the punch, here's Fitba Thatba's latest
West End production John Terry Court Case: The Musical, a work of pure melodramatic genius...
If you're wondering what the 'please, please, please, please' reference is all about, then take
a gander at this little beauty.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the club has not made significant
progress toward signing any new player since the transfer of Shinji Kagawa but has indicated that
"one or two" deals may be in the pipeline.
The 23-year old Kagawa recently completed a move from German champions Borussia Dortmund but no
big name has yet followed him to Old Trafford.
France Football published an interview with Mario Balotelli in their latest issue and the result
was predictably wonderful. Touching on everything from his uniqueness to his zero tolerance policy
for racial abuse to confirming that he definitely does have the overpowering self-confidence of a
striker, Mario once against shows why he's so much fun.
I put this blog on hiatus shortly before Christmas last year with the promise of being back in
the new year with a clearer idea for the future. This might not be what anyone thinks of as "the
new year", but here I am and it's not last year.
I've written and re-written this post countless times, but it always degenerates into a verbose,
self-indulgent trip down memory lane.
This guy is either a genius or has way too much free time, either way this is fascinating bit of
work as Radiohead's masterpeice 'Kid A' has been re-recorded in 8-bit MIDI format. That's right, it
sounds like the music on your classic Nintendo console favorites. While this might not be the kind
of thing you can regularly listen too, its pretty damn cool.
Santos' Neymar, who Ganso says is a "genius and a prophet" who sees the future, flashed his
washboard stomach on stage at a samba concert earlier this week in what was hopefully a sign of
more six packs to come.
