The instinct with football teams and formations has always been to set them out symmetrically.
That's normal because you want to make sure every zone is covered without obvious bias or weakness.
However, formations are neutral and it's their application that decides their success and
failures.
When the club finally confirmed on Tuesday after weeks of rumours the signing of Malaga
midfielder Santi Cazorla, it brought about an excitement in me, and seemingly Arsenal fans
everywhere, that hasn't been felt for a long time.
Perhaps it is simply because he joins other exciting players, Podolski and Giroud, and because
we have not yet sold a big player (emphasis on the 'yet'), in what has been a refreshingly
enjoyable summer transfer window.
The U.S. Women's National Team will advance to the Olympic semi-finals after defeating New
Zealand 2-0 in Newcastle on Friday.
Goals from Abby Wambach and Sydney LeRoux combined with Hope Solo's third consecutive shutout
punched their ticket to the next round, where they will face either Canada or Great Britain.
In Argentino B, the fourth tier of Argentinean football, teams are required to field ten
outfield players and a goalkeeper. Much like teams in the rest of the world. Huracan Las Heras,
however, temporarily flouted this convention during their visit to rivals Club Atletico Union over
the weekend.
HARRISON, N.J. -- Thierry Henry's goal drought had been approaching three
months, with a combination of injuries and ineffective finishing accounting for 11 Red Bulls
matches without a goal from the star Frenchman.
Henry ended that drought in spectacular fashion on Wednesday, delivering a game-winning goal in
the process.
Atletico Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 on Sunday, but Rayo manager Jose Ramon Sandoval didn't
go down with out a (strange) fight.
In the 87th minute, with Atletico leading thanks to a Falcao goal, Diego tried to take a quick
throw in after the ball went out near the Rayo bench. Well, Sandoval didn't like this and decided
to try and block Diego's throw, but the 43-year-old didn't have the hops to get the job done and
the throw found its target.
The first thing that leaps out is that he's another left footed striker. Now we already have RVP
and Lukas Podolski, so the attack is heavily weighted on that foot and on that flank.
We've seen RVP lose precious seconds and opportunities instinctually switch the ball to his
stronger left foot.
Amazing scenes played out in the Argentino B (6th division in Argentina) Group
F.
Huracan Las Heras travelled to Club Atletico Union in a clash between the bottom two teams in
the group but a win for the home side would have taken them on to the next round.
With the score at 1-1, Club Atletico Union launched an attack, beat the Huracan keeper and the
ball appeared to be travelling into the goal.
You often hear commentators saying: "They wouldn't have kept that out of the net if they'd had two
goalkeepers." But it turns out sometimes two goalkeepers would come in handy. Take this example
from the Argentinian lower leagues, for instance. Huracan Las Heras substitute goalkeeper Fernando
Espinoza has left himself open to temptation by positioning [.
Aston Villa vs Queens Park Rangers 0-1 by motifoot Djibril Cisse made an instinct impact for new
club QPR as he found the net just a day after joining the club. The France international scored
just 11mins into his debut, maintaining his record of grabbing a goal on his outing for every
Premier League team [.
Cracking work from the fine gents at Balls.ie, who've created this GIF of an awkward moment involving Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. The ex-Swansea's boss could be seen visibly fighting his instinct to stare down the top of an LFCTV presenter. Alas, Rodgers succumbed to temptation and had a sneaky peek at his companion.
We all had the instinct that professional footballers have too much on their hands but now we finally have it indisputably confirmed. Step forward Reading centre-back Sean Morrison. For no discernible reason, he's challenging himself to sample every single cereal for sale down his local supermarket. We'll hand it over to Sean himself to [.
Luka, goodbye and good luck. I'll only remember the good times, and they were rich, plentiful
and sweet.
The finest midfielder to wear the shirt since Gascoigne, on his day he made the team hum with
energy and purpose. He was the link between defence and attack, taking the ball from the toes of
the back four and looking up, always looking up.
Paulo Dybala is a footballing Jimmy McNulty. If you are unfamiliar with the HBO series The Wire,
the McNulty character is a detective who just happens to have an ingrained talent for what he does.
He is possessed of an instinct that sets him apart from the rest of the knuckleheads around
him.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES After the rains came down like a monsoon two hours before, sky's
blued and the weather was perfect-if not a little sticky for kickoff. And that's how it started for
the Fire. In the fourth, what turned out to be the best chance at goal in the first half was
squandered by the hesitation of new signing ÁlvaroFernandez.
Despite it being a physical impossibility, Lionel Messi casts a big shadow over the super-sized ego
and talents of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona's Messi usually outscores Real Madrid's
Ronaldo. Barca is the team of the century largely because of the diminutive Messi's amazing
balance, instinct and ability.
Early this morning I wrote a "recap" of last night's debacle in Michigan on the way back to
Chicago. Due to technological failure on my end, I wasn't able to post it right away. So join me
after the jump to relive the emotional horror that was last night.
What the hell happened? I just witnessed the biggest f*****g disgrace in my tenure as a Fire
fan.
