In the wake of Barcelona's 3-1 UEFA Champions League championship victory over Manchester United,
the debate has begun about where Barca sits among the greatest club sides of all-time.
Do Barca's players, with their poetic ball skills and precise attacking, surpass the best football
teams of all time?
In the wake of England's rather lackluster display against Slovenia, Simon
Barnes explores why we English still expect to win: "Football is the Last Empire." Barnes writes
that in all other sports, the English have given up any expectancy of dominance.
I believe 'the Art of Coaching' comes down to three areas- tactics (creating an on-field plan),
player identification (assessing & acquiring players to implement that plan), and man-management
(the ability to convey that plan to your players, & have them believe).
Jose Mourinho's recent performance in the UEFA Champions League, masterminding victory for Inter
Milan over Barcelona, has magnified his mastery of 'the Art of Coaching' in each of those areas.
Or, A Post Kind of Like The Last One, With Different Words
"The losers owe their loss to him and the winners triumph in spite of him. Scapegoat for every
error, cause of every misfortune, the fans would have to invent him if he didn't already exist. The
more they hate him, the more they need him."
- Eduardo Galeano, Soccer In Sun and Shadow
Referees serve some of the game's most cruel paradoxes.
Or, A Post Kind of Like The Last One, With Different Words
"The losers owe their loss to him and the winners triumph in spite of him. Scapegoat for every
error, cause of every misfortune, the fans would have to invent him if he didn't already exist. The
more they hate him, the more they need him."
- Eduardo Galeano, Soccer In Sun and Shadow
Referees lie at the center of the game's most cruel paradoxes.
A quick follow-up thought to my post earlier today on the forthcoming paywall being erected at
The Times how will the next generation of readers discover the newspaper's content and
quality?  Articles aren't even able to found on Google. Nobody will  be tweeting links to
Times articles.
I don't know who Simon Barnes is, but thanks to my man Tom
Dunmore at Pitch Invasion, I have now read one piece by him, and it's outstanding. I
encourage you to read it.
Here's the key passage, as it relates to something that has vexed me about sports and sports
fans for some time:
It is almost impossible to become involved in a sporting event without taking sides,
giving one set wings and the other horns.
