Football Further

‘Pitchside Europe’

“The buccaneering Brazilian full-back, the classy Italian central defender, the battering-ram English centre-forward – football is populated by archetypes and few are as immediately recognisable as the rangy Dutch striker. From Faas Wilkes to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, via Marco van Basten and Ruud van Nistelrooy, no nation specialises in tall, technically-gifted forwards quite like the Netherlands. In Heerenveen’s Bas Dost, they may have unearthed another gangly goal-getter to uphold the tradition.”

My latest Pitchside Europe blog for Eurosport, on Heerenveen’s Bas Dost, can be found here.

“The 2010 French champions endured a similarly challenging opening to the 2007-08 campaign, winning only once in their first 10 games, before recovering to finish third. A run of one defeat in 17 matches between early November and mid-March provided the foundation for a late-season tilt at the podium, but third place was only secured thanks to a 78th-minute Djibril Cissé strike in a 4-3 victory at home to Strasbourg on the season’s final day. With only the top three sides in Ligue 1 qualifying for the Champions League again this season, Marseille need to pull off a similar feat to retain their place among Europe’s elite.”

My latest Pitchside Europe blog for Eurosport, on Marseille’s bid to overturn yet another sloppy start to the Ligue 1 season, can be found here.

“Few are the players to have tried it and succeeded. Fewer still are those who have pulled it off twice, but as of Sunday afternoon and a glorious injury-time winner at Real Betis, Real Sociedad’s Iñigo Martínez is a member of that exclusive band. Pitchside Europe looks at some of the players who, like Martínez, have bettered Pelé – twice.”

Read my latest Eurosport column, on the select group of players to have scored from the halfway line more than once, here.

Related link: Better than Pelé – Jesper Blomqvist

“Juve’s insistence on kicking up a fuss over Calciopoli will not improve their popularity in the eyes of opposition fans but it has helped to foster the impression that the whole club is pulling in the same direction and is refusing to give up without a fight. In the sleek, compact Juventus Stadium – the first club-owned arena in Serie A – Juve also have a new symbol of communal identity to rally behind, as well as a menacing atrium in which to unsettle opposition teams.”

My latest Pitchside Europe column for the Eurosport website can be read here.

“Having successfully prised Manuel Neuer from Schalke in the summer, Bayern – who host Dortmund in their next league game – see Götze as an ideal long-term replacement for the increasingly injury-prone Arjen Robben and, characteristically, they have made no attempt to disguise their admiration. The problem for Bayern, however, is that the object of their affections does not seem to concur with their lofty self-regard.”

My latest Pitchside Europe column for Eurosport, on Borussia Dormund’s Mario Götze, can be read here.

“Once synonymous with the artful playmaking of Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian football has instead become renowned for corruption and mismanagement in recent years. Suspicions of crooked officiating are rife and the president of the country’s refereeing commission, Vasile Avram, was arrested last month on charges of accepting bribes. Last season’s Liga I runners-up FC Timişoara, meanwhile, are currently playing in the second division due to unpaid debts owed to both the national government and Benfica, while Gloria Bistriţa were also demoted to the second tier over financial irregularities.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe column for Eurosport, on a dark night for Romanian football, can be found here.

“The statistics over the last two seasons add weight to the theory that Ronaldo is more inclined to adopt the role of a creator – and suppress his own goalscoring instincts – when Higuaín is in the team. Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, Ronaldo has started 39 league games alongside Higuaín, scoring 40 goals at a rate of 1.03 per game. Over the same period, Ronaldo’s goals-per-game ratio when he starts alongside Benzema is slightly higher, at 1.125. The assist figures tell a similar story. With Benzema next to him at kick-off, Ronaldo produces an average of 0.25 assists per match. Alongside Higuaín, that figure climbs to 0.41.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe column for Eurosport can be read here.

“Imagine, if you will, that every few weeks, you and a select group of people from rival companies were summoned to work together on a special project for which none of you were paid but which was considered more important than anything you could ever achieve in your day-to-day job. Sound absurd? Welcome to the world of the international footballer.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe column for Eurosport, on the dislocating experience of international football, can be found here.

“When Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) president Nasser al-Khelaifi swept through the mixed zone, flanked by minders and accompanied by sporting director Leonardo, he did his best not to intrude into the spotlight by steering clear of the reporters’ microphones thrust in his direction. It is impossible, however, to look at PSG and not think of the millions of euros that have turned them into the biggest draw in French sport.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe blog, on how the stars came out at Parc des Princes to watch Paris Saint-Germain reach the Ligue 1 summit, can be read here.

“The players playing for foreign clubs in 2004 tended to be globally recognised superstars like Luis Figo, Rui Costa or Cristiano Ronaldo, but the success they enjoyed overseas has made Portuguese players more marketable, in much the same way that Brazilian and Dutch footballers benefit from the status conferred upon them by their countries’ achievements on the international stage. A Portuguese passport opens doors these days, and the nation’s leading players have not been shy in walking through them.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe blog, on the brawn drain that’s changing the face of Portuguese football, can be read here.

“The 3-4-3 is particularly effective against sides that deploy two central strikers and Barcelona’s 5-0 demolition of Villarreal on the opening weekend of the La Liga season owed much to Pep Guardiola’s courageous decision to counter the visitors’ strike-force of Nilmar and Giuseppe Rossi with a three-man back-line. Napoli’s intrepid 3-4-1-2, meanwhile, has not prevented them from making the early running in Serie A.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe blog for Eurosport attempts to understand why teams can be so resistant to the idea of playing with only three defenders. You can read it here.

“The memories of Klose that will endure the longest are those that recall his World Cup exploits: the neat somersaults that followed each of his five headed goals at the 2002 tournament; the equaliser against Argentina in the 2006 quarter-final in Berlin; the opener in the 4-1 humiliation of England in Bloemfontein last year. Like Pelé, or Diego Maradona, Klose has saved his best performances for the sport’s biggest occasion.”

My latest Pitchside Europe blog, on Miroslav Klose’s anachronistic dedication to international football, can be read here (apologies for the atrocious headline).

“Lille president Michel Seydoux has praised Cole’s “intelligent” views on the game and the thoughtful 29-year-old will hope his technical qualities allow him to win the trust of his new employers in a way he managed only fleetingly in England. Cole may never again dazzle as he did in his fearless West Ham youth team days, but he will at least hope to prove once and for all that he can handle the spotlight on centre stage.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe blog, on how Joe Cole’s surprise move to Lille will test his long-held conviction that he can flourish as a central playmaker, can be read here.

“Improving on last year’s league placing, however, appears impossible. Valencia lost all four games against Barça and Real last season – going down 6-3 at home to the latter in April – and the big two look even stronger than they were a year ago. Valencia also face fresh competition from newly rich Málaga, while Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will have designs on third place as well. Llorente and Emery may have brought a sliver of optimism to a debt-laden club, and Emery may dream of “creating a great team”, but Valencia’s biggest challenge this season will be simply staying where they are.”

My latest column for Eurosport, on the multiple challenges that Valencia are having to juggle as they seek to break up the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly in La Liga, can be read here.

“Where once blunders by up-and-coming keepers could be written off as inexperience, the timeframe for adjustment to life at results-obsessed Champions League sides is getting narrower by the season. Given the huge psychological demands that accompany football’s loneliest position and the fact that many goalkeepers continue to develop until well into their 30s, it is slightly surprising that clubs of United and Bayern’s stature are even prepared to take such gambles on goalkeepers who are yet to reach professional maturity.”

My latest blog post for Eurosport, on the psychological challenges facing young goalkeepers such as Manchester United’s David de Gea, can be read here.