AFC
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- J Hutcherson: Struggling in MLS
- Tony Edwards: Changes in MLS
- Guardian: MLS playoffs: five things we learned
Interesting Reads
- SoccerLens: Broadcasting Revenues: Responsible For Weakening of Competition in Football
- DataBlog: How does big data add to the experience of watching football?
- Ken Belson: Joy That Lasts, on the Poorest of Playgrounds
- Independent: Andres Iniesta: Immortal, but no longer invincible?
- David Hills: Said and Done
- ESPN FC: Luca Toni warns against Middle East move
- Michael Cox: QPR and Reading showcase two very different ways to play 4-4-2
The Business of Soccer
- Independent: Chelsea edge into profit – but risk big loss in 2013
- Rob Hughes: Manchester United and Barcelona Show That Money Talks
- Goal: Real Buy Stake in Oviedo to Help Keep Club Afloat
- Owen Gibson: Premier League continues to maximise TV revenue on a global scale
Tournaments
- Copa Sudamericana: Copa Sudamericana Update
- AFC Champions League: Ulsan win AFC Champions League
- African Champions League: Restricted Crowd for African Champions League Final
- Brasileiro: Brazil: Fluminense gets second title in three years
- Norway: Solskjaer leads Gatt and Molde to Norwegian title again
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- US Soccer Players: Why isn’t MLS like Europe?
- Tony Edwards: Work Rate
- Tweed Thornton: MLS Carryover Minutes: Why Your Team May Not Have Enough
- The Best Eleven: MLS Bargain Goal Scoring Leaders
- The Scoring Third: Orlando City Stadium: Behind the Numbers
- nextSTL: LHM Seeks MSL Stadium as part of new vision for Union Station in St. Louis
- Steve Davis: MLS in Minnesota? Perhaps, but at what cost?
- Simon Borg: MLS officials discuss NYC expansion plans, eye on 2016
- Nick Green: Chivas USA appears to be turning its herd away
Interesting Reads
- Frank Dell’Apa: The United States now exports strikers, not goalkeepers
- ESPN FC: Role of the new No. 10 in the Premier League
- David James: Life outside of the Premier League bubble is a bit of a culture shock
- Frank Dell’Apa: Battle for soccer’s place in America is humming along nicely
- Jason Davis: Soccer Is America’s Sport of Now
- Independent: The Last Word: Blame is the game and everyone is primed to kick it into touch
- SoccerLens: FIFA Laws of the Game: Ambiguity, Uncertainty & Room For Interpretation
- Grant Wahl: Inside Barcelona: Success beyond trophies for club president Rosell
- SoccerLens: Soccer For Cartoons: How The Beautiful Game Was Made For Saturday Morning
Tournaments
- UEFA Champions League: UCL Group Stage Day 2 Update
- Europa League: Europa League Update
- AFC Champions League: Asian CL group phase update
- Copa Sudamericana: Copa Sudamericana
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- Shin Guardian: A Treatise: The State of American Youth Soccer
- Simon Borg: MLS Managers Survey: The verdict on Copa Libertadores
- Ben Berger: Beginning an Objective Analysis of MLS Player Performance
- Earl Reed: Stats In MLS: Completed Passes and the Standings
- GiveMeFootball.com: MLS cash could lure top Premier League refs
Interesting Reads
- David Hills: Said and Done
- US Soccer Players: World League Association Announced
- Newcastle Utd Blog: Big Clubs Trying To Circumvent Financial Fair Play Rules
- Just-Football.com: How Financial Fair Play could reshape the Premier League (good for Arsenal & Spurs, bad for Manchester City..)
- EPL Talk: The Flaws in Modern Soccer
- Serie A Talk: Bari Scandal Could Cripple Serie A
- SoccerLens: Most efficient football clubs in England, Spain, Italy and Germany in 2011/2012
- SoccerLens: Most efficient Premier League clubs in the last three seasons (2009 to 2012)
The Business of Soccer
Read the rest of this entry »
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- Ridge Mahoney: New MLS playoff format comes with risks worth taking
Interesting Reads
- Guardian: Why Dagestan’s FC Anzhi Makhachkala is seen as a cure for all ills
- Stuart James: David Beckham targets MLS Cup as his LA Galaxy adventure nears an end
- David Falk: The short life and slow death of the Spokane Spiders – An older post, but one well worth reading.
- Guardian: Has football lost its soul?
- Viva la Futbol: How the Free Beer Movement May Have Ruined My Marriage
Tournaments
- Asian Champions League: Al Sadd wins it’s first ACL, defeating Jeonbuk Motors
- African Cup of Nations: ACN draw
- Copa Sudamericana: Copa Sud quarterfinal update
The Business of Soccer
- SoccerLens: English Football Wages: 1984 to 2010
- Simon Jordon – former chairman of Crystal Palace: Carry on cherry-picking: field day for Premier League talent poachers
- Ian Winwood: Why some Football League clubs only have themselves to blame for dwindling attendances
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- Steve Davis: Tactics: As postseason looms, goals dry up
- Tactics in Seattle: Using Forward Rotations To Achieve Tactical Dominance
- Shin Guardian: More Possession, More Winning?
- Ginge Talks the Footy: MLS Playoff Schedule Has Train Wreck Potential – Don’t particularly care for the title, but Zach makes some excellent points here.
- WV Hooligan: 2011 Re-Entry Process Dates and Procedures – Drew does his usual fine work untangling MLS’ player drafts.
Interesting Reads
- Grant Wahl: World Cup rights bidding to have major implications for U.S. soccer
- David Conn: More by David on Liverpool and John Henry – My post from last week with the earlier Liverpool/Red Sox stories
- Attendance: Euro 2012 qualification attendances
- Rules of the Game: Passive offside adds a shade of gray
- David Hills: Said and Done
- Sid Lowe: Levante are back and this time they’re ready to take on the world
- Jonathan Freedland: In the Premier League the endgame of rampant capitalism is being played out
Tourneys
- CONCACAF Champions League: LA, Seattle and Toronto thru to Quarters
- UEFA CL: UEFA Champs League update
- Europa League: Europa League update
- AFC CL: Asian Champs League update
- CAF CL: African Champs League update
- Copa Sudamericana: Arsenal in last eight
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- As you probably know by now, the LA Galaxy have repeated as Supporters’ Shield winners. Any doubt they are the best team in the league? Shouldn’t be.
- Well, seems like the West won’t get seven teams into the MLS Cup playoffs. Ran out of fingers and toes counting all the folks that seemed sure the season would play out like that.
- Philly sure shocked me with their win in Seattle. They have been my adopted team since their inception. I’m headed to MLS Cup next month, maybe I’ll get a chance to see them.
- Grant Wahl: MLS’ regular season and playoff schedule structure needs fixing
– I linked to the first part when it originally was posted in September, here are both parts.
Tourneys
- WC14: World Cup Qualifying
- Euro12: Euro 2012 Qualifying
- African Nations Cup 2012: Touré brothers score in Africa Cup of Nations final qualifier
Interesting Reads
- David Hills: Said and Done
- Brian Phillips: Ronaldo vs. Messi
- Elliott Turner: Hispanic identity and US Soccer (Part 1) – Part 2
The Business of Soccer
- Daily Mail: ‘Moneyball’ concept can inspire Premier League success, insists pioneer Beane
- David Conn: Tearing up the pooled TV deal is a recipe for the rich to get richer
- Owen Gibson: What Premier League big clubs must do to increase TV money
- Martin Lipton: Prem officially world’s most viewed league with TV audience of 4.7 BILLION
Tuesday Tidbits
Starter Fun
- Special1 TV: Pariah
MLS
- Jason Davis: MLS Does it Better
- DP Dissection: The breaking out of the ‘lesser DPs’
- Shin Guardian: On MLS Ticketing
Interesting Reads
- The Golden Age of Youth Development
- J.R. Eskilson: Claudio Reyna’s biggest hurdle with youth soccer – the winning culture
- Barney Ronay: It’s time to admit football is pure evil
- David Hills: Said and Done
- SoccerLens: Saving The Beautiful Game: A Radical Revision of the Rules of Football
- Guardian: FA Cup: a once sacrosanct competition at mercy of the demolition men
Tourneys
Around the World
- Indoor Soccer: MISL and USL partner to join league
- College Soccer: Junior colleges approve limiting participation of foreign athletes
- Hexablog: Championship Weekend in Central America
- J Hutcherson: Mexico’s New Playoff Schedule
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- MLS_UK: Diary of an MLS Convert(East) – Diary of an MLS Convert(West) – Week 7 of Glenn Williams’ brilliant series.
Interesting Reads
- Soccermetrics: Howard Hamilton Updates his CONCACAF Club/League Coefficients in the Wake of Monterrey’s CCL Victory
- Independent: Crisis? What crisis? Debt-ridden Portugal profits from Europa League
Tourneys
- UEFA Champions League: Man U and Barca win 1st legs in semifinals
- Guardian: Has the UEFA Champions League Become Uncompetitive?
- Copa Libertadores: Copa Lib Update
- CONCACAF Champions League: Monterrey Wins at Rio Tinto
- Monterrey won the CCL in impressive fashion. They were undefeated in the tourney. They came into RSL’s stronghold, where the home team hadn’t lost in 37 matches covering all competitions, and walked away with a 1-0 victory to claim the title.
- CAF: AFC moves closer to final 16
- US Open Cup: New England eliminates DC United
- Nutralite Canadian Championship: Toronto, Vancouver Win Openers