Excellent article on the danger of match fixing to soccer.

Excellent article on the danger of match fixing to soccer.

Is he actually saying anything or just saying "Soccer is ######\" over and over again? I found that distracting.

Were the games Europol cited cases of match fixing--that is, the outcomes, or did it also include things affecting prop bets and such, as some here were speculating?

Were the games Europol cited cases of match fixing--that is, the outcomes, or did it also include things affecting prop bets and such, as some here were speculating?

In the Liverpool game cited, the Debrecen goalie was said to be paid to ensure that there were more than 2,5 goals in the game, at which he failed.

Is he actually saying anything or just saying "Soccer is ######\" over and over again? I found that distracting.

As did I. I found nothing of real interest there. Does he really think high level soccer is going to be impacted by fixing in Albania's second league? The American analogy would be to conclude that the BCS is dead because a D-III game ref was coerced to ensure the game went over the total. It's a fairly ridiculous stance to take.

Simon Kuper: Why I’ve fallen out of love with football

EDIT: This has nothing to do with betting scandals...

Adebayor on the bench for Spurs. Be interesting to see how the squad sets up without a striker.

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Caulker, Naughton, Lennon, Parker, Dembele, Holtby, Dempsey, Bale.

Holy rotation!

Holy Lethality, Baleman!

[edit] with a giant "Thank You" to the earthbound Nouveau Chateau defensive wall ...

In and out between snow blowing excursions this morning, what happened tomSpurs after the first 15 minutes or so? They started very well but since everything I've seen they've looked pretty impotent.

Forget about the goal, Freund shoving AVB out of his way so he can jump in the air was great!

Oh good, Dembele hurt again.

How much cash do Real have to throw in with Ronaldo to get Bale?

Naw, I kid, but that's five points in the last 3 games Bale has rescued almost single-handedly. Newcastle look solid again. I think they may make an assault on the top half by the end of the year.

Forget about the goal, Freund shoving AVB out of his way so he can jump in the air was great!

Freund is the gif that keeps on giving.

-Looks like Dembele just got kicked in the leg. Should be good to go for Lyon on Thursday.
-Gareth Bale has surpassed the human level at this point. Spurs do need to develop some attacking options other than waiting for him to do something amazing.
-Hugo Lloris makes a huge difference on this side. I think a case can be made for him as the best keeper in the Premier League this season. He twice bailed out the occasionally porous back line today with amazing quickness off his line.
-Dempsey's not a #9, but contrary to a bunch of Spurs fans, I think he put in a good shift today. Worked very hard pressing, held up the ball, and played a couple of very cute little passes inside the box that easily could have produced a goal.

I think they may make an assault on the top half by the end of the year.

Agreed. The front four of Cabaye-Sissoko-Ben Arfa supporting Cisse will be really dangerous. The back line is still not great. Should be some high-scoring, exciting matches.

(And Gouffran was doing a great job on the wing, I hope he's ok. It was a weird injury that looked like nothing more than a cut or bruise, but was apparently serious.)

-Dempsey's not a #9, but contrary to a bunch of Spurs fans, I think he put in a good shift today. Worked very hard pressing, held up the ball, and played a couple of very cute little passes inside the box that easily could have produced a goal.

A lot of Spurs look for a reason to complain about him which I find incredibly annoying. I thought he was fine today, much better than the last couple of games.

Dempsey was noticeably good today, not the least for just going a strong 90+ after everything involved in going 90 for the USMNT in Honduras on Wednesday.

Very fun match to watch.

Roberto Mancini is hilarious

"In football, if you work well, you can find good players without maybe spending £30m on one individual, but it is also true that every time Manchester City move for a player, if his value is £10m, Manchester City will be asked for £30m. There should be other rules for this because sometimes you want to buy a player for £8m but it's £25m-£30m for Manchester City. This is the problem."

Good ol' "Moggy" Cattermole ... yellow within 2 and 30.

Can't tell you the number of games of FM that I've played where Cattermole sets the record for worst EPL discipline ...

Rafa has big gonads rotating Mata as much as he does. Gotta give that to him.

Wigan looking lively on the road at Chelsea.

Huge game at the top of Serie A today. Napoli at Lazio at 2:45. I'm going to skip the rest of the morning games, get some work done and start a chicken stock, then come back for that one. It combines tons of CL/scudetto implications with as pure a good versus evil narrative as can be found at the highest level of Italian football.

[572] I know next to nothing about Serie A except for the fact that I'm currently turning Napoli into the "World's Greatest Team" in FM. Who's "Pure Good" and who's "Pure Evil" in this scenario and why?

Lazio is always evil.

In an amusing side note to today's game-watching... TE Jr. noticed the hysterics of the Spurs assistant coach's goal celebrations... And wondered aloud why he was celebrating more than AVB... and if there was something wrong with him...

Who's "Pure Good" and who's "Pure Evil" in this scenario and why?

Lazio is evil. Their fans are racists and fascists.

Napoli are not "pure good", but they are relative underdogs against the bigger Northern clubs, there is a long history of intra-Italian bigotry of the north for the south, and as a club they play some fun football.

SAD HIPSTER ALERT

10 man Dortmund having a rough day against Hamburglar.

Van der Vaart should have his children taken away. That is all.

Van der Vaart should have his children taken away. That is all.

I think that's up to the lawyers...

I like how amazed the announcer is that a club called Sporting Kansas City exists. A stifled chuckle, for sure.

Didn't Sylvie already do that?

Lazio is evil. Their fans are racists and fascists.

We need a third thing for that list. Could they be sadists, too? Racists and fascists and sadists is a lot more poetic. Jihadists? Probably no one would believe that. Elitists? I'm open to suggestions here, people.

I got to the gym in time to see Newcastle's equalizer and Bale's winner, both of which were very nice goals.

We need a third thing for that list. Could they be sadists, too? Racists and fascists and sadists is a lot more poetic. Jihadists? Probably no one would believe that. Elitists? I'm open to suggestions here, people.

A valid critique. Maybe racists and fascists and thugs? You want a one-syllable word for the rhythm of it.

I like how amazed the announcer is that a club called Sporting Kansas City exists. A stifled chuckle, for sure.

At least he didn't have to say "Real Salt Lake." The plan with Sporting KC was to also have a pro lacrosse team and some other teams as well, be an actual "sporting club" FWIW. I don't know if they've actually followed up on that or not.

STOKE THINK FACTORY

Another offensive explosion, they have 2 goals today.

A valid critique. Maybe racists and fascists and thugs? You want a one-syllable word for the rhythm of it.

Racists and fascists and thugs, oh my!

Lazio is evil. Their fans are racists and fascists.

Can't get away without agreeing that they are the absolute worst. If Spurs fans had just decided to start punching every Lazio shirt during Europa last year, it would have been mourned by absolutely no one.

Good win from Chelsea. Azipiliucueta was an absolutely great signing. He'll be challenging for top RB in the Prem in a year. Super composed, solid challenger and wonderful crosser. Cahill and Ivanovich worry me. Torres actually played well today, but that man has just been cursed about everything except his wage bill and great hair.

Lazio are traditionally the club of the monied classes in Rome (to the extent such people care about football), while Roma are the "club of the people", but racists, fascists and the haute bourgeoisie doesn't work as well.

Then again, given that it seems increasingly clear that Lazio ultras were behind the cowardly and brutal attacks on Spurs supporters at Campo dei Fiori, "thugs" works.

Just got back from walking in the snow. What are Southampton playing at? Mancini out!

That Gareth Barry own goal was pretty hilarious.

The internet does not wait for anything

Barry's own goal. He slotted that home nicely.

Man City are as close to falling out of a CL spot as they are to Man U now. The Guardian MBM folk speculate they miss Nigel De Jong, but I think Balotelli's non-presence this season hurt them, too. He brought a bit of the chaotic last year that saved points in several games.

Why does Mancini like to sub off Silva for Maicon when he's chasing a goal?

10 man Dortmund having a rough day against Hamburglar.

My new binky, Son Heung-Min, was a BVB slayer again today: another brace, giving him four goals in two league games against Dortmund this season.

If he's starting to think about a move this summer, as has been rumored, Tottenham should be all over that like a bad haircut on Freund. The kid is going to be extremely good very soon.

Utterly terrible defense by Napoli on that first goal. Nice chest control and a composed finish by Floccari, but he shouldn't have had even half the time on the ball he did. Two defenders were between Floccari and the goal, neither marked him and then they both hesitated before half-heartedly attempting to close him down.

Newcastle look solid again. I think they may make an assault on the top half by the end of the year.

They can't defend for #### right now though. They are going to have to figure that out before they make a run anywhere.

I do think the transfers have saved them from a relegation battle though. They look very dangerous on the attack and should only get better when Ben Arfa returns.

Speaking of relegation, it's looking more and more like a four team battle. Southampton finally got the deserved three points and look far too solid to drop the six point lead over both Wigan and Villa. The aforementioned Francophiles seem safe and Norwich, Sunderland, Fulham and West Ham seem to have too big of lead to be caught at this point (although Fulham sucks right now). My guess is Wigan gets their #### together and makes it out of the bottom, but it's anyone's guess at this point.

Rafa has big gonads rotating Mata as much as he does. Gotta give that to him.

He was sick according to the official Twitter. He did sub though so who knows?

Man City are as close to falling out of a CL spot as they are to Man U now. The Guardian MBM folk speculate they miss Nigel De Jong, but I think Balotelli's non-presence this season hurt them, too. He brought a bit of the chaotic last year that saved points in several games.

I think Tevez could do the same thing, but he has seemed to have had a falling out again. He was said to be with family, but Balotelli supposedly had a virus for about a month too. I am not a big fan of Dzeko on this team as he seems to basically clog up the middle more the facilitate the fluidity of Silva and Aguero (and Tevez when he plays). He seems like a better fit elsewhere.

And yeah, the definitely miss De Jong. Cork and Schneiderlein just dominated today. Puncheon also ate Clichy alive and then performed a wiping his ass routine after his goal (nice allusion to his mid match break a few weeks back). Toure also looked absolutely spent, not surprising giving his ACN responsibilities.

Also, no idea why Garcia started at the back today. Nastasic has been solid if a bit inconsistent as of late. Still though he's better than Garcia who should have been playing in Barry's spot.

If Nasty and Tevez were truly unavailable I probably would have went with 3 in the back with Kolarov and Milner on the wings and Garcis as the deep mid. If Toure was going to play, I would have played him up front where maybe he doesn't have to work as hard. Or play Sinclair. Try something.

City are done. I think Mancini is done as well. Tevez and Dzeko are probably gone. Maybe Nasri too. Will be an interesting offseason at the Ethiad.

Barry's own goal. He slotted that home nicely.

That is amazing. Reminds me of this.

Sermanni's first game in charge of the USWNT tonight/right now. Apparently the US Soccer stream online works globally, so I'm watching a bit of it.

Very much enjoyed Lazio-Napoli. The strike on the equalizer was kind of ridiculous. It's not like my world needs more sports, but I could definitely get into the Italian football.

Hugo Lloris makes a huge difference on this side. I think a case can be made for him as the best keeper in the Premier League this season. He twice bailed out the occasionally porous back line today with amazing quickness off his line.

Hugo is pretty incredible. Obviously Bale is Tottenham's seminal individual talent right now, but I think Adebayor, Dembele, Sandro, and Lloris are the four who have the most influence over whether the AVB system really works. Magnifique!

Dempsey's not a #9, but contrary to a bunch of Spurs fans, I think he put in a good shift today. Worked very hard pressing, held up the ball, and played a couple of very cute little passes inside the box that easily could have produced a goal.

He disappeared after moving to the left when Adebayor came on, but I think that's mainly...wait for it...AVB's fault! Clint was obviously gassed, and I'm not sure why Holtby was taken off instead of him. I guess AVB trusts a tired Dempsey to control the left flank better than Holtby. Dempsey hardly got involved in the attacks at all after that, I think because he knew he had very little left in the tank and didn't want to get caught upfield with no chance to recover.

If Ade's out of the doghouse now, I'd quite like to see him get some time with Holtby and Sigurdsson. Those are the guys who can really bring the sexytime.