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What about Dutch coaches? Dutch coaches are all over the place. They seem to have a lot of success everywhere - it just can't be the fact that they are multilingual.
I think British coaches (and players) usually don't leave England because there are very few places that would pay better than any of the "big" English clubs. I can only think of McClaren, Hodgson, & Robson who has managed outside of England.
I really don't think that it should be controversial to state that Continental managers (in general) are more tactically sophisticated than their English colleagues. In fact, one of the reasons why the FA hired Hodgson was the thought that he would be able to use his experience and the facilities and infrastructure being built at Burton to try to narrow that gap. There is, of course, more to being a successful manager than tactics, which is why the "better" assertion is more contentious.
The Budweiser thing is bizarre. I wonder if they are thinking about things like Old Timers' Games.
Dutch managers are multilingual and all come out of the 4-3-3 Cruyff school, which means they get a lot of opportunities for jobs as boards/chairmen love to bring in managers who play attacking ball.
I don't think England's that bad at the fitness part, or the teambuilding part (I don't think ritiro is the secret English football doesn't know about) but tactics and skills they definitely lag behind.
It's getting better - I've seen it with my own eyes at coaching sessions - but there's a lot of bad habits to be undone, and it will take a long time. The FA's move to finally adopt smaller pitches for youth games and disband leagues will help a lot too.
To be fair, the Italian game does deserve to get sneered at. And as much as they do sneer, it's not even in the same ballpark as to how much the German's sneer at the English game.
My only concern is what happens if Germany doesn't make it to the final. There will be blood. A 14/16 year drinking age won't help. I plan on hitting small, small towns for the German quarters/semis. The fireworks after every German goal, regardless of town, have been nice, but I think they might turn into bigger bombs with a German loss.
Whenever I see Spain and Italy in the same sentence, I have to reflect upon the wisdoms of Loddar Mathäus: "Mailand oder Madrid - Hauptsache Italien!"
I'd lay some money on the Czechs. I'm seeing 5-to-1 odds for a Czech win against Portugal, and that seems like a pretty good bet. Portugal played very well through three games, but they have flaws, and the Czechs are a reasonable side.
I think the odds are pretty reasonable, the Czechs have really gone downhill for some years and Rosicky won't start. I would have gone for the draw if anything, it pays pretty well here and you can always expect a spirited defense from even a mediocre team in a do-or-die match. I have done the exact opposite, however, and bet on over 2.5 goals at 2.26. Sure, elimination games tend to be tighter, but these two teams can both score and ship goals.
But there's more to it than pure scoring -- what percentage of goals in Serie A come on set pieces? Last I checked it was enormous. Italian football is bar none the most dreadfully stultifying brand at the top level, and should be sneered at by all and sundry.
The German game is great, though. Fun and tough both. If I spoke German, I'd watch mostly Bundesliga games, probably.
For example, at this Euro Group A winner would play 6 games in 23 days including 2 extra days off between their quarter and semi-final games. Group D teams by contrast would play 6 games in 19 days and the winner would have a 2 day disadvantage between the quarter and semi. In fact, in a hypothetical England vs. Portugal final (I know) Portugal would play 3 games in 11 days while England would play 3 in 8. That seems like a big edge.
Take it to the World Cup from 2010;
Uruguay (Group A winner) 7 games in 32 days
Spain (Group D winner) 7 games in 26 days (obviously it didn't hurt)
Knockout stages
Uruguay (if they made the finals) 4 games in 16 days
Spain 4 games in 13 days
Now Spain gives lie to my little theory here but I'd be curious if anyone has ever looked into it.
Just to get a bit into it, the two biggest surprises that I'm aware of in recent memory; Greece 2004 and Denmark 1992 both came from Group A (well, "Group 1" technically for Denmark). Denmark was in the days of a 16 day tournament and the differences were minor. Greece though is an interesting case supporting the theory. Both they and Portugal came out of Group A, both beat Group D teams in the semis.
So, when Greece beat the Dutch in the Semis they were playing their 5th game in 19 days while the Dutch were playing their 5th in 16 days. Portugal had a similar edge (5 in 20) against Czech Republic (5 in 17).
I dunno, talking out my ass again.
"Sophisticated", there is a word that sticks in my craw, what does it even mean in the context of tactics? Apart from distinguishing between what English and continental managers do, and is there really a difference in 2012?
It's an old cliché, but there's not nearly enough national homogeneity to make a convincing case for that, not today. Kevin Keegan was as dismissive of tactics as one can be, and maybe it's telling that he got the England job. But there are no more Keegans and Joe Royles in English football, they have all computerized and added analysts to the staff now. For all his looks, Sam Allardyce is as sophisticated tactically as any Italian coach around.
I enjoy Serie A. I just hope Al Jazeera would sort their #### out by August.
Yep, nothing like watching Stoke score from throw-ins or Martin O'Neill teams whip in crosses. Thrilling stuff!
I'm offended that you didn't mention Alex McLeish, last season wasn't worth it if we can't at least get into the horror team hall of fame.
Wait, you're criticizing the Serie A in favor of the Premier League by saying there's too many set piece goals? Pull the other one, mate.
Serie A isn't what it used to be, in especially in the period from Platini joining Juve roughly until the Juve-Milan Champions League final in 2003. It was the best league in the world then, bar none. But it's still technically formidable and the tactics are still innovative (Serie A teams have been experimenting with three at the back for a while now, Milan's Christmas tree, Spalletti and Roma's 4-6-0, etc). I enjoy English football, obviously, but you do see as many bad passes in 15 minutes as you see in entire Serie A games sometimes.
And the quality of the defending, as ever, is excellent. Italian defenders are usually pretty cultured too, and good at playing the ball out of trouble rather than just kicking it into Row Z, as many English defenders still lapse into at times. Italy still gets a bad rap for the catenaccio period, and not enough credit for the really elegant play that comes from the gioco all'Italiana.
If I had to lay money on it, I would bet that the more rested team would generally have a higher win %, but where it gets tricky would be figuring out whether or not so-called "underdogs" in such scenarios benefit from being the "extra rest" team in a given match.
The good news is there probably is finite data to look at, even if you considered all of the continents and went back to, say, 1950 (or whatever you might want to define as the "modern" era). There's enough of these that you might even get useful data going back to just 1980 or so.
Portugal: Patricio; Pereira, Pepe, Alves, Coentrao; Meireles, Veloso, Moutinho; Nani, Postiga, Ronaldo
No surprises here.
Not that I didn't know that before.
I don't fully agree, but it's a good read.
EDIT: Also, it has video of the 1953 England-Hungary game. Definitely a different time.
Yup. Zonal Marking does it again!
I wish Spurs could remember where the #### they're supposed to be on a set piece...
I didn't know that about chess, but then, I know even less about Chess than I do about soccer.
EDIT: GAH! Kudos/coke to you, DA Baracus! also, on the previous subject:
as a defensive-football-person, this is why I watch Serie A over other similar leagues, but I know I'm in the minority here
How much has the distance a keeper can kick a ball affected the game? Those old leather balls didn't fly for crap.
Well, you know, maybe if they had a manager who was sophisticated about such things . . .
I'd say the much, much lighter ball has had a more significant impact on other areas of the game than keeper distribution.
Schmeichel's throws were awesome, though.
EDIT: But who am I to doubt his ability to throw a heavy leather ball to the halfway line if needed?
If you were a super-rich athlete (I guess any super-rich male) why wouldn't you make a donation and just get a vasectomy?
Doesn't apply. Ronaldo was happy about the child*, he has full custody after all. The money was to have the mother give up any rights.
*) To absolutely no ones surprise, he is named Cristiano.
There's not much to talk about. The Czech are doing nothing and the Portuguese are squandering chances. Eventually Portugal will score or it will go to penalty kicks. The End.
Hey, look, Portugal scored. Fantastic cross from Moutinho and great movement from Ronaldo. No way to prevent that once Moutinho got past the defenders.
Yep.
But that's a very low bar.
The two of Gazza I've seen so far are each worth the price of admission all by themselves.
I was impressed by Waddle's mullet.
That thing will make you #### your pants in a combination of terror, awe, and lust the first time you see it.
Chris Waddle and Paul Gascoigne act natural in Santa suits
Mario Balotelli enjoys another quiet night in
Sam Allardyce, the real inspiration behind Billy Elliott
Kev shows off his trophy from the previous night, and a big metal cup
Kev takes a leak
I've seen that before but I just assumed everyone else already had!
It's looking very likely Modric is off to Real Madrid. It will be interesting to see who they replace him with. Dembele and Moutinho are the names I've heard a lot. Pienaar is still a Spurs player and Huddlestone should be fit, too. If AVB gets the job, I wonder if he'll feel pressed to even replace Modric as he can play Parker and Sandro with VDV as the middle of a 4-3-3 set up. I don't know, something tells me this team will be unrecognizable by August. It will also be interesting to see how Mourinho incorporates Modric into the team and if they keep Sahin around. Is it crazy to think they'll keep Sahin and Alonso might be the player on his way out? Of course, I'll be hoping Sahin is on his way to London as part of the package for Moddle.
We'll take him off your hands. Or, I should say, rescue him from your clutches!
I'll be glad when one of the respective Parkers leaves his respective teams so my news feed will stop getting clogged by useless NBA news.
The funny thing is, Highbury set new standards for stadiums. The North Bank stand was the first "retro" stand in the UK. They then built a stadium which, for all intents and purposes, is exactly the same stadium as Benfica's.
BORING.
The trade down was about five times as bad as that between the original Yankee Stadium and the current version.
Only if you're a Tottenham fan. SI isn't putting Scott Parker on their front page.
Fulham is going to sell Dempsey and Dembele? I don't see it.
I don't think Dempsey is going anywhere. Dembele only has a year left on his contract so he has some leverage if he wants to move. But, more importantly in this summer of Spurs turmoil, the AEG takeover rumors are starting up again. That would be 1000 times worse than Modric leaving and Alex McLeish getting hired to manage combined.
Is Battersea really dead for Chelsea? The winning bidders still have to prove they can turn their proposal into a reality and isn't there a non-zero chance they are full of crap?
I didn't realize Dembele only has a year left. So okay, I can see him moving. But that is why Dempsey will move, he too also only has a year left on his contract.
Fulham have some work to do! I saw the other day they already lost Pogrevnyak and Andy Johnson has moved on. Do they have any strikers now?
As it stands they're screwed if Dempsey leaves, he's the only player left on the roster who scored more than 3 goals. But he's made it very clear he will not be back after next season. So they have some shopping to do.
I wonder who will come in for him, though? He's at a funky age for a big money transfer and he means so much to Fulham they can't sell him for peanuts. Have you seen any rumors that seem substantial?
He's out of contract, though. I expected Fulham to make a big push to sign him because of that, and of course the looming sale (probably) of Dempsey.
The hope is that they are, but who knows, really? At the very least, they're in negotiations right now.
Regardless, I'm totally expecting them to turn Battersea into a factory for Cybermen, so I'm redefining "expecting the worst" on this one.
Marx is quite right. Socrates was clearly offside.
If they can't re-sign him then it's in their best interest to sell him for whatever they can get. I'd be surprised if he's at Fulham on February 1st without a new contract.
I pretty much ignore rumors unless they're hilariously bad.
It appears he is about to sign with Reading.
Maybe Low has decided that Schurrle and Reus give them a better matchup against Greece, because the bus will be parked. Anyone familiar with German football know what kind of players Reus and Schurrle are?
The bad news is, Spurs are going to lose and ruin my trip. I'm already shaking my fist at those worthless losers. They're all shite and don't deserve to wear the shirt! Serioulsy, though, I imagine the tension is going to be a little higher than when I saw them play Wolves.
Klose is better in the air than Gomez. I'm not sure how that works tactically, but Gomez has been fairly anonymous aside from his goals.
I am shaking my fist at you. Did you go through Thomas Cook or one of those tout websites?
Outstanding. When is the game? I want to put odds on if it'll be against Chelsea's latest interim manager.
It worked out that we needed a place for 2 nights because the holiday apartment we're staying in in Camden was only available to the 19th. So, since I needed a room anyway, I decided to Thomas Cook it instead of, erm, booking it.
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