Recent Posts

World Cup - International

Like Christmas in June: the World Cup!

It’s very easy to conflate futebole with the widespread euphoria of the holidays, especially when you’re sitting in a church service given entirely in the beautiful language of Portuguese, a language which I have a very tenuous grasp of at best (with special thanks to Manu Chao and Little Joy, […]

USMNT / World Cup

Freddy Adu, what now?

The new coach at Belenenses in Portugal decided to release Freddy Adu back to Benfica recently. This can’t be considered a good loan spell because Freddy Adu rarely saw the field at Belenenses. His experience was very similar to his time at Monaco in France. Both of these loan stints […]

Mourinho sees England return in future
England / English Premier League

Mourinho sees England return in future

His second comeback in as many days. The current Inter Milan coach claimed “I love it here, I love it here, I love it here” after taking in his former club’s 2-1 defeat of Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Monday.  The ex-Chelsea boss said “I believe I will be back […]

Soccer News Roundup
Daily news roundups

Soccer News Roundup

Freddy Adu on the move again, as Portugal’s last place team reportedly ends his loan and sends him back to Benfica, Goal.com reports. In related news, Twitter explodes. Belgium team Excelsior Mouscron kicked out of Belgium’s top division after collapsing mid-season with debts of €800,000, according to ESPN. All their […]

Very Nice, Readers!
Fan Culture

Very Nice, Readers!

Soccer fans everywhere anxiously await the second half of the season. January arrives with a new transfer window: a month-long binge in the footy speak-easy, where clubs gamble on high-priced additions who are all described as The Missing Piece (did Afonso Alves really cost Middlesbrough over 10 million pounds?). It’s […]

Legal Handballs
English Premier League / Fan Culture

Legal Handballs

Last week, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger commented that throw-ins may be the wrong way to restart play from the sidelines. Wenger argues that the throw-in gives an unfair advantage to teams who feature long throwers, noting that soccer is a game played with the feet. The Arsenal manager somewhat obliquely […]

No rules on soccer-specific stadiums
MLS / Union

No rules on soccer-specific stadiums

When it comes to Major League Soccer stadiums, the rules have changed. No longer must you bring a soccer-specific stadium to the party to get a team. You don’t need grass. You needn’t even control multipurpose revenues from non-soccer events, which was once a precursor to gaining an expansion team […]

Daily news roundups

Soccer news roundup

Some soccer news from the weekend: DaMarcus Beasley comes back to earth with an injury, while Maurice Edu returns to the field, USA Today reports. D.C. United to hire Curt Onalfo as head coach, according to the Washington Post and Soccer by Ives. David Beckham is in Milan, everyone reports. Stop the presses! Americans Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard […]

MLS / Union

The Union – Behind the Bench

With the addition of Goalkeeping Coach Rob Vartughian on December 17th, the Philadephia Union now has what many would consider to be a full coaching staff. This seems like an appropriate time to take a closer look at the men behind the bench. Piotr (Peter) Nowak – Head Coach – […]

Fan Culture

My Team of the Decade

The end of the decade brings with it a lot of really annoying end-of-the-decade lists.  Everyone from the Guardian to Soccernet to the guy from your indoor team is compiling their world football team of the decade.  While these carefully selected lists include some of the greatest players ever to […]