mattwood040
Matthew Wood is a freelance sportswriter and blogger specialising in football and cricket; more of his commentary and analysis can be found at http://balancedsports.blogspot.com or you can follow him on Twitter @balanced_sports.
Could Spain’s second XI beat England?
While watching David Silva and Spain dismantle a dogged and compact Scotland on Wednesday, it struck me: this was hardly Spain’s best outfit and they were dominating. Silva cemented his bona fides as one of the top half-dozen players in world football and Spain, with a team featuring second-choice players like Thiago Alcantara, Jordi Alba…
Gasperini lastest victim of “Mourinho’s Curse”
With Gian Piero Gasperini’s dismissal as Inter Milan manager, the Mourinho’s Curse has claimed it’s latest victim. Since his appointment at FC Porto, full-time successors have struggled to cope with the expectations of a Mourinho coached side. Almost all have failed. It’s not necessarily a lack of results that drives the replacement of his replacements,…
The Need For Advanced Football Stats
As a sports fan living in America, you’re bombarded with statistics of increasing complexity across every sport – except football (or soccer, as the US calls it). Football analysis still relies on the same football statistics we’ve seen for years, which are generally cumulative totals. These totals can be of cards, shots, possession, corners –…
Champions League Preview: Real and Barca the teams to beat
It seems that in almost every aspect of the game, two clubs dominate the footballing world. They are Spanish super heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona. Any team boasting multiple stars is said to echo Real’s Galactico era, while teams – from League Two to the K-League – are said to be a mini-Barcelona. Even the…
Champions League Preview: Manchester Plots European Domination
Manchester City get the chance to finally – definitively – emerge from the shadow of their cross-town Red rivals as this year’s UEFA Champions League commences. They’ll do so with a team which, while not having ever competed in the the Champions’ League as a unit, possesses a significant amount of top-flight continental experience. United,…
Golden Generation or Fool’s Gold?
Barring an almighty flop, England will qualify for Euro 2012. They’ll do so in marginally convincing fashion, maybe even topping a group which while not robust, provided more challenging than first thought. Now, England manager Fabio Capello said he knew Tuesday’s performance against Wales would be sub-par from watching the players warm up. No-one’s championing…
John Aloisi: helping or hurting?
John Aloisi has been vocal in his suggestions the A-League is a hard place to win friends. He needs to realise it’s time to stop.
Was Luka Modric right to ask not to play?
The Guardian reported after Sunday’s match against Manchester City that Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric asked manager Harry Redknapp not to play. Allegedly, the Croatian said his “head was not right”, echoing Redknapp’s own words on the player from only a week before. That Spurs were defeated 5-1 at home (by a rampant City) is relevant,…
The next step for Financial Fair Play
It is fact that the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” in European football grows evermore larger. Last season in the English Premier League proved this adroitly when Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure reportedly earned more per week than the entire Blackpool squad. The same situation manifests itself in every league. Success breeds success:…
Mourinho out of time in Madrid?
Jose Mourinho has many gifts. For organisation, for having team buy into a philosophy, for quick quips and irritation. It’s perhaps fitting that a master of hyperbole has been pilloried by the more rampant sensationalists in the British media concerning his antics during and after the Spanish Supercup. As the four Clasicos in seventeen days…
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