A disconnect between grand ideas on the bench and on-pitch realities is a big problem in a league that wants instant evolution.
Ståle Solbakken already under pressure as defeat leaves Köln bottom.
SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Raphael Honigstein in Germany
A disconnect between grand ideas on the bench and on-pitch realities is a big problem in a league that wants instant evolution.
Ståle Solbakken already under pressure as defeat leaves Köln bottom.
Americans Abroad: Maurice Edu scores and gets a red card in a match, Timothy Chandler creates a goal
Goal.com takes a look at what some of the best Americans playing abroad were able to do over the past week.
Sid Lowe in Spain
Pep Guardiola was telling the truth all those years ago when he told the midfielder he would one day wear Barcelona's No4 shirt.
Barcelona's prodigal son, Cesc Fábregas, returns home at last.
Tim Vickery in South America
One of my favourite pieces of football writing is by the splendid Argentine coach Angel Cappa, a romantic of the old school, reflecting on his good fortune at being in Spain to watch Brazil’s midfield in the 1982 World Cup. “The ball arrived in this zone [midfield],” he wrote, “and would then disappear to reappear in the form of a rabbit and also a dove and then was hidden again from anguished opponents who would look for it in the most unlikely places without being able to find it….
"The crowd, myself included, looked at the watch with the intention of making time stand still because we all wanted the game to last for ever.”
Since then, though, no one has really been able to write about Brazil in quite the same terms. Not through any lack of quality - in the last 30 years the production line of great attacking full backs and magnificent strikers has been working overtime.
The Question: How long can Spain's football dynasty last?
The success and technical expertise of Spain's youth sides suggest the country will rule football for the next decade at least.
Uli Hesse in Germany
Somehow I doubt he thinks about this day very often, but I once played football against Nuri Sahin - and won. It's not like we were playing in opposing teams in some scribes- versus-soccer-stars charity extravaganza. No, it was a proper one-on-one: just him and me and a ball and one of those "Torwand" contraptions. (A target wall with two holes.)
Monday Night Football: Reports & Analyses
Manchester City
4 - 0
Swansea City
Richard Jolly at the Etihad Stadium
Five reasons for Swansea fans to be cheerful
Monday, August 15, 2011
Robbie Keane joins LA Galaxy
Tottenham striker Robbie Keane has made a reported £3.5 million move to Los Angeles Galaxy on a two-year deal worth about $9.75 million.
Monday Night Football: Manchester City vs. Swansea City
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is anticipating a tough evening when his side host newly-promoted Swansea.
Spanish Super Cup: Barcelona and Real Madrid share four goals
Real Madrid and Barcelona shared four goals in a thrilling 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.
Having hogged the headlines for a number of bad-tempered clashes last season, the two played out a game refreshingly void of late challenges and mass-brawls. Another surprise saw Real adopt the role of the cultivated passing side out of the two, opening the scoring through Mesut Ozil and then levelling through Xabi Alonso.
Monday MLS Breakdown
The Crew invited scrutiny with its radical offseason overhaul, but it has produced results with its cohesive and diligent defensive shape.
Breakdown
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel's father abducted in Nigeria
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel played in yesterday's goalless draw at Stoke despite knowing his father had been abducted back in his Nigeria homeland.
Dominic Raynor: Off The Ball
Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories. This week, Balotelli-plagued Roberto Mancini says he needs to see a psychologist, Mexico's Omar Arellano poos his pants during a game, Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is packed off to fat camp and Turkish side Sivasspor FC daub themselves in the blood of a slaughtered sheep.
The Trawler: Bates Hits Back
Welcome to The Trawler, your weekly submersion through the teeming waters of life in the Championship, League One and League Two. You might be surprised what you find down there.
England: Premier League Weekend Review, Reports and Analyses
There was disappointment for some of the Premier League's big guns as the season got underway, while holders Manchester United were made to scrap for three points. Reigning champions United managed to bag a maximum haul with a 2-1 win at West Brom but only after a Shane Long equaliser gave them a scare. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Chelsea dropped two points at Newcastle and Stoke respectively, with both encounters ending in goalless draws. And QPR endured a tough introduction to the top-flight, suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Bolton.
Review
Liverpool 1 - 1 Sunderland
Andy Hunter at Anfield
Newcastle 0 - 0 Arsenal
Louise Taylor at St. James' Park
West Brom 1 - 2 Manchester United
Stuart James at The Hawthorns
Stoke City 0 - 0 Chelsea
Richard Jolly at the Britannia Stadium
Kevin McCarra at the Britannia Stadium
Five Things We Learned
Five Things We Learned II
Team of the Week
Team of the Week II
Cesc Fábregas signs Barcelona contract to finalise Arsenal departure
Cesc Fábregas has signed a five-year contract with Barcelona, finally sealing his departure from Arsenal, the Spanish club has announced. The midfielder, who has had a €200m (over £175m) buy-out clause inserted in his contract, arrived at Camp Nou on Monday morning after undergoing a medical and is now set to be presented to local media. Barcelona posted a comment on their official Twitter feed which read: "Cesc has signed his contract which ties him to Barcelona until 2016. The buy-out clause is 200 million euros."
After penning his contract with the Catalan club Fábregas, wearing the No4 shirt, was presented to the fans at Camp Nou.
Breaking the bank for Cesc
The Fifth Official
Given the lavish three-month build up and incessant hype I expected myself to be near-catatonic by this point on Sunday night, gently frothing at the mouth due to the frantic, awe-inspiring quality offered up by the league that isn't shy in declaring itself the best in the world. Yet the best league in the known universe - better even than The Human League or The League of Gentlemen - served up a whopping 13 goals, three 0-0 draws and two red cards. In fact, all it did do was reinforce a raft of long-held stereotypes:
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