Archive for the ‘Soccer’ Category

Southampton teenager Alex Young Oxlade Chamberlain completed his move to Arsenal, ending months of speculation. The Gunners have signed for an undisclosed amount, reported that about 12 million pounds in advance, with 3 million pounds in addons. The registration fee is received by Southampton for a player. Arsenal also announced on their official website that Oxlade Chamberlain had signed a contract for a period.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who turns 18 next week, is considered one of the most promising players in England and was hired by the Saints until 2013. Young, who scored nine times last season for the South Coast club, is often compared to Theo Walcott, who coincidentally also moved from Southampton to Arsenal early in his career. Manchester United and Liverpool were reportedly interested in signing Chamberlain, but the policy of blooding young talent Arsenal said they were always ahead in the race to sign him.

Oxlade-Chamberlain becomes the third summer signing from Arsenal after Carl Jenkinson and Gervinho. First, the Gunners’ Premier League game is against Newcastle next week.

I would write a thesis learned in the great clash of titans.
But it was done.
Here

Jose Mourinho says he is “less happy” to Barcelona with the election of Monday referee Iturralde Gonzalez game.Eduardo has refereed two matches between the teams, with Barcelona winning on both occasions in 1999 and 2005.
Third time lucky for Real Madrid?

When asked about his MLS future in a pre-match interview before the All Stars game, Landon Donovan gave a very non-committal answer which gave the distinct impression that he might be looking elsewhere.

Now, the buzz is that he will leave for Everton before the transfer period closes down by end August.

“I would love to go back to Everton. I love the people there, I love the fans there, but that said I love being in America too, so we’re going to take everything into account and see where it ends up.”

This runs contrary to Don Garber’s thinking for the MLS to deepen its bonds with the US soccer fan, a player like Donovan has to be off limits.

“We need to deepen the connection between the American fan as an MLS fan first and a Premier League fan second,” said Garber.

“In order to do that, we need our best American players here. We need somebody like Landon, who has grown up in southern California, who is bi-lingual, almost like Captain America for our national team, somebody who is really inspiring a nation of soccer fans.”

Garber is looking at it from the wrong perspective. One needs to define, “Who is an American fan?” This is not one size fits all. The extant of the cultural and ethnic demographic that defines an American fan is wide and varied.

This is soccer, the world’s game after all- many Hispanic fans watched Cuauhtemoc Blanco because he is Mexican but they could easily give Donovan a pass. On the other hand, Thierry Henry is going to attract a wide spectrum of fans because he is a global superstar.

Garber is giving us a prescription for ” a So Cal, bi-lingual, Captain America type figure” conveniently forgetting that for soccer to grow we have to go beyond these labels- first, for many these are bits of cultural flotsam and jetsam and secondly, many fans have other icons in mind when they come to watch club soccer.

That is because soccer can’t be transported back 50 years to a Knute Rockne, all American hero era. The soccer heroes of today are an amalgam of the present demographic realities of this country. Local associations make much more difference when we talk about strengthening bonds between fans and their club. We need more partisans, more rivalries.

Garber’s statements are actually counterproductive because it suggests a familiar trap, the “one player makes the league” type of thinking which defined the David Beckham signing. We can’t weigh players down with these unrealistic expectations.

A growing league builds its connection on a two way traffic: On its imports and exports. Donovan, the public face of the MLS, has built his reputation in what can be considered a second tier league. It is a huge vote of confidence that a big European club wants him.

The fans want to watch this talent before they leave overseas- it drives up attendances and deepens the bond between the fan and his club. They can also look forward to Donovan’s replacement. A homegrown talent could step in or the MLS could go outside to sign a big name. Or Donovan could come back in a few seasons, now a true legend, to a transformed league and to an even wider audience.

Either way, it means that we are looking at a dynamic league, a league that will go on making inroads and deepening associations irrespective of whether a player even as singular as Donovan commits to an MLS future or casts his eyes across the pond. An Everton future means that the national team can benefit from an even better Donovan. It just comes back to this old CSNY song.

The USA’s final lap at Philadelphia before departing for SA

Danny Jordaan, the CEO of South Africa’s World Cup Committee had a message for the US on their arrival at Oliver Tambo International Airport.

“The USA won the hearts of many South Africans when they made it to the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup last year and we welcome them back to South Africa. With over 136,000 tickets already sold to their fans, the USA will be followed by many passionate fans in the coming weeks,” said Jordaan

The US is back to the country where they achieved their greatest international success a year ago. Bob Bradley talks about the advantage of being in familiar surroundings.

As for success, Sir Alex Ferguson is picking the USA to be the second team behind England of course, to progress to the round of 16. He got a look at both Donovan and Dempsey when Everton and Fulham recorded memorable victories against Man Utd.

Meanwhile, each US player when arriving at the hotel in Pretoria got a brightly coloured vuvuzela as a gift. Hope they have enough breath left for their first training session.

The Academy of Porn: David Gold and David Sullivan

These two should have stuck to making their porn.

At Birmingham, they did nothing but interfere with Steve Bruce’s selection choices. Alex McLeish hated their guts. Birmingham is better off without the burlesque.

Now they are going behind Gianfranco Zola’s back and making bids on players without his knowledge. Sullivan and Gold have also declared all of West Ham’s players are on sale except Steve Parker. Now these really classy moves impress the heck out of coaches.

These jokers don’t know that Zola is West Ham’s best bet to achieve respectability. Gold maybe the good cop to Sullivan’s bad cop but in the end you just end up being a fluffer for these two.

Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi is set to reject a new one-year extension, and join Parma at the end of the season.

According to Qsvs.it, the Rossoneri have already prepared a contract for the 36-year-old, whose current deal expires in the summer.

However, despite Milan’s efforts to keep him, Inzaghi is focused on playing regularly, and he has been pondering the prospect of joining Parma.

Gialloblu patron Tommaso Ghirardi is good friends with Inzaghi, who would be first choice at the club.

The hitman is expected to start Wednesday’s Coppa Italia clash against Novara alongside Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as Leonardo rests Marco Borriello and Ronaldinho.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has said that colleague Cristiano Ronaldo apologised to the squad in the dressing room after his red card in the 4-2 win over Almeria on Saturday evening.

Madrid had to fight back from 2-1 down against Hugo Sanchez’s plucky side, but despite netting the clinching goal Ronaldo was dismissed following a kick at Juan Ortiz that saw him pick up his second bookable offence.

Ronaldo had moments earlier missed a penalty, and seeing red means that the Portuguese star will miss the trip to Valencia next weekend, but French striker Benzema said that CR9 was remorseful after the match, and that his team-mates accepted his words of apology.

He told journalists in the post-match press conference, “In the dressing room he told us he was sorry, what happened is something that can happen to anyone.

“Surely he was disappointed for missing the penalty, but he is a great professional and he wants the team to win.”

Ronaldo has only just returned to first-team action following a persistent ankle injury that had kept him out of action for two months of the campaign.

As an athlete and sports buff most of my life I get sick of hearing people point out an outstanding athlete and say, “He has genetics? or “He was born being able to play like that?. Really, so O.J. Simpson who was suffered from being bowlegged due to vitamin deficiencies was born to be one of the best running backs in American football?

The truth of the matter is that the single thing that makes every great athlete a great athlete is practice. Soccer is no different; the greats Pele, Ronaldo, and Beckham all have this in common. They practiced constantly to the point of exhaustion and beyond. It is practice that gives you both the skill and the confidence to be able to make the passes and the shots that make all the difference in a game. If you want to be a greatsoccer player then you must commit yourself to daily practice from now on.

The aspect of being in excellent physical condition is another crucial part of soccer with aerobic conditioning being the forefront. If you become tired and cannot run at your peak for an entire game then you need better conditioning. Soccer practice focuses on developing your skill and technique. Your skill is identified as your ability to execute particular techniques which are taught such as a trap, throw, or kick. It is through consistent and regimented practicing that a player is able to develop the skill and confidence to play at a superior level.

Always have a plan for the objectives that you want to meet before you begin your practice sessions. Having an exact format and plan for your time will keep you from wasting time and not knowing what to do next. Have goals that have to be attained, once you attain them set them higher. It is best to have a friend or someone who shares your zeal for the sport to practice with you, especially when you are trying to improve your kicking technique. If you are unable to get someone to practice with you focus kicking a specific area of the ball to make it go where you want. You can also kick the ball into a particular spot on a wall if you don?t have a buddy to kick to.

Another important aspect of soccer is ball control. One good way to practice ball control is to set up cones and zigzag your way through them dribbling the ball and try not to stop or even slow down. This drill will help you when it comes to having to dribble down a soccer field in an actual game where you have to dodge other players.

As with any sport you can also learn quite a lot by watching other players closely. If you have a favorite position, watch a game and focus on that player and learn how he executes his technique. Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to becoming a greatsoccer player.

Wayne Rooney is one of a clutch of Manchester United players set to return on Saturday.

Manchester United’s makeshift squad returned from last night’s Champions League victory at Wolfsburg bolstered by the news that several established names are due to return against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side beat the German champions without 15 senior players, 13 of them out with illness or injury but Nemanja Vidic, below, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney are all scheduled to return at home to Villa.

With injury ruling out Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans and John O’Shea until the new year and Wes Brown also unavailable, Ferguson will, however, be forced once again to field two midfielders in his defence. “With Vidic coming back [from flu] I should be able to have a back four of Darren Fletcher, Vidic, Michael Carrick and Patrice Evra against Villa,” said United’s manager who, unusually, fielded a back three in Wolfsburg where Evra was his sole recognised defender.

However, a United source has has dismissed reports that Ferguson could be ready to sign the former England central defender and current free agent Sol Campbell, who left Notts County in September, as “nonsense”.

It will be fascinating to see whether Michael Owen, scorer of a hat-trick during the 3-1 win in Germany that ensured United topped Champions League qualifying Group B, holds his starting place on Saturday when both Rooney and Berbatov are scheduled to return following hamstring and knee injuries respectively

How many times have you heard it shouted from the soccer coach’s and soccer parents? “Don’t kick with your toe, use your laces.” Sounds like a simple request, but most people working with youth soccer players find this to be a major stumbling point.

Don’t feel bad if you have a soccer player or soccer team that is struggling with the basics of kicking a soccer ball or passing. I have had the pleasure of working with some of the greatest youth coaches that hold a C - A certification and they struggle with the same issue. One of the biggest problems with teaching the correct soccer kick form is that people see this as one simple issue. In our research we found that there are several issues that need to be dealt with.

If you start as we did on the Blast The Ball video, you start with the “evolution of the soccer kick”. You MUST learn WHY youth soccer players kick with their toe before you can correct it. Simply telling them to switch to a “lace kick” will not only confuse them and frustrate them, but may also cause serious physical injury.

Pointing the toe DOWN will cause the toe to impact the ground and cause a horrible strain to the top of the foot. This injury will last for several days, but more importantly the psychological impact will last for months. They will fear performing this kick because they know, “it hurts”.

Learning how to “shorten the leg” through a V swing and starting with an angle kick is the first step. This allows the soccer player to freely move their foot through the ball without fear of “hitting the ground”. Yes this takes time and must be done at a slow pace, but after they learn this method it will be automatic and become a muscle memory.

The next step is to make sure that players get the feeling of LOADING their leg prior to starting the kick. One of the simplest movements yet least understood movements in soccer today is the Soccer Hop. When we show it to professional soccer players, they are simply amazed. They find themselves “soccer hopping” around their living room.

Sadly we often hear many in the youth soccer community say, “kids learn soccer by playing the game”. I think this is one of the most detrimental phrases in youth soccer today. How many golfers (hackers) are 60+ years old and still hitting a bad slice? They have over 8000 hours of “playing time” yet haven’t learned a thing. On the reverse side, why is it that the top golfers in the world spend hours upon hours at the driving range refining their skills when they are already at the top of their sport?

They understand like we in youth soccer need to understand this important point.
You learn the GAME of soccer by playing the game. It creates overall awareness, creativity and teamwork.
You learn the needed SKILLS to play the game by programming muscle memory and correct swing (kicking) thoughts until they become instinctive.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in youth soccer coaching today is the lack of a “step-by-step system” or understanding to teach players basic kicking skills. When we created www.BlastTheBall.com we were dedicated to making it as thorough as possible. We wanted everysoccer player, soccer coach and soccer parent to understand every part of kicking form and ball flight.

Remember that all great athletes work on refining individual movements. They then take those movements to their sport so they can be at the top of their game.