Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong The sabremetrics revolution has slowly begun to infiltrate soccer and, as it did with baseball, statistical measurements of the base elements of the game have begun to become commonplace on the field as well as in the management suites. The major soccer clubs of Europe, the U.S., and Canada are all striving to use advanced measurements of the basics of the game to give themselves a leg-up in their leagues, where so […]
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The big news of the night was that allegedly Napoli have reached a deal with Chelsea to sell Edinson Cavani for a mere pittance of £49m. Early this morning Cavani’s agent denied that a deal was done, but with the amount of detail coming out and from where, all everyone needs to do is sign on the dotted line Story here Congratulations Toronto fans, you’re getting a Serie A friendly! Waking the Red is reporting that the team will announce […]
The summer is a terrible time for Serie A fans in the U.S. and Canada. Your favorite team is months away from playing a meaningful match. Your news feed is filled with rumors and transfer talk, about 97% of which was never a realistic possibility. The Azzurri are playing, but most of those players are guys you actively despise during the season. So what is a fan to do? For the first time ever, there may be a realistic alternative […]
Quite a wild one yesterday, as Italy survives to defeat Japan in the Confederations Cup 4-3 attacking battle. With a spot secured in the semifinals, this weekend’s hyped Brazil match will be for the top spot in the group, not a small prize. Two of my favorite writers summarized this one: Richard Farley and Gabe Marcotti Ahead of their match-up, Brazil’s Thiago Silva shares that he misses playing professionally in Italy. Napoli is acting proactively to lock-up young up and […]
Starting off today with homage to the little fish! The Hard Tackle took a look this weekend at the three teams being promoted to Serie A and analyzes their chances of staying up. A really good read, but be sure you dedicate a little time to read it. Speaking of Sassuolo, those concerned about where the team would play during their Serie A season can rest at ease. ITV has more details A stiker is leaving Napoli! No, not that […]
Big win for Italy yesterday as they defeated Mexico 2-1 in their first Confederations Cup match. Andrea Pirlo notched his 100th international goal on a lovely free kick. Danny Penza has an analysis and gif of the goal AC Milan has been advertising that while they are building from the inside, they are not a selling club. However, clubs are circling trying to snatch Stephan El Shaarawy away from them. Sumeet Paul suggests that AC Milan should aggressively protect the […]
It’s Confederations Cup time, and for an Azzurri team looking to add to their World Cup trophy case, this is a prime opportunty to prepare for 2014. Playing in World Cup stadiums against top-notch competition, this is a great chance for Cesare Prandelli’s men to gain some momentum going into next year unlike the 2009 Confederations’ Cup. Here is ESPN’s preview of the tournament Fox Soccer has their ten players to watch during the tournament, and only Mario Balotelli makes […]
Bloomberg Sports yesterday released their “Football Power Index”, a ranking system they created that uses a 100 point scale to identify the 50 best players in the world. For Serie A fans, Andrea Pirlo comes in at #5 with Giorgio Chiellini (#7) and Marek Hamsik (#8) also in the top ten. All told, eleven Serie A players made the list. See the list HERE and explanation HERE AS Roma confirmed yesterday that Rudi Garcia will be their manager next season, […]
Italy swung by Haiti to play an international friendly for charity and the result was a 2-2 draw against a poor opponent. Enzo Misuraca breaks down the performance and grades some players. It’s the end of the line for an Italian legend, as Massimo Ambrosini will not have his contract renewed with Milan. A casualty of the club’s attempt to get younger, the captain joined the team in 1995 and has played with them ever since, save one season on […]
It was a mixed bag this weekend for Italian national teams, as the Azzurri drew 0-0 with the Czech Republic Friday in an important World Cup qualifier. Surprise, surprise, Mario Balotelli was a talking point as he was red carded in the match. Over the weekend, he explained himself, or tried to, via Twitter. Meanwhile, the U-21 team advanced to the semifinals of the European Championship with a 4-0 victory over Israel. The dark cloud to this sunny day was […]
Match fixing rears its ugly head again, as 33 people and an entire club (AS Bari) were called before a sports trial after being charged with fixing four game. You can read the details in Sports Illustrated. For me, this is personally saddening as a Bari fan that really began following the team during this time period and admired many of the names on this list. So Juventus fans, how do you feel about the Stevan Jovetic rumors? Well, if […]
This week’s issue of ESPN the Magazine in the states has an article examining race, culture, and racism in Serie A. By Wright Thompson, the well-researched story examines different parts of Italy and how changing demographics have led to some of the recent (and historical) ugly incidences in Italian soccer. I think it is unfair that the article does not fully put the issue into a European context, and as a consequence makes Serie A look less racially tolerant than […]
