Soccer Banter

Off The Ball

1. The streak is over. After 36 games across all competitions, the Houston Dynamo finally lost at home. Sporting KC was the first team since June 18, 2011 to leave Houston with all three points, winning 1-0. Nearly two years without losing a home game is pretty remarkable, but so it the overall home record of Houston, only losing 18 times at home, with 65 wins and 33 draws. Not too shabby for the team in Orange. Continue Reading

SAF: The Art of Coaching

As his managerial journey comes to an end, it would not do Sir Alex Ferguson justice to write an article summarizing his strengths as a coach. There are so many to mention, they would be better suited to a book. Instead, I will focus on two key areas that I feel were essential to his reign at Manchester United and domination of English soccer for the past twenty years. I have chosen these specific skills because I believe they can be developed and are not a result of working with the best players or being exposed to the best facilities. Understanding Alex Ferguson’s methods of management can give us an indication of just what it takes to be successful in professional management. He has probably never had an easy day in all his time at Old Trafford. Dealing with superstars is just as much work as dealing with amateur players. But the more you look at his career, the more you realize it has never been about him. Instead, it has been about the players he has led and the impact he has had on them on and off the field. Continue Reading

Extra Time

Gareth Bale is one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win English football’s Player of the Year Award. As a Spurs fan he has been great to watch, but only since the turn of the year. Before Christmas, Spurs best players were Aaron Lennon, Sandro, and Jan Vertonghen. Two players – Michu and Robin van Persie - are more worthy of consideration for the award than Bale. Michu’s goals helped Swansea City consolidate their Premier League status and also helped the Welsh club win the League Cup. However, the player of the year should be Robin van Persie whose goals have helped Manchester United regain the Premier league title. Where would United have been without him? And where would Arsenal be with him in their line up? Continue Reading

Sky Blue FC Interviews

March 12th marked the start of the NWSL preseason with my team Sky Blue FC. Leading up to the last day, exactly a month later, every aspect was abnormal to a typical professional soccer preseason. From the weather... snow flurries, extreme wind, and freezing cold to sunny, 80 degree weather to finally an epic hailstorm to close out preseason. To the availability of players... our U.S. and Canadian national team players sporadically making appearances; our Mexican national team players finally arriving for the last week of preseason; to our Australian and college players slowly trickling into the New Jersey market. Continue Reading

Q&A with Kate Deines

Imagine reaching your life-long dream of being drafted to play professional soccer and then in the next minute the league folds and your dream is ruined? Welcome to Kate Deines. After leading the University of Washington to three NCAA tournament bids, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2010, Deines was chosen by the Atlanta Beat in the 2012 WPS draft. Unfortunately the league ceased operations soon after, but Deines continued playing. First, with the Seattle Sounders of the W-League and then with Stjarnan FC in Iceland. With the launch of NWSL, Deines will finally see her dream come true as she signed as a free agent with the Seattle Reign. Follow Deines on twitter: @katedeines

Soccer Banter: With WPS folding you had to wait an extra year, but as a kid playing soccer did you ever dream of playing professional soccer in America? Continue Reading

Q&A with Brendan Schimmel

How will the New England Revolution fare this season? To get that answer and more about the team based in Foxborough, we spoke to Brendan Schimmel, a writer for The Bent Musket and a Revs season ticket holder. Schimmel is also actively involved with The Rebellion and American Outlaws supporters groups. Follow Schimmel on twitter: @TheIndirectKick

Soccer Banter: A year ago, the "star" players for the New England Revolution were Shalrie Joseph and Benny Feilhaber, what are your thoughts on both players no longer being with the club along with the absence of any "star" player on the current roster? Continue Reading

To Sir, With Love

Following Manchester United’s treble-winning campaign in 1999, cameras were allowed unprecedented access to the club the following season. ‘Manchester United: Beyond the Promised Land’ is a largely forgettable documentary, the access-all-areas schtick providing little in the way of memorable moments. There is, however, one notable exception.
Continue Reading

YouTube of the Week

A goalkeeper nutmegs a forward. Yes, you read that correctly, but no words can describe how great it is to see Christoffer Kallqvist put the ball through Marcus Ekenberg's legs. Kallqvist, the starting goalkeeper for Hacken received a back pass in second half with score 0-0 against Mjallby and calmly nutmegs the onrushing Ekenberg before passing the ball to one of his teammates. Watch Clip

Bayern v Barca Preview

It’s a real shame Ruud van Nistelrooy matched up Europe’s two best sides when he picked one of the semifinal pairings of the UEFA Champions League two Fridays ago. Quite frankly, today’s matchup between Bayern Munich and Barcelona shouldn’t be a semifinal, it’s a matchup of Europe’s two best teams. The winner of this game should be crowned champion of Europe. Continue Reading

Q&A with Veronica Perez

Soccer can take you anywhere and Veronica Perez is living proof. She grew up playing in Northern California, became a star forward at the University of Washington, which led to her becoming a mainstay on the Mexico Women's National Team. Over the course of the last year she has featured for the Seattle Sounders in the W-League, helped Stjarnan FC to the Icelandic Women's Cup, and on Sunday will make her debut for Western New York Flash against Sky Blue FC in the opening weekend of the National Women's Soccer League. It hasn't always been so glorious for Perez, but through hard work and having ability, she is now living out her own dream on a soccer field every day of the week. Follow Perez on twitter: @VeronicaPerez17

Soccer Banter: Your first go round with professional soccer in America didn't end so well, with St Louis Athletica folding in your first year as a professional in 2010. Describe the struggles to continue to keep playing at a high level and improve your game in the absence of playing professional soccer in the United States the last few years? Continue Reading

Five For Friday

December 14, 2012 is a day that no one will ever forget as twenty-six innocent people lost their lives in a senseless shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the aftermath, the soccer community quickly came together with "Soccer Night in Newtown", one of the major highlights, featuring current and former American professional soccer players along with the help of Quinnipiac University soccer players and USL PDL club, CFC Azul. With that event in the past, Quinnipiac University Women's Soccer Head Coach, Dave Clarke, wanted to do more, and on March 14, bidding on the SHES26 Auction, a collection of autographed soccer jerseys, went live. In this installment of 'Five for Friday', Clarke, a regular contributor to Soccer Banter, with his weekly column, Extra Time, shares his thoughts on the auction and how he developed his passion for Celtic and Tottenham.

Soccer Banter: Why the SHES26 Auction? Continue Reading

Third Time's a Charm

“This is a league we have to build from the bottom up and we have a group of dedicated owners and talented support staff at U.S. Soccer to keep this process moving in a positive direction while slowly growing the brand.” -Cheryl Bailey, NWSL Executive Director (December 15, 2012)

The Necessity of NWSL

In order to remain a dominant force in the world of women’s national teams, the U.S. needs a domestic professional league. Europe seems to be doing it right. With youth teams feeding into the top division women’s league, other countries are developing their younger, future national team players. And their mainstay national team players are maintaining their level of play. Continue Reading

Chelsea: My Club, My Passion

I guess you can say I’m a relatively “new” Chelsea supporter. Well not exactly new, but a true and true supporter, in my eyes, is someone who has lived in the heart of Greater London for as long as they remember, never taken a liking to Fulham or QPR, someone who has taken the Underground to Fulham Broadway as often as he’s driven to work. It’s someone who has experienced the highs (seven FA Cups, four Premier League titles, one Champions League trophy) and the lowest of lows (the early 80s and near drop to the Third Division). Continue Reading

January 2013 Archives

Quote of the Day

May 19, 2013

"It was quite amazing. He (Mancini) has won the FA Cup, been in the final, second in the league and won the league and it's not good enough?"

- Sir Alex Ferguson

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