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Tuesday, 08 May 2012 |
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Final Hurrah
The English Premier League plays its last league games for the
2011/2012 season this coming Saturday.
Manchester dominates the interest. A win by City over Queens Park Rangers gives it the championship. But don't write off QPR who are fighting for their very existence in the EPL.
While City and QPR compete, so do Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City.
Bolton has to win and QPR lose for Bolton to stay up (Wolverhampton and Blackburn are already relegated).
In Sunderland Alex Ferguson will have his earpiece installed as he gets up-to-the-minute news on the City QPR scoreline. It could well influence his tactical decisions and substitutions. Nothing less than a win will do,but it won't make any difference if City win.
Thanks for visiting our site and please scroll down to see all the latest news at the World of Soccer.
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How Much can Change in a Week |
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Friday, 04 May 2012 |
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Last Tuesday Barcelona was ready to move into the European Championship
final and really thought it would be an all Spain Final. It was not to
be. Chelsea won. Deservedly? That’s debatable.
By Wednesday evening Real Madrid was out. Beaten by Bayern Munich. Deservedly? I think so.
By the weekend Barcelona Coach Guardiola had announced he was stepping
down – citing “burn out.” Not surprising when he has led and motivated
that excellent soccer team with outstanding success for 4-years.
Sunday Chelsea hit QPR for six and John Terry didn’t say a wrong word. He didn’t need to.
By Monday Roy Hodgson was all but officially announced as the England Team Manager.
And then on Monday night the City of Manchester was turned upside down
as Manchester City took over from Manchester United at the top of the
EPL.
All in less than 7 days.
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UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals |
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Monday, 23 April 2012 |
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The next two days will tell a story – major soccer news.
Barcelona takes on Chelsea at Camp Nou. Chelsea has a one goal lead,
but you would expect them to be played off the park. We shall see.
Barcelona has lost two games in less than a week. Most unusual.
On Wednesday, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid,
Bayern Munich come with a one goal lead and face just as much as a
daunting task as do Chelsea.
No point in speculating. Let the games begin.
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Byte Size Coaching Gets an Upgrade |
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Friday, 09 March 2012 |
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It is spring and now is the time for a Spring Clean.
We are doing more than that with our Byte Size Coaching
program. We have begun the process of
adding video to match all the practice activities on the site.
That means we have to edit and upload well over a hundred
2-to-3 minute videos. Naturally, that
cannot be done overnight, but we are starting the process right away and will continue
to work at it over the next weeks and months.
We will put each video up as we complete the editing.
You can see the format we are using by clicking on the link
here .
As well, we are getting out the paint brush (or should I say
Photoshop) and adding color to all of our graphics. For long enough we stayed with black and
white for ease (and economy) of printing, but as you see below a splash of
color brings the graphic alive and makes the practice look more exciting.
If you want more information about the program email (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) or call
(866-SOCCER-8, 866-762-2378).
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Friday, 09 March 2012 |
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A disturbing article appeared in my Email today about how promising young
players from around the world are being exploited because of their dream to
play professional soccer. In some cases they are paying their last
pennies to get to some far off country in the hope of trying out and getting a
pro contact.
Online video has got a lot to answer for as these young hopefuls post their
highlight video on You Tube and other platforms. Unscrupulous scouts and
agents are leading these players down a dangerous path.
Recently one 19 year old committed suicide as his chances and money ran out.
Steve Darby sent me the article and we will reprint it in next week's World of
Soccer Spring Newsletter. 3/9/2012
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A Great Result for the United States |
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Thursday, 01 March 2012 |
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Lots of international action on Wednesday all over the world.
World Cup Qualifying in Asia saw 10 teams go through – including Iraq
and Australia – to the fourth round of five for the World Cup Finals
2014 (in Brazil).
A famous victory for the United States in Italy (1 – 0) was probably the most sensational.
England lost a home to the Netherland having tied the game in the 90th
minute only to be beaten in the dying seconds of the game from a goal by
Arien Robben. So all the upheaval of the last few weeks with the
resignation of Capello and the loss of the captaincy by John Terry
resolves nothing in the England plans for Euro 2012.
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Thursday, 01 March 2012 |
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Glasgow Rangers, who with Glasgow Celtic represent the very
best in Scottish soccer, went into administration this week.
Portsmouth FC are said to be doing the same for the second
time in two years.
What does this all mean?
Quite simply that the game in the UK is financially out of
whack. Going back to the old NASL days
when the Cosmos set the standards for other teams, including our own Whitecaps,
we fell into the same trap - trying to match a team with major - what
seemed to be limitless - funds to support it (Warner Bros).
You look at British soccer, with massive financial backing
coming for a significant number of clubs from outside the country, it is almost
certain to have a knock-on effect.
Let's hope not. The
next couple of years should tell the story.
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How far can technology take us? |
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Friday, 20 January 2012 |
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How far can technology take us?
I was assisting at the recent USL combine at Bradenton, Florida
(January 26th – 29th). 102 prospects were in attendance.
The players were split into 6 teams. I was responsible
for one of them as they played 3 games over 3 days.
ProZone video taped each game and every player. Each
player will receive their own personal electronic file showing every move they
made.
On the Friday evening, Stewart Mairs, the US Operations Manager
for ProZone, gave a 20-minutes presentation on how to use the program.
I was amazed to see how much progress they had made. Last
year I was allowed access to one of the Prozone NCAA games that had been videoed.
It was good, but it is now much more user-friendly and simple to use. So
much so that it made my mind race ahead to how effective it could be in team
and individual player development.
It poses the question: Is ProZone and similar programs
going to revolutionize the world-wide development of players at all levels?
Join the conversation on LinkedIn or Facebook
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Friday, 20 January 2012 |
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There is a
crisis in the NHL, but you wouldn't know it if you only listened to the NHL top
brass.
Concussions
in any contact sport are serious injuries and must be treated responsibly.
However the
game of hockey is in denial.
"It's a
Canadian game!" you will hear many will say North of the Border.
The inference being that "ringing someone's bell" is all part
of the sport.
Recent
comments in the Vancouver
Province show that those
who watch the sport might consider not doing so if the hitting is taken out of
the game. One reason for the apparent apathy of Gary Bettman and his
advisors.
It's not
just the high profile players Sidney Crosby, Marc Staal and Chris Pronger who
are currently under the microscope for the effects of concussions. There
is a long list of NHL players waiting to be cleared.
As a former
goalkeeper in the English (soccer) league, I've suffered multiple concussions
only to find myself back in the cauldron of top-class soccer 3 or 4 days after
the injury. Ignorance does not excuse irresponsibility.
I keep my
fingers crossed that I won't have to pay for it as the years go by.
But for the
NHL it is wake up time! You might think it is the NHL top brass
management team that is concussed - not the players.
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