Saturday Stuff

The Decade in Quotes


I'm not a fan of the retrospectives you'll see around this time every year, but looking back on the Aughties, as the past decades is being called by some, there has been no shortage of Yogi Berra-like footballers and coaches. Guys who can just drop a good line. Robin Hacket of Soccernet has comprised a list of quotes. Here are a few of my favorite.

"A virgin" - October 2007 - Peter Crouch responds to a question about what he would have been if he had not become a footballer.

"Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a s*** hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a s*** hanging from a stick" - May 2007 - Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid legend and now director general of the club, reacts to Liverpool's Champions League semi-final match against Chelsea.

"Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home" - May 2002 - Arsene Wenger reacts to Sir Alex Ferguson's comments that Manchester United were the "better team" despite Arsenal winning the double.

Soccer's Greatness Exemplified

I just wrote that I'm not a fan of retrospectives, but I did find this nugget of goodness from one of them. In this article from June, World Soccer Reader breaks down the sequence that lead to the second goal in the upset of the Spain.

Dempsey's goal against Spain

While the goal itself wasn't the prettiest display ever, IMHO, this article displays exactly why soccer is a great sport. Throughout a match there are literally thousands of decisions that impact the game. Soccer players have to be independent thinkers whose individual choices can collectively dictate success or failure. It's just the opposite of pointy-ball football where players are just automatons whose every step has been rehearsed and coached to an extreme. The breakdown of the decisions that led to the US goal illustrate the cascading series of events that must occur to lead to any goal in soccer.


More Igor Popovich


Over at the NPSL Insider, I posted an interview with former Rocket City United midfielder Igor Popovich and his experiences in the NPSL.