Coach Maradona

By Jason | November 14, 2008 12:55 pm |

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Diego Maradona has been named the Coach of the Argentinian National Team. The head coaching spot has long been coveted by Maradona as he has openly expressed interest in the position for a while. However, there are a lot of people opposing this move. Lets take a look at Maradona’s experience, the team, and I’ll add my analysis.

Maradona’s Resume

-Player

–1986 World Cup Champion-Captain of Argentina

–FIFA Player of the Century

-Coach

–Mandiyu de Corrientes(Argentina League)

–Racing Club de Avellaneda

His career as a player is not being disputed. Everyone in the world knows that Diego Maradona, the player, was a force to be reckoned with. His career as a coach for a mere, two seasons, has been brought up in many arguments though. In both seasons with two different teams, one team faced regulation and they both had losing records.

The Team

The Argentinian National Team is one of the most powerful teams. All around the team does not have many holes. In the back the goalkeeper position is set for at least the next decade if not two. Roberto Abbondanzieri is getting old but young Oscar Ustari is ready to take over. I like both keepers and they are some of the best in the world right now. The defense has three names that come very fast: Heinze, Milito, and Zanetti. Midfield has Mascherano and Gago. Forwards: Aguero, Tevez, and Messi, just some to mention.

My Analysis

My feelings on Deigo Maradona are mixed; he was a beautiful player to say the least, but he also had a drug and alcohol problem. Drug and alcohol problems are not something that I can respect. However, I think he is making a turn-around in his life and I think he legitimately lives his country and his team. Having said this, Diego Maradona deserves to be Coach Maradona. I think his knowledge of the game will contribute to the team. Also, on a final note, the team is so powerful, nobody could drive it that far off course.

Halloween Week Recap 2:FIFA ’09

By Jason | November 10, 2008 2:55 am |

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Soccer Central

This last week I recently had the pleasure of playing FIFA 09. Here is my analysis of the game as well as some new additions they have added. I played this game on the Xbox 360.

FIFA 09:

The best addition to the game is the “realistic” game play that EA Sports has added. The players actually do moves like in real life. I remember the early versions( before 09) would allow a player to run full blast down the line then, cross the ball in the box. This is obviously unrealistic.

Overall, EA has not added anything else besides making the game play and how we play soccer, more realistic. The moves are realistic and how we move is added to the game.

My Analysis:

Overall, I think this is a good game. They have added the realistic part to the game, that I like. However, I would like to say that besides roster updates, the game did not add anything else. The “Be The Keeper”, was sadly removed from the game. Apparently, the Xbox 360 version never had the add-on. Since I play goal, I was really looking forward to that mode in the future.

Buy this game, but here after, don’t buy this game again. I don’t see what else they will have to offer besides what they have done already. I will always buy the latest edition but, keeping economics in mind, the future editions will be a waste of money.

Halloween Week Recap

By Jason | November 5, 2008 1:16 am |

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International

The Halloween week and a couple days prior, a pretty big move was on the brink of occurring. David Beckham was going to move from the LA Galaxy to AC Milan. I originally wrote a piece on this but, later, decided not to post because the move stalled. The MLS stalled the move based on Beckham’s contract. I will speculate on David Beckham, the move, and the MLS attracting premier off-shore talent later.

Recap:

-Chelsea fired 15 of their scouts.

-David Beckham is set to move to AC Milan in January on loan.

-Diego Maradona is named coach of the Argentina National Team

-Rafa Benitez wants to keep Agger and Kuyt, as their contracts are set to expire at season end.

-Ashley Young inks 4-year extension w/ Aston Villa.

Upcoming Pieces:

-Diego Maradona as Argentina Coach: Speculation, Analysis, and Thoughts

-David Beckham move to AC: Thoughts on Becks, AC, Galaxy, and MLS

After the Recap: Tevez & Man U

By Jason | October 22, 2008 12:13 pm |

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Uncategorized

24 year old Carlos Tevez may not stay with current club Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson is pretty certain that his striker will stay at the club, however, I think that the draw of Real Madrid is too much for the Argentinian player.

Tevez’s contract is set to expire after this season ends which will signal the time for both parties’ decisions. Lets look at this in the view of three different perspectives to stay objective and give a little bit of all sides.

Man U:

Loosing Tevez would not be the worst thing in the world for Fergie and company. He has Wayne Rooney as his primary stirker and Dimitar Berbatov. I recently covered the acquisition of Berbatov and how it is a plus for The Reds. I suppose, in the even of a Tevez departure, Man U could acquire a younger forward to back up both Rooney and Berbatov. The rotation of all three of the current Man U players is hard to not get used to. I say that Man U would lose out here if Tevez leaves.

Tevez:

He has a very interesting decision at the end of the season, stay with his current club or leave for the Galacticos of the world. Its like deciding to play for the Yankees or the Red Sox. I think the draw, the money, and the ability to get playing time will influence his decision the most. Real Madrid seems to have all of these. With the recent departure of Robinho, Madrid has a spot available for a talent like Tevez.

Real Madrid:

With the departure of Robinho, the club will be looking to replace his stardom with another type. Tevez would fill that role perfectly. I think that they want him, end of story.

Milan Update

By Jason | October 18, 2008 3:09 pm |

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Uncategorized

Besides the well publicized, Ronaldinho acquisition, Milan was also very busy trying to fix other problems that have kept them out of the Champions League this season. The club went out to add Mathieu Flamini to add depth to their midfield corps.

Milan had a good midfield before acquiring Flamini with Seedorf, Jankulovski, Pirlo, and Kaka in the ranks. Like many other teams that I have covered, adding Flamini was merely to add depth. He may become a starter someday or in different lineups used by Milan throughout the season, however, like many other teams, not all of these stars can play at the same time. If it were up to me, I would use Seedorf sparingly as he adds veteran depth and can be a good sub. He also, can play multiple positions and this versatility can come into good use when a certain starter needs a day-off. Milan is paying Flamini 5.6 million euros per year.

Arsenal Update

By Jason | October 18, 2008 2:47 pm |

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Update

To show that they can make a transfer or two, Arsenal decided to revamp their midfield by adding French International, Samir Nasri. He had originally spent his whole career including his youth careeer with Olympique Marseille. With Marseille he was primarily used as an attacking midfielder but could see other roles with Arsenal or possibly the same.

Arsenal has truly revamped its midfield with this addition. The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, Denilson, and Rosicky had already been on the midfield depth chart for Arsenal. By adding Nasri, Arsenal can go in many different directions in their strategy and give them a deeper bench as all of these very talented players can not take the pitch together.

All in all, I like this move by Arsenal because it was one of the most cost effective moves in the Premiership. Arsenal spent 12.7 million pounds on Nasri which is very cheap considering that the likes of Chelsea and Man U spent more, at times double, to revamp their respective sides.

Manchester United Update

By Jason | October 18, 2008 2:38 pm |

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Update

Over the Summer Transfer season, Man U decided to add another striker to the mix in Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov spent his last season with Tottenham Hotspur and now that he is with Man U, he has a decent shot at a number of different honors and the ability to participate in a number of different tournaments. One sure-fire tournament is the Champions League that should be exciting for a player that has spent time with a middle-running Premiership club.

Sir Alex Ferguson now has a lot of depth at the striker position in returning players Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney. Tevez is used primarily as the second striker while Ronney is used as the primary striker. Berbatov will probably not start over either player as they are incumbents, but he should receive a fair amount of minutes through substitutions and to give either of the aforemetioned a rest. Man U opened up the bank for Berbatov by shelling out 30.75 million pounds.

Chelsea Update

By Jason | October 18, 2008 2:28 pm |

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Update

A move that the Blues made over this last transfer window was a move for defender Jose Bosingwa. By adding a player of his caliber, Chelsea has truly fortified its defense against the toughest opponents. Returning starters, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, and Ashley Cole will welcome Jose as the right-back.

The transfer costed Chelsea a pretty penny, 16.3 million pounds, which is a pretty large amount, however, Jose is worth every penny. This gives Petr Cech more assurance that he will see less shots on goal and better protection coming from the right side of the pitch.

The signing of Bosingwa signaled the closing of the checkbook for Chelsea as they had already opened it to acquire midfielder Deco.

Robinho Update

By Jason | September 28, 2008 12:35 pm |

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Uncategorized

While I was away, a very big move occurred, Robinho moved from Real Madrid to Man City on the last day of the Summer Transfer Window. The fee for Robinho was 42.5 million euro, netting ‘binho a very nice, 160,000 pounds a week.

The move to the Premiership should be a good one for Robinho. The strength of Spanish soccer and La Liga is comparable to the Premier League in that they both have a bevy of powerhouses and play very competitive soccer. Also, Robinho will be among friends in Brazil National Team teammates, Jo and Elano.

Right before the transfer was made official, Real President, Ramon Calderon, made some very interesting comments. He stated, that he would rather end Robinho’s career than see him play for Real. There was speculation all summer long that a Robinho move was in the works and it was only a matter of time before ‘Binho found himself off of Real.

Finally, we should look at Man City’s outlook for this season. To be quite honest, the powers of the Premiership will be in front, Man U, Arsenal, and Liverpool, but look for Man City to make a run at a higher place than last season. They also have a good future ahead of them in a new striker, Robinho and summer acquiree Gio Dos Santos.

Passed Over Spotlight: College Club Soccer

By Jason | September 27, 2008 12:46 am |

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"Passed Over" Spotlight

After a month long vacation from writing, I am coming back with a new category: The Passed Over Spotlight. In this category I will write solely about soccer events, players, or occurrences that are simply passed over. Most of these events are actually big events and should be heard of.

This week’s Passed Over Spotlight will look at College Club Soccer. Many people think of college sports as the one’s that are sponsored and paid for by the school. However, many schools are unable to field teams in all of the major sports. For instance, soccer is sometimes passed over in order to cut costs. Or in other cases, there are not enough women’s sports teams, so a men’s team is cut in order to field a women’s team.

The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association is very similar to the NCAA, NAIA, and NSCAA. NIRSA is the governing body for collegiate club sports. For soccer, the NIRSA currently has two major tournaments. In california, the Aztec Cup is held every year and many collegiate club teams make the trip to San Diego, CA. The National Cup is held every in a different location. This year the National Cup will be held in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

College Club soccer is often looked over because of NCAA teams that are in the spotlight in the soccer world. However, most of the players on club soccer teams could have played NCAA soccer. Teams that are in the Elite 8 have players that can be Division 1 starters. For whatever reason, maybe money or education, players choose to attend a college that do not have NCAA, NAIA, or NSCAA teams. Whatever this reason maybe, College Club Soccer deserves to be looked at a little bit more. Finally, without college club soccer, the likes of Shalrie Joseph and Justin Braun might not be known or heard of.

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Coach Maradona

Halloween Week Recap 2:FIFA ’09

Halloween Week Recap

After the Recap: Tevez & Man U

Milan Update

Arsenal Update

Manchester United Update

Chelsea Update

Robinho Update

Passed Over Spotlight: College Club Soccer

Manchester United knocked out of FA Cup

Living The Life: Two Points on Being A Pro

Future Sights: Euro 2008

Future Sights: Euro 2008

Name: Jason Fukushima

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