Philosofooty

by Nick Lichtenberg, writing from a couch in New York City (okay, Brooklyn)
1)  Dimitar Berbatov reminds me of Steve Nash.


Nobody would mistake Dimitar Berbatov for an inspirational league MVP.  But a few years ago, Phoenix Suns’ point guard (and Tottenham supporter) Steve Nash was still in search of his first NBA title.  So he cut off his trademark long hair, as if it were symbolic of so many playoff failures.  Alas, Nash still has not won the championship he so richly deserves, but his Scholesian/Giggsian longevity and consistency have long since dispelled any doubts as to his true greatness.  

 
In Manchester, a similar long-haired paleface has shorn his locks as he seeks to prove his worth.  Of course, this would be Dimitar Berbatov, the bashful Bulgarian himself (or, in Mancunian terms, the great Bulgarian bust).  The striker’s emphatic volley against West Ham capped off another excellent effort, as the laconic one laid off a number of excellent balls for on-rushing attackers throughout the game, mostly Nani.   

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By Neil W. Blackmon, the Associate Editor of The Yanks Are Coming.

Prior to CONCACAF Champions League kickoff last night between Cruz Azul and Real Salt Lake in Mexico City, only two things were clear. First, no MLS side had ever come into Mexico City, or any other part of Mexico, for that matter, and left with a victory. The success rate for crossing the border to steal tombstones was higher, though in that case, failure may be the object, as those who steal tombstones in Mexico are nothing if not tragically sentimental. Second, it had rained. Sideways rain, large-dropped heavy vertical rain, torrential, clear-the-smog mountain-driven rain; it may have even rained ground-up. As such, the field at the Estadio Azul resembled a South Carolina low-country state highway after a tropical depression more than a soccer pitch. It was, in a word, strange. They played anyway, and what followed was more than strange; it was fantastical, it was riveting, and it was, above all, tragic.

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by Nick Lichtenberg, writing from a couch in New York City
Somehow, my love of English football has turned into a weekly, or even daily, quest for meaning, as each result forces me to revisit previously held opinions about what this game means, even if the question is why I persist in watching yet another 0-0 Stoke-Blackburn result.  So please enjoy, the meaning of the Premiership’s Week Two:
 
1) Young English players were notably absent from the World Cup, but they are already running riot in the Premier League.  Theo Walcott for Arsenal and Andy Carroll for Newcastle both notched hat tricks and young English keepers were impressive all over, from Joe Hart at Manchester City to David Stockdale at Fulham to Ben Foster at Birmingham City.  I also must mention the talented wingers Adam Johnson and Gareth Bale, two excellent left-footed players who have become virtually undroppable for their teams in the season’s opening weeks (admittedly, Bale is Welsh, a fact of which every England fan is ruefully aware).  Naturally, England Manager Fabio Capello concluded the week by relegating Arsenal’s young gun Jack Wilshere to the Under-21 squad.  England’s national squad has a problem integrating young players, but so far this year the English Premier League has not.

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By Oliver Sparrow, who was watching the game at Wembley

This was not a good England team performance by any stretch of the imagination. England only won courtesy of two fantastic Steven Gerrard goals, which on most days wouldn’t have gone in. England must also remember that they managed to go one-nil down to a very average international team with no world-class players. A better team would have shut up shop and that would have been it – a one-nil defeat. The fact that their goal was courtesy of a refereeing mistake is beside the point. England should have been in the lead by that stage of the game against such mediocre opposition.

Watching from the sidelines at Wembley, what I noted most about the England team was a general lack of effort or urgency. I understand that this was a friendly game, and that it is only a few days until the start of the new Premier League campaign – but against the backdrop of such a dismal World Cup performance, this was a great opportunity to gee up the England faithful and show them that they’ve still got what it takes on the International stage. Instead, they turned in what was a pretty damp performance, only spiced-up by a couple of sensational strikes from Gerrard.

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