It was weird, the experience of an absolute football junkie deciding that on a personal level, this World Cup was an event that should be skipped. They were the same reasons everyone who skipped it had, of course. And as the tournament moved through its paces, being part of Football Twitter of course made it… Continue reading Messi, joy and a World Cup

On March 8, 2016, a DM popped into my inbox: Hey! I’m interviewing Messi in Barcelona on Thursday. Anything you’d really like to know? It was from Grant Wahl and my first reaction was stupor, because all I could think is “Why would a writer and journalist such as this be asking me anything at… Continue reading Grant Wahl, joy, respect and admiration — mostly joy

We’re addicts, hooked on a game, on thrills. And like any addict, we justify our behavior in search of that next fix. Heroes engage in repulsive acts, and our horror lasts until the next hat trick. Racism permeates the game that we love, and we accept the pablum of t-shirts, banners and armbands. A petrostate… Continue reading The World Cup of blood, money and shame

Wow. Just … wow. Gerard Pique is retiring. Quite abruptly, it might appear. People will grumble that it took too long, etc, etc, but why be churlish? However and whyever he did it, an emblematic player is leaving the club in a way not entirely of his own doing, or choosing. Obituaries are weird in… Continue reading Gracies, Gerard Pique

In all of the talk about whatever this mythical thing labeled “the Barça Way” is, as in “They just have to start playing the Barça Way again,” we have forgotten a great many things, so many of which made themselves evident as Barça wrestled mightily with a Valencia side they should have been able to… Continue reading Valencia 0, Barça 1, aka ‘At the death while dying’

After it was all over, after yet another loss to a Bayern Munich side that didn’t even need to leave third gear, the supporters cheered, urged their players to come out for a curtain call. It was consolation, a “Nice job, we appreciate you” that you see in teams that are inferior, but supporters want… Continue reading Barça 0, Bayern 3, aka ‘Now what?’

To be fully honest, the only surprise of the “do or die” Champions League match against Inter Milan was that Barça managed a draw. This is a team that has been in a downward spiral since the international break. It’s easy to say, and probably accurate, that with Kounde and Araujo, both victims of the… Continue reading Barça 3, Inter 3, aka ‘What did you expect?’

During a rewatch of the Inter Milan sludgefest, my annoyance at Ousmane Dembele tilting at yet another bank of Inter players and losing the ball was like something fresh, even as the outcome was already decided. The match progressed, and Xavi changed everything about the team and how it was playing that vexed him. Static… Continue reading What if it’s us, not Dembele?

Barça is too slow. Barça is too slow to play modern football. Barça is too slow to play football against a team of even decent quality. We can repeat these things like a mantra, but they aren’t going away, even as devotees worship at that ancient religion of 48 passes leading to a perfect goal.… Continue reading Inter Milan 1, Barça 0, aka ‘The slows lose … again’

How can you do nothing? How can you say nothing? In the face of the barrage of racist abuse suffered by Vinicius Jr., for something that in America would be called “dancing while Black,” how can Spanish football do nothing? In MLS, which is that American football that isn’t handegg but that most Europeans don’t… Continue reading Vinicius Jr. and the shame of Spanish football