From a Different Point of View – 3rd Week of February Edition

Some Things You May Have Missed From the Last Week

    Two very important – and necessary – conversations were begun over the last week with the revelations by former international, coach and analyst Paul James upon the release of his tell-all, self-written, digitally published autobiography Cracked Open. The difficulties of mental health, public life, and the trials and tribulations of a professional athlete are an under discussed facet of such a well-covered corner of humanity. Be sure to grab a copy – don’t miss the statement by the one, the only Declan Hill. 

    Related (or not) Tam Nsaliwa released a very interesting blog post about what he saw as the shortcomings in the Canadian national program. His thoughts very much echoed those of Eric Wynalda that caused such furour at a recent NSCAA coaching conference. Both are topics that deserve much more consideration – more on that later.

   

    Preparation for the MLS season is well underway – I’m actually significantly behind, but no worries – and reading turned up some rather interesting pieces from MLSsoccer.com. Some labourious research on the most frequent pairings for each team and a former TFC draft pick popping up in Houston.

 

    A somewhat disturbing tale of a large sports daily newspaper being banned from attending matches by nearly all Primera División clubs and the FMF for perceived negative coverage. The freedom of the press is paramount to keeping a watchful eye on the goings on and the ability to prevent such access is dangerous. With in-house media arms taking over larger and larger segments of the coverage, there is less space for critical, detailed reporting of some of the less-than-honest machinations at both club and country – see any work by David Conn, especially concerning Leeds United, who have banned him and The Guardian from Elland Road.

    A podcast out of Columbus - by Massive Report - took some time, with it being a rather slow news week – you can only saw so much about your team dismantling U-17 squads – to rip on Toronto FC’s partnership with KIA. It’s only a few minutes into the pod and it’s actually quite funny. A bit of banter is always welcome, and though it pains to say so, it’s a good show, well worth a listen; oh, they're on twitter should there be any feedback.

    I’m always interested in the less-beaten paths of the footballing highway and a list of the Top 50 African Players should prove an interesting read, courtesy of Sandals for Goalposts.

 

    Cantona gets angry; you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. So very, very angry.