It's no secret that Serie A’s UEFA coefficient has been in decline for over 15 years. The UEFA coefficient, used to determine how many teams from each domestic league are entered into competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, is based on the European success of a club within the last five years.
It’s hard to imagine that only a few months ago we were considering the possibility of Brazil missing a World Cup for the first time since the tournament began back in 1930.
Well, the tables have turned for the Selecao as well as for everyone else in South America.
The Chileans looked like the stronghold of the continent after claiming two consecutive Copa Americas. Now their mojo seems to be gone as they have lost two and tied one of their last four matches.
Right now, the Italian national side does not have an identity. On paper, drawing a match with Spain and winning against Macedonia might seem perfectly acceptable, but those who watched the games will know that there’s trouble afoot.
Spain should have won by a comfortable margin but consistently shot themselves in the foot when it came to actually putting the ball in the net. Italy were bad and deserved to lose.
Few would argue against major international tournaments being the biennial highlight of the footballing calendar. They’re a marketing groups’ wet dream; hundreds of millions worldwide tuning in on their official World Cup Samsung 60’’ flat screens to watch Pepsi and Coca Cola adverts interspersed with 45-minute segments of the very best in the game representing their motherlands at the highest level.
Argentina’s 1-0 defeat at home to Paraguay on Tuesday was a massively damning result for La Albiceleste. Most evidently, it left Argentina in fifth place in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table, one point out of the automatic qualification places. While there’s still time to move up the table, there’s also the worrying reality that both Paraguay and Chile are immediately behind them in the table, ready to knock them out of the 2018 World Cup entirely.
GL!!!
The career trajectories of England’s Marcus Rashford and the USA’s Christian Pulisic have escalated quicker than Donald Trump’s various horrible statements.
After three consecutive major final losses, Argentina decided to rebuild their squad. Edgardo Bauza became their third coach in just over two years, and everybody is hoping for a fresh start after their heart breaking loss to Chile in the Copa America Centenario.
Former USMNT coach Bob Bradley was appointed manager of Swansea City this week, the Welsh side eliminating Francesco Guidolin like 20,000 emails being wiped from the Clinton Family Server. Having saved them from relegation only a matter of months ago, it feels like a rough deal for Guidolin. The British press, however, have reserved their sympathies for another supposedly wronged man: Ryan Giggs.
Why, you might ask, is a multi-millionaire former footballer with a penchant for other people’s wives receiving the sympathies of Fleet Street?
Heading into the 2016 MLS season, all signs pointed towards another successful year for the Seattle Sounders. Legendary coach Sigi Schmid was at the helm. Seattle secured the best player in the draft, home-grown talent Jordan Morris. Clint Dempsey was still in top form and there were promising attacking additions in Andreas Ivanschitz and Nelson Valdez.
Instead, the first half of 2016 was a disaster for the Sounders. The Rave Green lost 12 of their first 20 matches and sat well outside of the playoff positions at the MLS All-Star Break.
For one brief moment, let us consider the duck. To the casual observer watching from the riverbank, the duck seems to glide across the water with immaculate ease. The only noticeable deviation from the otherwise placid surface is a slight ripple emerging behind the bird, a sign that the water has been elegantly parted by the smooth feathers before collapsing back to form.
From a distance, the movement of the duck is relaxing, calm and refined.