- The Run of Play has a perfect piece that any soccer fan can relate to, especially bloggers who consume copious amounts of soccer information in their few spare hours. I can totally relate to Alan Jacobs' inability to sleep in due to a work and blogging life that also requires me to be up at 5 AM every morning.
- Sounder at Heart provides their take on the new MLS playoff format, and why the same flaws from previous years still exist. You can compare their observations to my own via my three part series on the MLS playoffs' failures and my own reaction to the league's 2011 edition.
- Soccer by the Numbers had two great posts in the last week. The first was a re-cap of a study proving that a team's improvement after sacking a manager in the Dutch Eredivisie is not statistically significant when comparing it to a teams' performance when they just stick with the manager. This provides great food for thought when it comes to the professional coaching carousel at the top flights of European soccer. The second in a study that shows zero correlation between an increased number of corner kicks and an increased number of goals across the Big Four European leagues.
- Finally TwoHundredPercent has an interesting post related to the British parliament hearings on the financial state of English soccer. For those of us in the States, it's a bit odd that a national governing body would be conducting such a review about the financial state of what is nominally a private enterprise based around recreational activity. Nonetheless, the testimony as summarized in the post provides some interesting insight into the competing views of how the English game should be governed and financially regulated.
With that, have a great soccer viewing weekend. As a Gooner, all I care about is Sunday's Carling Cup final. I've only been an Arsenal fan for two years now, but I know enough longtime fans to know how important this match is. It may be the least prestigious of the four championships for which Arsenal is competing this year, but that doesn't matter. A cup is a cup at this point, and there is a huge sense that getting this first one will make these players better prepared to win more of them. It's not something that I can quantify with numbers, but rather an intangible gut feeling.
C'MON YOU GUNNERS!
See you all on the other side of the weekend.
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