Friday Night Links

I must start off this week's links with the video below, which has been circulating for some time now but came to my attention via Paul Tomkins.  What awesome timing given the acting we saw in this week's rendition of El Calssico.



Now on to the readable content

New Books and Blogs

I have picked up The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime by Declan Hill in preparation for business travel to Europe this coming week.  I figured two 10-hour plane rides in six days will afford a lot of time to read about a topic I've recently been diving in to.  The books been on my length Amazon wish list for some time, and I figured now was as good as any time to take the plunge.  It's 408 pages long, so I suspect I won't complete it on the trip with the other responsibilities I will have.  It's highly regarded in the soccer community, so I am curious as to what thoughts you readers may have.  Just don't spoil any surprises for me.

Links of the Week

• Given the relative violence of last weekend's MLS action it's only natural that Soccer By the Numbers investigates what's happened to all of the cards.
• OnFooty examines when cards get dealt in matches.
• FootieBusiness argues that MLS's labor peace is a good thing compared to what the NFL is experiencing and what the NBA may experience, while a fomer player and current journalist argues that such labor peace shortchanges domestic players at to the benefit of returning US internationals (HT: The Overlapping Run).
• Sticking with the business of a single entity league, Goal.com examines how much MLS is giving up by having a league-wide kit contract with Adidas rather than allowing individual teams to negotiate kit deals (HT again to The Overlapping Run)
• A few free posts from Paul Tomkins.  First, here are his and Paul Grech's thoughts on Liverpool doing so well against the rest of the Big Six.  Second, Paul makes the argument for King Kenny being the permanent manager for Liverpool.
• MLS Talk proposes not having MLS go the way of the No Fun League and allow post-goal celebrations to take place without the threat of yellow cards.
• Finally, Jamie Jackson details a UEFA commentary that the English football system needs to be more like the Dutch system if it ever wants to produce the quality of team the small Dutch nation achieves on a regular basis.

As I said, I am on my way to Europe this weekend.  I will miss my Sounders as I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean when they take on Toronto FC at Qwest Field.  I am hoping to find an pub in The Netherlands that is broadcasting the Manchester United/Arsenal match.  I will be watching more for the experience, as any honest Gunner will admit we're underdogs in that match given our recent form.  Oh, to be so close to London yet so far away from being able to attend the match!