Set Piece Analysts

Major League Soccer midseason report: Can anyone catch the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake?

Ray Curren — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:22:23 +0000

In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attention the World Cup has gotten, maybe you haven’t, Major League Soccer is about halfway through its 30-game regular season. That’s not really fair, I’ve been fairly impressed with the crowds at MLS games this season. It’s a slow build, but the league is building. But, [...] No related posts.

Things learned at the World Cup : The Final – In defense of Howard Webb and the Netherlands; You play to win the game

Ray Curren — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:43:44 +0000

Day 31 of the World Cup saw Spain eventually prevail over the Netherlands in a final somewhat marred by 14 yellow cards. Did it have to be that way? Well, short answer is yes with a but, and the long answer is no with an if. I’ll try to keep it short. A month after [...] No related posts.

Things learned at the World Cup – Day 30: Uruguay-Germany; Suarez and Ozil maybe not ready for big time, but Schweinsteiger certainly is

Ray Curren — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:48:52 +0000

Day 30 – the penultimate day of the World Cup – saw what you get out of third place games: lots of goals, some pretty good soccer, and a general lack of enthusiasm. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t learn a few things from Germany and Uruguay:

1) Bastian Schweinsteiger deserved to be in the conversation [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup : The Final – In defense of Howard Webb and the Netherlands; You play to win the game

World Cup final preview: Spain-Netherlands – Will De Jong and van Bommel be able to avoid wrath of Webb?

Ray Curren — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:00:10 +0000

You would think that winning a European championship and a World Cup would be enough to be hailed as one of the greatest teams of all time. But it would appear that for some people Spain still doesn’t do enough to excite the masses. In a word: hogwash. In two words: utter hogwash. Here are [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup : The Final – In defense of Howard Webb and the Netherlands; You play to win the game

World Cup Third Place preview: Uruguay-Germany – Nice send off for Muller and Forlan; should this game even exist?

Ray Curren — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:51:40 +0000

Germany and Uruguay will meet each other Saturday in the World Cup third place match, and the biggest question might be, ‘Does anyone care?’ And I can’t really give you a concrete answer on that one. Quick, who won the last two third place games? If you said Germany and Turkey, you’re a pretty good [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup – Day 27: Zonal marking is dumb and Spain deserves everything they get

Ray Curren — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:29:42 +0000

Day 27 of the World Cup saw Spain, well they did what Spain does, at least in the last few years. They pass the ball around a lot, find a way to get a goal or two, and shut it down at the other end. I mean, really shut it down. In case, you haven’t [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup : The Final – In defense of Howard Webb and the Netherlands; You play to win the game

Things learned at the World Cup – Day 26: Netherlands-Uruguay; Forlan’s mighty shoulders finally not strong enough to carry Uruguay

Ray Curren — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:23:58 +0000

Day 26 of the World Cup saw Uruguay fight the good fight, but in the end, the Netherlands just had a little too much for them. Well, that and a little luck on their side. But you don’t get to the World Cup finals by getting lucky. Or can you? Here’s what we learned from [...] Related posts:

World Cup semifinal preview: Spain-Germany; Klose and company looking a little too good?

Ray Curren — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:52:27 +0000

Germany has looked, well, what’s a word that’s more than fantastic? Stupendous, sublime, majestic. You get the point. Eight goals in knockout games against Argentina and England will do that for you. Spain, meanwhile, has looked plodding, but here they are in the semifinals. But has Germany looked too good, and Spain too mediocre? Here [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup – Day 30: Uruguay-Germany; Suarez and Ozil maybe not ready for big time, but Schweinsteiger certainly is

World Cup semifinal preview: Uruguay-Netherlands – A case for Forlan and the underdogs?

Ray Curren — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:39:54 +0000

Uruguay is dreaming the impossible dream as they take on the giant killer Netherlands Tuesday in the semifinals of the World Cup. And although they are only two games away from the world title, exactly zero people have Uruguay hoisting the World Cup on Sunday. Well, maybe a couple of people in Montevideo. If Uruguay [...] Related posts:

Things learned at the World Cup – Day 23: Maradona has had better days; Germany youth served; Batres did a decent job

Ray Curren — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:34:54 +0000

Day 23 of the World Cup saw Europe regain its dominance on top of the soccer world. And all it took was getting rid of dead weights like Italy and England. What went wrong for Argentina? Was the Guatemalan official in the Spain-Paraguay game great or poor or somewhere in between? Here’s what we learned:

1) [...] Related posts: