gdp's Comments

World Football Columns : Diary Of A Wannabe Journalist: Everton v Newcastle

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:12:05 +0000

Sean - Do you have any Non-PL experiences you'd like to write about?

World Football Columns : Diary Of A Wannabe Journalist: Everton v Newcastle

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:48:20 +0000

Congratulations Eliot - at getting a foot in the door. Proud to have such a highly prestigious football journalist here on WFC and all the better for hearing your experiences! Good also to give everybody a sense of what we be involved if they wanted to do the same. Is there a link to your work on Goal.com so people can see what you've had to produce for them? I'd like to see....

World Football Columns : Did You Catch It? 18-19 Sept. 2010

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:52:49 +0000

Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid I managed to catch Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid this weekend - was a great game. Sociedad broke quick and decisivley, it's just a shame their finishing wasn't on the same level. Although Real looked as disjointed as I've seen them in a while - certianly a step back from the side Pellegrini ended up with at the end of the last season - a neccessary step maybe though to turn Real into a Mourinho-esque winning machine. Anybody else from around the globe catch a decent game this weekend? Anything to look out for next weekend?

World Football Columns : Did You Catch It? — 28-29 Aug. 2010

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:18:00 +0000

Have to say that this a great roundup guys - keep it up. I managed to see the Spanish football at the weekend and like you Chris I wasn't impressed by Real Madrid. I was wondering if anyone had been to a game recently and could write it up for Matchday - that doesn't apply to just you guys who wrote the post but anybody else reading as well!

World Football Columns : The 2010-11 La Liga Preview

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 18:30:14 +0000

Barca were excellent at the weekend - Madrid looked probably a step down from last season but Mourinho will take a while to work his magic. I think under Mourinho that Madrid will stand their best chance in recent seasons of winning El Clasico, it's been a while since they've had any kind of good result in that fixture.

World Football Columns : Wolves Mean Business

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 18:27:32 +0000

I wouldn't be criticising Wolves' midfield when on their day Barton and Smith can be very dirty indeed - not saying they have been recently but have a record of doing so. I would say they chose an odd game to employ those tactics when there was a chance they could have competed with Newcastle man for man (moreso than say Chelsea).

World Football Columns : The Premier League 2010/11 Preview

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:39:33 +0000

Just because there were no protests/marches doesn't mean to say Allardyce wasn't forced out. People in Newcastle hated him and it surely would have contributed towards any decision the board would have made in his sacking. I consider that to be forced out however in a different way to say somebody like Keegan was forced out by the board (and Dennis Wise) by clearly doing what they wanted and not notifying probably the most important man at the club - the manager.

World Football Columns : Russian Football: Not so attractive?

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 19:24:52 +0000

Onto the article itself - the infrastructure for Russia really doesn't lend itself to a national, competitive league. I wonder if hosting a World Cup may help them? It's been proven in most other countries that the best teams don't necessarily have to come from the capital, I wonder if they can generate more interest outside of Moscow.

World Football Columns : Russian Football: Not so attractive?

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 16:14:51 +0000

Ha ha - If you were famous for it then you'd have noticed the sarcasm in my comment, I think us Brits do it the best ;-)

World Football Columns : Russian Football: Not so attractive?

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 13:36:37 +0000

I didn't think Americans did sarcasm?

World Football Columns : A Road Less Traveled — The MLS Business Model

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 20:53:03 +0000

And what of the NY Cosmos - I remember Joe writing an article a year or so back. http://www.worldfootballcolumns.com/2009/07/22/th...

World Football Columns : A Road Less Traveled — The MLS Business Model

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 20:46:45 +0000

An insight into MLS if I've ever read one before! I actually respect the league for what it's doing but you're right - it's time to kick in now. There are many other restrictions of why I feel the league will never be in the top 5 leagues in the world, two of them are that: The league is played over the summer. Football (soccer) is game played in the winter. Arguments are that heat restricts the players from playing at the top of their game for a long period of time - something that can happen for 70, 80 minutes in a top flight European game. The second is an external factor - the absence of any competitive Pan-American competition. There's probably more chance that something with MLS and South America might happen, but the distances are vast and except for Mexico, MLS is in isolation.

World Football Columns : Who's Gonna Take The Brazilian Hot Seat?

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:59:55 +0000

I've read a lot in favour of Leonardo taking the job - with youth very much contributing to a pragmatic view many people believe that such an appointment would be a good way to bring a change to how Brazil are setup. Two World Cups without a win and people feel Brazil should change - I can see why - as Brazil now are scarce with the beautiful players the nation has come to expect. Two defensive midfielders often split the team into attack and defense with little link up play when Kaka is not at his best. With that said I think Brazil were in command of their game against Holland until they scored and were arguably the second best team at the world cup - I guess second isn't good enough for them though!

World Football Columns : Sound Off! Battle of the Adverts

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:37:28 +0000

No-one has voted for Adidas yet...

World Football Columns : WFC World Cup Diary: Matchday 3, 13 June 2010

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:32:14 +0000

Interesting analysis over at the NY Times blog,, http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/live-soo... Lahm had the most spells of possession with 93. Orchestrating the game from right back - when normally you would expect most things to go through the centre of midfield. I wonder if teams can look at that and attempt to cut off the German's supply before he can provide the balls down the wing or to Ozil?

World Football Columns : Can Germany Prove the Doubters Wrong?

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:23:15 +0000

Thought Lahm was excellent tonight - although the last times I've seen him when him and his team has been on the back foot he's struggled. Lets see how he gets on in the last 16!

World Football Columns : Sound Off! Battle of the Adverts

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:21:33 +0000

They made the ball - unfortunately they've not received very good press from that. Some players have said that the ball is terrible and I think the free-kicks have maybe added value to those criticisms...

World Football Columns : WFC World Cup Diary: Matchday 3, 13 June 2010

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:19:51 +0000

I personally thought Germany were excellent. It was maybe too easy for Germany to find gaps in the Australian defence but I thought Ozil and Lahm did excellently to exploit the gaps and the strikers did their bit in finishing - you're right though, there will be tougher tasks down the line.

World Football Columns : WFC World Cup Diary: Matchday 2, 12 June 2010

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:11:19 +0000

I think the England team should be set up to accommodate Rooney. Short passing, strong in midfield (meaning play three centre midfielders) and provide good quality crosses. Easier said than done but the main tactic I saw last night from England was long ball and Onyewu cut it out everytime, or at least made Heskey play it backwards.

World Football Columns : Sound Off! Battle of the Adverts

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:07:55 +0000

Love the Nike one - that got my vote!