Tag: international football

FootballOpinion

England vs Germany – a Philosophical Divide

David Stringer

Another link, this time to something new. Published today on BornOffside, I’ve responded to Dietmar Hamann’s autobiography extract, published on Sunday in the Independent.

In it, Hamann compared Michael Ballack and Paul Gascoigne’s reactions to being booked in World Cup semi-finals, arguing that Gascoigne’s emotional reaction would see him becoming a national pariah rather than a hero… and that Gascoigne represents what’s wrong with English football.

If the German football model is so good, why do their players look so weird?
If the German football model is so good, why do their players look so weird?

However, I disagree with a lot of what Hamann said, and have written a response for BornOffside.

Click here to read Dietmar Hamann has England’s Problems All Wrong

FootballOpinion

Squawka – England’s Top Centre Halves

David Stringer

As mentioned previously, this month I’ve begun to write for the football stats site Squawka.com.
Well, I’m now on the site – I’ve even got my own author profile!

Squawka, as well as providing in depth statistics on shot accuracy, chances created and average pass length, puts together it’s own unique ‘Squawka Performance Score’ – basically assigning a value to each of those performance areas.
During the week, my first article went up – a look at the Performance Scores of England’s centre halves, to try and add to the debate over who Roy Hodgson should select.

Put your hand up if you think you should be selected for England, despite struggling to break into the Manchester City team.
Put your hand up if you think you should be selected for England, despite struggling to break into the Manchester City team.

Click here to get the Squawka take on who the best English centre halves have been this season.

FootballOpinion

A Tournament For All of Africa

David Stringer

Over at Bornoffside.net, the plan is to cover the forthcoming African Cup of Nations in South Africa. With the tournament due to start in a week, previews have started going up this weekend.

Africa_Cup_of_Nations_037 by Schubi-uetersen Taken from Wikimedia Commons

Previews for Group A went up on Friday – previews for South Africa, Angola, Morocco and Cape Verde.

Previews for Group B have started going up today, including my look forward to how the Ghanaian national team will perform, despite having left many of their star players with their club sides.

Click here to read what I have to say about Ghana’s chances in this year’s tournament.