WHEN JOHAN CRUYFF DESCRIBED the basis of Total Football, he really described team football in two sentences: “Simple football is the most beautiful. But playing simple football is the hardest thing.” With a…
I recently found myself watching a replay of the 1988 FA Cup final between the ‘Crazy Gang’ of Wimbledon and a heavily favoured Liverpool side on late-night television. As the footage cut out,…
THE NARROW PATH WIDENS approaching a now-abandoned football pitch where I spent my formative years. At my foot is a scuffed football and in tow are my two nephews aged seven and ten…
Call is Piggy in the Middle, 3v1, 5v2, 5v5+2 or any variation where a numerically superior group of players has the ball and a smaller group of players tries to win the ball…
FOOTBALL HAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE a game of contrasting styles, evolving philosophies of play and trendy paradigms that captivate the world only to be emulated, bastardized, found out, and written off as…
I HAVE THIS MEMORY of my father showing me a clip of Pelé juggling a grapefruit when I was a boy that reminds me how simple the game really is. Like any young…
PART OF WHAT MOTIVATED ME IN FOOTBALL was the drive to improve. Growing up, I was afforded an unconventional footballing education, one that took from the gritty and talent-rich leagues of south San…
Soccer really is a simple game in a complex world. The year was 2001, and I sat in my high school cafeteria with my buddies and I noticed many of the prestigious…
THE MODERN FOOTBALL COACH IS LIKE A HOME BUILDER. While not an architect, they are tasked with the construction, organisation, and management of several pieces that must align to complete the overall project…
SINCE ITS INCEPTION at the start of 1992-93 season, the Premier League has redefined the global branding of football. In a league known for its pace, power and competitiveness, the game has thrived…
As featured on Guardian Sport In the summer of 2001, I was fortunate enough to train in Holland for close to 16 weeks, playing with a local team from Enschede in friendlies and…