Perception

I wonder if there’s a future for this in football?

Talks about pitch vision, anticipation, field sense.  Starts with Wayne Gretzky, but might as well be discussing Cesc Fabregas.  Then it goes on to talk about how expert sportsmen can see something happen much quicker than amateurs – in the article they talk about a tennis serve: the pros can judge where it’s going before it’s been hit; the amateurs see it off the raquet.  Similarly, it talks about how volleyball players were taught to read things by wearing goggles that made them blind just before a crucial situation.  Knowing that their sight was to be taken away, the players developed better anticipatory skills.   Interesting stuff.

Everton talk

AFJ has found some good news!

TIM CAHILL IS OUT!

Moyes says he is ‘doubtful’, which could be a smokescreen.  Still.  HURRAY!

Moyes has also warned us that there’ll be a backlash on Sunday.   But he would say that wouldn’t he?

UPDATE – Setanta to carry Fulham v Everton in the U.S.

I made a post last night saying that no one was going to carry the the game in the U.S. Well, according to Hatter Don, regular reader and commenter here at CCN and Fulham USA contributer and stalwart, Setanta has agreed to carry the game. The decision was made yesterday and is great news for us U.S. Fulham fans. Coverage will be live and carried at 8:30 a.m. CST.

Adam, I may now need your support as I will have to bring the lucky Fulham slippers to the pub and wear them for the game. Oh my! Won’t that be a sight?

More randomness

More geekery with spreadsheets, monte carlo simulations, etc.

While I’m messing around with data

1st	5th	10th	15th	20th
82%	62%	42%	36%	21%
16%	22%	22%	21%	36%
3%	16%	36%	43%	43%
66%	24%	29%	25%	7%
22%	36%	28%	21%	24%
12%	41%	43%	54%	70%

What does this mean?

Interviews with Dempsey and Stalteri

Our friend Clint was evidently interviewed for the club’s members’ magazine, Fultime. Fans were able to ask Mr. Dempsey questions and he answered them. Some of the answers were actually somewhat interesting. The interview is worth a read.

Q: When playing as a striker what qualities do you like a partner striker to have to complement yours?
A: I don’t know, I mean I think it’s always good to have someone that is good at getting in behind defenders, because I like putting people through on goal. It’s good to have someone that can hold the ball up well and give it back to you, someone that is good with the aerial battle. You have to do the business too though, help out the forward you play with and use your own attributes also.

Do you think we could be up for a combination of GAM and Clint Dempsey up front? This is how Clint has excelled with the U.S. Men’s National team this past year, sending speedsters like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley through with excellent passes. A Dempsey/EJ pairing might just work.

Also, an interview on the official with Paul Stalteri.

Stalteri had this to say about his conversation with referee Mike Riley concerning the missed foul on himself which resulted in a goal for Blackburn:

When I spoke to Mike Riley, he is one of the more experienced referees in England, he explained that he hadn’t seen it. I’m not entirely sure how he didn’t see it but I guess if you don’t see these things then you cannot blow a whistle for them. In his defence at least he didn’t say it wasn’t a foul, he just said he hadn’t seen it, and when he tells you that there isn’t a lot more you can say.

Everton crash out of UEFA Cup after overtime and penalties

Some of us expressed a latent appreciation for the Toffees this past week here at CCN. Today they did everything required but win a penalty shootout, failing to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.

Personally, I was hoping for the game to go to extra time and then for Everton to win it in the dying minutes. This would have guaranteed some tired legs when Everton come to visit on Sunday. But I did want the Toffees to advance. However, Fiorentina won the penalties and advanced to the next round.

Everton seemed to dominate in almost every aspect of the game played at Goodison Park in front of their home supporters. They were 2 goals down going into the second leg of the competition with Fiorentina, but the Toffees fought hard all night and showed why they’re tied for 4th place in the Premiership, battling back to score 2 goals and tie Fiorentina 2-2 on aggregate.

So how will this affect Everton as they come to Craven Cottage to play Fulham on Sunday? Well, your guess is as good as anyone’s but, you would have to believe that Fulham will have fresher legs. A Saturday game would have been even more of an advantage for Fulham as Everton played 120 minutes of all out football. They also showed today what a quality side they are, and the loss may push them all the harder to stay in that 4th position in the table. A place that if they can keep until the end of the season will enable the Toffees a Champions League berth next fall. They are currently tied with Liverpool.

U.S. TV Coverage v Everton a no show

According to numerous sources, no one will be televising the Fulham v Everton match in the U.S. this coming Sunday.

I’m extremly disappointed as this seems to be a key game. But what game isn’t key at this point? I could see Fulham playing great but coming away with another draw which just isn’t going to cut it. As we’ve stated numerous times this past week, were facing another quality opponent in Everton.

Since viewing is not an option for me, I’l most likely be following along via Soccernet’s Game Cast and may very well be on Fulham USA’s game day chat as well. I know some of you may use peer to peer video programs as well to get a somewhat herkey-jerkey video stream of the game.

We American Fulham supporters have been very lucky this year with all the unprecedented coverage of the team. In the past you could only expect this if you were one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the premiership.

The following two matches against Newcastle and Derby will both be carried live on Fox Soccer Channel. Fulham USA always keeps you updated with the latest TV coverage of Fulham in the U.S. It’s on the right sidebar of their splash page.

I’m very concerned about American coverage if the team goes down. One more reason why Roy Hodgson and the boys need to find a way to stay up.