It’s undoubtedly been a fantastic year for sport and not least football. We asked our writers and friends ten questions that we hoped would sum up 2012 and offer a wide range of memories on the year past. Happy New Year!
In the latest of The False Nine’s series looking back the events of 2012, James Dutton reflects on the the most in vogue tactical trend of the year and the marvellous Spanish…
Taking to his platform on the Guardian, Jonathan Wilson, author of ‘Inverting the Pyramid’ discussed some of the tactical trends of the past 12 months. Unsurprisingly possession football and the example of Spain and Barcelona was high up the list.
Continuing The False Nine’s look back at 2012, we spoke to Steve Graves of The Anfield Wrap…
Favourite moment
For drama, Sergio Aguero’s winner to seal the Premier League title. For football and society as a whole, the announcement that the hugely flawed Hillsborough inquest verdicts would be quashed surpassed anything to happen on the pitch.
False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, looks at the recent sackings at Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest, and laments the diminished role of managers and greater emphasis on owners in the modern game…
Were you at London Road on 17th November? Continue reading
False Nine editor James Dutton assesses Brendan Rodgers’ start to life at Anfield…
“You train dogs, i like to educate players.”
Brendan Rodgers will likely look back at 2012 as the year that changed his life. Having built on the phenomenal success of his project at Swansea, he has become a household name across the country upon taking the reins of the hottest job on Merseyside. He also became the unwitting star attraction of a US television programme.
Described as a ‘fly-on-the-wall documentary/ reality show’, Being Liverpool came across as more of a shamelessly dreary and crass US sports promotional video for the increasingly Americanized brand of Liverpool FC. Aside from the franchise, the show provided the platform for new manager Brendan Rodgers to espouse both footballing and life virtues.
The False Nine talks to Maxi Rodriguez from the excellent Futbol Intellect about his highlights from 2012…
Favourite Moment:
The wonderful thing about soccer (football) and sport in general, is that despite the decades of history, and the way in which every event is somehow linked to a larger contextual background, is that there are still moments which are so unexpected and unique that you don’t quite know how to respond to them, other than with a sort of mindless jubilation. Continue reading
In the first of a series of reviews of the 2012 football calendar, editor James Dutton looks back at that thrilling June in Poland and Ukraine and a tournament likely to be fondly remembered as the last of its kind…
Viva España