2018 College Football Preview: ACC

Kelly Bryant,Trent Harris

The ACC is becoming a better and better conference every season, but this could be it’s most competitive season yet. Clemson is the heavy favorite to win the conference, but there could be a lot of challengers here where they might not even win. With that being said, let’s take a look at each team in the conference.

Atlantic Division

Boston College

The Eagles are on the rise, but after last season’s incredible run, they might be destined to do bigger things in 2018. The offense could be what makes them a tough team to beat as there are some lethal weapons there. AJ Dillon at running back will be the player to watch. Their defense will be fun to watch too as that should keep them in games.

Clemson

The favorites to win the division and the conference as they have been one of the most consistent and best teams in the nation (four straight appearances to the playoffs). They are ranked number two in the nation for a reason as Dabo Swinney is slowly becoming one of the best head coaches in college football. Defensively, they are absolutely stacked and with a player like Kelly Bryant leading the offense, you should be excited for what could be another awesome season for the Tigers.

Florida State

Oh what could have been last year. Going into the season, things looked promising and people thought the showdown between them and Clemson was going to decide who wins the division. Then an injury to quarterback Deondre Francois seemed to doom them as they fell to a 7-6 record. With Jimbo Fisher out as head coach, there is a lot of question marks. Will Willie Taggart do a good job of rebuilding the program? Will there be anybody on defense who can step up and fill in Derwin James’ shoes? Will Francois be at his absolute best given the potential he has? While the talent is there, too many question marks will make it hard to get a good read on them.

Louisville

Life after quarterback Lamar Jackson will be hard, but this season might be even harder as last season was a bit of a struggle. With Bobby Petrino at the helm, there might be hope and with Jawon Pass expected to take over Jackson’s spot, there is encouraging signs that this season might go better than last season. It is tough to keep up with Clemson or Florida State in the division, but if you catch some lucky breaks and take advantage of them, you could be in a better position than many thought you would be in which is exactly what Louisville will want. Plus they do boast experience which could help them in those games.

North Carolina State

After seeing how good this team was last season, 9-4 record, you can expect bigger things out of them in 2018. They might play in a tough division, but there’s a good chance they could dethrone Clemson. Quarterback Ryan Findley showed that he was the real deal last season as he was the most efficient passer in the ACC. Plus it helps that he has an explosive offense. The only concern is that they lost a lot of starters in the defense, but their hope is that their depth will replace them with no problem. It should be a big year for the Wolfpack.

Syracuse

Yes, there is some football history with this program, but they are also arguably the weakest team in the division. They did beat Clemson last season, which was a shocker, but it was still a miserable season. There is some talent here like Ervin Phillips and Eric Dungey, but prepare for the Orange to flounder again in 2018.

Wake Forest

Potentially a team that could ruin many other teams’ seasons, the Demon Deacons could make some noise in 2018. This also should be the best team that head coach Dave Clawson has had in the five years since he has had the job. It’s a very tough division for Wake Forest, but there is some promise here. The offense will be good and the defense should do fine, but don’t sleep on these guys.

 

Coastal Division

Duke

Wait, the traditional basketball powerhouse is also good at football? Yep, and they have an excellent head coach in David Cutcliffe. They might not make the ACC Championship game, but they will make some noise as they have talent AND experience. That’s a recipe for success. Now how will this season project for the Blue Devils? Only time will tell, but expect them to compete in every game they play. They have linebacker Joe Giles-Harris leading their defense and Daniel Jones manning at quarterback to control the offense, it could be fun to watch what happens in Durham in 2018.

Georgia Tech

David Johnson might have an impressive resume, but things haven’t been too kind to him the last few seasons. Once a staple of being a top team in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets have been a subpar team the last couple of years. In 2018, they should be a wild card as their offense is projected to do well, but with the team seemingly floundering of late, it could be another miserable year in Winston-Salem.

Miami

Isn’t it great to finally see Miami become a powerhouse again? Earlier in the 21st century they had some of the best talent in the nation that some claim were NFL ready talent. They used to be really good and really fun to watch. Then the program languished for what seemed like a long time, but now they are back to being another powerhouse. The turnover chain was a fun thing last season and that camaraderie is great for any team in any sport. They pose the biggest threat to Clemson in the championship game, but they have to get there first. The defense is great and the offense is awesome, but the question mark will be who will man the quarterback position. If they can figure it out, this will be another fun season in Miami.

North Carolina

A few seasons ago they seemed to be a decent team in the conference year in and year out. Now? Not so much. 3-9 last season isn’t exactly a great year. But in 2018? Well, a lot of question marks. Honestly, where the season will go no one can predict. Their offense will need to rebuild after losing key starters and the defense will need to step up if they want to be at least competitive. Otherwise, it will be a long season in Chapel Hill.

Pittsburgh

Inconsistent play has plagued the Panthers the last two seasons as they seem to do well against the better teams, but struggle against squads that are languishing. However, they should do better in 2018 as they have a defense that should at least help them win some games. If they can stay competitive, then promising things could be on the horizon for the program in the coming years.

Virginia

Things don’t look too promising for the Cavaliers this season as some are predicting them to win only a game in conference play. Yes, it is not an easy division by any means, but this could be the one year that might not be pretty to watch. Yes, it will be a seventh straight losing season. Is there promise? Sure, but it will seemingly be a work starting from scratch to rebuild this program into a winner.

Virginia Tech

When the Hokies are one of the best teams in the conference, it’s a good thing for college football. Life is still weird with Frank Beamer not being the head coach, but Justin Fuente has done a great job replacing him as he makes his Virginia Tech a really strong side. There’s a good amount of question marks, but they do have a lot of talent that could answer those early in the season. While they aren’t quite as good as last year, expect them to battle Miami for the division crown which could could be an exciting game to watch. Josh Jackson will be the driving force as the quarterback as he’s truly a pleasure to watch.

 

Predictions

James Rowe: Miami vs Clemson in championship game. Clemson win the conference championship.

Thomas Martin: In the Coastal, I like Virginia Tech, but their schedule gives them a much harder road than Miami, who should easily have 10+ wins this season. In the Atlantic, I just don’t see anyone matching toe-to-toe with Clemson. So, I agree with James: Miami vs. Clemson in the Championship, and a battle-tested Clemson over a Miami who hasn’t had to face much all year. (PS – The turnover chain is stupid).

Previewing 2018-19 Aviva Premiership Season

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This Friday it will be another edition of the Aviva Premiership season as eleven squads will try their hand at dethroning the Saracens as champions. With hopes that it will be another exciting season, let’s take a look at each side competing in the 2018-19 campaign.

Bath

Bath is one of those squads that seems to have so much potential, but they always have a disappointing result to their season whether it’s just barely missing the playoffs or just underperforming after making the final in 2014-15. The squad lost one of their top players in Matt Banahan, but they also lost key players in Ben Taupai and Nick Auterac which could hamper them a bit this season. That being said, they did add Jamie Roberts and a young, but talented Joe Cokanasiga to compliment their talented side of Anthony Watson, Rhys Priestland, Jonathan Joseph, and Taulupe Faletau. Maybe they could claw their way into a playoff spot.

Bristol Bears (Promoted from RFU Championship)

Being the newly promoted side only gives more questions than answers, but the hope is that they can prove themselves to be a very formidable squad. They do boast some talent like Ian Madigan and Siale Piutau, but there still are too many questions as to whether they will do well this season. They have made a slew of moves as many have left, but a lot of come in including the legendary George Smith, who will make his move to the Aviva Premiership after the Super Rugby season concluded, and Charles Piutau who will be reunited with his brother.

Exeter Chiefs

Exeter came very close to winning the championship in 2017-18, but ultimately lost to the Saracens in the final even though they finished in first. The expectations are extremely high for them as for some fans its either winning the championship or bust. For three straight seasons they have reached the final so they will be looking to win their second championship in three campaigns. The team is led by Sam and Joe Simmonds, Sam Skinner, Jonny Hill, Santiago Cordero, Lachie Turner, Michele Campagnaro, Nic White, and the newest addition in Alex Cuthbert. This team should be back in the final.

Gloucester

Led by Johan Ackermann, Gloucester scored the most tries in their time in the Premiership last season and have a great offense. However, their defense is suspect as they conceded 73 tries in 2017-18 and because of their defense they failed to finish in the top half of the table. With additions of Danny Cipriani and Matt Banahan along with a few more signings, Gloucester could be a dark horse squad and might even get into the playoffs. The loss of Ross Moriarty will hurt this team the most, but with how good this side will be, it might only be miniscule.

Harlequins

There was a lot of promise for the Harlequins after winning a title back in 2011-12 and had two straight top four finishes, but have since disappointed. They hope to change it around for this campaign. The hope is that their breakout star Marcus Smith can continue his success and that Charlie Walker does more of the same. They did add Paul Lasike from the Utah Warriors of Major League Rugby, but they also brought in Nathan Earle, Nick Auterac, and Ben Tapuai. They did lose some big names like Jamie Roberts to Bath and Adam Jones to retirement. With this squad, there is some slight optimism.

Leicester Tigers

Leicester missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons as they finished fifth, but they should still be a favorite to return. They are incredibly talented especially with the likes of George Ford, Johnny May, and Tatafu Polota-Nau, plus they recruited the likes of David Denton and Guy Thompson as they should help improve the club. Keep an eye out for them this season as they could even be the dark horse to win the championship.

Newcastle Falcons

Newcastle had a great season in 2017-18 and are certainly on the rise, but some thought that it was a little fluky that they made it into the playoffs over Leicester. While talented, there are lot’s of questions. However, this season they look to continue that success and prove the critics wrong by getting back into the playoffs. Maybe their first ever appearance in the playoffs since it was introduced to the competition will make them even better. They boast some great players like Vereniki Goneva, Mark Wilson, Calum Green, and Kyle Cooper, plus they added some like Johnny Williams, Paul Mullen, and Logovi’i Mulipola. The loss of Juan Pablo Socino will hurt, but the hope is that they can mitigate that loss as much as possible.

Northampton Saints

While it wasn’t a great campaign last season, Northampton will hope to make some progress in 2018-19. They suffered their worst finish since they were relegated in 2006-07, but a climb up the table will be looked at positively no matter where they finish this season. Their offense seemed to struggle last season with Jamie Gibson being the only bright spot and it hurt that they lost Rob Horne who had to end his career early due to injuries, but they did add Dan Biggar, Ben Franks, James Haskell, and Taqele Naiyaravoro plus they have some young studs in Alex Moon, James Grayson, and Ehren Painter. The hope is that their veterans in Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, and Dylan Hartley pick up the slack.

Sale Sharks

While being one of the more talented sides in the league, they certainly haven’t showed much in the table after finishing eighth last season. There is some great names on the roster like AJ MacGinty, Faf de Klerk, James O’Connor, and Marland Yarde and they added a name like Chris Ashton, who is so explosive on offense, along with Rohan Janse van Rensburg, they should make them more exciting to watch. The losses of TJ Ioane and Will Addison should not be much of a factor with Ashton on the squad, but it would have been great had they stayed.

Saracens

The Saracens will be the team that every one will be gunning for this season as they are the defending champions and have been the champions for the third time in four campaigns. The hope is to make it four out of five in 2018-19. They boast a grand amount of talent that continues to make them the favorites as they have Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Maro Itoje, Will Skelton, and Owen Farrell on the roster, plus they added David Strettle. This team is scary good.

Wasps

The Wasps are another very good team to watch in this league as they finished third in 2017-18. They have so many good players like Joe Launchbury, Willie le Roux, and Elliot Daly, plus they added some others like Brad Shields and Lima Sopoaga which makes them even better. They did lose some talented players like Guy Thompson, Danny Cipriani, and James Haskell, but they should have no problem making the playoffs again.

Worcester Warriors

This is a very frustrating team as they never seem to want to get better, but are satisfied with staying put instead of trying to improve. They also barely missed out on being relegated last season. With Ben Te’o, Josh Adams, and Francois Hougaard, there is some talent there plus they added Duncan Weir, Francois Venter, Callum Black, and Cornell du Preez. The losses of Andrew Durutalo, David Denton, Jackson Willison, and Will Spencer will have some affect on the team this season.

Predictions

James Rowe: I think the top will be more predictable than the bottom, that being said I believe this will be a very competitive season as you can expect many great battles for playoff spots and for relegation.

Final standings

  1. Saracens
  2. Exeter Chiefs
  3. Leicester
  4. Wasps
  5. Newcastle Falcons
  6. Bath
  7. Northampton
  8. Sale Sharks
  9. Gloucester
  10. Harlequins
  11. Bristol Bears
  12. Worcester Warriors

Premier League Discussion (Week 3)

I’m going to try and post one of these each week. This is the first, because I’ve finally had the time to watch at least two matches from each of the teams.

 

Tier One – Title Frontrunners

 

  1. Manchester City – They are the reigning champions with possibly the best returning team in European football. The unlucky draw against Wolverhampton is a blemish on their early season record, but it was no more ragged than similar performances by other top teams. And those teams do not have City’s long term track record or underlying performance metrics. If I was to predict the next three years, I would be comfortable asserting that City would garner the most overall acclaim in all competitions by a Premier League team. The questions are: Will they survive the disease of more? Will commitments to the World Cup and in Europe sap their strength as the season stretches out? The wiggle against Wolverhampton is a positive sign for the chances of the chasing pack.
  2. Liverpool – Since the 4-1 defeat at Wembley in October of last season against Spurs, Liverpool have the best defensive record in the Premier League. That record has only been better since Virgil van Dijk arrived and they have yet to concede this season with goalkeeper Alisson minding the sticks behind the big Dutchman. They have mutual buy-in by the team, the manager, and the fans and a successful counterpressing system that has given Guardiola and City trouble. That, and they have the most electric front three in Europe. The questions are: Will the occasional lack of midfield control and stability cost them? Will their squad, improved as it is, have enough in the tank to battle against City’s two deep list of quality players?

 

Tier Two – The Challengers

 

  1. Tottenham – Tottenham is intelligently managed, has excellent attacking players (Harry Kane is obviously the crown jewel, but very few teams would look down their noses of the Dele Alli-Eriksen-Son-Lucas Moura supporting quartet either) and is a title challenger when Kane is fit and firing and their thin squad is not in some way impacted by absences and injury. Lucas Moura completing his settling in process is a massive boon that would have gone some way to alleviate the attacking glitch they suffered when Kane when down the past two seasons with either short term injuries or fits of poor finishing form. However, Lucas’s addition to the list of attacking talents is countervailed by the loss of Son to the Asian Games. They struggle to break through counterpressing teams as evidenced by the rather tricky first half against Manchester United and their general poor form against other top teams under Pochettino. But they defend well, work hard as a team, and have enough firepower to be dangerous to anyone. Just ask Real Madrid last year.
  2. Chelsea – Chelsea look much more fluid and fun under Sarri, and Eden Hazard has been extremely dangerous while on the pitch. Alvaro Morata has been mildly reborn, which is an absolute necessity if they ever are going to score enough goals. This squad is still weirdly thin for a team wearing a Chelsea badge, probably due to Abramovich’s uncertain political and economic footing in Britain. And their defense has looked shambolic on the one occasion this season that they’ve been tested by an even mildly trying attack. Newcastle and Huddersfield will be among the bottom scorers in the league this year and even they mounted some xG (and actual G!) threat to the defense.

 

Tier Three – Outside Looking In

 

  1. Arsenal – Arsenal…Arsenal. I do not understand your squad. Granit Xhaka would prefer to play as a passer in a midfield three. Lucas Torreira could join him as the destroyer, with Aaron Ramsey the driver, getting into the box late to score goals and not given much defensive responsibility (a la Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard). And that would make for a nice, balanced midfield three, probably with Torreira at the base. But then you have Mesut Ozil, their best and most frustrating player. He is a purely creative presence who is going to play essentially as a second forward off of the ball. So you need a solid midfield two behind him, usually, or you are playing him out wide where he is much less productive. And that two should probably be a destroyer and a controlling midfielder. Ok! Xhaka and Torreira fit the bill. But then you are leaving out the best of the three aforementioned midfielders, Aaron Ramsey. Damn. Ramsey and one of Xhaka/Torreira is likely to be unbalanced as a midfield double pivot behind Ozil – Ramsey tends to roam and push up to the box, leaving the defensive line massively exposed if he doesn’t have dedicated midfield support in the form of two relatively less adventurous players. Also, Torreira isn’t quite fit yet, so he can’t be counted on to start. Just to muddle the mixture, Guendouzi is a young, exciting, do-a-bit-of-everything sort of midfielder who has stood out for actually looking like he gives a damn and for not looking entirely out of place in his role in the team. *Cough* Xhaka *cough*. His situation reminds me weirdly of the early situation of fellow North Londoner Nabil Bentaleb under Tim Sherwood. I hope that Guendouzi proves more successful in adapting from his role as unexpected young midfield savior that is probably currently overhyped. Up front, their two best strikers are quick players with a very similar kind (if not quality) of game that would prefer to play in each other’s space. They can work together, but it is awkward. Aaaaaand…their defense is bad. But at least they aren’t being actively Mourinhoed!
  2. Manchester United – They are being Mourinhoed. The effects are a lot of criticism and misdirection of one’s own failures onto a team followed by a failure to acknowledge that the criticism ever occurred in the hope of dirtying the narrative. See Chelsea 2015 or Real Madrid 2012 or pretty much anything Donald Trump does. The depths to which this will undermine their confidence, team spirit, and performance will define the extent they fall down this chart. David de Gea appears short of confidence in a continuation from his trouble at the World Cup. Man, that should be scary, because that dude has been saving ~ 10 xG a season more than he should, making them look a much better team than their underlying metrics suggest that they are. Honestly, I wouldn’t trust this team to finish above 8th or 9th if I didn’t think that Mourinho will be fired in a matter of weeks and another manager brought in who can at least level out some of the dressing room animosity.

 

Tier Four – The Best of the Rest

 

  1. Leicester City – Demarai Gray has been a pleasant surprise and they retain some of the same ethos of the 2015 champions and Jamie Vardy.
  2. Everton – Richarlison has been excellent, providing sorely needed attacking dynamism to a one-paced team and Theo Walcott’s return to life among the living this week was a rather pleasant surprise. Gueye is an excellent ball-winner and Sigurdsson provides midfield goalscoring. One wonders if Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka are getting a little leggy at the back, but apart from that, this looks like a competently managed side with enough talented players up front to grab points against just about anyone. They just need to avoid red cards, soft or no.
  3. Watford – Watford very strangely have three wins from three, including the wild cross that ended up in the back of the net to see off Palace. Roberto Pereyra looks a threat cutting in from the left and Doucoure is a strong presence in midfield. But this team appears to be performing right up against the limits of its rather constrained ability right now and it has yet to face a truly challenging opponent. There are teams further down this list with more potential, but right now Watford is outplaying them by hook and by crook. Honestly, they are probably going to drop into the next tier down, but I’m as susceptible to small sample size overcorrection as anyone.

 

Tier Five – Steady Eddies

 

  1. Bournemouth – You know what you are going to get with Bournemouth under Eddie Howe. They are going to play positive, passing football. Push up the field into a mid to high block with an energetic press. Have a bit of a struggle turning some of their skill on the ball into goals. Underperform at set pieces due to their relative lack of team height. And they’ll finish comfortably out of the relegation zone.
  2. Wolverhampton Wanderers – Wolves have wonderful ball playing quality in midfield. How rare is it for a freshly promoted squad to be able to call upon folks like Joao Moutinho or Rueben Neves? I enjoy watching the base of Wolves play, but it does seem as though they lack Premier League quality edge up front. Adama Traore induced some frustration in terms of misplaced passes, but also served as a major shot in the arm that scared the City backline. Perhaps he can provide some of the needed offensive pulse.
  3. Crystal Palace – They have Wilfried Zaha. He, Richarlison, and Jamie Vardy are probably the three best attacking players not possessed by the top six. They can be defensively organized and onerous against the top six. And they have a clear plan with the ball – inverted wingers cutting in allowing fullbacks forward for the overlap and a bunch of crosses. Unless Benteke (or someone else) provides a second goal threat, they are going to have a hard ceiling of right around here and could fall down the list. But if they can find that second offensive threat, they can climb up a tier.
  4. Brighton and Hove Albion – They have been wonderfully difficult to break down defensively and have weathered a really difficult first three matches of the season with three points to show from matches away to Liverpool and Watford and at home against Manchester United. They have the defensive solidity and the team ethos. Do they have the goals to push higher than this? Probably not.

 

Tier Six – Waltzing with Relegation

 

  1. Fulham – Alexandar Mitrovic gives them cutting edge up front that most of the teams in this section of the table are rightly jealous of. Ryan Sessegnon is still very young, very skilled, and capable of sublimity and utter quiet. Their defense looks dangerously porous.
  2. Burnley – Oh, Burnley. You reached so high, touched European football, and do not appear to have your usual Icelandish defensive demeanor or intensity (much like the actual Iceland national team did at the World Cup). There is not enough offensive firepower on this team to account for a defensive dip like this for the full season and one point from a rather generous Southampton – Watford – Fulham start isn’t going to cut it. Not when the sledding is going to get a lot rougher.
  3. Newcastle United – Newcastle’s opening fixtures are devilishly brutal. I mean, look at Tottenham (h), Cardiff (a), Chelsea (h), Man City (a), Arsenal (h), Crystal Palace (a), Leicester (h), United (a). All but Cardiff have better squads than Newcastle. The hardest games are at home, where even inspired effort may come up short (as it already has against Tottenham and Chelsea). They are defensively organized and have a competent midfield, but still don’t have enough punch up front. And there’s the whole Mike Ashley + end of Benitez’s contract fiasco. It is to Benitez’s credit that he has anti-Mourinhoed his squad and they have fought hard against this set of difficult circumstances. But it might not be enough.
  4. Southampton – Southampton are clawing against their fate so far. Creditable 2-1 losses against better equipped squads in Everton and Leicester mark the beginning of their season along with a reasonably creditable draw with Burnley. But the Saints have very little goalscoring punch. There is no room for error.
  5. West Ham United – It won’t always be as bad as going to Anfield and the Emirates inside the first three weeks and coming away with zero points. West Ham have much better offensive players than most of these relegation battling sides and a pretty clear team philosophy. I believe in Manuel Pellegrini. I think, ultimately, that West Ham will end up a tier (and very possibly even two) beyond this. But their defense has been very, very porous. And Wolverhampton, Everton, Chelsea, and United come next. They desperately need points from Wolverhampton or the season could feel like it is falling apart.

 

Tier Seven – The Forlorn Hope

 

  1. Huddersfield Town – Whew. Huddersfield are poor defensively and offensively. They look massively undermanned compared to their competition. They couldn’t punch through a ten man Cardiff to score a goal and were obliterated by Chelsea and Man City. It gets way, way harder than fighting ten man Cardiff.
  2. Cardiff City – Ditto Huddersfield. Only, they lost to Bournemouth, who are closer to this class than either Chelsea or City. And added an utterly toothless draw against ten man Newcastle to boot.

 

Fisch auf dem Trockenen: An American’s Journey Through the Austrian Bundesliga, Part VII

Matthias Sindelar kicking the ball as a helpless player looks on in the background.

“He would play football as a grandmaster plays chess; with a broad mental conception, calculating moves and countermoves in advance, always choosing the most promising of all possibilities. In a way he had brains in his legs, and many remarkable and unexpected things occurred to them while they were running.”

– Obituary for Matthias Sindelar, by Alfred Polgar

Part VII: The Rise of the Paper Man

Note: This is Part VII of an ongoing series. If this is your first time reading, you may want to begin with Part I: Introductions.

Hallo everyone! Today is the first half of my look at the legendary Austrian soccer player, Matthias Sindelar. While I wanted this to be one post, it just became too big. If you’re just here for the recap of the league and the preview of this week’s games, you can scroll on to the end. But I hope you do read this and the next part, as I think it’s an interesting story that should be read and understood to truly understand the history of Austrian soccer and Austria itself. So, here it goes!

 

 

When I first mentioned my idea to do a series following the Austrian Bundesliga and examining the relatively unknown history of Austrian Fußball to my friend (and fellow contributor to this blog), John Illg, his response was simply “Sindelar! Sindelar!”

I will admit, I didn’t know much about Sindelar at the time. I had seen the name before, I knew he was a part of the 1934 “Wunderteam,” but that was about it. As I dug deeper, though, I began to understand who he was and why the memory of Sindelar has persisted. The humble roots, the almost arrogant kindness, and the untimely death (complete with conspiracy theories) all combine to create a vision that was more myth than man. But there is a darker side, too. One that is rooted in the postwar reconstruction of memory in Austria, and a myth of a different kind – the myth of Austria as the Nazis first victim. But more on that in a bit…

Matthias Sindelar was born on February 10, 1903 in Koslau, Bohemia. At that time, Koslau was a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, but today it’s known as Kozlov, in the Czech Republic.* His father was a poor bricklayer and his mother was a housewife. However his family moved from Koslau when he was two years old, settling in the tenth district of Vienna, Favoriten.

Today, Favoriten is known as a center of Vienna’s Muslim population, but at the time, it was a burgeoning industrial and trade district. The rail lines ran through Favoriten, so that meant freight did as well. Like many Habsburg subjects, Sindelar’s family hoped that they could find a new life in the Imperial capital. Sindelar’s father could use his talents to help build this new district and, perhaps, provide for his family.

However, like many in Europe, disaster soon struck. The war goes by many names – the Great War, the War to End all Wars, World War I, die Ersten Weltkrieg – but Sindelar would know it simply as the war that took his father. In 1917, Sindelar’s mother would be forced to find work. Sindelar, too, would find work, apprenticing for a locksmith. But he had also found another passion. Soccer.

Sindelar began his soccer career for the youth team ASV Hertha. It was there that he began to develop a style of no-contact in order to make up for his slight build. It was for this reason that he got his nickname, “Der Papierene,” or “The Paper Man.”

Sindelar’s career continued despite the collapse of ASV Hertha and a near devastating knee injury. This injury is actually credited as forcing him to perfect his nascent no-contact style, as he was afraid that too much contact would only exacerbate the injury.

After Hertha, Sindelar ended up playing for the Wiener Amateur-Sportverein (WAS), also known as the Amateure. In 1926, this team would eventually come to be known by the same name we know it today – FK Austria Wien. It was also in this year that Sindelar would join the world stage, playing for Austria’s national team.

Sindelar took the world by storm, scoring multiple goals in Austria’s international matches. Eventually, this Austrian team became known as the “Wunderteam,” because of their domination of the game through quick passes and control of the ball – the style personified by Sindelar.

The Wunderteam’s success came to a climax at the 1934 World Cup in Italy. The team fought through the bracket, defeating France and Hungary, only to lose in a controversial match to the host country. This was, of course, the period of the rise of fascism. Though (as far as I can tell) it has never been proven, rumors have long swirled that Mussolini himself hand-picked either friendly or intimidated referees who would call the match in favor of the Italians. The idea was that this was not just a soccer tournament, but a referendum on fascism itself. Thus, Italy had to win. But this would be far from the Austrians’ last run-in with Fascism.

 

 

Next week, we’ll continue looking at Sindelar and the fate of Austrian soccer during World War II. But for now, I wanted to go over some of the happenings in the league!

In the Champions League, Red Bull Salzburg’s match ended in a 0-0 draw to Red Star Belgrade. I managed to watch this match, and I have to say, it was eerie. The Red Star supporters had been banned from the match for “racist chants.” This was after they had almost been banned last season for (no joke) supporting the war criminal Ratko Mladic. Needless to say, the team has gone down quite a bit in my estimation. The next match will be played in Austria on the 29th, and thankfully will have a much more interesting crowd.

In the Europa League, Rapid Wien won their first match against FCSB 3-1. This puts them in a very good position to advance to the group stage in their next match, which will be played on the 30th.

In the League itself, the matches went about as expected. St. Pölten beat Wacker 2-0, despite putting a curse on them by picking them to win. Wolfsberger beat Mattersburg by a crushing 6-0. Wolfsberger is looking hot. You definitely should not sleep on them. Red Bull Salzburg, predictably, beat Hartberg 2-0. On Sunday, Altach and Sturm Graz drew 1-1, and LASK defeated Rapid Wien 2-1 (my only real miss last week, since I don’t count predicted draws). The last game to talk about was Austria Wien’s stomping of Admira, 4-0. Admira did not look good. They really need to step it up or they will risk being in the talk for relegation. Admira finished 5th last year, 6th the year before that, and 4th before that. So, being in the bottom half of the table (much less third worst) is not exactly normal for Admira. So we’ll see how they respond in the weeks to come.

Next week there are some more interesting matches. The schedule and my predictions (in bold) are below. I’ve marked the match to watch for each day with an asterisk (*).

Saturday

Altach vs. Red Bull Salzburg

*St. Pölten vs. FK Austria Wien

Wolfsberger vs. Sturm Graz

 

Sunday

Hartberg vs. LASK

Admira vs. Mattersburg

*Rapid Wien vs. FC Wacker

 

Anyway, I think we could see some interesting results here, with the table beginning to really shake out. Make sure to stay tuned next week for the next part of my look at Matthias Sindelar. But until then, Auf Wiedersehen!

Update: You can continue this series with Part VIII: Man and Myth.

The Rugby Championship 2018 Edition: Week Two Predictions

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Argentina vs South Africa

James Rowe: South Africa. At one point I thought Argentina was going to win with how impressive they looked in the first half, but then the Springboks reminded me why they are so good as they came back to win the match. That being said, Argentina really looked decent. Now that Argentina will be hosting this game, I can see them playing even harder and will probably put up a better fight, but honestly South Africa’s pack is so freaking good that not even Argentina’s awesome scrum will be able to compete with them.

New Zealand vs Australia

James: New Zealand. Just as I thought, I had a feeling that the All-Blacks were going to run all over the Wallabies. Australia will need to tighten up their defense if they want to compete as there are too many leaks and it showed in the second half. New Zealand is incredibly talented and are more disciplined, this was an easy decision. Also, it will be behind the All-Blacks crowd, tough to beat that.

Shamrock Thoughts: Premier League Should Implement Postseason

EPL

I am sure some of you when reading the headline were thinking “It must be some American! He probably doesn’t know anything about football!” Yes, I am an American and I am going to call it soccer, so deal with it, and yes, I do understand and quite well actually. However, hear me out on this because you may actually like the idea as much as I do.

I love watching the Premier League as it’s undoubtedly the best soccer league in the world. I love the drama and watching all the great talent on the field, but as an American who loves watching sports drama, I can’t help but think that such a great league that possesses incredible sports drama, doesn’t have the most dramatic thing about sports, playoffs. Yes, you won’t see the same type of drama like Sergio Aguero’s game winning goal that helped earn Manchester City the championship on the last day of the season, but that could happen in the playoffs too! Heck it already happens in rugby as the Aviva Premiership has one and it’s pretty great to watch. And Super Rugby does too and that might even be better.

A playoff at the end of the season could be a really great addition to the season as it would add more excitement, bring more money into the league, and it gives teams more incentive to play harder at the end of the regular season. So theoretically it could really prove whether Leicester City was truly the best team in 2015-16. Heck, even for this past season, it could have proven whether Manchester City was really as good as advertised. In an article that I found that was trying to make the same argument about introducing a postseason to the Premier League found a great statistic that would suggest having playoffs at the end of the season actually makes sense. It showed of the champions from 2006-07 to 2015-16, how many points earned were from against the top eight teams in the league. Here is what he found:

  1. 2011/12 Manchester City 41.5%
  2. 2007/08 Manchester United 38%
  3. 2006/07 Manchester United 33.7%
  4. 2013/14 Manchester City 33.7%
  5. 2010/11 Manchester United 31%
  6. 2009/10 Chelsea 29%
  7. 2014/15 Chelsea 28.7%
  8. 2012/13 Manchester United 27%
  9. 2015/16 Leicester City 26%
  10. 2008/09 Manchester United 22%

So as you can see there, outside of Manchester City’s championship in 2011-12, each of the winners won the championship by getting points from most of the teams outside of the top eight. That’s unfair. A postseason would be a better indicator who is the best team that season. When it’s the same top five clubs vying for the championship every year, it creates a very stagnant and boring competition to watch where as here in the United States, every team has a realistic chance. Seeing Leicester City win in 2015-16 actually made the competition so worth watching that even non soccer fans legitimately were interested in what happened. It get’s boring just to see Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool contend year and year out just to see who is the top dog in the competition (maybe it’s also because I’m an Everton fan and I want them to realistically have a chance of winning the championship). It might even finally allow Tottenham to win the title finally.

Here in the United States we have Major League Soccer. It’s our top domestic league. While the quality is not quite the same as the Premier League, MLS has something the Premier League does not, a postseason. I don’t usually watch MLS, but when I do it’s during their playoffs as it’s one of the most dramatic and most fun things in soccer. If Premier League had such a thing, I guarantee it will automatically be the most fun thing to watch for the sport. Maybe even more so than the World Cup (bold statement, I know).

So what should the playoffs in the Premier League look like? Well I have a few different proposals. My first proposal is that the top six teams advance to the playoffs with the two best sides getting byes. The three seed would play the six seed and the fourth would play the fifth as those matchups are single elimination. Then in the semi-finals and finals, the teams would play two matches (or legs if you want to call it that) and advance/win the championship based off of aggregate goals. Another simpler version of the proposal that I just proposed is having the whole tournament as single elimination.

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My third proposal is just like the one above which was also used in the article I reference (the bracket is actually the same one used in the same story) as the top ten sides advance to the postseason. I like this idea only because there is absolutely no parity in the Premier League and if a team like Stoke City in the above bracket gets hot, they theoretically have a chance of winning the championship that year. However, in my opinion, that’s too many teams in the postseason. While it could be more fun and would bring in more money, it waters down the competition. This is the Premier League after all and the postseason should be the most premier soccer playoffs.

My fourth proposal is that it’s a best of eight clubs advancing to the postseason with in the first two rounds there are two matches played in each matchup with the winner advancing based off aggregate goals with the championship round being single elimination. And with my final proposal is to have the same thing that I just mentioned except every matchup is single elimination.

There are some complications here as the most important one is how do you fit it on the calendar. That’s why a single elimination tournament for a postseason would work best as it would not affect anything during the offseason that would conflict with international matches. While I personally would like to see a postseason with two legs per round, single elimination actually would be better logistically, possibly economically, and in terms of drama.

I think a lot of people from outside of the United States will be automatically resistant to the idea of a postseason, but trust me, here in America, we really love postseasons as they are so much fun to watch. We live and breathe in it as so much drama occurs, but there are also benefits to it as well as more money is brought into the sports because of playoffs. I also guarantee more Americans would become more interested in soccer if the Premier League introduced such a thing. And who knows, the people who follow the Premier League who live outside of the United Kingdom and the residents of the U.K. might fall in love with the idea as well. I think the drama of the knockout stage of this World Cup has even proven that this concept could work. Just give it a thought and better yet give it a chance.

Fisch auf dem Trockenen: An American’s Journey Through the Austrian Bundesliga, Part VI

Allianz Stadion

Part VI: Gimme a Break

Note: This is Part VI of an ongoing series. If this is your first time reading, you may want to begin with Part I: Introductions.

I know that last week I promised you a little more soccer history, but everything is starting to move quickly as I get ready to go to Austria. So, the post on Matthias Sindelar, also known as “The Paper Man,” that was planned for today will have to wait until next week.

In the meantime, a quick recap of the Bundesliga over the past week.

On the international stage, Red Bull Salzburg advanced to the playoff round of the Champions League with a 4-0 aggregate versus Shkëndija. Next week they’ll match up against Red Star Belgrade from Serbia. This looks to be the best battle of the Reds since the Sino-Soviet split.*

In the Europa League, things didn’t go quite so well. Sturm Graz had a disastrous day, losing on a 0-7 aggregate to AEK Larnaca, and LASK, despite winning the second leg 2-1, lost on away goals with a tied aggregate 2-2. As such, both are eliminated from the tournament. Rapid Wien, however, did manage to move forward, winning their second leg match 4-0. This was enough to put them over the top of a 5-2 aggregate score. They’ll take on FCSB from Romania in the first leg of the playoffs next week.

Back in the Bundesliga, Hartberg managed to get their first win of the season in an upset of Mettersburg, scoring 4 and allowing 2. Red Bull Salzburg continued their winning streak, beating FK Austria Wien 2-0 and maintaining their spot at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Altach moved to the bottom of the table after losing to Wacker Innsbruck. Elsewhere, LASK beat Admira (1-0), St. Pölten managed to get over Sturm Graz (2-0), and Rapid Wien and Wolfsberger drew at 0-0.

This week, there are some good mid-table matches. I don’t think Red Bull Salzburg is in any danger of losing the top spot, even if they’re facing a freshly ego-boosted Hartberg. The match to watch this week is LASK vs. Rapid Wien. Also, after being down on them, I’m on the St. Pölten train (which, if you’ve followed my picks in the past, could be their death knell). All the matchups and my picks are below.

Saturday

Wacker vs. St. Pölten

Mattersburg vs. Wolfsberger

Red Bull Salzburg vs. Hartberg

Sunday

Austria Wien vs. Admira

Sturm Graz vs. Altach

LASK vs. Rapid Wien

Like I said, next week I’ll be diving into quite possibly the best/most famous soccer player in Austrian history – Matthias Sindelar. But in the meantime, I hope we can all enjoy some fun soccer this week! Until next week, Auf Wiedersehen!

 

*What do you mean that joke hasn’t been relevant since 1985?

Update: You can continue this series with Part VII: The Rise of the Paper Man.

The Rugby Championship 2018 Edition: Week One Predictions

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Predictions

New Zealand vs Australia

James Rowe: New Zealand. The All Blacks are just the best rugby team in the world, enough said. The Wallabies might give them a good fight especially with the home crowd behind them, but there is too many question marks about them.

South Africa vs Argentina

James: South Africa. The Springboks are clearly the stronger side here. I like what I see from the Pumas, but after just getting a new head coach, it might be hard to catch fire that early after being appointed.

Previewing The Rugby Championship 2018 Edition

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The Rugby Championship is arguably the best rugby competition in the world as the best four Southern Hemisphere nations play in this tournament, but it also is considered the best rugby competition because three of these nations are regarded as the top three best and most successful rugby nations in the world including the All-Blacks who have the highest winning percentage in the history of the sport and have won the most Rugby World Cups. New Zealand has won the most of any nation since the competition began in 2012 with five trophies (15 if including the Tri Nations era). With that in mind, let’s take a look at the participating nations:

New Zealand

Not only are they considered the best side in the world, they also might be the most complete as well.  According to TheRoar.com.au, they have an incredible scrum unit, a lineout that is close to flawless, a strong defense, and the best counter attacking in the world. The only question mark is at flyhalf as some have questioned whether Beauden Barrett is the right man, but they do have depth at the position with Richie Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie. Other than that, this team boasts a lot of the best talent in the world with the likes of Kieran Read, Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, and Brodie Retallick, and because of that they are the favorite to win this year’s competition. Their depth is incredible as it will be tough to beat that and the only worry about this side is whether they are healthy enough.

 

Australia

The Wallabies used to lay claim to being the second best in the world according to the rankings, but ever since the rise of Ireland, they have fallen in the rankings plus they have been struggling of late. That being said, there is still high hopes. Having one of the better attacks with a very talented backs corps, their forwards have been inconsistent as it seems their scrum has gotten better, but their lineout has been languishing. Plus their defense is suspect. The injuries of Tevita Kuridrani and Samu Kerevi will hurt a lot, but getting back David Pocock will be absolutely crucial. A big question mark will be who will replace Stephen Moore at hooker. We will find out soon, but with the talent of Michael Hooper, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, and Bernard Foley, plus a chance to see Tom Banks play as the word is he is turning some heads especially with his speed. While the picture painted might not be optimistic, they could make a challenge at the trophy.

 

South Africa

Another traditional power house nation that some have also regarded as the second best in the world and at one point the absolute best, the Springboks on paper have a very strong side. Their forward unit is one of the best in the world as their scrum and lineouts are incredible. While there is some question marks in the backs, they are very talented and should have no problem fighting for the trophy with New Zealand. The Springboks boasts stars on their roster such as Eben Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx, Tendai Mtawarira, Warren Whiteley, Willie le Roux, and Elton Janjies. Not having Lood de Jager playing will hurt, but they should have the depth to replace him. This could be a fun squad to watch.

 

Argentina

The weakest of all four of these competitors, they have certainly shown progress in becoming a top rugby nation as they showed in 2015 how good they were with a semi-finals appearance in the World Cup. With all four of these teams in the semi-finals, it showed the quality in this tournament got even better when Argentina joined. Plus with getting a team to compete in the illustrious club rugby competition Super Rugby, the Jaguares, these players will have no problem facing off against the other three sides. The forwards are usually their best asset, but now that is a question mark and could be crucial just to see how they perform in this tournament. They do boast some talent like Bautista Delguy, Nicolas Sanchez, Agustin Creevy, Santiago Grondona, and Julian Montoya. They could make some noise in this tournament.

Predictions

James Rowe: I firmly believe the All-Blacks are the best squad in this tournament and will take home the trophy easily. I actually think this tournament might be more predictable this time around than it has ever been and more so than this past edition of the Six Nations. However, I do think we will see a lot of competitive matches and we will see Argentina take a gigantic step forward.

How I think they will finish? 1. New Zealand 2. South Africa 3. Australia 4. Argentina

Fisch auf dem Trockenen: An American’s Journey Through the Austrian Bundesliga, Part V

Salzburg in the Champions-League qualifier 3rd round vs Shkëndija this past Wednesday

“The Champions League is the competition everyone wants to be in.”

– Steven Gerrard

Part V: The Champions (League)

Note: This is Part V of an ongoing series. If this is your first time reading, you may want to begin with Part I: Introductions.

Last week was a bit disappointing for me. I’m still in the U.S., and streaming was even more difficult than normal. When I finally did manage to get a stream, it was inconsistent at best. I have just a few more weeks before I will finally be in the middle of the action, but until then, I’m afraid I’m just going to have to scramble to get what I can, when I can.

All that said, we saw some interesting results last week, even if the league as a whole was a bit light on goals. Graz kept the win alive against Wacker, despite a late run for the draw, 3-2; Red Bull Salzburg surged to the top of the table once again after defeating Mattersburg 2-0; Admira managed to pull in a win after a disappointing first match, defeating Hartberg 1-0 (sending Hartberg to the bottom of the table); and Wolfsberger upset FK Austria Wien with a single goal in the 72nd minute. Rapid Wien drew 1-1 with Altach, as did LASK and St. Pölten, 0-0.

We also had a little bit of action in international competitions, but before I go into that, I think it’s time I gave a little bit of a view of what happened last year. After all, the participants in these international competitions were determined by last year’s matches!

Last year, the final year of the ten team league, Red Bull Salzburg found themselves at the top of the table for the fifth year in a row – an impressive feat in any league. As such, they qualified for the UEFA Champions’ League. Also qualifying was runner-up Sturm Graz (it’s worth noting that, despite being runner-up in the league, they actually won the cross-league ÖFB Cup).

For those of you who don’t know, the Champions League and its lower-ranked counterpart, the Europa League, have many stages, in which different teams qualify or are eliminated and replaced by other teams. This system is generally based on the UEFA country coefficients ranking, which takes into account that country’s performance in past tournaments. Austria was ranked 15th, so the runner-up (Sturm Graz) entered the tournament on the League Path during the second qualifying round while the champion (RB Salzburg) entered on the Champions Path in the third qualifying round.

Sturm Graz was eliminated after losing 2-0 and 3-1 (5-1 aggregate) to AFC Ajax from the Netherlands. They were then sent to the Europa League, which we will discuss shortly.

Red Bull Salzburg, however, played their first match on Thursday against Shkëndija from the Republic of Macedonia, entering in the third qualifying round. They managed to pull out the win, going 3-0. They will play their second match on August 14th, but with a 3-0 head start in the aggregate (the score that really counts in the Champions League), their chances are good to advance to the next round.

Over in the Europa League, Austria sent Admira, LASK, and Rapid Wien. Admira and LASK came in at the Second Qualifying round. Admira was knocked out after losing by a 6-1 aggregate to CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria (not great), but LASK managed to move on after winning by a 6-1 aggregate (weird how that worked out) against Lillestrøm from Norway. This sent them on to the Third Qualifying round, where they were joined by Rapid Wien and, after losing in the Champions League, Sturm Graz.

All three teams now in the Europa league played on Thursday, and, unfortunately, all three lost. Sturm Graz lost 0-2 vs AEK Larnaca from Cyprus, Rapid Wien lost 1-2 vs Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia, and LASK lost 0-1 vs Beşiktaş from Turkey. But those scores aren’t so bad as to make the clubs panic. Rapid and LASK are both just one goal behind on aggregate, and Sturm could easily close the gap with a good day.

You may have heard about a problem that arose at the Sturm match today. I’m not really going to get into it here, not because I want to sweep it under the rug, but because I’m planning on doing a post on hooliganism in Austrian soccer soon. But just know that there was an incident in which a fan threw something (a cup or bottle, it’s unclear) at one of the refs, cutting his face and forcing UEFA to consider abandoning the match. Obviously, this is not a good look, and the Sturm organization has condemned it. But like I said, that may be something for this series to revisit on another day.

As far as expected results are concerned, it’s worth noting that an Austrian club has never won the Champions League or Europa League final. The closest they’ve come is a Europa League runner-up with Red Bull Salzburg in 1994. This Salzburg team is fairly stacked, so they have a chance to go pretty far in the tournament, but how they do overall has yet to be seen. Once they begin facing some of the harder hitters of the tournament, we’ll be able to see their true mettle.

Coming up this weekend in the league proper, we have another six matches. The matches and my picks are listed below (picks in bold):

Hartberg vs. Mettersberg

Altach vs. Wacker

Red Bull Salzburg vs. FK Austria Wien

Admira vs. LASK

Rapid Wien vs. Wolfsberger

St. Pölten vs. Sturm

Last week my picks didn’t go so well, so we’ll see how this week goes!

Next week I’m hoping to have a bit more on Austrian soccer history along with my picks. But until then, Auf Wiedersehen!

Update: You can continue this series with Part VI: Gimme a Break.