Opinion

The Dutch are the kings of street football. With the advent of YouTube in 2005, the masters of Amsterdam’s thriving street scene found a global audience in tune with the Dutch footballing subculture. 

In America, the And1 basketball mixtapes had elevated street players to a new level. In Amsterdam, players like Edward van Gils, Issy “Hitman” Hamdaoui and Lenny Macnack, the Streetkings of Dutch football, enjoyed a similarly meteoric rise in their sport. 

It might not be Baseball, but there is little denying numbers play a prominent role in soccer today. Sunday’s clash between Tottenham and Manchester City at White Hart Lane will be one of those matches where numbers go a long way in explaining what the outcome might be.

The Premier League-leading goal machine that is Manchester City’s attack will have to find a way to breach the wall Mauricio Pochettino set up so far in Tottenham’s defense. 

Standing at 6’3’’ and built like brick s***houses, Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku both share a distinct ability to absolutely boss center-backs. Both are charged with doing as much for their club sides, Everton and Crystal Palace.

On Friday night, the two players went head to head in a match surely watched by Belgium manager Roberto Martinez and his assistant Thierry Henry. While the two strikers share some qualities, they’re incredibly different in their approach play.

The nominees for the annual Golden Boy award, selected by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and ultimately bestowed upon Europe’s best footballer aged under 21, are out. Among the boys are Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman, Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

Although Celtic is coached by ex-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, no stranger to his Manchester City opponents, the Pep Guardiola led Citizens should have easily pulled out a win against the Scottish champions. However, yesterday's result showed that maybe the rise of Kevin De Bruyne and not the acquisition of Guardiola is the reason behind Manchester City’s place at the top of the Premier League table.

Throughout the tenure of Jurgen Klinsmann as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, American soccer fans have watched the team take steps forward, as they did by advancing out of the group of death at the 2014 World Cup, only to also watch them take steps back, as they did by losing in the semifinals of the 2015 Gold Cup. 

Sometimes, selling your best player is the right move. Take, for example, Manchester United shipping out Ruud van Nistlerooy in 2006. In the aftermath of losing the prolific striker, a new set of players emerged to take up the burden. The side became less reliant on one focal point and spread the workload across an emerging generation of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Carrick.

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A few weeks back Landon Donovan returned to the LA Galaxy to close out the 2016 season. The media were stunned. While the reaction should have been primarily excitement and respect, many in the fan community appear as cynical as ever. 

After two season out of the game, Donovan decided to rejoin the Galaxy after they suffered a number of injuries and needed depth to close the year out. Once people realized it was not an off-calendar April Fools Day joke, the skepticism began.

If you're a video game fan, and, more importantly, a soccer fan, you already know that FIFA 17 comes out today, September 27th. Thinking back to its origins in the 1990s, I ask myself this question: is there a better sports franchise when it comes to video games? 

Let's look at the competition. First up would have to be Madden NFL, the 'other' football. Another EA Sports series, Madden NFL began life in the late 1980s and is still going strong today.