My Favorite Things of 2008, Part I.

By: chris | December 31st, 2008

This the end of the year (in case you don’t own a calendar) and as is custom, it’s time for year end lists. You might do the world’s best XI, we decided to do our most favoritest things of 2008 (the three of us doing our own – lord knows Yoann Gourcuff’s crotch was not one of my favorite things, but it’ll surely get a mention…Daryl). Each person’s view is different, which makes this one of the few year-end lists that you can’t argue with. Though now that I think on that, it takes away half the fun, doesn’t it? Ah well.

Barcelona’s dominance.

It’s not so much that their aesthetically pleasing, fundamentally brilliant style is winning and winning by some margin, it’s more with whom. Out went the superstars in the summer, including Ronaldinho and Deco; in came quality, well-known players, such as Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique and Dani Alves, but no one with nearly the equivalent star power (as fullbacks go it could be said they come no bigger than Dani Alves, but he’s still no Ronaldinho). A transition that nearly cost the president his job, and one which turned the team 180 degrees.

What that 180 degree turn has done is build the quintessential team, and as a fan of football there is no greater sight.

Xavi; Or, The midfield playmaker.

A lot of talk recently about the decline of Europe’s “true #10″, something seemingly spearheaded by Juan Roman Riquelme’s, what looks to be permanent, move back to South America. Which is fine. Evolution happens, there’s no point fighting it. Though not new, the (almost, in Xavi’s case) deep-lying playmaker has become the offensive catalyst of choice through cerebral play and the last two major international tournaments have been won largely on the back of two of the very best. Strikers and wingers may get the girls – particularly if your last name begins with A and ends with gbonlahor – but the playmaker is winning the biggest of trophies and doing it oh so beautifully.

101 Great Goals, TV Golo, Sapo.pt & the rise of highlight providers.

Remember way back in the day when, if you wanted highlights, you had to wait for the sports shows to come on or, if not in your country, you had to continually check the ‘most recent’ search tab in YouTube? No longer. I can’t quite confirm when they launched, but it’s fair enough to say the ‘highlights on a platter’ service has taken off this year, ascending to a new level. And for that we can’t be thankful enough. At its most basic level it may just be simple posting on the internet, but in the grand scheme, they bring the fan closer to the game. The Premiership would do well to learn a lesson – or several.

Hoffenheim ist die Herbstmeister.

I’ll save you the eye rolls, oh dear god’s, and exaggerated vomiting gestures….

Cliché cliché cliché. Cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché. Cliché cliché cliché. Ciché cliché cliché cliché cliché. Ciché. Cliché cliché. Cliché cliché cliché. Cliché. Cliché cliché cliché cliché cliché. Cliché cliché.

But really, Dietmarr Hopp, former player for the youth team and now software mogul/owner, has done wonders to bring a club two years off “regional” play to the position of winter champions (Herbstmeister) in the Bundesliga. And though they may have money, they’re nowhere near as close to the rise of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea as most may think. The entire transformation took 18 years, but hey, good things come to those who wait. (Sorry.)

Not always a sucker for an underdog, but they’re certainly an exception.

Sassuolo Calcio.

Seriously, not always a sucker for an underdog.

When they made their first ascension to Serie C1, the third flight of Italian calcio, in 2006, it was considered a defining achievement. When they made Serie B after just their first two years in Serie C1, it was considered nothing short of mind-boggling. Now, this little club from a town of 40,000 in Emilia-Romagna who played in a stadium of 4000 before being forced into Modena’s stadium this season, they sit tops in the second division table (along with a mild clusterfudge of four other teams), showing no signs of backing down for a historic promotion to Serie A. They’re the poor man’s Hoffenheim (literally) and Castel di Sangro (figuratively, at least in terms if miraculousness), but they’re nothing short of a tried and true Cinderella.

Olivier Kapo & Joseba Etxeberria.

A French ex-Juventino? Say it ain’t so?

And Joseba’s equally as giving. Two athletes who defy the stereotypes.

Luis Suarez.

My fascination for this kid began when he started to make noise with Groningen, only growing upon his move to the red hued limelight of the Eredivisie’s big city. At times, he’s everything wrong with footballers: he whines, he dives, he disappears, he gets lost in his own glory only to dive some more. But then, when all hope is seemingly lost, he unearths from his bag of magic tricks a move that just leaves you utterly breathless. At 21 there’s plenty of time for the extracurriculars to subside, but there are very few on the planet with his supremely natural supreme talent. He’s the heir to Francesco Totti’s throne as football’s resident Spoonman and, should things continue on this path, could become everything Uruguay had hoped of Alvaro Recoba.

Andrei Arshavin.

It wasn’t his play in Swissaustria, leading his team to UEFA Cup glory over that evil Rangers side or the sheer amounts of absurd transfer gossip enveloping him like Pig-Pen’s cloud of stink (which is what most of his transfer gossip is, mind you). It’s Andrei Arshavin for his ability to photogenic. Excuse me: his complete lack thereof. Example? Daryl’s recent transfer post. Or here. Or here. Or here.

Not to forget his crowning achievement, the Glamour Shot photo with bride:

If his agent weren’t such a goddamn chatterbox, you’d think publications would be making up rumors solely as an excuse to use his images.

Lee Peacock’s confusion.

Swindon Town midfielder.

“We have to take it on the chin. It is a kick in the nuts.”

I don’t know where he learned his human anatomy, but nuts aren’t on the…

Oh, I see where he’s going with this. He and Joan Laporta clearly need to duke it out for Mensa’s quote of the year.

This quote came some time in January, I believe, and it stood the test of time. Well done, Lee.

Alberto Paloschi’s Serie A debut.

Recall this game and not thinking twice when 18 year old Alberto Paloschi entered the pitch for an ancient Serginho. Eighteen seconds later this precocious kid scored on his Serie A – he’d played in the Coppa, but still had yet to taste the sweet nectar of top flight footy – debut with his very first big boy touch to the shock and awe of everyone watching. Game ended 1-0, of course, turning in one of the greatest debuts of all-time.

And a half-way decent ball by Seedorf, too.