Sterling Contract Saga

Sterling Contract Saga 

Sterlings a youthful talent who prospers in a team building for the future, he has been offered a £100,000 contract and has had the opportunity to play in the champions league, what more could a player at the age of 20 want?

Why has he declined a £100,000 contract?

During his recent interview he explained that the reason he didn't sign this contract was because he wanted trophies. He emphasised that it wasn't the money and instead he said he just wanted to be the best player he could be. He said he is waiting to the end of the season to see his options and go from there. Possibly the addition of some silverware in the Fa Cup or the guarantee of Champions League football next season could tempt him to stay. 

Will his departure have a big impact? 

With the departure of Gerrard at the end of the season, who by many is regarded as the best player to have ever worn the Liverpool shirt it signals a departure of a man who single handedly won us not only games but titles, Additionally just a season ago we lost Suarez who is currently one of the best players in the world. This legendary/world class status isn't possessed by Sterling meaning his departure won't be as significant. However he is still a very good player who's pace and trickery on the wing will be a real loss should he depart. He's been a consistent starter this season for Liverpool scoring six goals and assisting seven in twenty eight games. With that he has been very versatile starting a portion of his games in his preferred right wing position, another portion upfront due to the injury of Sturridge and most recently adopting a right wing back position. There is no doubt about his impact on the club but he isn't irreplaceable. 

Where would he go? 

There has been interest from loads of clubs the most recent coming from Arsenal. But surely this rumour has no substance as in his recent interview, as I outlined earlier, he said he wants to win trophies. Arsenal are a very good team but they can't guarantee trophies. In the last few years their only noteworthy trophies have been the Fa Cup and the Community Shield. 

He has also gained interest from the biggest club in Europe, Real Madrid. Since arriving at the Bernabeu Bale has struggled and has been on the receiving end of a lot of hate from his own fans. Bale arrived at the Bernabeu at the end of his best season ever, scoring a whopping 21 goals in 33 matches, yet his confidence was still able to slide along with his performances. Thats why the move wouldn't be right for Sterling as I don't think at the age of 20 you would be able to deal with the pressure of 80,000 people watching you every week and judging you on everything you do. He is best at a club like Liverpool that can carefully nurture him and help him grow as a player whilst also providing him with the possibility of silverware

Could Dani Alves’ replacement at FC Barcelona come from the Premier League?

http://thinkfootball.co.uk/could-dani-alves-replacement-at-fc-barcelona-come-from-the-premier-league/

Can Kane usher in new era of success for England

Below is a link to an article that I wrote that describes both the past success of Harry zone and the possible future success of him for England.

http://thinkfootball.co.uk/can-harry-kane-usher-in-a-new-era-of-success-for-england/

What is Roy Hodgson’s best 11 going into Euro 2016?

Check out this link to my latest article which many England fans especially will enjoy.
http://thinkfootball.co.uk/what-is-roy-hodgsons-best-11-going-into-euro-2016/

Everything I love about football

Everything I love about football 

• It's a nice way of relaxing after a tiresome week at school.

• The social aspect. Whether it's with mates or family members it's a great way of interacting and having a laugh and a joke. 

• It's a way of expressing your passion. Whether it be screaming your head off at the game or screaming your head off in front of the TV.

• It's very dramatic, there's twists in scoreline, exciting transfer rumours, goals that shouldn't have counted, old players coming to former clubs and scoring the deciding goal, own goals, manager rows and plenty plenty more. 

• There's always something to talk about, it's a great conversation starter and also ender depending on who your talking to. 

• The culture of the teams, how different teams play and why they play like that, there traditions and their history is especially interesting. 

These are just some of the reasons why I love the beautiful game but what is YOUR favourite part about the game?

Money Kills Talent

Money Kills Talent

What's happening to English footballers? I tell you what's happening they are getting far too much cash. Young players aged 18 or over these days in the Premier League are likely to be earning that much money that they will be able to afford a new Audi or a new Land Rover each week, can anyone tell me how this is helping develop young talent. Well it's not. Some players,not all, just do the bare minimum to get their pay check at the end of the week because that's what makes them happy as it such a big reward for something so small, in addition some don't tend to care about pushing and challenging themselves.This isn't helping English footballers grow, we are a small country, and English players should be making the most of the chances they get in the team but at the moment their isn't a leader and their aren't enough consistently good performances from the team.We have been talked about continuously as a team that should be challenging for top tournaments but it's been a long time since we have. When you compare our team to the likes of Germany, Brazil and Spain in which their teams contain both young and experienced talent that all have an impact on the game, furthermore their teams all have strong squad depth;we haven't. If you could describe every England performance for the last 5 years in 5 words those words would be:depressing, boring, uncreative, slow and predictable.

Neymar VS Hazard

Neymar vs Hazard

These stats are accurate from the 20^th March 2015 and are based just on their performance in their respective leagues.

Stat	Neymar	Hazard
Games Played	23	28
Minutes Played	1690	2476
Key passes	23	72
Assists	4	6
Chances Created	27	78
Pass Completion	79%	87%
Goals Scored	17	10
Total Shots	63	57
Shot Accuracy	62%	59%
Tackles Won	17	20
Successful Passes	776	1347

 

Ultimately, there isn’t a definite answer to who is the better player due to a few reasons. Firstly, it 

depends on your opinion on which are more important assists and chances created or goals. Secondly, there are a number of different variables that have to come into consideration such as time played, the league they played in, the clubs they played against, how they were feeling during each performance etc. Lastly, these stats are based over one season, which in footballing terms is a short period of time so one/both of them could just be having especially good seasons.

Overall, in my opinion I believe Neymar is the better player due to the goals he scores which is ultimately what wins football matches furthermore his amazing array of skills is a joy to watch. However, I believe Hazard is an amazing player and I believe he is a lot more important to his club than Neymar is, he creates a host of chances, draws fouls to relieve pressure from his team in big champions league matches and his energy when the team aren’t playing to their full potential helps them get through these periods.

Amazing Arsenal?

Amazing Arsenal?

Many Arsenal fans were disappointed following their recent exit in the Champions League against a poor Monaco side.

A whole host of people were impressed with their performance against Monaco. But why were so many people so impressed? Firstly, they lost. A strong Arsenal team with an array of talent lost against an average Monaco side lying 4th in a league in which they realistically should be challenging for the title. Secondly, it's a two legged affair and their performance at the Emirates was embarrassing, they should be ashamed. Furthermore, their Arsenal, a team that should be demolishing a team labelled by many as 'easy'. Moreover, Arsenal play in arguably the most competitive league in the world so why didn't they show that grit and fight in their play at the Emirates. Lastly, in the leg at the Stade Louis ll,Monaco parked the bus for most of the game and invited Arsenal pressure making it inevitable that they were going to make good, well worked chances, that many got over excited about.

At the end of the day they just weren't good enough, which seems to be the story season after season for Arsenal and their fans must be getting impatient.

Does Football really need to spend money on undersoil heating?

Is undersoil heating really needed? 

After reading a very interesting FourFourTwo article (a magazine I would definitely recommend to any football fan) about the evolution of scattering straw,to modern-day undersoil heating all to prevent a frozen pitch was especially interesting, triggering me to do some research of my own. 

I found an article online that was to do with this straw phenomenon. A frozen St.James' Park pitch was covered with the stuff, it was set alight to try to melt the frost.It then started raining prompting the addition of a layer of sand.Not exactly conducive to good football. In the 1970s, Leicester City came up with the idea of using a giant inflatable balloon,which kept the Filbert Street Pitch free of snow and rain.The balloon used was the biggest in the world at the time,measuring a whopping 720,000 cubic feet.It took 15 men two hours to erect and cost the club 8,000. It was cheaper than 35,000 for a re-laid pitch though and it ensured matches stayed on. In January 1979 alone.Filbert Street attracted over 70,00 fans to three FA Cup replays between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday, while the rest of the country was snowbound. 

Who needs undersoil heating? 

IS BALE BEATEN

Is Bale Beaten

Gareth Bale, an excellent footballer, an amazing young talent and a bubbly personality had condemned him to be one of the best and most popular footballers in the world during his spell at Tottenham. However, his inconsistent form and selfishness on the pitch has caused a selection of the Real Madrid faithful to vent unfair criticism towards him and make his dream transfer to into a transfer from hell. 

Bale started the 2014-15 season in decent form and aided Real to win the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, which was his third piece of silverware since joining the club. This form continued and he later bagged his first goal of the season in a 4-2 loss to Real Sociedad and scored in the victory over San Lorenzo to win the FIFA World Cup. However this was when things went wrong. 

When playing against Espanyol Bale blitzed through their defence and had a decision to make. Pass to arguably the best player in the world or back his own ability and take it on himself. We all know what he should have done, but this is the decision that lost the majority of fans patience in him. A ring of boos bellowed around the Bernabeu stadium as his effort rolled wide and the frustrated Ronaldo pointed angrily at where the ball should have gone. But isn't this a bit hypercritical from a player who's almost being labelled as the arrogant selfish one. 

Bale cost the club a world record fee of €100 million, and needs to showcase his ability to get the fans approval, but how is he going to this without taking risks, without being selfish. Since this event against Espanyol Bale has been heavily criticised for not getting involved in the game enough, and by some commentators for being too safe. So what can he do? 

Like many transfers these days the price of the player often overshadows how they perform on the pitch, and it almost daunts the player knowing the extreme amount of pressure that's on their shoulders. Knowing your one of the most expensive players in the world must affect your performance, I just hope that his critics and the Real Madrid fans can get off his back because then you will see an improvement in his performances. 

On the other hand I am aware that if you are paying that much for a player you expect them to be able to deal with pressure,perform on the big stage and choose the right option when in possession. But this again brings up the main issue regarding football at the moment:money. Money along with the media is constricting young promising talent of their full potential. 

Thinking, back to the headline of this article 'Is Bale Beaten', we'll surprisingly no he isn't. Even though Bale has had to deal with this constant criticism from teammates, fans and the media as well as the hefty price tag that looms over him he's being able to deal with it. On match day 27 of the La Liga season Bale netted a brace to secure the three points for Real and answer his critics for the time being. After a surprising run of horrible results that has saw Reals chances of the La Liga title diminish and their Champions League dominance fade away, this win and Bale goals was vital in regaining the fans support.