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.