Unknown in the Bundesliga

I just watched the Bundesliga-highlights and I noticed that the Bundesliga has a lot of unknown players.  I was thinking that those players have a 50-50 percent chance of staying at the top because they could be covered up by other, earlier discovered players.  I just wanted to show everyone that there are a lot of good players out there, and theses guys are just a few that I noticed.

But let's get to it!





                                                                  THOMAS KRAFT 

This 22 year-old star that plays for Bayern München is very talented and was discovered this season by Louis van Gaal, Bayern's trainer. The keeper is high quality and is on the right track. He was lucky to get the first line-up position because Bayern had an OK very old keeper (Hans Jörg Butt) and a big loser that was sold as soon as possible to 1.FC Köln (Michael Rensing).  They didn't cut it and Kraft came in just as strong as his name states, (Kraft means strength in German) and took the role as first keeper - and has been pretty solid and is also on the right track. The problem is that some tabloids have stated that Neuer will be transferred to Bayern and Kraft will be thrown to the sidelines... and his career could be ruined with that sentence.

KEVIN GROSSKREUTZ

This also 22 year-old star is getting a lot of recognition, but I don't think anyone needs a fast winger. A team will think that he'll cost a lot of money and then will say "No, a lot of other teams want him, it's too expensive". All the teams would think that and nobody would buy him. Grosskreutz will play for Dortmund for a while, but he's not that special and will eventually be sold, but if somemone saw how good he was, maybe this could work out after all.  For the moment he's at a great club and could get far.

SIDNEY SAM

You probably don't even know Sam. He plays for Bayer Leverkusen and is 23 years-old, he's a player that you don't recognize, because you always think "Oh, Arturo Vidal scored and so did a guy called Sidney Sam", but what you don't notice is how often you say that. It's the same thing with clubs! Sam played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern for a while and then he was picked up by Leverkusen. He's the second best scorer of Leverkusen (don't forget, he plays for the team on second place) with his team-mate Renato Augusto. Sam isn't being recognized even though he's young, an outstanding right midfielder and he plays for the current runner up of the Bundesliga.  You could make a bargain deal for him, but nobody does, amazing.

SAMI ALLAGUI

Sami Allagui, the wild card of the year. He scored 9 goals this season so far for FSV Mainz 05, 4 of them he scored when he came off the bench. The man has come from such a small team to a very big team and performs extremely well. For some reason Tomas Tuchel, the coach of Mainz, doesn't put him in the starting line-up. Allagui isn't recognized because he can't show his qualities if he's on the bench. I have to say the 24 year-old is an amazing striker and could be a great addition to München or a similar team.

ILKAY GÜNDOGAN

                                                                

Gündogan is not on loan from a major team anywhere, he is owned by Nürnberg; they are a cheap team and would sell him for maybe 6 million. That's a bargain price, he's 20 years-old has scored 5 goals as a midfielder and rules the team. The reason teams won't buy him is because no one scouts him and nobody
sees the quality in him, even though he is good.

I can't keep you waiting forever, so this post will be continued next time. Good-bye and have a great day.  

YOUR YOR............

 THE SOCCER FANATIC 

Story of the week: Bayern München loss!

I didn't post any posts this week because I wanted to get this post on time, unlike last time. The story of the week is in relation to Bayern München's downfall or whatever you want to call it, but ultimately it's about how teams of all countries in the world hardly ever stay at the top.  If you think about it, only a handful of teams ever stay at the top of their leagues. The question that connects to the title is: Why do teams hardly ever stay at the top?



You can find the answer if you just look rationally at facts, as I sometimes do.  See below:


1.  The big teams that have more long-time success than clubs that are surprise champions.


2. Teams need morale and confidence to succeed under so much pressure at the top, which a lot of teams don't have. Example: VFL Wolfsburg.


3. A team can't have a new coach every 6 months like Stuttgart does, because the team would fall apart like Stuttgart (again).  Compare Stuttgart's trainers with how long they were there in the last two years:

Markus Babbel         23 November 2008 - 6 December 2009
Christian Gross         6   December 2009 - 13 October   2010
Jens Keller                13 October 2010 - 12 December 2010
Bruno Labbadia        12 December 2010 - (hope he makes it)


Bruno Labbadia is still coach now, Stuttgart is in14th place and was in the top six in the last two years but this last coach was just one too many and now you know why things are so bad for them presently.

                                                          


                                                                                                                          Ottmar Hitzfeld ( Coach of
                                                                                                                          Switzerland)

My Opinion/Answer: Teams have always got their ups and downs and the reason the big teams (Example big teams: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern München) that always go for the championship have such instability is because when a team gets a new coach, the old one leaves for another club or national team (Example: Ottmar Hitzfeld when he took a job offer from Switzerland's national team and went from Bayern München to the national team of Switzerland).  The team isn't good until they get to know the coach, and with a lot of teams the players don't have time to get to know him and don't play amazingly well, don't reach their expectations like they're supposed to and right when they get to know him - he's fired! This happens all the time for the big teams.  For the smaller teams, there is another completely different reason. Teams that actually make a breakthrough become a part of the big teams, and they are now under pressure because they have higher expectations to fulfill, that is too much pressure for them.  Then they are back to the bottom of the table like VFL Wolfsburg. That is my answer.    
                                                                                                                                                        

That was my analysis on the story of the week.


Your Yor, THE SOCCER FANATIC!!!!!!!!!


Thanks for reading my post.

Story of the week: My advice to you, England

Sorry I had technical difficulties with my computer, that's why my post is late! On Tuesday morning I was reading the newspaper and I saw a section for the English team reporting that Capello wants to structure a new team. That afternoon, I read a magazine and this time there were three pages for the exact same thing!!!  Given the title and the intro, I guess you know what this blog is about; just to make sure though: It's my advice to the English national team and my opinion on the line-up:
How should Capello structure his national team?




To start, I am going to pick out two players who fill the position I am analyzing and I'm going to compare them and find out who should LB or GK for an example. First up, GK: Goalkeeper.


                                                           GOALKEEPER

            JOE HART                                                                               ROB GREEN                                            




Both players have pros and cons. We'll start with Hart: He's technically a very good player and he plays a lot for Manchester City; on the other hand, he doesn't have much experience and still has his slip-ups.
Green has a lot of experience and doesn't warm the bench either, but maybe he wouldn't feel comfortable in the English shirt since his slip-up against the USA.  Hart plays for a better club and might be a tiny bit better than Green, so I think Hart is the right keeper for the English team and Capello.



                                                                 LEFT BACK        





             ASHLEY COLE                                                         LEIGHTON BAINES          










  





This seems like an easy decision, but I don't think Cole is that good. I think Baines has a good chance of playing for the national team. Cole has a lot of experience though, and has already played 87 caps for England, so you can't just push him out. On the other hand, Cole is already 30 years old and Baines is four years younger.  Baines has also got serious quality and could bring in some beautiful passes or free-kicks. My advice is to keep Cole until the 2012 European Cup and then put Baines up for the job.



                                                                   CENTRE BACK






        JOHN TERRY                                                                                        MICHAEL DAWSON

Terry is the clear winner here, because he's experienced, is an amazing                            player and keeps his personal life distant from his soccer life. What I mean with that is, if the tabloids find something out about his personal life, there's a big scandal, but it doesn't mess him up like it did to Rooney, he stays strong and fights through it.  Dawson is also a good player and can easily be a very good man for the job.  He is a frequent player, is strong and has got a lot of self esteem, but still I'm going with Terry.






                                                                   CENTRE BACK




      RIO FERDINAND                                                                    MICAH RICHARDS













You probably thought I was going to take Gary Cahill instead of Micah Richards, but I think Gary Cahill doesn't deserve a place even on the bench! Frankly, I think he's half as good as Ferdinand wouldn't stand a chance. Ferdinand is the winner though because he's good and can compete with good teams and not be outrun.  Richards can't play in two positions at once.




                                                                     RIGHT BACK




GLEN JOHNSON                                                                                     MICAH RICHARDS






























That's why I said Richards can't play in two positions at once; I just think he's a good player and is going to play for the national team at one point, the question is when.  Johnson is a good player.  He is also a regular national player, he's got quality and has already played 31 caps while Richards has only played 12 caps. Even though Richards was already in the running for a position, I'm going to have to go with Johnson, but like I said: I believe we are going to see him in the national team at one point.


                                                            LEFT MIDFIELDER/WINGER




                JAMES MILNER                                                                      ASHLEY YOUNG



























                                                                                                          
Both of these guys are youngsters breaking into the first team, they both play for the same national team and both are great players.  Capello took Milner for his left midfielder against Denmark, but I think Young should play in front of Milner as left winger instead of being Rooney's substitute, because he's faster, has a great shot and Young is more of an attacker which I think is a better choice for England instead of a left midfielder.   I find Young a bit underrated and Milner a bit overrated.                                                                                                                                  








                                                                CENTRE MIDFIELDER 






                  STEVEN GERRARD                                                          GARETH BARRY



This one was clear to me, I have to say that although both of them had a lot of success in their careers, the thing that set me to the right player was their quality.  This led me straight to Gerrard.  Barry is a big overrated idiot; he doesn't make a big impact on his team and if he does it's a bad one.  On the other hand, we have Gerrard, who played (and currently plays) for a very successful club, so my final answer is that Gerrard is the winner.



                                                                 CENTRE MIDFIELDER


        FRANK LAMPARD                                                                                  JACK WILSHERE

        






























         


The two centre midfielder's were clear from the very start, but it's good that we take the other players into consideration.  Lampard is 32 and is not going to be around half as long anymore as Wilshere will. Wilshere is 19 years old and still has an amazing career ahead of him since he is playing almost every game for Arsenal.


  
                                                      RIGHT MIDFIELDER/WINGER




     THEO WALCOTT                                                                                       ADAM JOHNSON
    































They have the exact same style of play. They both come down the side and shoot or cross the ball. Walcott has a better shot, but Johnson has a bit more self esteem.  If you look at Walcott, he goes down the line a lot, if you look at Johnson he goes down the line the whole time.  However, Walcott plays more and that's why he's my choice for right midfielder/winger.



                                                                            STRIKER




                   DARREN BENT                                                                               JERMAIN DEFOE




























Defoe is a huge player in England but he can't be satisfied and moves from club to club.  This is not good because it shows in the clubs he's played for that he's not an Arsenal or a Chelsea star.  Bent is also not a world-class player but he scores more then Defoe in the league.  Defoe has scored two, while Bent has scored eleven.  However, in the national team Defoe has better statistics. You're probably thinking it's going to be Defoe, but for me it's Bent.


            
                                                                         STRIKER 




          WAYNE ROONEY                                                                ANDY CARROLL                                  
      



























Now finally we've gotten to the last position, where the two players to choose from are Carroll and Rooney.  The first thing that comes to mind is, why don't you take out Bent and put Carroll and Rooney in to the starting line-up?  I think Carroll is overrated and is not too good, (yeah he's good but I think Bent is better) and that is why I choose Rooney.  Rooney was in a life crisis when he never scored, wanted to go and his wife wanted to leave him, but he's back in the race after he pulled himself together and scored a lot of amazing goals.


To sum up all the "winners", I put the final line-up below:






                                                  J. HART
                                                      GK


G. JOHNSON                      J. TERRY                    R. FERDINAND                           A.COLE
       RB                                      CB                                   CB                                                  LB   



T. WALCOTT               S. GERRARD                F. LAMPARD                               A. YOUNG 
        LM                                 CM                                   CM                                                  LM




                                               ROONEY                    BENT     
                                                    ST                              ST








This is my advice to Capello and I hope you like it because it's probably the longest post I will ever write...........I hope (just kidding).

Thanks for reading this post and enjoy the rest of your week.


Your Yor the SOCCER FANATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





   

Tattoo Craze!

I got a comment saying the person would like to hear a story about the tattoo craze of all the players (Thank you for the idea). Well, today I will be talking about that! As you probably know, a lot
of soccer players have tattoos. Today's blog will be a commentary about soccer players and their tattoos.

I know tattoos have become popular over the past ten years or so, but it isn't just one or two players who have tattoos, it is almost every soccer player on every team!  Soccer players have the weirdest things on their bodies; just a few days ago I was reading a magazine and it had a picture of Agger's back in it.   There were lots of different images etched into his skin but the scariest thing was a Viking graveyard!   Below are some other examples of tattoos on players:                                                                                            


This is David Beckham (you must've seen that coming):





This one is the one I was talking about above, this is Agger's back:




















These are the tattoos of Fernando Torres; the smaller one that looks a bit like Chinese writing is Torres' name in the language of the movie Lord of the Rings:







All of those Tattoos were creative, and I'm not saying  having a tattoo is bad. Tattoos are very creative and can be very helpful for your self esteem. On the other hand, it would be good to think "How will I look in 35 years, with a tattoo and wrinkly skin"? Still, tattoos can scare an opponent and can have very cool pictures. Most tattoos are matters of personal taste, anything from a name in a foreign language to a (Again! I can't stop thinking about it!) Viking graveyard. Players also like to dedicate tattoos to their loved ones, or something similar. I have also concluded that tattoos are very helpful from a soccer perspective. To have something that makes you happy is always good, right?
                                
                
                                                                                                                Official cool soccer player badge  
My Opinion: I think soccer players have tattoos because they like them and maybe it just really makes them feel special.  The tattoos are creative and that shows that these guys have tattoos for things that they like, respect, would like to remember or would like to have. I don't really know why this sport has so many players with tattoos, but I  have a half-answer,  soccer players have tattoos because most players are "cool".
But still not all cool guys have a tattoo, I'm a cool guy and I don't have one (just kidding).


My analysis and my opinion have been served, I'll see you next time!!!


                                                                                                      
Thank you and have a nice day,



Your Yor the SOCCER FANATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                                

Holland RULES!!!