Iago Aspas, The Future

Iago Aspas hasn't enjoy a great season so far for Liverpool. The former Celta Vigo striker has struggled to adjust to the pace that the Premier League brings and is currently used as a backup or reserve for main strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Due to this Aspas has gotten very few chances to shine in the spotlight at Liverpool this season.

The Spaniard who joined Liverpool in the summer, found it difficult to fit into the new system of Brendan Rodgers, the recently hired Liverpool manager. He has only made five league starts this season and has yet to score his debut goal. This is rather shocking considering how much Liverpool paid to bring him in.

The 26-year-old also suffered an injury which further made life difficult for him at Anfield. Aspas has however, showed a hint of what he can do, after scoring against Oldham in the FA Cup third round tie.

There were some suggestions about sending him on a loan to Swansea City but Liverpool have rejected such ideas. Recently though, a club from the La Liga in Spain, Valencia, has made a bid to try to bring in Iago Aspas.

While a loan move would be ideal for Aspas as he needs game time under his belt to boost his confidence, its a bit of a loss to Liverpool after they had brought him in expecting much better. Secondly, Daniel Sturridge is fit again and will be in action soon, so, his chances of playing in his preferred position will be limited even more than before.

Having said all this, Liverpool should not entertain such ideas of letting him go out on loan. Liverpool do not possess a huge squad and Rodgers certainly cannot take the risk, if one of his main strikers get injured again, as they have so often done so far this season. He is the only reliable cover for the Reds at present, and it's essential that Liverpool keeps a back up striker.

Will a move to Spain solve his problem? He would need to play in this new league to get adjusted to the condition and system of Spanish Soccer. So, taking all factors considered, it seems highly unlikely, that Liverpool would allow Aspas to join Valencia on loan.

World Cup Draws: Reactions

Just a few weeks ago was a huge day for soccer fans worldwide. People from every stretch of the globe tuned in to see just exactly how the FIFA World Cup group draw would go down in Brazil. The anticipation was high as fans and players a like waited to see just exactly where their country would be placed in the 32 team, 8 group, world tournament. After much festive dancing and celebration, the draw finally kicked off and finished with some surprising results.

Every year in the world cup there are the easy groups and then there are the group/s rightly nicknamed "The Group of Death". These groups are usually comprised of some of the top nations in the world all in one group in the world cup, making for some very interesting games. Lets start by taking a look at where some of the good teams ended up and where these groups of death are at. In group A, the host country Brazil has to play Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon, and it should make for a pretty easy group. Moving on to group B we have the two finalists from last years world cup in the same group. Holland and Spain accompany Chile and Australia in group B. In group C we have Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, and Japan. This group could shape up to be a very difficult one with plenty of teams that could put up a strong fight. In group D we then have our first group of death with England, Uruguay, Italy, and then Costa Rica. England, Uruguay, and Italy are all top 15 teams in the world and that makes this group extremely tough  to get out of. Skipping ahead to group G is where we see the second group of death, where Germany, Ghana, Portugal, and the United States are all paired up in the same group. This is the worst possible group in the entire world cup and it should be a big concern for the United States. The final group of the tournament is group H and this is by far the easiest group in the tournament. The only team that I could see going far in this group is Belgium and they are with Algeria, Russia, and Korea Republic. Belgium pulled an extremely easy group and if they don't go through that would be very disappointing.

Now I've gone through all the teams that are going to be at the world cup and I'm extremely excited to watch this competition. It should be great fun and I can't wait to see which team will be able to call themselves the best in the world!

United's Terrible Season Continues

David Moyes continues to rewrite the record books at Manchester United, and not in a good way, as United lost for the third consecutive time, 2-1 at Sunderland in their League Cup semi-final, first leg. The defeat meant that United have lost three in a row for the first time since 2001.

Ryan Giggs, who had earlier hit the crossbar, gifted Sunderland the lead with an own goal right before halftime, and despite Nemanja Vidic equalizing early in the second half, Fabio Borini’s 65th-minute penalty gave the Premier League‘s bottom club the victory.

Having eliminated Chelsea in the previous round, Sunderland remain on course to reach a first domestic cup final since 1992, when they lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup final. For United manager David Moyes, however, the gloom grows ever darker, with his hopes of claiming a piece of major domestic silverware in his maiden season severely compromised ahead of the second leg on 22 January.

Eager to exploit any uncertainty in the visiting ranks, Sunderland looked to get balls into the box at the earliest opportunity and saw Borini drag an early shot wide from just outside the area. However, emboldened by the purposeful running of Adnan Januzaj, United began to assert control of the game.
Giggs sent a deflected 25-yard shot against the crossbar, while Januzaj had a goal ruled out for offside and Vidic planted a header wide from a corner shortly before half-time. Sunderland emerged unscathed, though, and in first-half stoppage time they exploited defensive inattention from United to go ahead.

From Sebastian Larsson’s deep free-kick, Wes Brown stole in behind Michael Carrick to volley the ball back across goal, and in attempting to prevent Phil Bardsley from prodding home, Giggs succeeded only in scoring himself.

The timing of the goal was a sucker-punch, but United regrouped at the interval and equalised within seven minutes of kick-off in the second period. Tom Cleverley curled a left-wing corner to the back post and Vidic outjumped former team-mates Brown and John O’Shea to power a header past Vito Mannone.

For the umpteenth time this season, however, United’s momentum was to desert them. Jonny Evans had to hobble off with an injury, and after Borini had sliced wide and Larsson had drawn a sharp save from visiting goalkeeper David de Gea, Sunderland restored their lead.

Cleverley was adjudged to have impeded Adam Johnson as he tore into the penalty area and after referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot, Borini calmly lifted the ball past De Gea from 12 yards.
Scorer of a brace on his previous visit to the Stadium of Light, Januzaj carried the fight to Sunderland again, shooting narrowly off target on three occasions, but even their new boy wonder could not rescue United.

As United lose yet another game in their disappointing 2013-2014 campaign, the question rings through everyone's ears. When will we see the departure of David Moyes?

Winter Olympics

I know you probably all have seen the commercials when watching TV. These ads are continuously reminding us that one of the worlds greatest sports events in history is due to start in less than 4 months. This event as you can probably tell from the title is non other than the Winter Olympic games. The games are being held in Sochi, Russia and are scheduled to take place between February 7th and February 24th. As many of you know there are the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Every two years the games switch to the other seasonal games. For the Winter Olympics there are a lot of pretty uncommon sports and I'd say the winter olympics are genuinely less common than the Summer games. Although this may be the case, it doesn't mean to say that the Winter Games are boring. They are quite the opposite in fact. I'm going to try to introduce some of the big olympic sports as well as a few of the other less known ones.

For starters we have the main sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, skating, and maybe even bob sledding for you enthusiasts out there. These are all fun because they're very action packed sports, except skating, with lots of excitement that really pleases viewers. Skiing is broken into many different categories like cross country, alpine, ski jumping, free style, and even snowboarding falls in this category. Skating is also broken down into different events including figure skating, short track speed skating, and long track speed skating. These events and a few of the others listed above comprise the main events of the Winter Olympic Games. These events are the most popular by far.

Now lets move onto some of the less popular games. These are ones that maybe don't get televised as often or at the normal viewing hours, but nonetheless they still provide very good entertainment for anyone interested. A few of these smaller events are curling, luge, and biathlon. Personally I haven't seen many of these events, but the ones I have seen in my short time watching the Winter Olympics these events have been very exciting to watch. Biathlon is one example. It is a very interesting sport in the fact that it combines rifle shooting with cross country skiing. Now doesn't that sound interesting.

I hope I did well in informing on some of what the Winter Olympic games has to offer and hopefully this convinces you to watch one of the Worlds biggest sporting events!

Early Bloomers in the NBA

The NBA season has finally kicked off and every team in the league has played at least one game. There have already been some fun games to watch as well as big performances in the first games. I'm going to talk about a few of the early risers that could potentially continue there early season form.

The first player that played nicely in his first game of the new season is Tristan Thompson. The power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in his first game. He is a avid scorer who will get significant minutes in Cleveland.

The biggest performance of the first games in the NBA has to be given to Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76'ers. Not only did his team beat the Miami Heat, but MCW added 22 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, and 9 steals. There is no doubt that he will remain as the starting point guard in Philly. Hopefully this promising rookie can continue the amazing performance he had in game 1.

The final big performer of the first games is Alec Burks the point guard from the Utah Jazz. In the season opener he scored 24 points, had 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. He is still a relatively young player in the league and his stock will only continue to rise if he keeps putting up performances like this.

So that concludes a few of my impressive performances from a couple of early risers in the league. At the beginning of any sports season it's always very interesting to see who will be the dark horse and come out of no where to have an amazing year. Who knows maybe one of the guys I mentioned above could be the dark horse of the NBA this season. I guess only time will tell.

Southhampton Youngster

Southhampton’s reputation as an exceptionally prolific breeding ground for young British talent was accelerated last week when Jay Rodriguez and Adam Llallana earned wholly merited call-ups to join Rickie Lambert in Roy Hodgson’s latest England squad. With the starting right-back berth in the national team perhaps the one that is most up for grabs, there could yet be an opportunity for Saints’ terrific 22 year-old Nathaniel Clyne to stake his claim as a serious alternative to the defensively suspect pair of Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker. Below the main England group, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse will continue their involvement with Gareth Southgate’s under-21 unit. Shaw’s evident ability, and incredible potential, have already lead to his name being discussed as a replacement for Ashley Cole at Chelsea or Patrice Evra at Manchester United. Furthermore, the 18 year-old is widely touted as the man who will succeed Cole in the national set-up and go on to vie with Leighton Baines for the number 3 jersey. Ward-Prowse’s name is one that is gradually making waves, but not at the rate of his more celebrated colleagues. That can, surely, only be a short-term scenario.

When, in August 2012, Southampton returned to the Premier League after a seven year absence with a fixture at then defending champions Manchester City, their manager of the day, Nigel Adkins, trusted Ward-Prose with one of the pivotal deep-lying midfield roles in his team. A fortnight later the teenager excelled in a fierce St Mary’s encounter against Manchester United. A homegrown youngster could conceivably have been disturbed by the removal of the man who had given him his first-team chance – even more so for Adkins’ January replacement being an unknown foreigner, the Argentinian, Mauricio Pochettino. At the back end of last season, with his top-flight playing opportunities coming predominantly from the bench, Ward-Prowse’s belief and ambition were exposed when it became apparent that it was not a situation with which he was content.

His frustration did not negatively impact upon the teenager’s performances for his club’s under-21 side.  Anybody who watched on as the Saints development team played home fixtures on a heavy, trying pitch at Eastleigh’s Silverlake Stadium saw a player with gifts beyond his years. Ward-Prowse was always available and ready to take possession, then able to dictate proceedings with his vision and range of passing. That form and confidence has carried over into this term, and proved enough to persuade Pochettino that his fledgling midfielder was worthy of a place in the Southampton eleven that opened the campaign at West Bromwich Albion. Ward-Prowse hasn’t looked back.  While the mercurial, but more prominent, Gaston Ramirez has been consigned to substitute duties, the Portsmouth born player has forced his way back into being a first-choice after a series of effective second-half cameos.

From his spot on the right of an advanced three, Ward-Prowse has been simply magnificent.  Especially impressive is his consistently outstanding right-foot delivery, either from a dead-ball or during open play.  The vicious, dipping swerving crosses, delivered on a six-pence, and reminiscent in fashion of David Beckham’s famed style of ball striking, have created a catalogue of scoring chances for his colleagues.  Moreover, they are just one facet in the armoury of an assured Englishman who is looking every inch the part in a team that is lying third in the Premier League.

Now 19, and with time on his side, Ward-Prowse might yet become the very best of this latest crop of emerging South-Coast talent.

Life After Suarez

I think it’s fair to say that all of Luis Suarez’s misdeeds over the summer have been forgiven. The Uruguayan basically sold out the fans throughout the transfer window by trying to engineer moves to Arsenal and Real Madrid. When those moves failed to materialize, he was left in a fairly uncomfortable position. He could have chosen to strike. He could have put in weak performances.

Instead, he’s gone all out to prove that he still cares about Liverpool and that he doesn’t do half measures. Every time he steps out onto the pitch, he’s fired up and he brings his ‘A game’. West Brom saw just how fearsome a sight Suarez can be when he’s playing with the handbrake off. Together with Daniel Sturridge, Suarez has converted Liverpool into a team that’s capable of challenging for the title this season. Brendan Rogers will be desperate to keep hold of him during the January transfer window.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see if Arsenal and/or Madrid test the waters with another bid. I’m sure that Rodgers would tell any interested parties that he’s ‘not for sale’, but the truth is that every man has their price. What’s important is that Liverpool have transfer targets in place that they can chase when they know Suarez is on his way out of Anfield.

At the top of any such list of players, I’d like to see AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy. As luck would have it, The Star claims that Liverpool are one of many clubs currently chasing after the youngster. The Italian striker/winger was Milan’s stand-out player last season. He even managed to steer home 19 goals in 46 games. That’s not a bad return for a 20-year-old. His clear ability and promise saw the Guardian list him 52nd in ‘The 100 best footballers in the world’. He’s also started to make an impact in the Italian national side (10 caps).

It’s clear that he’s set for a big future. But his career has hit a stumbling block. He’s currently behind Mario Balotelli in the pecking order at the San Siro and has only made 4 appearances this season. I can’t help but feel that he needs a change in scenery. And wouldn’t it be something is Liverpool were to offer him this? He’s one of world football’s brightest young sparks and could blossom into something very special indeed. We’re talking Luis Suarez levels of special.

If Luis Suarez moves on, Stephan El Shaarawy could go on to replace him. If he stays, then El Shaarawy could be thrust out wide. Whichever way you look at it, this looks like a smart move for Liverpool.

What’s your take? Should Brendan Rodgers join the hunt for this AC Milan star?

Look Ahead in the BPL

Attention turns to the Premier League with Saturday seeing the visit of Liverpool to The Emirates. Whilst the match comes amid a run of consecutive defeats against strong opponents, arguably it is the right time. The adage of climbing back onto your bicycle immediately after having fallen off rings true in this instance. Another tough game ought to be the inspiration the players need.

Whilst the majority of the team who started against Chelsea will not do so for Liverpool, four of them surely will as well as two of the three substitutes. That depends on injuries of course but it seems unlikely that any of those currently out will be returning at the weekend so the squad is once more pushed to the limit. Tiredness is will not help Arsenal’s cause. Individual errors which seemed to have been eradicated for the most part, have crept back in the last two games. They need to be cast away once more as those mistakes have been costly.

Arsène pointed out that the positives were how well we had restricted our opponents in terms of their goalscoring opportunities. He is being disingenuous. We might have kept them both down to three or less shots on target but both Chelsea and Dortmund scored twice. More discouragingly, both restricted Arsenal to fewer shots on target. The positive is a negative spinning on its head; when it stops an uncomfortable truth emerges. Arguably Arsenal could have – should have – ended with a draw in the Champions League encounter but tactical naïvety on the players part cost them dear. The first goal won the League Cup tie, the visitors found a car park of buses to string across the pitch following that moment.

Both were entirely different games to Saturday, a different style of football. The intensity of the European club match is somewhat neutered by the group phase but Arsenal know that defeat in Germany may leave them needing to get a positive result in Naples, a scenario they will be keen to avoid. Upcoming games are such that three draws in the next three games may not be so bad a run as is perceived without the opponents names. Draws at Old Trafford and in Dortmund are good results; at home to Liverpool, it is fast becoming the norm.

More than anything, I think Arsène will be looking for signs that the timidity of the opening spells against Chelsea and Dortmund has vanished. Arsenal were on the back foot quite quickly in both games and in ceding the initiative, left themselves exposed to technically adept opponents. Perhaps there is an insularity in Arsène outlook which manifests in these games, too much focus on our strengths without necessarily exploiting opponents weaknesses. I don’t for one minute subscribe to the view that Wenger does not watch opponents or plan for upcoming matches, simply that we do not vary our game as much as we might to suit the conditions, the opposition. Is it naïvety or rigidity?

Patrick Barclay used an interesting turn of phrase in his Evening Standard piece on Tuesday’s home defeat to Chelsea. Speaking in praise of the performance levels shown by the West London club’s second string, Barclay observed that “[Azpilicueta] was not alone among Chelsea squad members anxious to show Jose Mourinho the ferocity of competition for places“. Flamini’s absence highlights the problem, we miss his energy and That will worry the manager, the reliance upon one player has returned albeit this time not for their goals but their personality. We have a nice squad, nice people whose parents will be proud of their manners and respect. We lack a little nastiness; Jack has it but Flamini’s is different, more streetwise. His experience of three different European leagues has augmented his natural instincts on the pitch. He knows how to knock an opponent out of their stride and that is something which the squad as a whole needs to take on board. Most worryingly, we don’t have a natural replacement and this is true of several positions. Some are strongly represented when injured players return but that must be the most used phrase of the last six or so years. When injured players return, we will have a strong squad. If only injured players would return and stay fit.

As such Arsenal need to adjust to accommodate this problem but we don’t seem to have and this was an issue in the past, one that we thought had been overcome. Maybe it has and it was entirely coincidental that Flamini’s absence coincided with lacklustre performances. Maybe the lack of rotation is taking its toll on some players. We will know more on Saturday.

NBA Predictions

With the NBA regular season tip off right around the corner I thought I'd do a little preview of who some of the rising stars could be in this years league, as well as who I think the dominant teams will be.

To kick things off I'm going to give you some of my favorites for taking the NBA championship this year. Like every year the Miami Heat are the biggest contender, but Oklahoma City is right there, especially when they get Russell Westbrook healthy again. The Golden State Warriors boast a very young team that had a nice showing in the play offs last year. With the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee, the Warriors look to improve off of last years great performance.

My second dominant team is definitely the Chicago Bulls. Not only do they have the return of Derrick Rose, by far one of the best players in the league, but they have a solid supporting cast around. With guys like Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Luol Deng the Bulls don't only have to rely on Derrick Rose to carry them. I think the depth of this Chicago team could carry them very far in the NBA postseason this year.

Moving away from teams and on to players. There are always quite a few players at the beginning of any season that have a lot of hype around them. Some guys live up to that hype while others do not. I'm going to introduce a one player that I think could live up to all the early season hype surrounding him.

The first player is a rookie out of Indiana. If you said Cody Zeller you're wrong. The man I'm talking about is non other than Victor Oladipo. The reason I think he could have a breakout year is because he is a all around pure athlete. He can do everything from scoring to stealing and he will only get better with experience. Watch out for him this year as he should do very big things.

Now that I've given my predictions I'm very interested to get this season started and see who proves me wrong or right. It should be a fantastic NBA season and I can't wait to watch.

Manchester United Miss

There's been a fair amount of consternation regarding Manchester United's defense this season. The club as a whole has been under-performing, and United's aging, tired defense are certainly part of the problem. There's little doubt that Rio Ferdinand is still a top defender. What's more, on his day Nemanja Vidic is still a true force of nature and one of the best defenders in the world. But both individuals have their own sets of problems. Ferdinand is now 34-years-old and has played approximately 680 games throughout his professional career. All this exertion is beginning to weigh Ferdinand down. His pace has dropped over the last season, he's often slow to react and he's just not as effective as he used to be.

Vidic is younger (he's 31-years-old), but has struggled throughout the last couple of seasons with major injury problems. In the two seasons prior to this one, he made just 33 appearances. His convalescence seems to be over now, but he's yet to re-find his pre-injury form. Hopefully this will happen, but there's a chance that he'll never truly get back to his best.

As such, Manchester United should be considering bringing in another centre-back during the next transfer window. I'm surprised that Moyes didn't go after a defender during the summer transfer window (I'm also surprised that he didn't bring in a creative midfielder). Why, for instance, did David Moyes not make a move for Benfica defender Ezequiel Garay? According to the Argentinian defender, a move to Old Trafford was on the cards, until Moyes pulled the plug and This strikes me as a missed opportunity for the club.

Whilst £18m is a lot of money to spend on a defender, there's little doubt that Ezequiel would have significantly improved this United side. He's quick along the ground, strong in the air and he distributes well from the back. At 27-years-old he's also experienced and would have had much to offer this Manchester United side.

If he was good enough for Sir Alex Ferguson, you have to wonder why he wasn't good enough for David Moyes.

Unfortunately, this will end up being yet another bizarre transfer story associated with David Moyes. Lets hope he takes more effective action during the January transfer window.

Arsenal Striker Needs

Whilst Robert Lewandowski was disappointing against England last Tuesday, we all know that he's capable of more. The Polish forward's running was sharp and effective, but for once he didn't pack his finishing boots. If we had caught him on another day, things could have been very different. The man is quite sensational in front of goal.

He's the spearhead of a very impressive Borussia Dortmund side, and hasn't been able to stop scoring since 2011. During that season (2011/12) he nabbed 30 goals in 47 appearances. Last season he scored 36 in 49. This season he already has 9 goals in 9 games. There are very few strikers in world football who can boast of similar strike-rates. The man appears to be in a league of his own.

What's more, given the fact that his Borussia Dortmund contract is about to run down (this summer), he's also one of world football's most eligible men. I'm sure there'll be plenty of clubs looking to offer him a contract when Dortmund are forced to release him.

It was originally assumed that he would end up at Bayern Munich, but the Polish striker recently moved to sway those rumors. He said recently that he could end up at any club that gives him an offer, and also talked about one day playing in the premier league.  The Star suggest that Arsenal could move in for Lewandowski, given that the club is 'desperately short of striking options'. In this regard, I can't help but nod vigorously in agreement.

Whilst Olivier Giroud has done a fine job thus far this season, he's going to need more support. This is the one area of the squad where Arsenal are short of world-class options.

Adding Robert Lewandowski to their squad would turn Arsenal into a massive powerhouse in England. It would send a message out to the footballing community that the club means business. It would further underline the Gunners' ability to attract top talent.

At 25-years-old, Lewandowski is about to enter the best years of his career. For him to do so in an Arsenal jersey would be quite a thing.

What's your take? Can Arsenal really compete for Robert Lewandowski?

Fantasy Sports

Just recently I had the annual NBA fantasy basketball league draft with a bunch of friends at my school. For those who don't know, fantasy sports have become very popular in the last decade and are played today by people worldwide. Fantasy sports can be played in pretty much every sport from football to basketball and even soccer. Fantasy sports is a game where you join a fantasy sport league for whatever sport you're playing and then you have a draft where you pick a team of players to play on your team. Then throughout the sports season you get points towards your games based on how well your player performs. For example in an NBA fantasy draft you have all the people participating and each person gets a pick one after another until all the roster spots are full on your team. When drafting a team you want to make sure you get a good amount of players at each position. After you have your team chosen you then proceed to play games against other people in the league. For basketball, the games work by having one full week of the NBA regular season as one game in fantasy. Each night of that week you set your lineup of players that are playing that night and based on how they do, you get a certain number of points that go towards your total for the week. After the week is up, whoever has more points gets the win for that game. Although this is not the same with all sports, the essentials are the same.

Now that I've explained a little bit more about fantasy sports I want to talk about why you should play them. First and foremost, fantasy sports are addicting. If you're into one sport a lot and you join a fantasy league for that sport you'll be hooked instantly. The thing that makes these games so addicting is the fact that it really gets you involved with the sport and makes it more interesting to follow. Not only are you cheering for your favorite team, but your also hoping and praying that your star player has a good game as well. The second thing that really gets me interested in fantasy is the competitiveness. In my fantasy I play against a bunch of my friends and I would definitely recommend you do the same if you want to play fantasy sports. Playing against friends is a blast because not only are you competing to win, you're also competing for bragging rights. And pride and glory. You and your friends can talk trash, trade players to try to improve your team, and just have a ton of fun throughout the entire process.

If fantasy sports is something that you have never tried before, and if it even slightly interests you, I would recommend whole heartedly going and checking it out. My only word of advice is you may become too addicted for your own good. So proceed with caution.

Liverpools Season Hopes

With Liverpool currently joint top of the Premier League table, this is the best it’s felt to be a fan of the club for some time.

After years of crushing disappoint, Brendan Rogers finally appears to have assembled a squad with some backbone. Better still, it has a rich vein of class running through it. Players like Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and the aging Steven Gerrard are good enough to get into most teams in world football. They’re also all remarkably gifted technical players. As a result, Liverpool aren’t just grinding out results, they’re winning games thanks to fine performances and stand-out moments from special players.

Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that the Reds could be title contenders this season, Rodgers should certainly be aiming for a top four slot. And what a fantastic platform to build upon that would be! Yes, Rogers brought in some top players during the summer, but being a part of the Champions League grants you access to another slew of top level players. That’s what the Reds need if they’re to keep up their momentum and develop as a team. If they manage to pull off this feat, then the rumours concerning Liverpool and Xabi Alonso could well come true. Alonso already has a deep-seated love for Liverpool and if the club could also offer him Champions League football, then a move back could be all the more tempting.

According to The Star, Brendan Rodgers wants Xabi Alonso back at Anfield. With his Real Madrid contract up at the end of the year and it looking unlikely that he will sign a new deal, Liverpool could yet snap him up on a free transfer. It’s also suggested that Madrid would be willing to sell Alonso for a ‘token fee’ in January. Alonso was at Liverpool for five years and during that time he won the Champions League and the FA Cup. His incredible range of passing, effortless ability on the ball and winning attitude lifted everybody at the club. He’s now 31-years-old, but it’s fair to say that he’d still be a huge asset for Liverpool football club. It’s not like he’s going to lose his ability to fire off pin-point accurate 30/40-yard passes any time soon. Besides he’d be a free transfer. There’s no better bargain than that!

Should Liverpool pick him up? I think only time will tell.

England Woes

England's 4-1 victory against Montenegro on Friday night highlighted why England will not win the world cup anytime soon.

Against a stubborn Montenegro team, England failed to break through until the 49th minute through a Wayne Rooney goal, showing that Roy Hodgson is tasked with an almost impossible challenge to
perform on the world stage. It was only after Montenegro had tired, that England took control of the match, with an own goal, an Andros Townsend stunner and Daniel Sturridge penalty giving the scoreline an air of respectability. Hodgson’s tenure as England manager has been dogged with a very negative style of play. They do not go looking for the victory when it is there for the taking, which has left England in a tricky situation, needing a win against Poland on Tuesday to guarantee their place in Brazil next year. Hodgson’s lack of adaptability was exposed even further during the week with his desire to explore the eligibility of the talented Manchester United youngster, Adnan Januzaj, showing that he doesn’t trust the eligible players he currently has to get the job done in the future.
Cast your mind back to the golden generation in 2002, and the world cup in Japan, where England went in as one of the favourites for the tournament before losing to Brazil in the quarter-finals. This was the last England team that had any hope of winning a tournament.

Since then, England have plodded along, getting to tournaments, or even failing to do that with Euro 2008, but never pushing forward to the next level. Unfortunately, other countries have moved out of sight, with the likes of Germany and Spain bringing through world class player after world class player.

Greg Dyke’s recent speech about the state of English football is a step in the right direction, but until players, and even English clubs, take their duty to the England team seriously, it will be stuck in the past. There are bright spots on the horizon, with the debut of Andros Townsend showing that, once the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Cole retire, there will be players who are closer to the Spanish mould coming to the fore. But it will take a manager other than Hodgson, to fulfil the fan’s desire for success. Hodgson’s tenure as England manager rests on the home match against Poland. Win and he can say that he has set out what he intended to do, fail and it will be just another reason why England will not win the world cup anytime soon.

What’s your take? Is this a side that is capable of winning the World Cup?

World Cup Controversy

I know that this is a sport blog and therefore politics and such should not be on here, but because the information I'm about to share could have major implications on one of the worlds biggest sporting events coming up this summer. The 2014 FIFA World Cup. I know these events took place earlier this summer but I just wanted to touch on how this might effect the upcoming world cup.

As I've understood, these protests started almost a year ago in Natal, where people were unhappy about the increase of bus fare prices. These protest also occurred later in other cities where bus fare prices where also increased. But the protests have now become expressions of general discontent. People are not happy about the cost of living in Brazil, the high rates of corruption, the National Chamber’s plans to kind of protect politicians who have been involved in criminal activities and, last but not least, the funding of major sports events (the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics).

The World Cup and the Olympics are much more expensive than planned. People just do not understand why so much money is invested in stadiums and other sporting events related stuff than investing in health care, education, infrastructure and all that kind of stuff. And people are upset and angry at the Brazilian government and FIFA. I can only agree with these people. The stadiums that are being put up are amazing and I would never want to see them leave. But I haven’t paid for them and the people out there on the streets in Brazil have. Instead of having proper health care and education, they have these awesome stadiums. I wouldn’t be happy about that either.

Also, the way the police is handling the protests is just ridiculous. I read about teargas, rubber-bullets and pepper-spray being used to shut down the protests. And that’s just crossing the line. You can not do that in a democratic society. FIFA wants to keep protesters away from the stadiums during the Confederations Cup. FIFA wants to create a perfect image for the world to see, like the ConfedCup and the World Cup are being held in paradise or super-duper-awesome-land where everything is golden. These people have the right to protest and just because FIFA is in town doesn’t mean you can crack down hard on protesters.

The world cup is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most in the next year of my life, and Although I do understand where these protesters are coming from with their argument, that doesn't mean I'm not going to support the world cup and watch as much of it as I can, because it does only happen once every 4 years and you have to take advantage of the opportunities while you can. 

NCAA Basketball: Predictions

In about one month, over 300 Division I  basketball programs will take the courts, with one being crowned champion in April’s Final Four in Dallas, Texas. Here, I just wanted to preview of some of the college basketball teams to look out for this season, who could excite the crowd and cut down the nets for that one shining moment!

Kansas Jayhawks

When Kansas landed high school superstud Andrew Wiggins into its freshman class, they knew what they were getting into. Basically, a one-and-done situation. If he is as good as advertised, he could be a first-round draft pick and could fit the mold of a Ben McLemore/Paul Pierce-type of wing player for the Jayhawks. Sophomore big man Perry Ellis is a force down low, as he showed during the Michigan game in last season’s college basketball tournament.

Michigan Wolverines

It hurts big time when you lose arguably the nation’s top backcourt in Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. But, Michigan does return a great frontcourt in Mitch McGary and Glen Robinson Jr.  Also, Nick Stauskas will be back in Ann Arbor for his sophomore campaign. Two freshman to keep an eye on are Zack Irvin and point guard Derrick Walton, as they should see major minutes right away for the Wolverines.

Duke Blue Devils

Coach Krzyzewski can coach, and he can recruit his hometown of Chicago well, which could be a reason why he landed the second-best recruit in the nation, Jabari Parker. Parker is a special player and will be in the NBA one day. Big man Rodney Hood is another player—a transfer from Mississippi State—that is an excellent player and has averaged double figures in his career. Also, look out for Rasheed Sulaimon on the perimenter. He can knock down jumpers and drive on you!

Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky has recruited six of the top 100 players in the nation. Yes folks, John Calipari has done it! This may very well be the best recruiting class since the “Fab Five” of Michigan in the early 1990s. Sophomore’s Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Polythress—while still very raw themselves—will have to provide leadership for this young class. Julius Randle can dunk the basketball with the best of them and has supreme athleticism, as I witnessed in the Elite 24 High School All-American Game. And the two Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron, should complement each other in a fantastic backcourt for the ‘Cats!

Louisville Cardinals

I gotta show a ton of respect for the defending champs here, because, well, they know how to win and they will bring almost everybody back. And as former point guard Peyton Siva said, “This year’s team could even be better than last year’s team!” JUCO transfer Chris Jones takes over the point guard duties and is more of a pure point. He can score and dish. He will get a lot of alley-oop chances with high leaper Montrez Harrell. Chane Bohanon is a force down low for the Cardinals.

Sports Parents

I think anyone who has played sports can tell from my title exactly what this blog post will be about. Every athlete at one point in their youth has had to experience the annoying and bothersome occurrence of/a crazy sport parent/s. Hopefully your parents were never one of these, but if they were, one I will pray for you, and two this is by no means a personal attack on them. I bet they parented you quite well.

What I'm going on about is the parents of children in sports who have to constantly be involved with whats going on, call the coach on a daily basis making sure their son/daughter will get playing time, yell as loud as they can at the games, not only at their own child, but at the refs or other team, and hold their child's hand through just about every step of their young sports career. It's these parents that just ruin the sporting events for not only their own child, but also everyone else around.

I've seen these crazy sports parents at many a soccer game and they never fail to add a certain level of entertainment to the game, at least for me. For the child of the parent/s though, I feel pretty bad. Not only is it embarrassing to have a mother or father yelling at you, but it's also annoying as heck. I don't know this from experience, because my parents have been very good about me and sports, but the kids I've talked to who have to deal with parents like that always talk about them in a negative light and I think it leads kids to poor relationships with their parents.

There's my little preaching for the day. Hope you all enjoyed, and like I said, no offense to the crazy parents out there.

College Football Game of the Weekend

Aaron Murray got the better of Zach Mettenberger yet again. Rivalries in college football have never failed to provide entertainment and this high profile game between Georgia and LSU was no different.

Once Georgia roommates competing for the starting quarterback job, Murray and Mettenberger fought it out on opposing sides of the football this past Saturday in an intense showdown between number nine ranked Georgia and number 6 ranked LSU. But after Mettenberger led LSU on a long, go-ahead touchdown drive with four minutes to play, Murray one-upped him with a 75-yard, game-winning drive. At the end the drive, Murray connected with Justin Scott-Wesley on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:47 left in the game. The score and extra point gave the Bulldogs a 44-41 victory and put them squarely in the middle of the BCS championship equation.

It wasn't so much Murray's play as it was his composure. He took control of his team in a vital part of the game and came up clutch. Long criticized for a perceived inability to win a big game, Murray had a monster performance. The fifth-year senior was 20-of-34 passing for 298 yards and four touchdowns and one running touchdown. After taking a knee at midfield to close the door on the game, Murray turned and chucked the ball nearly 50 yards to Sanford Stadium’s west end zone. The field was engulfed in red jerseys at midfield as the Bulldogs jumped and bumped amid a wild celebration as would be expected after such a huge win for the Georgia Bulldogs program. 

There was a lot to be excited about. The victory keeps the Bulldogs in the BCS Title hunt, even after facing 3 top ten opponents in the first month of the season. It was the Bulldogs’ 15th consecutive win on their home field and they did it without their best running back for more than half the game. their sophomore running back Todd Gurley left the game for good with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter with a sprained ankle.

Against all odds Georgia was able to get a huge win under there belt. This is a enormous win for the teams confidence as they head into the hustle and bustle of October football and it'll be exciting what other magical moments Aaron Murray and his Georgia Bulldogs can produce this season.

Derek Rose: The Return

For this blog post I decided to go away from my common theme of soccer so far and try to switch it up for any readers who aren't necessarily interested in the soccer side of things. After all this is a "sports" blog and therefore I need to start covering a wider range of sports and topics. This one is for all you basketball fans out there. Especially the ones pulling for the bulls. 

Can we all stop talking about the most scrutinized left knee in the NBA? That’s all Chicago point guard Derrick Rose heard about last season. The constant whine and moan of how weak he is for not returning sooner. The jokes and jests that were told everywhere. Fans and media talked and criticized him for not suiting up after he was declared healthy by doctors, but D. Rose did not feel 100 percent confident mentally or physically on that knee. As word has trickled down that he was in his usual form at the Bulls’ first practice, it seems as though he is ready to put the league on notice. 

Rose was in full form in the beginning of practice. He was cutting and moving with confidence and ease. He was very aggressive and said there is no more testing out the knee. His teammates appreciate the confidence he has built and are very glad to have their leader back. There is a lot of excitement about this first practice, but realistically, Rose hasn’t played a real game in 17 months. He knows that practice is not the real game. The real test will be that first preseason game against the Indiana Pacers. How will he adjust with double teams and defensive schemes against him? He will have to get the rust off and timing with his teammates in those preseason games.

Coach Tom Thibodeau has reiterated that he will not hold Rose back and let him get the kinks out during preseason. It was a very good sign to see Rose giving his all in practice. Most of his teammates said it was just good to see him out there with them. The more he practices with his team, the better their chemistry will be in the long run.  Rose passed the first hurdle to get back to elite status. 

Buckle up everybody, D. Rose is coming full force, and that is a scary thing for every other team in the league.

FIFA 14: Game in Review

For most soccer fans one of the best times of the year is the beginning of fall. Not only does this signify the start of European soccer, but it also brings about a new installment of video gaming, such as FIFA 14. The FIFA games have been around for many years, dating all the way back to the winter of 1993, when the very first FIFA game was released. Since then the series has taken off and millions of soccer fans around the world play the game today. As I was saying earlier, this September month is a happy time because the new FIFA game just came out 2 days ago here in the United States, and it comes out tomorrow in Europe. Being an avid supporter of the FIFA series I made sure to pre order and get an early release on the game. Because I've been playing it for a little while now I want to share with you guys my initial impressions of the game.

When you first get into the game the first thing that has been changed is the menus. Personally I like the menus this year more than in previous years because they feature little graphics of real life players and teams. For game modes this year, all of them have stayed the same. You still have your manager mode, online game modes, kick off, and ultimate team, although there are a few changes to the game modes such as career mode and ultimate team. Starting off with career mode the biggest difference is with the player scouting system. In previous FIFA games in order to purchase new players for your club all you had to do was search for the player and put a price on him, but in FIFA 14 it gets a little more complicated. You now have to scout the player you want to buy and gather information on him first before you can rush to buy. This makes career mode a little more challenging, and I think, entertaining. Moving on to ultimate team there have been quite a few new changes. For starters the player cards have a different look to them as well as the different player ratings which happen each year. There are now new formations that you can play your team in, as well as the return of single player online games. All in all I believe there have been many great improvements to Ultimate Team that make for a good year of FIFA.

The most important topic of the whole game though is definitely the game play, and let me tell you, the gameplay has changed drastically. Last year is most people know, the near post shot in FIFA was way over powered as well as the finesse shot. This year, although EA have fixed those problems, they've created a set of new ones. Crossing and heading is the new "near post finish" in FIFA. I played 3 games the other day and scored 6 header goals out of 8. Not only is crossing way to good, but pace and speed are no longer as much of a factor. This years FIFA now requires players to play a more slow paced, passing style of game instead of just sprinting everywhere with the ball. These major changes to the game play of FIFA are going to take awhile for everyone to get used to, but I think should ultimately be a positive thing for the franchise.

All in all I see a lot of good things that have been done to FIFA 14. I think its another game that everyone will enjoy, and I think there has been additions to the game that will grow on people as they continue to play. At the end of the day I have to take my hat off to EA on producing another FIFA game that will keep us glued to the television for hours on end.

Barclays Premier League Top 3 Players - Week 5

This blog post is going to be my pick of the top 3 players in the Premier League this weekend.

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa):

Brad Guzan may seem like a weird selection, but at the end of the day sometimes it boils down to the result and not how you got there. Against Norwich Brad Guzan didn’t make eight or nine world-class saves but he did produce enough to mean he was the difference between the two sides. Not only did he stop a penalty but he also kept out Gary Hooper right at the end, with a couple more stops in between. What that meant was that Villa kept their first clean sheet of the season, a first in 27 games, and recorded a first win in three Premier League games. Their run since their opening day victory at the Emirates had started to get concerning, especially when they suffered a home reverse against Newcastle. This win gets Paul Lambert’s men back on track and it is in no small part down to Guzan. The American was arguably Villa’s most consistent performer last season (barring Christian Benteke) and his performances justified the exile of the experienced Shay Given.


Mesut Özil (Arsenal):

I resisted putting in the German after his encouraging debut last week but on Sunday he stole the show against Stoke. With three assists he played a huge hand in Arsenal’s victory and his set-pieces were a constant threat to a Stoke side that are normally good in those situations. Aside from his dead balls he looked the usual composed figure on the ball and he put in another excellent outing for his team. The thing about Özil, apart from his assists, is that he possesses terrific movement, almost unparalleled to any other player. He was at it again against Stoke and the defense had no way of coping with him – and you suspect they won’t be the last. Özil is a world class player and we should expect many more showings like this throughout the rest of the season.

Vincent Kompany (Manchester City):

I could have just about put the entire Manchester City XI in this week, they were that good against Manchester United in the derby. United were poor no question, but City were terrific and didn’t give United an inch. My pick though was Kompany. Watching the match you got the impression that Kompany was in the zone, and there was little Wayne Rooney could do to faze him. It might have been different had Robin van Persie been fit to play but Kompany shut down every United attack and looked unbreakable at the back. When Kompany is fit and on form he is one of the best in the world and provides a huge boost to everyone else in the team.

Chelsea Match in Review

This blog post is going to be for all the Chelsea fans out there. For any of you that are offended by what I'm saying, you have to remember that this is just my honest opinion of the game on saturday and how I thought things turned out. 

When I heard about Jose's line up for the game there were a couple things that I picked up on. I was pleased that Jose selected Cahill to play next to JT as I believe they work well together and understand each others games better than any other combination, but I was disappointed and frustrated that Juan Mata was left out of the squad. It's confusing as to why one of the worlds top players would be left out of any club squad for a league match. Finally, I couldn't understand why Eto'o started again ahead of Fernando Torres! We have heard Jose talk of Eto'o being rusty after playing a lower level of football in Russia so why select him again?

There were two positives and a negative that I found throughout the game: 

The first positive is the three points! It's safe to say that every single one of us would have taken three points no matter how they came ahead of the game if we were offered them. It's what is written down on record in the Premier League that counts this morning and Chelsea took an all important three points, scoring two goals against their local rivals Fulham.

Now the negatives and where do I begin? I'll start by talking about our first half performance. We have all watched our performances against United, Everton and Basel and despite the first half at Goodison and the chances we created, the second half there and in the 90 minutes of the other two games produced very little goal scoring opportunities. This was based on the tempo of our play and we played the first half exactly the same yesterday. When teams set themselves up against us, it's obvious that they are going to pack the midfield, be disciplined without the ball and look to take away any space for Chelsea to work in their own half. As a result, Chelsea dominate possession of the ball and do nothing with it! We have plenty of the ball but have no penetration. As we look up to pick a pass, there is very little option to try and create space and we end up playing the ball side to side or backwards! As soon as this happens, the tempo of our play slows right down and we play right into the other teams hands!

Now for the second positive! Our second half performance won us the game and was better. What I had been looking for from the start, finally happened in the second half. We played and moved the ball quicker and started to find gaps in the Fulham defense. As a result, they sat deeper, their mid fielders struggled to get involved in the game in attacking areas and found themselves on the back foot and Chelsea started to create better chances! It frustrates the life out of me as to why it took us 45 minutes to get going yesterday! We all saw the difference when they did, it was the exciting style of play we know Chelsea have in them. When we play at pace, teams struggle to cope with our movement and our tempo.

So, after all this, Chelsea sit top of the league ahead of the Premier League games today and we have put ourselves in an important position with the Manchester derby taking place later. Without question, Chelsea are a work in progress and the Juan Mata debate still rumbles on. We have a trip to Swindon coming up on Tuesday ahead of a difficult trip to White Hart Lane on Saturday and we need to work hard if we are to take another three points next week!

The Real Futbol

To anyone who plays sports you are probably familiar with one of the oldest sports arguments in the book. Which is better American Football or the rest of the worlds Futbol/Soccer? This is an argument that has long been debated by soccer players and football players everywhere and I'm here to add to the discussion. Being a soccer player myself there will be plenty of bias in the next few paragraphs. I'm giving a fair warning to all you football fans out there; Now's your time to leave. You can all have your own opinion and I respect that, but I'm just going to share mine.

 The first thing that all football players seem to argue when debating football is better than soccer is that it is a sport for wimps. To say something like that is an understatement and an insult to soccer. Although us soccer players don't go throwing ourselves into others at a thousand miles a hour, there is plenty of physical contact in a game of soccer to make a grown man cry. Not only is there plenty of contact but soccer players don't go into the contact wearing pads to protect them. The only form of protection comes from the shin guards you wear on your legs.

The next point that seems to come up in this historic argument is the fact that soccer is boring. A lot of Americans complain that they watch for 5 minutes, nothing happens, and so they give up on the entire game. THIS IS THE CRUCIAL MISTAKE!!! You can't just watch five minutes of a ninety minute game and completely write off the game, and the sport as boring. That's like listening to thirty seconds of a song and then writing off the song and artist as boring and bad. I will admit that soccer games have there moments. Its not always exciting, but thats what makes the game so amazing. It has a flow to it that you don't see in any other sport. It's so fluid and always changing that if you get past that first five minute period the game will grow on you. If you think about it football is even worse. Not only do you have interrupted game play by stoppages in between each play and an hour and a half worth of commercials throughout the game, but half the plays in the game are either incomplete passes or runs for less than a yard. Wow how exciting! The difference between soccer and football is that soccer is a dynamic game and is always changing, the momentum ebbing and flowing with each kick of the ball, therefore never providing a boring moment for more than five minutes. With football if the game isn't high scoring or fast paced then you're in for a long game.

So now that I've touched on the two biggest things in the debate over soccer and football, I think I'll let you decide. Before I go I'd like to say that nothing frustrates me more than those ignorant Americans who won't give soccer a try because they don't have the patience to watch for longer than five minutes. Maybe after reading this you hardcore football fans may have a change of heart, but if not you're missing out on something truly amazing. There is a reason soccer is called the world's game.