XI Gifted Footballers

When it comes to talented footballers there have been many and this XI is by no means definitive. These guys are picked for their footballing gifts rather than achievements, which means there is one or two you might not normally find in fantasy line-ups and as such, there are a few controversial omissions too. There is no denying they are amongst the best to have ever played the game. However this team, if it were to play together it would probably be considered a little temperamental. I’ve gone for a basic 4-4-2 line up, plus a keeper.

Keeper – Lev Yashin

This Polish cat between the sticks was known as the Black Spider because of his black kit and unbelievable ability. He is the only goalkeeper to have been named European footballer of the year. He played for Moscow Dynamo in the 50s and helped them to win five league titles and three cups.

Left Back – Roberto Carlos

Tough choice, but for his attacking flare, apocalyptically powerful left foot and love of a freekick he makes the starting XI. Closely pushed all the way though by Paolo Maldini who is the epitome of Italian football in his defensive solidity.… Read more at FryingPanSports

Preparing for Each of Your Soccer Games

When you decide that you want to play soccer, you should take the time that you need to be sure that you are safe.  There are a lot of people that get injured playing soccer and you want to take the time that you need to research how you can ensure that you are preventing soccer injuries.

First, you should be sure that you take the time that you need to understand how you are going to be wise about the way that you are going to prepare for a game.  Whether you are playing indoor soccer, outdoor soccer or street soccer you want to be sure that you are ready for the game.

To ensure that your body is ready you will want to make sure that you can stretch out your muscles.  When you are stretching you want to make sure that you are also warming up your muscles so that they are able to stretch as far as they can before you start playing.

Soccer is full of quick movements that can be very detrimental to tight muscles.  Make sure that you take the time that you need to understand how you are going to stretch out … Read more at FryingPanSports

Rewards for Success in Football Europe

Even though football season is now over, teams around the world are examining their finances and planning for the next season. Despite the ever increasing amount of money coming into football, many of the clubs in the Premier League and throughout Europe are still making a loss and even some of the most famous are heavily in debt such as Barcelona with a £400 million debt to go with their champions league trophy. This is hard to believe when we examine the financial rewards currently available for success in modern football.

Manchester United have now earned more than £60m in earnings from Premier League prize money and TV cash from the overseas deals from TV has ensured that current premier league clubs can earn up to £7m more than the 2009 / 2010 season.

The English league governing body better know as the premier league shares out income in various ways firstly the money based on position in the league, then on equal shares of TV income, which is then added to depending on how many times your club is shown on TV on domestic television. The 2010/2011 season, each premier league club received a total of £13.8m of the … Read more at FryingPanSports

Limp Losers or Gourmet Greats

As you walk in to a fast food establishment you’re likely to be enticed by the alluring advertised images on the menu.  But in fact what you actually get in reality is a limp, flaccid imitation based on over ambitious promises and over-pricing.  In many ways the fast food industry reflects the story of many misjudged signings by Premier League clubs since its inception 1992. Only time will tell if mega-signings Fernando Torres and Roy Carroll will be limp losers or gourmet greats. Here are the five worst signings made in the history of the Premier League.

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Thomas Brolin

The former Swedish international was a complete and utter flop during his spell with Leeds. As a promising youngster, his superb goal sent England out of Euro 92. At the peak of his powers, Brolin was strong, graceful and technically gifted.  But Brolin’s powers ebbed away as quickly as he piled on the pounds as many wondered if he was in fact the long lost twin brother of golfer Jon Daly. However, despite the striker’s demise, Howard Wilkinson saw him as the perfect foil for the club’s top scorer Tony Yeboah, paying Parma £4.5 million for the Swedish striker’s services in … Read more at FryingPanSports

The English Premier League

English Premier League

While English top division professional soccer has been played for well over 100 years, the English Premier League as we know it only came into existence during the 1992-1993 season.  The recently completed 2009-2010 season, which saw Chelsea FC win the Premier League title by only one point over Manchester United, was the 18th complete season in Premier League history.

In just eighteen seasons, the Premier League has firmly established itself as the single most popular soccer league in the world, and together with Spain’s top division (La Liga), it can rightly consider itself the most competitive and challenging soccer league on earth.  The stars who have graced the Premier League read like a ‘who’s who’ of world soccer: Cantona, Beckham, Bergkamp, Henry, Rooney, Owen, Lampard, Shearer, Anelka…the list could go on forever.

The dominant team of the Premier League era has clearly been Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.  Over the last eighteen seasons they have won the competition 11 times, finished 2nd four times and finished 3rd three times.  That kind of domination over a nearly two decade period is remarkable for so many reasons.  Sir Alex has won consistently over what really amounts to two or … Read more at FryingPanSports

Finally the NHL can laugh at a sport about TV Coverage.

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The biggest international soccer game in the last 20 for the US team is not going to be on any English speaking TV network. The US vs. Mexico on August 12th will be broadcast in the US only on Spanish TV. The NHL’s deal with the Vs. Network doesn’t look so bad.

Maybe the Vs network was too busy covering the US Turtle Assoc. races to bother with US soccer. At any rate, any hope that the US performance in the most recent tournament has sparked massive interest in the sport can be put to rest. The question is with millions of young adults having played soccer in their very early life, why has soccer never taken off as a major sport?

The explanation is simple—we Americans don’t watch what we won’t win. In most of the world, the best athletes that a nation has become soccer players. Here, the best athletes play in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. As a result, we don’t win many international competitions. Americans don’t enjoy tuning in to see the US team get pounded by faster, more athletic teams from South America and Europe.

The MLS has done its best to try to tap … Read more at FryingPanSports