The Soccer Worlds 3 Youngest Stars

Kylian Mbappé

Mbappé was brought to the scene when he started playing for one of the worlds biggest clubs PSG. He was extremely talented with his quick pace. He was said to be the fastest player. He really blew up when he won the World Cup in 2018 with his national team France. At the time he was only 19 which put him with only one other play to have done that which is the soccer legend Pele. As only a 21 year old now he still has a long way to go but he already has a buyout clause of over 100 million euros. He is widely considered the worlds third best player behind Messi and Ronaldo.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/kylian-mbappe/

Erling Braut Håland

Håland has only recently came to the scene. He was extraordinary at his old club Salzburg. He scored a total of 28 goals for them in the champion league. With so much talk about the young striker it was coincidence that he was swooped up by Borussia Dortmund for 22.5 million euros. He has taken his chance at his new club after scoring 11 goals for them in 7 games. On his debut he scored a hat trick in only 25 minutes. In a little over a month the Dortmund striker has tripled his buyout clause. He is only 19 but still is a deadly striker and is smart with the way he plays. His finishing is great because he has scored 7 goals from his 8 shots in the Bundesliga.

https://www.facebook.com/ErlingBrautOfficial/

Jaden Sancho

Its no coincidence that Borussia Dortmund are one of the top teams in Europe. They have two young super stars in Håland and Sancho. Sancho is a young and talented winger. At only 19 he is already linked with many big clubs who are willing to pay big money for the England international. He is extremely talented because of his high IQ of the game. He leads Borussia Dortmund in assists and goal contributions. He is extremely creative on the ball and is good in one on one situations. He is linked with going to Manchester a United or Chelsea for around 80 million euros.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiW-s3Z6_HnAhWCYTUKHVVGDLoQ3YkBegQIARAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fjadon-sancho-will-leave-borussia-dortmund-says-executive-2019-10&psig=AOvVaw0OgZd9wIuHRwq-vergBSDz&ust=1582896381857048

Why Manchester City Are Struggling

Injuries

In the 2018-19 season Manchester City had no big injuries which led them to have a lot a success. But the same can not be said for this seasons campaign. They have had huge stars injured for big parts of the season and are only getting them back now. Laporte is one of the biggest injuries as he is there top defender. Also Leroy Sane which is also a big loss because he averages 10 goals and 10 assists a season which would have to be made up by someone else. He also gives them a threat on corner kicks being one of the only two players over six feet. Both Laporte and Sane are over six feet which totally destroys there corner threat.

https://www.90min.com/posts/6546725-leroy-sane-anxious-to-agree-bayern-munich-deal-asap-man-city-expect-move-to-happen

Defensive Problems

With the injury to Laporte, City we’re down to only two defenders. Manchester City have a huge lack of quality at center back so they decided to play Fernandinho at center back. He is a makeshift center back only because he reads the game very well but he is really a midfielder. The other two options were John Stones who after signing a 55 million three year contract turned out to be a bust and always looks like he’s ready to make a costly mistake. The other option is Nicholas Otamendi who was very good in earlier seasons but now has lost his touch and gives up to many penalties.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwicpvbj8K3nAhVcknIEHVmCDv8Q3YkBegQIARAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Farticle-7407127%2FAymeric-Laporte-called-France-senior-squad-Didier-Deschamps-drops-injured-NGolo-Kante.html&psig=AOvVaw2At4WsC2u1o4XVWYH69_y_&ust=1580561546011899

Assistant Coach

Manchester City’s assistant coach Mikel Arteta was the right hand man to Pep Guardiola. Arteta was given a job at arsenal as the manager which he could not pass up after studying under one if the worlds best mangers. With the loss of Arteta Pep does not look the same as Arteta was able to control Pep when he got heated. He was like the master mind behind the scenes. Pep and Arteta were the perfect duo which when he left led to there downfall.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2869418-mikel-arteta-talks-arsenals-obligation-ahead-of-the-january-transfer-window

Why Liverpool Is Running Away With The Title?

Liverpool This Season

Through 16 games Liverpool have only dropped two points with a draw. They are in first place by a big margin. Have taken 46 out of the maximum 48 points in the season so far. They have scored 40 goals this season which is second most in the league. They have allowed 14 goals which is also second best in the league. They have already played big rivals Manchester City and were victorious 3-1. Liverpool have almost been flawless. They are unbeaten in all competitions in almost 50 games.

https://www.google.com/search?q=premier+league+table&source=lmns&bih=666&biw=1024&client=safari&prmd=nsvi&hl=en-US&ved=2ahUKEwjo07Oz0qvmAhWtTN8KHcKyBsYQ_AUoAHoECAAQAw#sie=lg;/g/11fj6snmjm;2;/m/02_tc;st;fp;1;;

Why They Are Running Away?

Liverpool are 14 points ahead of the champions Manchester City. They are  8 points ahead of second place Leicester City. Last year  they were seven points ahead of Manchester City which forced City to win 14 games in a row to win the title. 14 points is a big gap for Liverpool to lose. Also it is only a matter of time before Leicester City lose form and drop points which increases the lead between them in Liverpool. The title is Liverpool’s to lose.

https://www.premierleague.com/clubs/10/Liverpool/overview

How Good Is Liverpool?

Liverpool have every aspect to be the Premier League Champions. They have one of the best goalies, a solid defense, a dominant midfield, and a world class attacking force. I do not see Liverpool dropping many points this Season unless a injury occurs in the team. At this rate Liverpool are running clear of any title contenders. 

https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/liverpool/champions-league/predicted-lineups/how-liverpool-could-line-up-against-red-bull-salzburg_382248.html

Champions League Season 2018-19

Who Won?

The Champions League finals were between Tottenham FC and Liverpool FC. Liverpool ended up winning 2-0. With goals from Mohammed Salah from the penalty spot in the second minutes and Divock Origi in the 87th minute. Liverpool won their 6th Champions League. Overall if was a very boring game in terms of the rest of the games leading up to the finals.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/

Why was this Champions League Great?

The group stages were usual. Big teams crush the small teams and move on to knockout rounds. But after that it was crazy. Their were a ton of upsets and a lot of comebacks. We got to see a bunch of new teams and didn’t see one team dominate like Real Madrid did in the past three season winning 3 Champion Leagues in a row.

https://www.theweek.co.uk/champions-league/102992/2019-20-uefa-champions-league-season-guide-groups-teams-draws-knockouts-tv-odds

The Upset of Real Madrid

After the first leg of the Round of 16 Ajax a small team from the Netherlands was down 2-1 on aggregate coming back home to play the second leg. They destroyed the Champions 4-1. They played outstanding with their young team. Ajax would later go all the way to the semi-finals. They were the biggest underdogs.

https://en.as.com/en/2019/05/11/football/1557564276_256078.html

FC Barcelona Upset

After the first leg in the semi-finals Barcelona were up 3-0 on Liverpool with the goal of the season from Lionel Messi. Last Season Barcelona lost a 3-0 lead to Roma so it was not definite they were in the finals. In the Second leg Liverpool win 4-0 with two goals from Georginio Wijnaldum after coming in as a substitute. Also Divock Origi who scored two goals with a brilliant play from Alexander Arnold. Barcelona again let down their fans and didn’t make it to finals.

Liverpool vs Barcelona goals: Origi, Wijnaldum make history

Ajax Upset

After the first leg Ajax were up 1-0 on aggregate over Tottenham . In the second leg their Captain De Ligt gave them a lead with a header. Then Lucas Moura came on as a sub and scored a hat trick to win the game 3-2. He scored two goals and they were going to lose but in the 95th minute at the last seconds of the game he scores the winning goal. They advanced on 3-3 aggregate because they scored three home goals. Tottenhams manager were put into tears after the heart his team showed.

https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/cronica/2019/05/08/5cd3476f268e3ecc2a8b45be.html

 

 

Manchester City vs. Liverpool 11-10-19

Manchester City Problems

Coming into the game their were many questions being asked how good defensively Manchester City would be against Liverpool’s offensive threats without their top center back Laporte. To add on to their troubles their goalie in a game in the middle of the week got hurt. This hurt Manchester City greatly because of Edersons’ great ability to play the ball out of the back with Liverpool’s high pressure. Losing the game would put a huge set back on the Champions as they would fall nine points behind Liverpool in first place.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49544903

Liverpool’s Great Form

Liverpool are on a great run of 23 unbeaten games in the Premier League. The last team to beat them in the Premier League was Manchester City last Season on January, 3 by a score of 2-1. Coming into the game they were in first place ahead of Manchester City by six points. Liverpool were favorites to win because of Manchester City’s injuries.

https://www.newstalk.com/sport/liverpool-giles-891921

Liverpool vs. Manchester City

The game between Liverpool and Manchester City took place on November 10th at Anfield which is Liverpool’s home field. The match ended with Liverpool victorious 3-1. Goals from Fabiano, Salah, Mane, and Bernardo Silva. Manchester City go 2-0 down in the first twenty minutes. Manchester City played very well and were unlucky to not get obvious penalty calls. Liverpool were great going forward and made Manchester City’s defense struggle.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-liverpool-guardiola-klopp-15244763

VAR Controversy

The first goal was very controversial. Manchester City have a attack and Bernardo Silva plays a cross to Raheem Sterling and the ball hits Alexander Arnold’s extended hand in the box which should of been a penalty for Manchester City and then Liverpool go down the other way right after and score. The City players were furious and VAR missed a big and obvious call. Later in the game VAR missed another obvious penalty for Manchester City which if both were called would of probably saw Manchester City win 3-2. Also VAR and the referees were not controlling the game and making bad calls. In the 30th minute Fabiano make a desperate challenge and takes down Gundogan after he got passed him which should of seem him get a yellow card but their was not card given.

https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/the-worst-thing-ever-brought-into-the-game-var-controversy/5txq2rmcb1ww1dqxl5c89912p

The Gerrard Slip

Who is He

Steven Gerrard was a Liverpool legend. He began his career at a early age of 17 in 1997. He made his first professional debut for Liverpool a year later in 1998. He had a amazing career. He made a total of 504 appearances for Liverpool throughout his career. He scored a total of 102 goals for them. He played for Liverpool his whole career.

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Gerrard

What is the “Gerrard Slip”

In 2014 must win match for Liverpool, Gerrard makes the biggest mistake of his life that would cost Liverpool dearly.  In the match one of Gerrard’s teammates passes him the ball and Gerrard slips. He loses the ball and Demba Ba is through on goal and finishes to make it 1-0. Liverpool end up losing 2-0. The media went crazy after the game. All that was in the media for the next week was Gerrard’s mistake.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool-fc-vs-chelsea-premier-league-2014-steven-gerrard-slip-jose-mourinho-video-a8866581.html

Why is This Significant

Before this game Liverpool were top of the Premier league table. Liverpool had never won the Premier League. After the game they moved to second and eventually lost the league.This proved costly as Liverpool lost the title by 2 points. Gerrard had lots of criticism after the game and lost a piece of his reputation. He was no longer known for being a great player but known for his famous slip. Many people blame him for losing the title, but he slipped and there was nothing he could do about it. He was made fun of a lot even by his own fans.

https://www.goal.com/en/news/steven-gerrard-slip-liverpool-captains-unfortunate-mistake/189b2hsu3pjow1sotpseor2fpa

Video Assistant Referee

About VAR

VAR or Video Assistant Referee is used to help the referee on the field make calls he can’t see. VAR allows the Referee to talk to another Referee in a booth that can watch the play over again and help him make a decision on a call. VAR was originally only used in big tournaments like the World Cup and Champions League. VAR is similar to when in football a team challenges a call and they watch the video over to get the right call except VAR is used the whole game and doesn’t take as much time. VAR is new to all leagues this season.

Potential Strategic Consequences of Introducing Video Assistant Referees (VAR) in Top Level Professional Football Coaching

What Calls Are VAR Used For

VAR is used for many different types of calls in soccer such as unclear fouls, red cards, offsides, handball goals and penalties. VAR is only used for unclear calls. It is not used for calls clear and obvious. VAR can always over turn a goal, which is why they tell referees to leave their offside flags down because they can always check it if the team scores. VAR makes the correct calls and brings the element of a fair game into the professional soccer world.

https://evs.com/en/news/spains-laliga-selects-evs-xeebra-system-major-league-wide-var-deployment

Why VAR is Controversial

Many people don’t like VAR because they say it slows the game down. After all the complaints they changed the rule. Now referees can no longer go over and watch the play again. They must listen to what the VAR official says. Many people say VAR is to correct. Many calls in all leagues this season have been very close offside calls that lead to goals disallowed. This has many fans upset. A total of 10 goals in seven games of the Premier League alone have been disallowed because of VAR ruling offside. VAR does make up for the human mistake on the field but it still has human error because a person is still in control of the calls. For example when they look for offsides with VAR they usually draw a line from the defenders shoulder to the attackers shoulder to determine offsides. This still has human error. With the new rule I forced many people believe that it takes the referees decision out of the game. After the introduction of VAR, it has been the talking point of the media.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/aug/17/manchester-city-v-tottenham-hotspur-premier-league-live

Why Neymar Made a Big Mistake?

Messi’s Shadow

Neymar was playing for Barcelona alongside Lionel Messi in 2016. In the summer of 2016 Neymar moved to PSG for a record fee of 270 million dollars. Neymar went to PSG to get out of Messi’s shadow and show his skills. Neymar had a good first season at PSG but it went downhill from there. The next two Seasons Neymar would be fighting with injury. In the 2019 Champions League PSG would be knocked out by Manchester United without Neymar.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwio9NDbpt3kAhUhuVkKHb4tB5QQjB16BAgBEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2822283-neymar-says-lionel-messi-was-a-very-special-guy-for-me-at-barcelona&psig=AOvVaw2tVxoleAB6vw3ghpHLHF3o&ust=1568996801679475

Kylian Mbappé

Neymar left Barcelona to get out of Messi’s shadow but got stuck in Mbappé’s shadow. Kylian is a young 20 year old talent that took the spotlight from Neymar. Kylian won the 2018 World Cup with France.

https://the18.com/soccer-news/kylian-mbappe-age-teenager-psg-transfer

Transfer Rumors

After three seasons at PSG Neymar didn’t want to be their any more. When the summer transfer opened up in the summer 2019 Neymar made it clear in the media that he wanted to leave. The fans of PSG were not happy. The owner of PSG came out on Twitter and said that PSG was done with Neymar and that they didn’t want him anymore. Neymar wanted to go back to Barcelona to play alongside Messi again. Barcelona tried to get Neymar but were not able to make a deal with PSG. Barcelona did not have enough money after buying Antione Griezmann for 120 million. Neymar was left at PSG and might have to sit on the bench for the season until the transfer window opens up again in December.

https://www.goal.com/en/news/live/transfer-news-and-rumours-live/n4krddh4gkkk1pnez5ulx50wv

UEFA Champions League

Background History

UEFA Champions League is a well prestiged soccer organization called the Union of European Football Association (UEFA). The league was founded in 1955majd rebranded in 1992 to the Champions League. Teams from all over Europe come to compete. You have Germany, Spain, Dutch, English, and Italian teams that compete to play. The point of the Champions League is the best teams from all different leagues in Europe compete to see who is the best team in Europe.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/index.html

How Are Games Different

When you think of a soccer game you probably think a 90 minute game decides the winner.  But the Champions League is different because the teams play two games against each other. Each team plays an away leg and a home leg (game). But hears were it gets tricky. When you play these games your goals that you score and let in carry over into the next game. But hears how they decide a winner. When you score at home and let in a away goal you are behind even though the score is (1,1). This is because when you score a away goal it outweighs a home goal so if the score is (2,2) and one team has two away goals and the other has two home goals then the team with the away goals will win over two legs.

Turner Sports Unveils ‘Bleacher Report Live’ Pay-Streaming Service

What Teams Usually Compete

– Real Madrid (Spain)

– Barcelona (Spain)

– Atletico Madrid (Spain)

– Ajax (Netherlands)

– Bayern Munich (Germany)

– Borussio Dortmund (Germany)

– Juventus (Italy)

– Manchester City (England)

– Manchester United (England)

– Liverpool (England)

– Tottenham (England)

– PSG (France)

https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2018/12/18/5c182c13e2704ee1178b458e.html

How Do You Qualify

The way you qualify is you have to be at the top of your league. For England teams you have to finish top four in the league. For Spain teams it’s the same you have to finish top four. For German teams you also have to finish top four. But those are not the only ways to qualify. The Europa League or lower league of Champions League can help you get into Champions League. If you win the Europa League you qualify into the Champions League. This years Europa League finalists are Chelsea vs. Arsenal and this years Champions League finalists are Liverpool vs. Tottenham (all english teams). The Champions League is very hard competition to win and leaves many player in tears when they lose. This is a picture of Ajax losing in the 90th minute and 5 extra minutes of added time after conceding a goal to Tottenham.

 

Premier League Season 2018/2019

Why is This Years League has Been Different

This year has been a amazing year for English soccer. The premier league is coming to a end with only two games to play. Manchester City are sitting at the top of the league with 98 points and Liverpool in close second with 97 points. The premier league has never seen the two top teams with over 90 points. If Liverpool were competing in any other year of the premier league since it started. With 97 points they would win the title 118-119 times. The only time they would not win is last season when Manchester City finished with  101 points. Also the run for the top 4 has been all over the place. Three teams, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea now in fourth all  cant seem to lock down their top four finish. These three teams have lost their two last week games making the run open. The Premier League has never seen something like this before.

https://m.allfootballapp.com/news/Headline/All-AFers%2C-leave-your-predictions-about-the-EPL%2C-we-will-send-your-words-to-you-in-2019!/752046

 Who Will Be Champion 2018/2019

The team in first place has switched 36 times this season. 35 of those times has been either Manchester City or Liverpool. Manchester City are in the lead by one point coming into the last two games. For Manchester City to be champion they would have to win 14 consecutive games with out a loss and right now they have 12 wins. Liverpool is not a easy team to beat. They have won their last 11 straight games. They are 36 games straight unbeaten in all their competitions.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/676969

Why Liverpool are Unlucky

liverpool if they win the rest of their matches will finish 28-7-1. They will finish with only one loss the whole season. They lost to Manchester City in early January and this turned the tide of the Premier league table. At this point leading up to that game Liverpool were 10 points ahead and now one behind. Why are Liverpool unlucky? Manchester City will finish 30-2-4. They will finish with four losses and win the title. Liverpool got unlucky with their draws.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/fc-barcelona-vs-liverpool-champions-league-semi-final-latest-teams-jurgen-klopp-a8893191.html

Manchester United Problems

Mancbester Unitedhas been the talking point in this years season. Their manger was sacked or fired in the middle of the season. They brought in a interim manager which used to play for the club. They were on a roll when he came in 17 games unbeaten. They also beat the best team in France in the Champion League. They then signed the manger as the permanent one and Manchester United went down hill. They have now lost 7 out of 9 games. They are sixth right now. They have let in the most goals ever in their history. All their players don’t look the same as when the new manger started. Now Manchester United are trying to fight into fourth.

http://thepeoplesperson.com/2019/01/28/manchester-united-vs-burnley-potential-xi-can-keep-up-winning-run-205489/