Well yes, I promised a plethora of exciting blogs this month and for many months to come. As we can all see this did not happen. Unfortunately if was because of my school work that kept me up to 11 or midnight 2 or 3 nights in a row. Others nights in kept me up late enough, with soccer practice, that I couldn't write or research. So I speak to my wonderful readers with this statement:
I don't know how much writing will be done in the coming weeks. I will try to write as much as I can. Keep checking in every 3 or 4 days just in case a blog post comes out. It may just be 1 a week, but I am trying. So no need to fear, Just Plain Football will be here. Although, I could say I've put in as much effort to this blog the past two weeks as Arsenal have put into buying players for their shallow squad.
So come back every now and then and hopefully a blog will be posted that's fresh and fantastic.
Well everybody today is the day. After a year and a month or so of Just Plain Football we finally get to a new and improved look. I hope all my readers that started out with me last summer are still here and that my new readers and new readers to come enjoy the new look. Yes today we start the series of National Team Specials. We have one National team special every month. During the third or fourth week of every month! The very first edition will about my home team's country! The good ole United States of America. The United States, a superpower and a country used to dominating the sports world. But in soccer, they have definalty not been near the top..... AT ALL! When people think of the United States soccer team they usually think of a team that's not really good. A team that needs to improve a lot. But how much have they improved over the past few years? Are more of their players actually getting better? The USA has gotten better. The question really is, how much better have they gotten.
"expert"
Firstly a team is made up of players (insert captain obvious blurt here). So without good players and even a great coach a team can only be so good. More and more 'Merican players are moving to Europe to showcase their skills. In my book, not near enough. Clint Dempseys recent move back to the US makes me really mad. I mean it was hard for me to root for him at Tottenham but when he was at Fulham it was cool cheering on a fellow American. Maybe his skills will stay the same but usually the players that stay in Europe and more specifically England, are better. Jozy Altidore, who of course I hate, transferred to Sunderland this summer. So even though he is Altidore, he should improve a lot in England's highest division. In terms of European play, our goalies are in good shape. Timmy Howard and Brad Guzan both have starting spots in their EPL team. Guzan just held Arsenal to 1 goal on his Aston Villa first match of the season on Saturday. More and more so called experts (some of these experts have the knowledge of a potato, and dumb potato at that) have said that the MLS is starting to create more players with National Team quality. Eddie Johnson and Brek Shea are two of my favorite examples. Oh and who could forget Landon Donovan. Eddie Johnson plays for the Seattle Sounders and is one of my favorite USA players. Brek Shea started off at Dallas and had a pretty good career there before moving to Stoke last season. Even though Shea is not the best physical presence on the National Squad, he knows were the good passes are. I would call him the David Beckham of the USA squad. But what about players like Graham Zusi and Kyle Beckerman. They have basically been created in the USA's MLS and Zusi has look very good of late. Unfortunately both of these guys would have a tough time in the Premier League. Especially Beckerman.... his play is just not quick enough. Bradley plays for AS Roma which is not the worst spot for any USA player. Plus in the Gold Cup we saw the United State's manager Jurgen Klinsman bring in some new young guys who have promising talent. Jose Torres really impressed me when I saw him play at Dallas against Honduras in the Gold Cup Semifinals! The final verdict on the players of the National team is: We have some good young players emerging and our older experienced players add a lot to the team. Its the guys in the middle that the United States need to worry about. We need to ship more players to Europe and let them gain experience. Also, we need to try to bring more old European players (like Cahill, Henry, and Keane) to the MLS so they can pass on their experience to MLS players trying out for the USA squad.
Lately the US National Squad have been on a very impressive streak and had a pretty wonderful summer. Firstly, the match where they beat Germany did not impress me at all!!!! The only good players Germany brought to the US were Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker. It was like Germanys E team. No not B,C, or D, but E. All the fans were like "WOOHOO we beat those Germans.... They suck so bad". This is just not true. Germany probably has one of the best A-team squads in the world. Maybe even better than Spain. I see Germany as a giant favorite in the coming World Cup in Brazil. I would even bet all the Wiener Schnitzel I could eat on them. So that match means nothing to me and it really shouldn't to the National team squad. Let's take a look at the Gold Cup. We took our b-team to the Gold Cup and came out of the tournament with the trophy. So it shows 2 things: Our b-team is pretty good, but also that most other countries brought their b-team too. We are still probably better than all those teams if our A-Team's met up. Even though in our past World Cup qualifiers we only beat Costa Rica 1-0 in blizzard conditions. It may have just been because they were all distracted at the mounds of snow in Jermine Jone's hair. Then we actually lost to Honduras 2-1. But I am still pretty condfident in the chances of the United States boarding on a plane to Brazil for the World Cup. Lets face it, Mexico just isn't the North American super power in soccer than they used to be.
The USA starts World Cup qualifiers again in September. The USA has to travel to Costa Rica on September 6th in a match that might be difficult. We beat them just 1-0 in snowy conditions. I'm sure it will not be snowing in Costa Rica when the US comes into town to visit. But the biggest match is on September 10th. When Mexico travels North of the border to Columbus. The United States team has always played good at Columbus and if they beat Mexico there, they should have lots of momentum. We cant forget that the Mexico squad will be better than the one they brought to the
Gold Cup!
I hope you enjoyed one of the newest special editions of Just Plain Football! Come back and read more!
This is going to be a blog post about Arsenal! After all I am an Arsenal fan and all you people out there should be happy that more of these don't find a place in the blog lineup! The Arsenal took a hard loss today. I mean it's opening day at the Emirates in North London and we welcome a team that was fighting relegation last year, Aston Villa. I don't like to blame games on the ref, but this game I think the referee did terrible. I hope the FA saw his performance today. I know I'm a fan of the losing team, but I think his acts were enough to get him suspended or something like that. The SEC hand-egg ball conference has put ref's out of a job a couple of times, so why cant the Premier League do it?
Arsenal got off to a confident start. The Arsenal that wins titles showed up in the first 10-15 minutes. And the Frenchman Olivier Giroud put one in the back of the net in the 5th minute. Jack Wilshere started it all, then Rosicky made a nice pass to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who put a ball in with the outside of his foot. Giroud is definitely off to a better start than last season. Then Antho
So called referee
ny Taylor, the referee (if he even deserves that title) started playing for Aston Villa. Through out the game when Villa had a good advantage he let them keep playing. When Arsenal had a good advantage he let the ball come back and made us take the free kick. Rosicky and Cazorla complained a couple of times each about this. The two penalties called in the match were controversial. The first was more likely a penalty than the second. On the first penalty the quick and speedy Agbonlahor got past our defense and the Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny came out and fouled him. It could be said that the Villa man did not have control of the ball. The second penalty was much worse. Laurent Koscienly clearly got the ball on his challenge. Both announcers of the game thought the challenge was top quality and so did I. But Villa scored again and Koscienly got a yellow card for a perfect tackle. Many yellow cards that were handed to Arsenal players could have easily not been a yellow card. Later Koscienly went in for another challenge that should have not been a foul, then he got sent off with a second yellow. The referee just seemed to be for Villa and every call he could he gave the ball to them. After Villa's third goal the fans starting chanting at Arsene Wenger about spending money.
I really think Arsenal needs to buy players. Through out my past blogs I have said this over and over. This game though, was not because we didn't buy any players. That might have been 10% of the deal. Most of it was because of Anthony Taylor. The ref that needs to be booted from the EPL. The EPL needs to bring in more refs like Howard Webb.
Today has been a good first day for many other teams and some good football has been played! Manchester United and Swansea are battling it out in Wales right now in a game that should be fantastic!
Don't forget to check in on Monday for the first ever National team special!
Well England just played Scotland in the stadium I was at during the beginning of the summer. Good ole Wembley Stadium in London. Since its the 150th Anniversary of the FA, they are trying to bring these great British rivalries back. So even though they are called friendlies, they are really not that friendly! The game was actually a very good game. It was full of exciting action and a bag full of good goals. England started out looking very bad. Rooney was a little too pass happy when he should of shot and dribbled and all of England just looked tired. Scotland finally scored the first goal and got up 1-0. Then the Arsenal man Theodore P. Walcott tied England up. But once again Scotland looked much better and on a nice turn an shoot they scored again (I love the turn and shoots. The Mario Gomez turn and shoot in Euro 2012 was amazing)! I told Gerrard he needed to start sending in better balls because his crosses were rubbish. That's when Welback headed one in on a ball served in by Gerrard. Lampard came in and sent some wicked shots at the goalie but none went in! I love Ricky Lambert at Southhampton and it was cool to see him get some playing time for the National squad. I'm pretty sure the corner was sent in by Baines and who else but LAMBERT to put it in and give England the win over Scotland. Lambert had more chances and I wished he would have finished them because he deserved the goals. But England got a much needed win at home against one of their rivals Scotland, 3-2!
Yes ladies and gentleman its time for what we've all been waiting for. No, not a video of Gareth Bale buying bananas at the local grocery store in North London (I know sorry to disappoint you). Nor real footage of Mario Ballotelli setting off fireworks in his own bathroom, but instead its time for English Premier League Predictions! The EPL is my favorite league around the whole world and at the moment probably the league that plays the best football around the world! The English teams usually attract players from all around the world. As more and more teams get rich around Europe, more players will be exiting the Premier League though!
Relegation in the EPL always seems to be an intense battle. Unfortunately I had to watch my 2nd favorite team QPR exit the highest division in England last year. This year three more teams fans will have to experience that same fate. As much as I hate to say it, I see South Hampton leaving the EPL. I love Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana but their team is just so boring. I cant stand watching South Hampton play most of the time. So yes, relegation for South Hampton. Hull City didn't really impress me any times I've watched them. They are not a bad team just not Premier League quality. But hey, Norwich surprised a bunch of people in their first season up. Now its a tough decision. I don't know whether to pick a team that's been in the Premier League for more than a season or a team that just got promoted. Since I don't live in England, watching lower league games is hard, so I don't know as much about the lower league teams! I will say that........Newcastle will get relegated. I thought about Sunderland, but their new coach seems fantastic. Newcastle lost Demba Ba and towards the end of the season they just looked bad. So out of the top flight for the North East England club!
*Drum role please* Its now time for the top 5 teams in England! The battle for the top 4 is always an interesting one in the EPL. The top 4 gives you a chance in the UEFA Champions League and of course if you come in first, the Premier League title. Arsenal's neighbors Tottenham looked really good last season, but I think they will not touch the top four once again, not even the top 5. Liverpool got off to a slow start last season. But towards the end, unlike Newcastle, they looked really good. Even with a chance of losing Suarez, I see them taking the 5th spot. That means Spurs drop down to 6th and Everton to 7th. Arsenal, as much as I would like you to come in higher than fourth, that's where you will end up again! If y'all will not buy any "big name" players you just cant break out of the spot. As I've said before, you can still produce players, but you have to buy a few too. Some people will see this as a surprise, but Manchester City will drop to third! Even though they buy all their players and buy good ones too, I just don't think their new coach knows whats up. Going against the likes of Moyes and Mourinho I just don't think he has the experience. In second are the Blue's of Chelsea. Chelsea usually has an outstanding defense and Jose Mourinho has been itching to get back to the EPL. He will try his hardest to win the title, but will fall one place short! Manchester United is a risky option for the title with their new manager and all. But Moyes really moved Everton to new levels and he has sort of the same style ole Alex had. So with Van Persie and the rest of Manchester United, they will make it 21 titles for the red side of Manchester!
Tune in to the first game of the EPL season on Saturday! It should be another exciting year of English football!
Germany was one of my favorite places on my European Journey this summer and I also love the countries football. Even though the league can be a one team league at times, I still think they play attractive football in Deutschland. Germany has even threatened Spain as dominating football power. I actually think the German team is better than Spain at the moment and both club teams in the champions league final last season were both from Germany! So not just the wiener schnitzel is good in Germany!
The top 3 were separated from the rest of the league by 10 points last season. Leverkusen were ahead of the fourth place team Schalke 65-55 on points, while Dortmund was just 1 point of ahead of Leverkusen. Then Bayern Munich, getting a little carried away with winning, had 91 points. This year I expect the race for third to be a little closer. The 4-7th place teams last year all had the talent to take third but couldn't do it. I know this might sound crazy to a few, but I think Eintracht Frankfurt will take third. Yes, they just finished 6th last season. Yes, they were just promoted the season before last. Yes, they got thrashed 6-1 in their first Bundesliga game. But I've always liked their style of play the few times I have seen their high lights and they are good on FIFA 13 so yeah. That means E. Frankfurt to third, Bayern Leverkusen to 4th and Schalke all the way to 5th. In second I have to go with the black yellows, Borussia Dortmund. I like Dortmund a lot (which is weird when Bayern Munich is your second favorite team in the world). Last year they didn't even come close to Bayern and they almost fell to third. I don't think they'll get close at all this year either. The reason is that Mario Gotze went to Bayern and Lewandowski is soon probably about to leave the club. If the Polish star leaves the club it would be horrible for all Dortmund fans. He was the soul of the team. So yes, second for Dortmund. Of course, FC Bayern Munchen will win the league title. Their domination last year was outstanding and they won the treble. Champions League, Bundesliga title, and some German Cup (the one equal to the FA Cup I think). Their domination will not last forever but another season is likely. If their new coach infects the ticky-tacky style of play that he used at Barca, I will not be happy, happy, happy. I wont even be one happy.
My next blog will be Premier League Predictions and it will probably be on Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday being the more likely day.
Who likes French fries? I mean they're salty, tasty, and go down pretty fast. Just about like the Ligue 1 in France. The play can be a little bad at times, but most of the time its like a lesser Premier League. The players aren't as fast or as strong, but usually its close to premier league style of play and the league is not always a one team league. Last season I predicted the French Ligue 1 totally wrong. I picked Lyon to secure the title. Maybe its just because I liked them a lot, or I liked Hugo Llor
is. Well of course Lloris moved to North London, so he didn't help his home country's team at all. Last season Lyon came in third, so the top spot was really far away.
The battle for fourth last year was very, very intense. So I see that happening again. Lille who finished 6th last year, should jump up to 4th. They've always been an okay team and they've been in the champions league before. So a move up to 4th would not be out of the question. Marseille just finished 4 points above Lyon last season and I don't think they can replicate that again. So Marseille will drop to 3rd. It will be a very close race between third and second next year. Lyon will take second. Even though last season I predicted them totally wrong, I think they will have the extra zap this year to beat out Marseille for 2nd. PSG buys a lot of their players, but they make good choices. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will lead them to another title. What I like about PSG is their attacking force. I always think Lavezzi has had very high talent and the goalkeeper Sirigu is very good. If Gigi Buffon was not in front of him on the Italian National team I think he would be the starter. That's your top 4 for the French Ligue 1.
DAT NOSE
I don't really know the league well enough to predict who will get relegated. There are some notable teams to watch out for this year that might finish higher in the table then you would think. AS Monaco has the cash flowin' so they went quick to buy players after being promoted to the highest French league. They already bought Falcao and they already won their first game. So they could win some big games this year!
We still have two more leagues to predict. The German Bundesliga and the big ole English Premier League, so make sure to come in and read!!!!
Well before we get into todays topics I will tell you what will be released on August 19, 2013. That day the blog face will have a while new look. As you can already see I've imported the new picture of the blog (Jack Wilshere) and under the title I have pure class. Also on the 19th the first National Team special will come out: featuring the United States Men's National Team. This special was actually going to be released after I came back from Europe, but I never got it finished and now I have a lot of catching up to do! Then a few days later the first player special will come... the player is still in question. If you have a favorite player that's not Messi or Ronaldo comment or email me @ kcollins619@hotmail.com for any player you would like to be featured! Also even before the release of all the fancier stuff I will have my EPL predictions since the season starts Saturday. Then when September hits, the full swing new Just Plain Football will really kick into gear!
English Breakfast is bland and tasteless, especially after you have it for 3 days in a row. I mean you just don't want to look at it or taste it, or smell it. You want some flavor, some spice, some sweetness. That's how I felt watching QPR last season. QPR was my second favorite team in the Premier League and my third favorite team overall. But their football was just ugly and sloppy. Some might even call it tasteless. Mark Hughes really screwed them up, but Harry should have kept them up. The point in this QPR talk is, some Premier League teams this season are dangerously close to following their kind of play. Maybe not sloppy, but bland. And for the sake of the Premier League, this can not happen. Or the EPL will not be the best league in the world. Although football is about scoring goals, it has to be attractive. That's why I'm worrying for teams like Stoke, South Hampton, and Sunderland. Why did Swansea stay up? Because they play nice attractive football. Same with Norwich and Brendon Rodgers is trying to inflict this type of play at Liverpool. Stoke needs to stop with just the consistent long balls and big leg breakers. South Hampton were lucky to stay up last season. I hate watching them on TV. It's like watching Barcelona but they are even slower and not good at their job (although I do like some of South Hampton's players). Sunderland got lucky with their new coach. I think he knows this QPR disease and at the end of last season he tried to step up the tempo and creativeness of their plays. In the end, if more teams follow this Stoke kind of play and get away from the Arsenal and Swansea type of play, other leagues will start improving more and more. So for the sake of my favorite league..... I hope we are in for an exciting season of football this year!
Make sure to come back and check out this blog! SHARE SHARE SHARE PLEASE!!! :D
I like the average banana just as much as Gareth Bale does..... but doesn't it make you mad when you go to the store for bananas and all the ones they have aren't fresh? I mean come on now, I need my potassium and banana goodness. So leaving the store without bananas sucks..... big time. Some might say it drives me crazy or makes me go bananas.
The invisible creatures that make soccer players "dive"
You know what else makes me go bananas, Arsenal, Luis Suarez, and Wayne Rooney. Arsenal, I know you love to build up your squad with young and inexpensive players, but at some point you have to buy some big names. The so called experts of the game stated this a long time ago, and now the fans, me included, think its finally time we spend a couple of dollars, well pounds. We can still have the whole Arsenal mindset, just bring in a few big names when it's not absolutely necessary! After a while the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea are going to leave us in the dust. Manchester United even uses their own clubs money that they've generated, while City and the blues just use their owners. We could do exactly what Manchester United is doing. They still produce a few players, but they understand that if they make the money, they have to spend it.
Suarez is a horrible person, but he's an amazing footballer. Liverpool just need to try and ship him out as quick as possible. The manager already made him train without the rest of the team so why don't they try to get him out of there. Arsenal fans, I know you might now want him on our team, but at least we will get somebody that has a big name and a giant skill set. If we don't get him, I really don't think we will get anybody with a "big name" this summer. Of course we will pick up the regular small name or no name Arsenal signings!
Wayne Rooney might eat a lot and be lazy around the house, but on the field he has one of the highest work rates I've seen. Man U and him have been having problems lately as we all know. Why cant he just leave. If he stays I would be very surprised after all that's gone down. Where would he end up though? Personally I would like to see him at Arsenal like we talked about earlier this summer, but that's never going to happen since we cant spend even a banana on a player. Every body is saying he will end up at Chelsea, but I thought he wanted to be the star. With Ba, Ramires, Mata, Hazard, and many others, it will not be all spotlight for Wayne Rooney. I'm guessing he wants to stay in England or the rest of Europe just does not want him!
Come back and read more. Don't forget to eat your bananas!
Which is the better goal? The last few days while surfing the good ole Youtube I stumbled across some soccer goals through out the past two seasons. Of course two of them stuck in my mind. The Arjen Robben goal vs Dortmund in the Champions League Final a few months ago, then the Sergio Kun Aguero goal vs QPR to win the Premier League Title two seasons ago. Both were pretty awesome goals!
It terms of just the actual goal and shot, we can probably say that Arjen Robben's was much better! The whole cross down field from Alaba to Ribery. Then Ribery holding off the defender to then back heel it to Robben who took a touch around the defender then slid it past the goalie. Yes the skill of the goal took much more than Aguero getting the pass for Ballotelli then striking it in. Both were not easy shots, but Arjen's wins in skill level.
The story line was pretty amazing on both of these goals. Bayern Munich had home field advantage last season against Chelsea in the finals and ended up losing in penalties. Robben missed a penalty in extra time that would have probably gave Munchen the win. He apparently had 28 shots in total champions league finals before this goal. So against their German rivals they were seeking redemption. Manchester City, the team that had been shadowed by Manchester United forever finally had the chance to win the Premier League title (even though they kind of bought themselves the title).
The thing about Aguero's goal was that I'm pretty sure QPR went up 2-0 in the game. Joey Barton then got a red card for QPR because he decided to pull a Joey Barton like move. I think he would have been a great player in the Premier League. Anyways, Manchester City went 2-0 down and they had to claw their way back. Then Aguero's goal came in the 93rd or 94th minute, I'm pretty sure. That gave Manchester City the title and they won the game 3-2.
Robben's goal came in the 89th minute and he needed the goal. He had a lot of haters and still probably does. The goal was for Bayern Munich, but it was also a goal for Arjen Robben. While Aguero's goal was totally for the Sky Blues!
That special about the running shoes will come out eventually. It may not come out until the big change of Just Plain Football though, so stay patient.
Well a big change is coming to Just Plain Football!!! I've been trying to increase my amount of readers lately and a new look would suit the blog pretty well. Also new features will be coming along! I've been playing around with the templates lately and discovered all the fancy things you can create with the "advanced" settings so the blog will look great. Also, the school year is approaching fast which usually means no blog posts or blog posts of little quality! But this year I'm going to try to write a lot more. Not every day probably but maybe 2-3 posts every week. Some of the new features include:
- New layout of the blog
- more links in every blog post
- more pictures/videos in every blog post
- covering a wide range of topics (even though I think I do that one pretty well already)
- Every other week a big special will be released!!!! Some of my specials already include (add link) Best and Worst Jerseys, Great Stadiums, and Oh Arjen Robben. These special blog posts usually increase my readers so every other week a new one will come out
- every week a whole blog post will be about one special player. Arjen Robben is the only player I've ever done. Thomas Rosicky and more players will come.
-every third week of the month a special about a National team will come out.
- then of course regular posts will come out between all these specials
All this is coming August 19, 2013
Until then I will continue with the current layout of Just Plain Football.
Firstly, if you like Green Tea at Starbucks, don't get the green tea latte (hot). It tastes like a vegetable, well kind of. I actually like the taste, but most people don't! Just get the Green Tea Iced Latte or the Green Tea Frappacino.
So every athlete has a routine before their game starting as early as the night before game day. Game Day's are always big! Before every club game that I play in I get my kit ready the night before and make sure I have all my gear. My checklist is big starting from my ball, cleats, and other gear going to drinks, headphones, and so on. What I left out is energy chews! Yes, energy chews. Every athlete needs to be in top condition to perform and a little boost helps. I've tried the Jelly Belly Energy Beans and Gatorade Energy Chews!
Gatorade Energy Chews are probably the most expensive option out of the two energizers, but I think they work a lot better. Firstly, the whole Gatorade Company focuses on sports, while Jelly Belly makes tasty sweet snacks, so you would probably expect Gatorade to pull out the win here. The chews come in a pack of 6 and are square shaped. All flavors are pretty good in the chews. Last time I checked they had 3 different flavors. The blue color, red color, and pink color. I forget the names, haha! But they were all pretty tasty so flavor is not really a problem. Of course, the jelly belly beans do not have a flavor problem either. Gatorade chews actually feel like you've eaten something and later on in the game you can definitely tell that you have more energy. Jelly Belly's don't have a set amount to eat. On the package it just says eat as many as you need to get full energy and that's it. So its kind of hard to gage how many you need to consume. I tried both of these out and Gatorade definitely wins!! There is one problem with the energy chews though! It says take them 15 minutes prior to event/exercise or very shortly before. I feel like they don't have enough time to start breaking into energy so I usually take them 30 minutes before a game. On some occasions even 45. They seem to work way better.
Gatorade Scores: (1-10)
Energy: 10 Flavor: 8.5 Easiness to understand: 8
Jelly Belly Energy Chews Scores: (1-10)
Energy: 4 Flavor:9.5 Easiness to understand: 5
Ok so in a few days my second "special edition" of this summer will come out. It's going to be about the running shoes that are currently on the market and which are the best to buy or maybe just which might be the best fit for you. So make sure to tune into that! I don't know when it will be released but it should come out in the next 5-7 days!
I don't know how much writing will be done in the coming weeks. I will try to write as much as I can. Keep checking in every 3 or 4 days just in case a blog post comes out. It may just be 1 a week, but I am trying. So no need to fear, Just Plain Football will be here. Although, I could say I've put in as much effort to this blog the past two weeks as Arsenal have put into buying players for their shallow squad. 
