Go Bananas

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!

Aguerooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

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.

19.8.13

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.

Jelly Belly or Gatorade?

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!

Shea Saves the Day......Maybe

The Gold Cup Final was played yesterday at Soldier Field in Chicago. Most people at the start of the tournament probably expected a Mexico vs USA final, instead they were entertained with a USA vs Panama final. I like Panama way better than Mexico, so it was good that they made it into the finals. Of course I had to be for my home country USA!! I didn't watch most of the first half because my cousin was over and I was hanging out with him. Unfortunately I did see that Stuart Holden received another knee injury. The young guy has had some serious injury problems these last few seasons. He was finally back and ready to impress, and he was impressing. He's kind of like the Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere of the United States National squad. Anyways I watched all of the second half and we had plenty of chances. Panama looked good, but their offense didn't really kick into gear until close to the end of the game when the United States was getting tired. Panamas defense held tight. I really don't like Joe Corona, but apparently all of our fans do, so he got the start in front of Jose Torres. Finally they took out Corona and put on the wonderful Brek Shea! Shea can pass the ball and he has the right soccer mind, but I guess for a tall guy he is not very strong. He needs to work on the physical side of his game. Panama kind of pushed him around a little, but when they didn't he usually put in a good pass. In the 69th Minute Alejandro Bedoya sent in an amazing ball. Landon Donovan took a wild swing at it and missed it completely, but his dummy move caught the goalie off guard. Then Brek Shea was right there to tap it in. The funny thing is, Bedoya probably would've scored anyway even if Shea didn't tap it in. It looked like it was going in. Anyways, Shea got the goal and later Donavan said something along the lines of "I took a giant swing at the ball and completely missed it". The USA got the Gold Cup win and hopefully this will give them momentum going into World Cup Qualifiers in September!

To wrap up the tournament we'll list some of the players that impressed me the most! Jose Torres and Eddie Johnson really impressed me. When I went to the Semifinals game in Dallas Torres took quick precise touches and made good decisions on the ball. I had always liked Eddie Johnson at Seattle even though he had some rough times. In this tournament he proved that he needs to be on the A Team when World Cup Qualifiers come around! A more surprising player that impressed me was Mix Diskerud. Diskerud is actually from Norway, but I'm glad he decided to play for the US. He seemed to have a right soccer mind like Torres and was always in a good position on the field. He knew where to be, even off the ball making runs. Blas Perez, the FC Dallas man, looked very good. He had some nice assists and some cool goals. Dallas has missed him these last weeks while he's been helping his home country, so now he needs to go lead FC Dallas to the top. Lastly, Alberto Quintero impressed me from the very first group game against Mexico. He's a great winger from Panama and his skill and vision on the ball is of very high quality.

Come back and check out this blog for more entertaining soccer news and fun!

Are we even in America?

The Gold Cup experience was a very cool one. It probably held the most entertaining crowd I had ever been with at a soccer match. The only other non-friendly games I had ever been to were just FC Dallas games and the crowds there don't really get too pumped (although the 4th league German division game had a lot on the line, only 14,500 people showed up). The England and Ireland game had a huge crowd, but since it was a friendly not much was put into it. The only problem with this great crowd was that the best part of the cheering, yelling, and booing, came in the Panama vs Mexico match.

Making our way towards the stadium we could all tell there were way more Mexican fans headed towards the entrance. Maybe because we were in Texas or maybe just more Mexicans like soccer. The USA vs Honduras game was still very fun! Eddie Johnson, one of my favorite young forwards for the National squad, put in the first goal. You could tell it was going to be a pretty easy win for the USA. Landon Donovan and Jose Torres really impressed me, especially Torres. His touches were precise and quick. His passes were usually expertly placed. The biggest disappointment had to be Brek Shea. I had always wanted to see him play at Dallas, then he moved across the pond to England. Luckily he got subbed into the game in the second half. His touches were horrible, he didn't seem energized, and even though he had some good ideas on the ball, his passes never seemed to make it through to the target. But I still think Shea deserves a spot on the National "A" squad! Anyways, the USA beat Honduras 3-1 and booked their ticket to Soldier Field in Chicago.

More and more people flooded the entrance into Cowboys Stadium for the Mexico game. There was lots of Spanish yelling and screaming. When Mexico scored their only goal of the match the crowd was super crazy!! Blas Perez for Panama had been having a good year at FC Dallas and they are probably missing him greatly right now. But Panama definitely needs him. He's had a great last two games and has looked very impressive to me. FC Dallas better hold on to him if he improves even more, because a trip to Europe is not out of the question for Perez. He put Panama up 1-0 and Panama eventually won the game 2-1.

The Gold Cup finals will be on Sunday in Chicago at Soldier Field. Make sure to tune in and watch the game. I think the two best teams in the tournament made it to the finals and I'm giving the USA the title, winning 2-1. I would have said 2-0, but Panama's offense is amazing and our set piece defending is horrible!

Best and Worst Jerseys Part 2

The beginning of this blog was going to be very different as of today around noon. Then while devouring a piece of bread saturated with creamy chicken broccoli soup, my friend called me up and was like "yo dog, you want to hit up the Gold Cup Semifinals in Dallas tomorrow". So I thought and thought about it, then I excepted his offer. So later tomorrow I will be traveling to Jerry Jones's stadium in Arlington, Texas to watch the game on the giant High-def screens installed in his stadium. It has a better picture than what is going on in real life. Haha. Anyways, I will be watching both semifinal games in the wonderful stadium. USA vs Honduras and Panama vs Mexico. I am actually more excited to see the Panama vs Mexico game for a few reasons. One is, Panama is my second favorite team in the Gold Cup and the first match between these two teams was a real cracker! Anyways, you came to this blog today for the wonderful second edition of Best and Worst Jersey's part 2. Last year Dortmund's home jersey and Chelsea's away jersey's took home the best jersey's prize, while Man City's away jersey and Barcelona's home jersey were given the titles of worst jersey's. This season it was very hard to pick between the kits. I found way better sources this year, so I had a much, much bigger selection. So if you think you know a jersey that's better or worst, comment please!!!



Liverpool's Crazy 3rd Kit

Liverpool's 3rd kit last season

First off, what is going on with Liverpool's 3rd kits these last two seasons?  What is going on with all their kits besides their home kits?? I mean I'm pretty sure this Warrior company have lost their mind.
 I was not going to have a worst 3rd kit, but Liverpool's is so bad I had to include it!


Oh my gosh, there are so many bad home and away jerseys this year!

Swansea City's Kit (away)

I almost gave Liverpool the award (if you would call it an award) for worst away jersey. But I felt sorry for them and some people say its pretty cool. So I let them off!  It was very hard deciding the worst away jersey because there are so many leagues with so many teams, but I will have to say the good ole Welsh boys Swansea receive the title. Their sponsor may give them bunches of money...but on the jersey, the Chinese writing looks just ugly. I mean Chinese writing, along with Japanese, is sometimes considered as "pretty", but this is just straight up horrible. The main color base on the Swansea jersey does not know whether it wants to be purple or blue. The official word is purple. And the yellow,  is just ugly. LSU's (Louisiana State University's) uniforms which are purple and GOLD look much better. No, not purple and yellow, purple and gold! Come on Swansea, I expected better than this. Honorable mentions, or unhonorable mentions, include: Liverpool, Barcelona, and a few others.

Fulham's Crazy V-Necked Jersey

The worst home jersey was also a hard award to give because this year because there were just so many bad ones. Hey, the home kits also brought some good ones into play too. When you hear who wins this prize you might think why this kit? There were many worse than this. I had to choose this because there is one feature that I cannot get over. Fulham FC wins the award for worst home jersey. It was a close battle, but they edged out. Mostly because of the so called V-neck collar. I can not take it. AC Milan went with a V-neck collar on their away jersey but it looks so much better than this. I like the old fashioned pin stripes on Fulham's previous home jersey, but on this jersey the pin stripes do not make the cut!! Maybe I'm over reacting to the collar. I got some feedback that I over reacted to the home Barcelona Jersey last season, but hey, its the little details that count.

The Dark Knights

Even though I went on and on about how many bad jerseys there were, there are actually some pretty good ones out there too! Just maybe not as many as usually. The away kits were definitely the hardest for both best and worst. Top canidates were AC Milan, Arsenal, Juventus, Tottenham, Derby County, Porto and a few more. But the winner is the team who had the worst away jerseys last season (they must have read my blog).... MANCHESTER CITY! They got rid of that nasty looking red and went with black. The Dark Knights
of Manchester is a name being thrown around out there. And y'all know how much I like the collared jerseys. This one has a fantastic collar. I usually like the brighter jerseys when it comes to soccer jerseys. In other clothes dark looks pretty good to me though. And this jersey is a perfect example of how a blackish gray jersey should look!

The best home jersey was hard too, but not as hard as the best away. AC Milan sent out a great line of kits this year. Home, away, and third kits are all excellent. I had to give them the award for best home jersey. Mostly for 2 reasons. First: with a great line of kits, even if the home isn't the best out of 3 its still good enough. Second: the players just model these good. I think Adidas must look at the players of AC Milan and think, what would look good on them. Not just a cool jersey. The fact that this jersey is so simple also makes it nice. Some home kits lately have been getting way, way too out of hand. Adidas has been trying to tone it down on the home side. Like Bayern Munich's home jersey. Adidas got rid of most of the gold stripes this year on peoples jersey, but luckily they stayed with the gold for Milano. I think if they would have made the stripes black some of the pop from the jersey would not be there anymore. Just like the bad Fulham jersey, little details count to make a jersey super horrible or super great! Mario Balotelli almost even smiled in some of the kit pictures because he knows they are soooooo good this year!!!!

This special edition took lots and lots of work so I hope you share it with all your friends! I want to see it challenge last year's best and worst jersey's article!