The UEFA Website has a pretty cool competition going right now where you have to vote for your favourite moments of the Champions League. With the (slim) chance of winning tickets to the Champions League final in Berlin, this is something I of course cannot let go. But of course, at the same time, it leads to a more personal reflection on the most memorable (and not necessarily best) moments of
I usually do a list of my favourite football teams in a year, and in fact I find that it has been particularly difficult this year, also considering that there has been a World Cup and some very exciting league results. But at the same time a lot of teams have disappointed: Brazil (who almost always appears on my lists) most of all with its pathetic display in the World Cup, but also other sides
I am a bit late due to my Christmas vacation, but here comes my (very personal) top-ten list of my favourite teams of the year: 10. Atletico Mineiro: The Brazilian side won its first ever Copa Libertadores, but with their defeat to Raja Casablanca in the FIFA Club World Cup, they "only" get a 10th place in the list 9.
The following is my personal list of my 10 favourite footballers of the year; the players who were special, who I will remember: 10) Miroslav Klose: Klose is not the most memorable striker in the world, and is in the autumn of his career. But he has always been a fair player and a gentleman, and as part of the German World Cup side he went on to become the most scoring player in World Cup
I am back to my dull and boring life. Without anything useful to do besides changing a flat tire on my car, I have reflected on the top ten worst things of this world cup. There was a lot of shit to consider, from the social problems in Brazil that perhaps became more prominent during the World Cup. But more directly related to the tournament these are the ten worst (and believe me, it was not
My (very personal) top ten list of the best players of 2013 is as follows: 10. Mario Gotze: While in Borussia Dortmund the German youngster was one of the leading players in taking the Germans to the Champions League final. He was purchased for a record sum by Bayern Munich, where he remains struggling to become a steady player, but still has time.
This is my personal list of favourite players of 2012: 10) Cristiano Ronaldo: Ronaldo is one of the most gifted players of our time, but that is also what makes him so frustrating. He had a marvelous season for Real Madrid when they took the Spanish title, but it seems he only glows when things go well for the team.
Because late has always been better than never As the grim reality of being back to the 9 to 5 sets
in, and the monotony of office life bites, it must be time to review the 2010 footballing year.
Feel free to add any more you think I've missed off... 1. Blue is the colour [...]
Following my need to make top-10's for the year 2010, here is the list of my favourite 10 players
of the year:10) Carles Puyol: a brilliant defender who gives both Barcelona and Spain tranquility
and solidity. His role in both of the world's greatest teams should not be underestimated!9) Iker
Casillas: In my view, the best goalkeeper in the world.
With age comes wisdom. When I was younger I would become quite depressed for days when my football team lost. While my recent disappointment about Valencia's last minute debacle brought down my world for a moment, I have subsequently reflected more on this type of disappointment, which all football fans have undoubtedly tried: 10) A Beer 9) Blame the coach, who did not do what you would have
Luis Suarez is surely not the best footballer ever, but the most stupid footballer ever, yes. That said, I would like to give him a helping hand, so I have some suggestions as excuses he can use to defend himself about his latest outrageous behavior: 10. "Ivanovic put his body into my mouth on purpose!
Here is my personal list of the teams I found to be the best in 2012! 10) Tahiti: It was not on the big news much, but in June 2012 Tahiti won the Oceania Nations Cup. It was the first time ever this tournament was not won by Australia or New Zealand, and it will be fascinating to see the unknown Tahitians face some big nations in next year's Confederations Cup.
1. Let's start with an honest assessment. This was more of an El Mediocro than El Clasico. 2. That
said, we should be grateful that the shameful handbags and theatrics of previous games were largely
avoided. Pepe did have a little moment of blatant playacting in faking injury, but we can't ask for
miracles.
It is time for a review of football-year 2010, and I will start by my personal top-10 of best and
worst football things this years.Saving the good for last, here comes the worst (a list that has,
fortunately, been a bit difficult to make!):10. Paraguay not becoming World Champions, to be
summarized in one name: Larissa Riquelme.
Florent Malouda In the last year, Chelsea have begun something of an evolution, moving on players such as Salomon Kalou, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Jose Bosingwa and Raul Meireles. Quite how Florent Malouda failed to be part of this exodus is beyond me, but Malouda has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge to such [.
QPR's Clint Hill starts the week haunted by the 'ghost goal' he scored against Bolton at the
weekend. With the game on a knife-edge at 0-0, Hill awaiting his very first Premier League goal and
relegation-bound QPR desperate for points, the disallowed strike could not have been a much more
painful experience.
1. AVB's record of just 19 wins in 40 games was clearly too much to stomach for a club with such
astronomical aspirations and confetti budgets. Much more sickening has been the woeful behaviour of
the players under his charge. If you can't play for your manager, at least have the pride to play
[...
1. AVB's record of just 19 wins in 40 games was clearly too much to stomach for a club with such
astronomical aspirations and confetti budgets. Much more sickening has been the woeful behaviour of
the players under his charge. If you can't play for your manager, at least have the pride to play
[...
And now it's statistical The debates over the worst Premier League signings are as old as the
league itself. One of the reasons that it has been difficult to gauge is that obviously the cost of
players has increased from 1992 to today. However, in their book "Pay as you play" Paul Tomkins,
Graeme Riley [.
And praise the Lord, most of them are English Breaking news: this top ten was not written on public
transport. There are three self-imposed rules when creating a list of Premier League future stars:
1. Players must be under 18 years of age 2. They must be currently at a Premier League club (thus
excluding [.
Stars of the now and near future Most of my top ten features are born from a sustained period of
public transport. This one was a London St Pancras to Nottingham train journey. 110 minutes to
think with three rules: * Players must be 21 or younger * Selection is on talent and performances
now (not [.
Anthony Gardner... Anthony Gardner?!!! 10. Julian Dicks Stuart Pearce sort of had the hard,
passionate England left-back spot covered during the early nineties (to the extent that Nigel
Winterburn gained only two caps). But Dicks, who was West Ham Player of the Year for four years out
of seven, must have deserved to transfer his [.
A class apart... 1. However ugly the journey, and however mishandled the situation, the end result
is correct. Grant's time has come. By the time you are reading this he will probably already have
gone. Grant's winning percentage in the Premier League since leaving Chelsea is just 19%. It's just
not good enough.
The Loan Rangers With the potential loan move to Tottenham Hotspur of David Beckham, OTP takes the
opportunity to look at ten players who made an impressive impact during short term deals. Clearly
there will be those that you think we have missed, so feel free to provide suggestions. 1.
Christophe Dugarry Stephane Guivarch, Florent [.
1. Like a destructive part of your personality that you keep under lock and key only for it to
escape at the office Christmas party, is Naughty Gomes back? A blooper for Chelsea's first and a
rugby tackle on Ramires for the penalty. The resulting save will help, but Spurs fans will hope
Count von [..
1. Like a destructive part of your personality that you keep under lock and key only for it to
escape at the office Christmas party, is Naughty Gomes back? A blooper for Chelsea's first and a
rugby tackle on Ramires for the penalty. The resulting save will help, but Spurs fans will hope
Count von [..
Rant, rant, rant, rant, rant Having intended to make a simple Top Ten feature out of this, it seems
OTP is more grumpy than it first thought. To stop the blood from boiling, we have gone for a half
today, half tomorrow approach. If any of these don't annoy you, you're either a saint or [...]
1. Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel were moonlighting as the Chuckle Brothers. The classic
calamitous 'to me, to you' routine was played out perfectly. It was a fine indication that a
retired Carra would be more suited to CBBC than ESPN. 2. Andy Carroll's astonishing close-range
headed miss was remarkable for the sheer authority with [.
A few January loan deals have come good of late – Ryo Myaichi at Bolton, Royston Drenthe at
Everton and Sid the Squirrel at QPR. There is however one loan signing that has quickly earned an
especially warm place in OTP's heart. His name? Pavel Pogrebnyak he of 5 goals in his first 3 [...]
A few January loan deals have come good of late – Ryo Myaichi at Bolton, Royston Drenthe at
Everton and Sid the Squirrel at QPR. There is however one loan signing that has quickly earned an
especially warm place in OTP's heart. His name? Pavel Pogrebnyak he of 5 goals in his first 3 [...]
OTP not only likes to have a good laugh at monumental bloopers, we like to deconstruct the
inadvertent art and beauty that goes in to them. Even before Jamie Carragher was born, own goals
were a key construct of the game and can be assessed on their technical difficulty, match-context
and aesthetic quality.
Foot in mouth is not a new concept With Andy Gray, Richard Keys and Andy Burton all currently
lolling around in a pub near the Sky Sports studios (no doubt letching at the barmaids, poring over
page three of the Sun), we thought it was about time to give them something to lift their spirits:
[...]
HMP United With the current goings on surrounding Harry Redknapp allegedly in legal trouble for
naming an account after his dog (or something along those lines), we look at five current
footballers who have served time at the pleasure of her majesty. 1. Joey Barton The twitter-loving
philosophical tearaway was sentenced to four months for [.
You'll literally love this article 10. At the end of the day... We all go to bed? Not used solely
in sport, but football is a hotbed due to the unintelligence of many involved, and generally used
by the Harry Redknapp geezer type. My issue with the phrase is that is hackneyed, over-used and
utterly [.
I guess after getting annoyed and writing a negative post on the bad things of the World Cup yesterday, I should write one of the best things of the World Cup, in my personal view. 10. Seeing friends and family during this World Cup: For me this World Cup was an excuse to travel and enjoy with friends and family, and I did so shamelessly.
It is really heartbreaking to see your team lose on penalties, or when a penalty would have meant the difference between winning or losing. And if it is heartbreaking for the fan, how heartbreaking may it not be for the player? The recent Africa Cup of Nations semifinal between Ghana and Burkina Faso, where the latter won on penalty kicks, made me think of the most heartbreaking penalty kicks I
1. David Moyes The Evertonian Scotsman was seen as the obvious successor after a few moneyless
seasons at Goodison. Started as odds-on favourite, but his price has drifted. While he might want a
step-up, is he too much of a risk for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy? Bear in mind this man spent
£8million on James [.
There was an Arsenal blog earlier this morning that implied that Arsenal fans should not expect to
have a god-given right to expect trophies every season, and I saw one of the comments mentioning
that Arsenal were the third-richest club in the world (according to Forbes), so of course with
their value and revenue Arsenal [.
Thursday becomes Fergsday 1) Thursday nights become big again. It is a certain scenario that we
will have each of the current big four (yes I know, I have replaced Liverpool with City) live on
our screen over a period of three nights midweek. 2) For those worried about the effect on
England's UEFA coefficient, [.
