Monday 23 November 2015

El Clasico clashes with Manchester City v Liverpool - who will win out?

As El Classico clashes with the Man City v Liverpool match on Sky Sports tonight, I think it's time to ask whether the global game has taken over the Premier League.

What will you watch?

Real Madrid v Barcelona?




Man City v Liverpool?





Or take the option with Sky to watch it split screen? Is like to see a breakdown on the viewing figures.

When I was young, teams from outside of England, Scotland and Wales seemed a million miles away. Players with exotic-sounding names from different pockets of the globe has their own thing going on.

When Steve Archibald went to Barcelona, my world changed a little. He was the first top player in my memory that had made such a switch. It looked like a massive adventure that bordered on madness. Likewise for overseas players coming to the English league. Ossie Ardiles was my first memory of a player coming in the opposite direction.

Now the Premier League is awash with great players from as far and wide as Senegal, New Zealand, USA, Chile and a plethora of Spaniards, French and Dutch. There has been much lament of how this affects the England national team. But it's not the relative lack of success of the England team that worries me in this blog. It's a problem that is typified by the matches I mentioned at the top of the blog. The Premier League bills itself at different times as-

"The best league in the world"
"The most competitive league in the world"
"The most exciting league in the world"

And these have always been selling points as the league sells itself over the world for TV money. And as the Premier League loses it's standing against the big matches from other leagues and potentially losing their 4th Champions League place-


The Premier League has grown on the back of the massive TV deal after massive TV deal and they don't expect it to stop anytime soon. But if Sky find that more people tune in for El Clasico than a top Premier League clash then they may not pay quite so much in their next deal. Broadcasters from other countries could follow suit and this will mean that the power of the Premier League wanes.

I can see this being more of a big deal for the Premier League power brokers than any loss of status for the England team.

Who will be the big movers in the January transfer window?

We are edging towards the January transfer window and clubs will have already set budgets, discussed targets and made init enquiries about how they wish to recruit. With a few "big" clubs underachieving and untold riches available for staying in the Premier League, I expect a considerable amount of money to be spent. Here I take a look at the major recruiters in January and where I expect them to splash the cash.



Chelsea
The champions have has a dreadful start to the season, and Jose Mourinho is no stranger to spending his club owners money. They have looked weak in defence and long-term replacements for John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic are needed. With Diego Costa looking injury-prone and neither Loic Remy nor Radamel Falcao cutting the mustard I can see a move for a striker - especially of they can offload Falcao back to Monaco.

Newcastle
Although Steve McClaren has stated that he's happy with the current squad, the loss of Tim Krul is a massive blow. A quality keeper is worth 10 points per season, and this could be the difference between survival and relegation this year. I'd expect them to look for a short-term option, someone like Victor Valdes, as Krul will be number one choice again when he's fit.

Sunderland
After another terrible start to a season and another managerial change I would expect some Big Sam wheeling and dealing in the transfer window. There will undoubtedly by some players leaving and others coming in, but the true nature of who comes in is dependent on who leaves. Expect some of the older players such as Wes Brown and Jermain Defoe to leave and some defenders to come in.

Aston Villa
Another big club with a new manager and an awful season to date. Villa haven't spent much for a long time now and, like Sunderland, I can't see loads of players coming in unless loads of players leave. But they have to improve immediately if they are to have any hope of statyng up.

These won't be the only teams that need strengthening in January but are the ones that stand out to me as the most likely at the moment. But all it takes is an injury for a team to suddenly see a gaping hole where that they think needs filling with an expensive player.

Watch this space!


Tuesday 17 November 2015

After the emotion, the England v France game has a meaning

After the terrorist atrocities in Paris last week, they said that the match and the result didn't matter. But for England it had to matter. The lesson in possession football and taking your chances that Spain handed out last week showed that England have a lot of work to do before the Euros next year.



With only four friendly dates available between now and the start of the championships every minute counts, let alone every game. Roy Hodgson has work to do,

He needs to decide on formation, first choice players, the makeup of the squad and which utility players to take 

I'd say that he has probably totally settled on only Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, Raheem Sterling, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane as absolute nailed-on starters. Which leaves 6 first-choice places up for grabs. Let's have a look at them-

Right back
Nathaniel Clyne has pole position for right back at the moment but hasn't really done enough to totally claim his place yet. Clyne played against France but Kyle Walker started against Spain and has played a number of England games for Roy Hosgson.

Centre back
The second centre back with Cahill is really up for grabs. Johns Stones, Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have all staked mild claims to the place but none have made an overwhelming case. I like Stones but it's a case of watch this space.

Left back
Like centre back, there's a few choices here. Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw both having long-term injuries has opened the door. Keiran Gibbs and Ryan Bertrand are in the current squad.

Midfield
Ross Barkley is starting to establish himself as someone that Hodgson trusts but it still not a banker for a starting place. Add to this Dier, Shelvey, Alli, Delphi, Mason, Lallana, Lingard, Henderson, Wilshere, Carrick, Milner, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain and you can see why the positions haven't been settled. Lots of potential but not enough real top quality.

The result of the game against France may be irrelevant in the context of what happened in Paris but for England the performance of individual players will have a massive impact on what they are doing next Summer.




Monday 16 November 2015

A Review of Fieldoo.com

I can see a great social aspect in using Fieldoo.com as an amateur player where you can network with your intermediaries, clubs and international players. Football is a very social activity in itself. My children talk about football as much as they play football. They talk with their friends, me, their mother, their grandparents, their auntie, their uncle and pretty much anyone else who will listen. We can’t pass a sports shop without going in and looking at the latest football kits and football boots. The video games related to football are in-depth with player statistics and information about clubs from all over the world. Fieldoo is the absolute extension of this – it’s the schoolyard football conversation gone global for the internet generation. Once the word is out then Fieldoo.com will be massive.

It only takes 30 seconds to create a free account and from there the world is your oyster, or it would be if oysters played football. Encourage your friends to join as well and you can start your own local football social network and link it to football communities in far flung corners of the earth (Or closer to home if you wish!). This is your beginning as the life of a semi-pro footballer. Instead of having someone else do it for you, YOU decide which trials to attend, which clubs to send your CV to and which agents to contact.



One amazing function of Fieldoo is the ability to gain trials at professional football clubs. They currently have a fabulous opportunity to go on a trial with Almeria, a Spanish second division team. You can get the chance to train for 7 days with their top players. Almeria has a track record of nurturing young talent and they have produced players such as Alvaro Negredo (Valencia), Aleix Vidal (FC Barcelona) and Felipe Melo (Inter) in the past.

As with any social media platform, this will become more prevalent for players as they enter their teenage years. It’s from here that they can compare stats, photographs and their latest match with other young footballers from all over the world. The buzz and excitement that a young footballer will gain from this is immeasurable. It’s one thing as a British school kid to compare yourself against the best in your year, your school, your district or your league. Try taking that to the next level and finding players of your age to compare against from Mexico, the United States, Argentina, Italy, Spain or from World Cup winners Germany. The future networking ability of this platform are beyond measure – just look at the amount of hits football skills videos get on YouTube and multiply that by the fact that you can get to know about the players you are watching, wherever they are in the world.

The social aspect ramps up from here and is dependent only on the number of other, more traditional social media platforms that you are subscribed to. Want to showcase your latest match stats on Twitter? You can do that. Want to upload your promo video to Facebook? Yep, that’s possible too. How about Google+? Of course, that’s another link.

In my experience, it’s every young footballers dream to make it in the game. Reading about the humble beginnings of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo only inspires more. By having a presence on the top football social networking site, the chances of this happening can only increase. I can see a future for fieldoo as the managers of local teams look to the stats of opposition players for team preparation, tactics and recruitment purposes.



With Jamie Vardy making the leap from Semi-pro footballer in the non-league to the England team in a relatively short period of time, there’s a massive spotlight on the quality of players in the lower leagues. The big clubs are sending their scouting network out over the parts of the game that they ignored only a few years ago. The semi-pro leagues in England are awash with talent. There are players there who were let go from major clubs at academy or under-21 level, players that are on the way back from a career-threatening injury and players that will still make it into the professional game.

Semi-professional football is tough. Most players juggle a full-time job with fitness, training and matches, sometimes travelling long distances to play. The love of the game is a major factor in playing at this level but many will harbor dreams of making it. The ultimate dream is to do a Vardy” and go from the non-league to the top league, to swap a rainy Tuesday night in the North East of England to a balmy autumn evening with the England squad in Alicante, as Vardy has done recently.

To work, train, travel and play at once is a real handful for anyone. And it’s here where players can often end up concentrating on these time-consuming aspects of life and forgetting the networking that can enhance their career. This is where the football networking site fieldoo.com steps in. Once you’ve created your profile as a footballer you have a presence.  Football academies, scouts and coaches can check out your position, your top attribute, your career stats and how you got on in your last match. Networking in this way gets you a foothold in the world of football. It’s one thing having scouts from the big clubs starting to take notice of the semi-professional game but it’s another altogether to enable them to see you and what you can do on a network that puts them in touch with all aspects of your game.

The next step in the game and the next step on Fieldoo is to find someone who can enhance your career prospects while you are getting on with the rest of your life. Football agents are active on Fieldoo and finding the right agent is key to maintaining your footballing dream. Fieldoo enables football agents or intermediaries to build a network of contacts from all over the world to help their players build a career. It really is like the excellent functionality from your favourite football management game brought to life and applied to real people- the main real person that you want it to work for is YOU.

It’s all about taking that next step from semi-professional to professional football, and Fieldoo doesn’t stop there. If you’ve made it to the professional ranks then you still need to network.

Fieldoo has functions for the Pro footballer as well. If you have a career arc in the same shape as this article (from young footballer to semi-professional to professional footballer) then you may well take Fieldoo with you throughout your career. But even if you start with fieldoo as a professional footballer there are great functions on the website for you. Many people see professional football as the top few Premier League clubs and the riches of David Beckham, Wayne Rooney or Frank Lampard but the professional game in England stretches to League 2 and sometimes to what is currently known as the Vanarama National League. Not every player has a Roman Abramovic or the riches of Abu Dhabi to pay their wages, and the game is vibrant in the lower leagues. Clubs search for value for money as they attempt to balance their own books and keep an eye on financial fair play rules. And this is where a quality networking site will come into its own. I’ve read media stories of football clubs and their scouts using the Football Manager computer game statistics to start to look at potential transfer targets.  Why use a computer game when you can have access to the real thing? As a professional footballer, your career is relatively short and you need to make the most of every season and especially every move. The game is global, and opportunities are not just on your doorstep. When I was growing up, players used to play for their local club but now the opportunities to play for a top team in leagues all over the world are there, if only you could find them. Fieldoo enables you to find an agent, a trial, a coach or a club all in one place. Once you have a profile as a player and it’s updated with all the best parts of your game, the networking can commence. You can find an agent on the site and their contacts can open up opportunities for you in the game. The contacts on Fieldoo are verified by the site so you can contact with the confidence that you are dealing with the right people. The value of verified contacts is often in the news as players are asked for money to secure a trial with a club and then find that they have been conned out of their savings.



As a footballer of any level, Fieldoo can enhance your career. From the schoolyard to your local team, from semi-professional top professional footballer, there are large parts of the website that makes football more fun, more social and gives you more chance of making it.

Check out the main website
And the Almeria trial

The excitement levels at In Off The Post about fieldoo are off the chart!

As the author of In Off The Post, I always get the opportunity to look at different aspects of football. I look at the sublime, the interesting, the strange and the crazy. This week I take a look at a website that's recently come to my attention.

Excitement. That's the word that comes to mind when first browsing through the fieldoo.com website. I feel like a child again. It's like bringing the graphics, gameplay and thrill of a football video game into your real life. The slickest and best football video game on the market. The website is sleek modern and has functionality that other networking tools look at with envy. It's a cross between Championship Manager, FIFA 16 and Facebook. And this is exactly what fieldoo is and does - a networking (and social networking) site for the football community. It is a great network in itself and has uses for players, scouts, coaches, agents and clubs.



Part of the website is like Football Manager, where you can look up infinite details about any players you want to consider, studying the statistics and making considered decisions. But as a budding professional player you can put yourself on the other side of this equation. You can be the scouted player, the subject of other people's attention. The best way in which to do this is to set up your profile. This showcases who you are in the game by allowing you to upload-

  • ·         Promo Video
  • ·         Career
  • ·         Latest Match
  • ·         Press Clips or Cuttings
  • ·         Photos


Once you've set up your profile, updated your stats and uploaded your videos you've got that presence on fieldoo. You're then searchable to scouts, clubs and coaches. From there you've opened up a world of possibilities for your potential football career. You should update your stats as soon as possible after every game to ensure that your latest achievements are there for the world to see. Encourage your teammates to do the same. You can look deeper into the website by getting into the trials that fieldoo organise. Pitting yourself against other players is the ultimate test in football. And, amazingly, fieldoo can enable you to do this.

They currently have a fabulous opportunity to go on a trial with Almeria, the Spanish second division team. You can get the chance to train for 7 days with their top players. Almeria has a track record of nurturing young talent and they have produced players such as Alvaro Negredo (Valencia), Aleix Vidal (FC Barcelona) and Felipe Melo (Inter) in the past.

There's so much to see and do on fieldoo and I recommend that you look into the premium options to give you the best experience. To have the ability to do the extras will enhance what you get out if the site, such as-
  • ·         Being able to directly contact clubs and agents
  • ·         See who's viewing your CV
  • ·         Having your CV promoted

I recommend you check out fieldoo if you are a player, scout, agent or club. There's so much more to football networking if it's done via a top system like this. Give it a go!



fieldoo.com

Sunday 15 November 2015

I've found another gem in Soccer 360 magazine

So much is said and written about football. Newspapers have column inches to fill, Sky have built a media empire on its shoulders and websites churn out tens of thousands of words every week. What Dave Gorman refers to as "the bottom half of the internet" is awash with comment, banter and abuse. And all of this is before we start to scratch the surface of social media and all that is written there about the game we love. In some places, what is written is poor quality, derivate and offers nothing different.

In Off The Post looks for something different is this game we love. And I think I’ve found another gem.

I used to read Shoot and Match magazines when I was a kid, with basic short articles on players with an interesting story, and the back portion full of adverts including the obligatory Steve Earl football programme collectors adverts.

Just like In Off The Post, Soccer 360 Magazine is different. It looks at the game with different eyes. The magazine focuses on producing quality work and its success continues to grow, as it has recently published the 60th issue, stretching back to 2006. Soccer 360 is a creatively designed magazine and offers a unique extra large format size at 9.5” x 13.5”. This gives you a bigger, better experience and every page is in full colour. Its reach is global as it is available for digital subscription via the app or shipped worldwide to print subscribers. This marks out Soccer 360 Magazine over the alternatives.  Soccer 360 Magazine features the best of Premier League, MLS, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and all the other big leagues from around the world. Ongoing coverage includes the world’s biggest soccer events - the Champion’s League, Europa League, World Cup qualifying and Euro 2016.





Football fans want coverage of the biggest and best events, they want it in colour and they want it featured with insight and quality. Step forward, Soccer 360 magazine into the limelight. The magazine is over 100 pages per issue and this gives the writers the space to include quality articles about the players, teams and other aspects of the game in full. Being a magazine that is well-established and truly global gives them the opportunity to access the best players and the biggest names in the game. The 60th edition features Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho among others. This a wish list of the stars of world football for any reader and every issue is similarly jam-packed with the names of the game that you know and love (and sometimes loathe!)

If you are a discerning reader about football (and I would already assume that you are if you’re reading In Off The Post) then Soccer 360 Magazine is the one for you. I want to be able to bring something different to the readers of my blog every week and this magazine is another step in developing the ultimate football experience. Get in the know, get the app or subscribe to the magazine.

Check it out at-

http://www.soccer360magazine.com/



Sunday 8 November 2015

After 12 games of the season it's my part-season progress report

When Arsenal v Tottenham and Liverpool v Crystal Palace finish their games today, we will be at the 12-game mark in this season's Premier League. The international break is next so it's a good time to look at where things are and what might transpire between now and the end of the current campaign. The league table looks like this-

Premier League

Pos.TeamPGDPts.
1No movementMan City121726
2No movementArsenal111325
3No movementLeicester12525
4No movementMan Utd12924
5No movementWest Ham12721
6No movementTottenham111020
7No movementSouthampton12620
8No movementEverton12417
9No movementLiverpool11017
10No movementCrystal Palace11116
11No movementWatford12-116
12No movementStoke12-216
13No movementWest Brom12-614
14No movementSwansea12-413
15No movementNorwich12-712
16No movementChelsea12-711
17No movementNewcastle12-910
18No movementBournemouth12-138
19No movementSunderland12-136
20No movementAston Villa12-105

I'll start here with my awards for so far this season and my predictions for the end of the season.




Over achievers 
This is a close-run thing but I think that by virtue of having four more points, I'll give this to Leicester City over West Ham United. Mahrez and Vardy in particular have been great going forward but the thing that has put Leicester in their lofty position is their spirit. They just don't know when they are beaten.

Under achievers
This isn't a close-run thing at all. To go from comfortable champions to 16th place is terrible. It's never happened before. I put the blame squarely at the manager's feet. He has undermined the staff, upset the players, blamed everyone except for himself and disrupted a team that looked so unified last season.

Player of the (part) season
The exploits of Jamie Vardy have been remarkable but the stand-out player in the matches I've watched has been Dimitri Payet. His skill, running and vision have been a delight to watch and have transformed West Ham from average to very good.

Relegation candidates
I said at the start of the season that I thought Sunderland, Newcastle and Aston Villa would be relegated. I stand by two of these but I think that Newcastle United have shown enough progress under Steve McClaren to survive. Bournemouth have has a rotten run of injuries and I think that losing Callum Wilson is a blow they can't recover from.

Champions (and Champuons League)
I think that there many be a new face in next season's Champions League as I think Spurs can make the top four this year. In my opinion they will be joined by the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal. I think that Chelsea have left themselves too much to do, even at this relatively early stage. My tip for champions is Manchester City again, but I think that Arsenal and Manchester United will run them close and make it a fight right up until the last couple of fixtures. Sergio Aguero remaining fit will be the deciding factor as neither of the other clubs have a goalscorer that can compete with him.

Let's see how things go!