The Best Front Three In Europe

The Best Front Three In Europe

          Using stats garnered from the OneFootball app, I'll be doing my best to discuss who the best front three in Europe is. Now, in order to do this I have had to set a few ground rules. I have excluded Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester United from the equation because of how often their side has changed due to injury. Part of me wanted to exclude Barcelona from this, due to the interchanging between Dembele and Coutinho, but they're too good to disregard. Coutinho and Dembele have both played around half a season each so I've added both of their statistics into this.

          I'll put the statistics down for each trio, and then the rank that they take amongst the five trio's listed, for each category. these ranks will all be worth points towards a total that'll determine the best trio.

Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Roberto Firminho

Liverpool's fantastic front three.

Goals - 56 (Ranked 2nd)(4pts)

Assists - 21 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)

Tackles  - 100 (Ranked 1st)(5pts)

Interceptions - 30 (Ranked 1st)(5pts)
Total 16pts

Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo, Bale, and Benzema, Madrid's trio are all beginning to age now...

Goals - 40 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)

Assists - 15 (Ranked 5th)(1pt)

Tackles - 31 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)

Interceptions - 21 (Ranked 3rd)(3pts)
Total 8pts

Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe

Probably the most expensive front three we'll ever see.

Goals - 57 ( Ranked 1st)(5pts)

Assists - 27 (Ranked 2nd)(4pts)

Tackles - 47 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)

Interceptions 9 (Ranked 5th)(1pt)
Total 12pts

Raheem Stering, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane

The most modern SAS combination in football.

Goals - 48 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)

Assists 26 (Ranked 3rd)(3pts)

Tackles - 49 (Ranked 3rd)(3pts)

Interceptions - 24 (Ranked 2nd)(4pts)
Total 12pts

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Phillipe Coutinho, Ousmanne Dembele

Formerly MSN, now MSDC... the main exception to the rules.

Goals - 55 (Ranked 3rd)(3pts)

Assists - 28 (Ranked 1st)(5pts)

Tackles - 53 (Ranked 2nd)(4pts)

Interceptions - 19 (Ranked 4th)(2pts)
Total 14pts

         There you have it. The stats don't lie. This season, Liverpool have had the best attacking trio in Europe. That's probably unsurprising to many I must admit, but out of the five that have been analysed, who would have predicted that Real Madrid would have done so poorly?
          As previously stated, Barcelona were allowed to be an exception because strictly speaking they're too good to be left out.  One could argue that PSG's trio should also have been left out, what with the quality of their league being questionable...
          The two teams that I am most impressed with are Liverpool and Manchester City. Both teams play in the most competitive league in the world, where literally anyone can beat anyone else. The fact that their numbers are so impressive makes them stand out more so than the likes of PSG, Madrid and Barca, who's league is not as competitive in the slightest.

That's all for this week.

Until next time...

Craig

Marcus Rashford - England's Next Big Star

Marcus Rashford -  England's Next Big Star

          When Marcus Rashford burst onto the scene in the Europa League for Manchester United, nobody knew who he was. He was a fresh-faced teenager, selected due to an injury crisis in the first team. But you'd never have guessed it was his first appearance. The youngster scored a brace and that's where it all began.
          He made his premier league debut later that week against Arsenal, again scoring twice. On the 20th March 2016, Rashford scored the only goal as Manchester United beat Manchester City for the first time since 2012, becoming the youngest scorer in the Manchester Derby at the same time. He finished the season with eight goals from eighteen appearances despite only making his debut in February.
           This is arguably where the trouble started. Jose Mourinho was appointed as the new Manchester United manager, and his reputation for bringing through youngsters is unspectacular. Although Rashford made the most appearances of any United player in that season, the majority of them were from the wing, as the side had to accommodate marquee signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. United won a treble last year, with the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League all in the bag. However Rashford's development was stunted.
             That continued this season, with the signing of Romelu Lukaku, Rashford had to play second fiddle to the big Belgian and the even bigger Swede. Again forced out onto the wing to fit them into the side. With no signs of change impending, Should Marcus Rashford leave Manchester United to fulfil his potential?

Anthony Martial(L) and Rashford(R) both need to leave for regular game time as a Striker.

          There will be several suitors for the young English forward. Any side in the top end of the premier league should really be interested. Clubs like West Ham, Everton and Newcastle would be a good pick for the English striker, that's provided they'll keep him playing as a forward. But these clubs would be paying a massively inflated fee to get hold of him because of the fact he's young and English.

          He could almost certainly be the next big thing in English football, but he needs the playing time in the correct position. It's unlikely that Jose Mourinho will give him this opportunity so, he needs to leave the club. Maybe a spell in Europe with a German or Spanish team might do him good and there's plenty of teams he'd suit, Valencia, Sevilla, Dortmund and RB Leipzig are all teams he'd fit in at. Maybe even Atletico Madrid if they lose Griezemann.

          I appreciate he might not like to leave, he's a Manchester boy who's come through the academy there and is almost certainly a United fan (for his sins). Chances are slim at United and he needs to leave to fulfil his potential.

That's all for this week.

Until Next time...

Craig.

My Top Three Games of My Lifetime

My Top Three Games of My Lifetime

           Contrary to the belief that I am in my mid-forties with kids and a mortgage, I am only nineteen, therefore I haven't seen some of the classic games that the older generation were treated to. The first game that I remember watching was the 2006 FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, although I know my Dad took me to a random 'Kids for a Quid' game at Forest in 2004 against Burnley.

          So, in light of Manchester United's comeback at the weekend against Manchester City, to deny the Sky Blues the title, and the impending game between Liverpool and Manchester City which could see a monumental Champions League turnaround, I'm going to list the best three games that I have seen in my lifetime.

1. Nottingham Forest 5 - 2 Derby

I'm a Forest fan, this had to be top!

         What a night this was. Forest fans were still singing the club anthem, Mull of Kintyre, when the Reds took the lead. A Luke Chambers header from a corner set the ground alight. The atmosphere throughout was immense, particularly as two former Derby players scored a brace each for Forest Earnshaw with one, Tudguy with the other. Derby's goals came from Moore and Kris Commons, himself a former Forest player, making the tie interesting.
          The side itself had some familiar faces in it. Aaron Ramsey began his recovery from a broken leg with a loan spell at Forest. Ryan Bertrand, on loan from Chelsea started at left back. Wes Morgan, Leicester's title winning captain was in the Forest team and so was Chris Gunter, Wales' most capped outfield player. Forest had some cult heroes playing for them that night as well. Guy Moussi, Radi Majewski as well as Nathan Tyson!
          Derby were a mess that night, and Forest were on fire. The commentary by BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray was exceptional as well. It has led to some iconic clips that Forest fans will remember for a very long time.

2. Liverpool 3 - 3 West Ham ((aet) Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties)

Steven Gerrard, doing was Steven Gerrard does.

          What a game this was. As I said previously, this was the first game I remember watching and what a game to start with. West Ham raced to a two goal lead through a Jamie Carragher own goal and Dean Ashton pouncing on Jose Reina's mistake. This game was probably the best game Steven Gerrard ever played for Liverpool. It was his long raking diagonal ball to Djibral Cisse to pull Liverpool's first goal back. Early in the second half Gerrard hammered a volley into the top corner of the West Ham net form just inside the box.

          As the second half went on, Jose Reina made another mistake. Paul Konchesky's cross-cum-shot (that's one for anyone who follows Ollerton Town on Twitter!) went straight over the head of Reina who was back peddling. West Ham had the lead again. Enter Steven Gerrard. As the game wore on it looked unlikely that Liverpool would pull the game back. It seemed as though Liverpool had eight men in the West Ham box. A high ball was played in on the 90th minute, it was headed away, only as far as Gerrard who hammered the ball from 35 yards first time into the net. That made it 3-3 and sent the game to extra time.

           Extra time itself was uneventful, both teams had chances but tiring limbs made the chances go to waste. In the penalty shoot-out Reina made up for his poor display in the game itself by saving three penalties to give Liverpool the win.

3. Manchester City 3 - 2 QPR

'Balotelli, to Aguerooooooooooooo!.... I swear you'll never see anything like this again. So watch it, drink it in.'

          What a game this was. Manchester City were 2-1 down with 5 minutes to go, Manchester United were 1-0 up in there game. If City won then they'd win the league, if they didn't then their cross-city rivals would. Just as United's game ended, Edin Dzeko scored for City to drag them level. Everyone across the country must have been watching on, waiting to see what happened. I would say that everyone, barring all Manchester United fans, was willing for City to win the League.

          As more time wore on, in Sunderland, Manchester United fans and players thought that was it, they thought the league was theirs. But in Manchester, it seemed even QPR were willing City to win the league, not really countering in numbers when they could and allowing City to press them.

          That's when it happened. Aguero picked up the ball from deep. played it into Balotelli, who played it back to Aguero in the box who hammered into the net. This was Balotelli's first and last assist in a Manchester City shirt. It also brought about some of the most iconic moments in football commentary. What a game. What a moment. What a finale!

That's all for this week guys.

Until next week.

Craig.

Non-League Referees and Non-League Media

Non-League Referees and Non-League Media

          On Saturday I had the pleasure of watching the worst refereeing performance there has been at any level for a very long time. Ollerton Town ran out 2-0 winners away at Nostell in the Northern Counties East League (NCEL) Division One. The ref was a shambles from start to finish and his assistant on the far side wasn't much help either.

          The game began with an Ollerton defender being pulled him and receiving a verbal warning after winning an aerial duel fairly. This continued when another defender went into a challenge, pulled out of it and the opposing player hurdled him and kept running, before another free-kick was given.

          This all came to a head midway through the second half. Ollerton central-midfielder Eden Homer won a fair challenge in the box, clipping the ball away to an Ollerton teammate. Once the referee had turned his back, the Nostell player tumbled over Homer's outstretched leg (having just won the ball with it) and hit the ground. The referee could never see what had happened and must have given a penalty based on the shouts. The penalty was saved by Ollerton stopper Joey McCormack, but in the goal mouth scramble that followed, defender Brandon Shaw poleaxed another Nostell forward. It was a certain penalty that the referee failed to see. Madness. In the immediate aftermath to all of this, the assistant referee on the far side called across the referee who promptly sent off Ollerton manager, Dave Winter. After the game, Winter explained that he had been sent off for allegedly storming onto the pitch following the penalty award and shouting "Referee. You b*****d!" which in itself doesn't sound like it deserves a sending off, but to top it off the Nostell manager also claimed it never actually happened the way the assistant claimed it did.

Premier League official, Bobby Madley took charge of a game in the NCEL last season.

          The thing with this is it isn't an isolated incident. Nine times out of ten the referee you get in the NCEL is self obsessed and wants to be the centre of attention. The decisions are sometimes so bad, they're laughable. Sometimes it appears like a referee has a bias towards a certain team and gives them all of the decisions, other times the referee makes equally bad decisions each way and nobody knows what is happening.

          And, might I add, non-league media is one of the most infuriating things. There's a lot of small time media outlets who make themselves busy annoying people. One media outlet, who shall go unnamed, is always ringing up asking for interviews, giving exclusive interviews that surely the club should announce.

          Other outlets are biased towards the clubs that their writers are associated with, so some teams will never get any coverage at all. Match reports are always sent in by both clubs but the home team's one always gets used, despite how poor quality it could be and the information they give out is often incorrect as well.

          I don't know if stuff like this is exclusive to the NCEL but it gets petty, the other day Ollerton got dragged into an argument about whether or not a dog should be allowed into the ground. The fact of the matter is, if a club has a rule in place, then that rule should be followed. Don't argue with it as numerous people elected to on Twitter.

That's all for this week, just a short one.

Feel free to like, share and comment.

Until next time though,

Craig