The New Prince.

Neymar Celebrates A Well Taken Goal.

Be it his flamboyant hair styles, his audacious tricks or his future, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about Neymar. The 5'9" nineteen year old hailing from São Paulo has exploded onto the world stage and has caught the eye of football lovers all around the globe.


Neymar joined Brazilian side Santos at the tender age of eleven in 2003 and was nurtured for six years until he made his first team debut in 2009. In his debut season in 2009 Neymar amassed an impressive record notching up 49 appearances, scoring 14 goals and crafting 7 on his own in all competitions. In that year he also received The ‘Best Young Player’ of the Campeonato Paulista award.


In 2010 the form continued proving that this was no fluke. Neymar went on to have a stellar year playing 69 games, scoring 43 goals and setting up 21 of his own in all competitions including a six goal haul against Guarani in the round of 16 of the Brazilian Cup in a 8-1 demolition job. He also received his first International call up playing two games for Brazil where he scored a single goal against USA. To go with his impressive year he also received a haul of accolades individually including - The Best Forward of Campeonato Paulista, The Best player of Campeonato Paulista, Golden Boot: 2010 – Most goals in all competition in Brazil, Copa do Brazil Top scorer : 2010. On a team basis he was instrumental in Santos winning the Copa do Brazil and the Campeonato Paulista in 2010.


And as you may have guessed the form continued to rocket skyward in 2011. So far this year Neymar has played 39 Games, scored 15 and set up 9. Not to mention his 11 Brazilian appearances with 6 goals and 1 assist. So far in 2011 he has added more accolades to his belt by retaining his two awards from 2010 The Best Forward of Campeonato Paulista and The Best player of Campeonato Paulista, and adding The South American Youth Championship Top scorer to his mantle piece. In 2011 Santos also went onto achieve back to back Campeonato Paulista titles and won the Copa Libertadores.


Without saying Neymar's achievements in such little time have been matched by few and have earned him comparisons to the great Pele. He has also been head hunted by numerous world class teams such as Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Internazionale, all of which Santos have been quick to squash. It is said that Neymar's market value now is a staggering $30 Million dollars and it's sure to rise in the future. There has been plenty of speculation of a move to Real Madrid but nothing has come about yet as Santos re-signed the young prodigy until December 2014 which I'm sure is on the calendars of many big clubs to be ready with cheque book in hand. But amongst all this Neymar has seemed loyal to Santos claiming he wants to stay at the club though contrary to his agent's comments saying that Neymar does not want to stay in his home country Brazil for much longer.


But as with any young footballer there has been his fair share of negative attention with a grapevine of incidents that include. 

• • Apparently Neymar should keep away from penalties as in February in 2010 where he used the " Paradinha " which FIFA didn't take to kindly and outlawed the Penalty trick shot which can be seen to the right.
  • In September last year he hit the headlines for an explosive attack on Santos boss Dorival Junior after he told another player to take a penalty rather than Neymar who had missed his last three penalty attempts. For the rest of the game it seemed Neymar second thought about passing his team mates the ball.
  • Last August Santos were awarded a penalty against them in a match against Vitoria, where after the game Neymar went on to tweet " This ref will leave in a police van ". But Neymar claimed his account was hacked and it was accepted by the Brazilian FA.
  • He was also sent off for an excessive celebration against Colo-Colo. After having already been booked he scored an amazing solo goal and celebrated by picking up a mask of his own face that was on the ground by the sideline. The referee didn't appreciate this and gave him his marching orders with a second yellow.
  • There has also been rumours around that Neymar is a repeated simulation offender after A match in the Copa Libertadores against Club America earlier this year where he was stretchered off in tears after it appeared his hand was trod on by an opponent. But seemed to recover by the time he got to the sideline and went back on and played the rest of the match unhampered. It is also well documented he dove numerous times in an International against the Netherlands.
  • He was also the subject of a thrown Banana in a friendly against Scotland after he scored, Neymar claimed it was racial abuse.
  • And most recently and finally, during an ugly melee between Santos and Penarol in the Copa Libertadores he was seen to be seemingly stomping on an opponent who was lying on the ground. 

Love or hate Neymar it seems that he will be a big part of footballs future, let's hope he can keep his head and excite us on the pitch rather than disappointing us in the tabloids.

Munich March On

Gomez Celebrates His Second Goal Against Manchester City

One can be forgiven for jumping on the Bayern Munich band wagon after recent performances in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. With them on top of the Bundesliga with an impressive record of six wins one draw and one loss. And of course their Champions League start which has seen them defeat Villareal away from home and then Manchester City at home leaving them on top of the hardest group in the tournament.

So what does this mean and what has been the key? I still don’t believe Bayern Munich or any other team for that matter are the quality of Barcelona, but they will certainly be around that ‘ final 4 ‘ mark assuming they don’t run into the Barcelona steam train early. The key to their recent success has not been their big names. Yes they have scored goals but Bayern’s defensive record is something to be noticed. They’ve had one goal against them this year in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League, which came in the first game and only loss for them in the opening round of the Bundesliga.


With the quiet achievers like Daniel Van Buyten, Jerome Boateng, Rafinha & Hulger Badstuber playing out their skin plus the brilliant Philip Lahm it seems that Jupp Heynckes has found the perfect formula. Add in Manuel Neur as your shot stopper it’s easy to see how the success has come about. But it’s not all the back line. A few key Bayern players have been in good form such as Mario Gomez with 8 Bundesliga goals and a brace against Champions League new boys Manchester City has seen him start in the perfect fashion. His natural sense for goal is something to behold. If he gets a sniff you can be quite safe to presume it will be in the back of the net. And lets not forget the usual suspects Franck Ribery (4) Thomas Muller (3) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (2) crafting nine goals between them and Thomas Muller scoring two himself. Another very impressive attribute with Bayern Munich is the team’s ability to methodically break down and destroy other teams. Their patience is key in their style of play which involves technically breaking down the opposition and frustrating them into submission. It is brutal, calculated and effective. In light of these recent events things are looking ominous for the chasing Bundesliga teams and indeed the rest of Group A in the Champions League.

Can The Magpies Fly In The Premier League.

Can the Magpies fly in the Premier League again or have their wings been clipped with key losses? In recent times the Toon has lost some key players that helped them achieve their success in the Premier League last season. Such names include  - Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and the most notable Andy Carroll.

A Concerned Alan Pardew Watches On.

With such a mass exodus and nothing incoming I am left to wonder what is Alan Pardews plan? Or even if he has one. But there is definitely funds available from the previous transfers, so why not spend it? Newcastle is far from an established side in the Premier League and can not get complacent. But with the transfer window closing and the next one not until January, it could indeed be a long and damaging four months.


But I May be wrong and maybe Alan Pardew has a method to his madness with Newcastle starting this season undefeated with wins against Sunderland and Fulham and a draw with Arsenal only conceding one goal. But with three tricky games coming up against QPR, Aston Villa and Blackburn the start could go south or indeed they could double what they have already achieved.


Either way Alan Pardew will be hero or villain at the St James Park and with clubs showing a low tolerance to managerial failures in recent times who knows what might happen.

Michel ' The Spot Kick Stopper ' Vorm

I have a lot of views on football but one of them certainly is that goalkeepers don't get the credit they deserve. I don't think people understand or appreciate the difficulty behind goalkeeping or respect goalkeepers enough.  Especially those who have not reach dizzying heights and global fame like Iker Casillas, Peter Cech & Oliver Kahn.

One goalkeeper who has not made dizzying heights just yet is Michel 'The Spot Kick Stopper' Vorm, who did not earn that nickname easily. Michel Vorm is a 27-year-old Dutch goalkeeper pulling off his heroics for Premier League new-boys Swansea. He earned this nickname during his time at Utrecht where it was a common occurrence that Vorm would save the penalty, and the penalty taker would doubt him. If a penalty were given against Vorm the crowd would rise to their feat and chant "You won't beat the Super Vorm ", and it was rare that anyone did.

Michel Vorm has been handed the problem of being in the wrong era, being stuck behind the likes of Edwin Van Der Sar and Maarten Steklenburg. Though Vorm has still played seven matches for his country with great distinction conceding just two goals. If he was not behind such greats as mentioned above, there is no doubt he would have played many more games for his country and Michel Vorm would be a household name..

A Diving Vorm Watches It All The Way

Michel is now giving his services to Swansea in the English Premier League and hasalready made a direct impact. Though they lost the match 4-0, Vorm kept a rampant Manchester City at bay until the second stanza. Manchester city had an astounding 26 shots on target with Vorm saving 19 of them. In the next two games against Wigan and Sunderland he kept two clean sheets, giving Swansea two nil all draws. He also saved a penalty in the game against Wigan.

After Vorm caught my eye against City I was a fan instantly. I did my research and have watched countless amounts of his saving and shot stopping antics. If Swansea is to survive in the Premier League, Michel Vorm will be a massive influence and a key factor. Even if they don't, he will salvage a lot of respectability for Swansea.Though if they do get relegated I don't see Michel Vorm going to the Championship