Saturday 19 February 2011

The perfect goal...

After that Rooney goal last week, a discussion arose between me and my mates into how good the goal actually was. The majority of us shared the view that it was truly spectacular. However there was the view that although it was good it wasn't deserving of being spoke about and shown on t.v for the next couple of days after. To be able to re-adjust his body position so quickly when the cross was deflected, to then reach so high and then find the top corner for me was mind blowing and showed it was worthy of the coverage it received.
  Long range shots, delicate chips, flowing team moves, an acrobatic effort, or individual brilliance, which kind of goal does make the perfect goal. All can make you go 'wow'. Some would say long range efforts take less skill, though longe range volleys like Rooneys goal v Newcastle and Gerrard v West Ham in the F.A cup final in 2006 disprove that theory. Delicate chips such as 'that' Cantona goal do make you shake your head in disbelief and happen very rarely, which makes it even more special. Flowing team football is typical of the beautiful teams: Arsenal, Barcelona and on the international stage Brazil. Thia kind of football makes you feel in awe of thier footballing ability and confidence on the ball. And acrobatic efforts maybe the most difficult type of goal to score, the technique needed is limited to few individuals. Individual brilliance was typifyed by Bergkamp in particular.
   Personally I love to see a well worked team goal were all 11 players have touched the ball however I find acrobatic goals the most mesmerising.
   Below are my 10 favourite goals (of my life time) that I can think of at the moment...

   Gerrard ohhh ya beauty... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM5XP-Ps7tk&feature=related

    Henry v Manchester United... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbASd5CU3H8

    Bergkamp v Newcastle... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVLRMWjHa0U&feature=related

    Zidane champions league final... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3m623uGCow

    Gerrard F.A Cup final... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD80XYD1FvU&feature=related

    Ronaldinho bicycle kick... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYKAd1-WwM&feature=related

    Cambiasso 25 passes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5W6vBI3mGE
    
    Messi are you Maradona in disguise?... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOWrtCOMxto&feature=related

    Di Canio how about this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjgdwao2g3k

    Van Persie take a bow son... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HcdvHbtN4

    Barcelona's second goal against Real Madrid in the 5-0 and Cantona's chip missed out because I couldn't find a good enough video.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

the year of sport so far...

So far in 2011 sport has already gave us great entertainment and value for money. 9-darters in darts world final, England triumph in the ashes, the 6 nations has kicked off, a grand slam in tennis, a new form of snooker and lets not forget that football has continued to briing excitement and debate on and off the pitch.
    I'll start with the darts then. The PDC world championship darts final took place at the beggining of the year and opitimised everything I love about watching darts. With 'The Power' failing to reach the final it meant there was a chance for a new champion. Brilliant Sid Waddel commentary accomodated high quality darts which included a wonderful 9 darter from the eventual winner Adrian 'The Jackpot' Lewis.
     England brought great national pride by winning the ashes 3-1 in Austrailia for the first time in 24 years. The 6 nations kicked of this weekend and saw England win, Ireland win (just against Italy!) and France comfortably beat Scotland. In the Austrailian open Djokovic won beating Andy Murray comfortably in the Final. Incidentley this was the first grand slam final in 11 grand slam tournaments in which Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer didn't reach the final. The new and innovative shoot out snooker produced great television and saw Nigel Bond win.
    Now onto the football. The premier league has continued to produce unpredictable results, which has seen 43 goals scored in the 10 premier league games this weekend. This included Manchester United's unbeaten run coming to an end against the bottom of the table Wolves. However the two bigger stories are off the pitch. The first being the sacking of Andy Gray and resignation of Richard Keys. No matter what your take is on the comments they have made, you have to love some of the coverage they have produced in particular the commentary for that Gerrard goal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM5XP-Ps7tk&feature=related
     The other big football story was the transfer window. The deadline day saw hundreds of millions of pound spent, including the transfer of Torres to Chelsea and Carrol and Suarez to Liverpool. However the transfer story which interested me was the Malaga spending spree. Malaga who have been bought by Qatari owners spent big in January including the signings of Julio Baptista and Martín Demichelis, but almost also signed Adebayor. This almost happened as a deal between the two clubs was agreed however Adebayor wanted to hold out for the expected offer from Real Madrid who desperately wanted a number 9.
     More blogs from Statman coming soon...

Thank-you Andy Gray and Richard Keys for some brilliant and unrivalled coverage of football. take abow son.




And this is how it began...

If you're reading this then you are a part of something new... the Statman revolution. This blog will contain the following ingredients:

- sporting opinions
- stats
- sport news
- sport pictures
- sport
- and sport

I will be posting weekly and if I become famous I'll post as much as my fans demand it.