What Makes a World Class Player?

What do you have to do to be a world class player? Do you need to have technical ability? Be physically perfect? Have an amazing mentally? You could argue that you would need all three but they’re will always be players that are out outside of that spectrum, so my main question is what makes a world class player?

The reason I ask this is because people have been spouting that Yaya Toure had a world class performance against Dynamo Kiev whereas from my point of view all he did was score a top quality goal in the dying embers of the match...is this enough to call yourself world class? If so then surely Lewis Cook for Leeds united deserves to be called world class after the goal he scored on Tuesday…

I remember Robbie Savage talking about his playing career stating “at times I was world class; on individual games” and he got absolutely slated for it but he did raise a good point. When does it go from a player having a good game to him being world class? Robbie Savage marked Zola out of a game so for that day he was world class. Yaya Toure does nothing for 89 minutes and then in for 1 minute was world class...why’s it mad when Savage said it?

Another example would be Eden Hazard. He has done nothing all season, looked about as lively as a house party at James Milner’s but fans and pundits alike are still calling him world class? We’ve all heard the old saying “form is temporary, class is permanent” but without form, the class is pointless. I’m not saying Eden Hazard hasn’t got the qualities to be world class but the form he’s been experiencing this season just makes him look average.

Toure did the same thing earlier on in the season against Arsenal which I was fuming about! He did absolutely nothing for 80 minutes and then once Arsenal were 2-0 with 10 minutes to go he thought he’d actually try. He scored but Man City still lost 2-1. I’ve literally just checked the match report of this game on the Sky Sports website and it says Toure got a match rating of 8...what a fucking joke by Sky Sports.

I, like Savage, think consistency is key to being world class. It really aggravates me when a player begins to show signs of quality so he is stamped world class and then slowly slips back to his previous state. I remember Johan Elmander scoring something like 3 goals in 3 games and he was getting all types of labels put against his name.

Another example would be my friend telling me that Giroud was the best striker in the Premier League. We all know the circle Giroud goes through.

• Scores a goal against a well known club (Man United, Olympiakos, Tottenham, etc.)
• Continues to score for a couple of games against relegation strugglers (Norwich, West Brom, etc.) Labelled world class
• Fails to score against a better side but looks lively.
• Begins to miss easy chances.
• Doesn’t score in a few games. People stop calling him world class.
• Cycle repeats

It happens every year but he still gets the “world class” stamp of approval. At least with Aguero you can guarantee he’ll be out for eight months with a vaginal injury and still score double figures in the two months he’s back.

My main reason for writing this is to remind people what true world class players are. The type of player who can play for any team, with any players, in any climate and against any opposition and still play well in every single minute throughout the season. Just to show that that I’m not just against Toure, this is what he was like two years ago.

Two years ago when Toure more or less dragged City over the line to win the title, he was world class. Now I feel like fans and pundits alike are just seeing him score a goal, relating it to the player of the 13/14 season and saying he is world class when in actual fact he isn’t putting in the performances that we’ve come to expect from him. As lazy as I see him on the pitch, the blame still goes to the regular scapegoats e.g. Otamendi, Demichelis, etc.

~ Side note: I’m not taking blame from Otamendi and Demichelis, they’ve been shit as well. I just think Toure isn’t covering himself in glory ~

When I think consistency I think of players like John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Jermain Defoe, James Milner, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs. The type of players who achieved a high level of performance and have continued to achieve those expectations since.

Of course then there is the big two; Messi and Ronaldo. These two epitomize everything a world class player should be. Physically fit, technically brilliant and mentally know the game inside out. To top it all off they are consistently superb in every season/game/minute/second they play. This is why they are the best in the world.

This for me is the difference between the best and Hazard. At the end of last season Mourinho said Eden was going to be the best but without high level consistency to his game it will never happen.

Last thing I would like to say is that the poor season that Manchester City have had are, for me, down to the “world class” players they have not being good enough game after game. Lads like Toure, Sterling, Fernado, Kolarov, Navas, etc. It’s just embarrassing for the lads who actually are consistent like Silva, Aguero, Kompany…

I think next season if Pep really wants to make an impact he is going to have to sign some truly world class players to match his world class tactics otherwise City are gonna be in for another season of Raheem Sterling and Yaya Toure playing abysmally against Tottenham losing 2-1 only to turn up and dominate Dynamo Kiev just a week later…

Apologies for writing ‘consistent/consistency/consistently about a million times in here. Sick to death of saying that now but I do hope I got a consistent point across. Hopefully you enjoyed it too and that it consistently fulfilled your footballing needs consistently. For anyone who did enjoy it, please follow me on Twitter consistently or like me on Facebook where I consistently post my thoughts on all matters to do with football. Consistently. Consistently…

~ Doesn’t even look or sound like a word now ~

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The Difference Between Claret and Blue

Some of you may be reading the title of this post, hoping for some kind of home decoration tips where I’d show the better lighting effects you can get from having blue around your house and how striking your kitchen can look with undertones of claret. Sadly though this is not one of those posts, I am not Laurence Lewin Bowen and I’m here to talk about something actually meaningful...football.

Now I, for whatever reason, seem to have a fondness for clubs that wear claret and blue; be it West Ham, Burnley, Villa, etc I just seem to like them. Of course similar fashion choices doesn’t mean the clubs are anything alike and that is what my post today is going to be about.

~ Do you get the title now? Pretty good if I do say so myself ~

Now it’s been well publicised that Aston Villa are currently on a downward spiral and will be praying for a miracle to stay up this season. In contrast to them Burnley currently find themselves in the automatic promotion spots in the Championship whilst West Ham are in 7th place, battling for a Europa League spot whilst also having an FA Cup quarter final tie next month against Manchester United.

Now obviously there is a stark contrast between these three clubs, but my question is what is the difference’s between them? All the teams have a good fan base, they are all in big footballing towns, they’ve all got rich histories in English football...so what could it be?

Most Villains already know the answer but for the fans who don’t normally familiarise yourselves outside of your own club, it goes a little deeper than just players not caring about the club. Yes it has been discussed in length by many people (fans and pundits alike) that this Villa side look disinterested and that they are just playing for their wage but for me it goes so much further and has, for me and I’m assuming many Villa fans, been about 6 years in the making…

I’ve always thought that Villa never looked as good since Martin O’Neill left the club in 2010. and after years of shipping off their best players and not replacing them adequately enough they now find themselves bottom of the Premier League without a cat in hells chance of staying up. According to Wikipedia (which as we all know is the gospel truth) The Lions owner Randy Lerner issued a statement shortly after O’Neill’s departure saying that he “no longer shared a common view as to how to move forward.” How was this moving forward?

Now you look at a club like Burnley for example; in the last 4 years they’ve had Jay Rodriguez   who they replaced with Charlie Austin who they replaced with Danny Ings. Like for like replacements year on year. Now you may be wondering how they replaced Ings after his summer move to Liverpool? Well they signed Andre Gray for an undisclosed fee which is believed to have broken their previous transfer record and now he’s scored 16 goals in 27 games...hows that for a replacement.

Another smaller replacements would be them selling Kieran Trippier to Tottenham for an undisclosed fee but then replacing him with Matthew Lowton who is a very strong attacking fullback at Championship level.

Let's looks back at Villa who in the the last few years have received £26 million for James Milner, £20 million for Stewart Downing and £17 million on Ashley Young and replaced them with Stephen Ireland (£8 million) and Charles N’Zogbia (£9.5 million) who they’re still trying to get rid of now.

To top it off, in the last summer transfer window they sold Benteke, Delph and lost Ron Vlaar on a free transfer. The full spine of their team gone and replaced with Lescott and Richards at the back who haven’t really reached the heights they once did and Rudy Gestede up front. As they didn’t replace Delph, who was instrumental in Villa’s revival last season means they look poor and can’t challenge teams in the centre of the park…

Next on my list of reasons why Aston Villa are on the rocks is the job of replacing managers. Now losing a boss like O’Neill puts a big ask on the owner’s head as he needs to find someone with that level of experience, intelligence and ability to continue the good work that Martin had done. Randy Lerner went with Houllier, a clever move in my book.

With a wealth of experience from his days with Liverpool, Lyon and the French national team, Houllier was a perfect suiter. Sadly though due to injuries, Villa struggled and finished 9th in the league and because of health issues, Houllier had to leave the position as well. I do believe he would’ve improved after this and sometimes wonder what could’ve been…

The next few managers weren’t as inspired in my opinion. Alex McLeish, Paul Lambert and Tim Sherwood were not the managers that would create stable Premier League teams. You look at West Ham who were lucky enough to have Big Sam Allardyce when they got back to the top flight; a man who could get a respectable league position out of average players.

~Side note: I think it would be unfair to tar Remi Garde with the same brush as I think he has potential to do well ~

Sad thing about Allardyce is that he can’t do it with good players. Last season he had players like Kouyate, Sakho and Valencia but would still give games to players such as Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan. Managers like Allardyce, Pulis, Pardew, etc are at their best when there is little to no pressure on them succeeding.

Due to this West Ham’s owner looked at taking that next step into becoming bigger and better. Slaven Bilic who had experience at managing a big club with Besiktas the season previous and internationally with Croatia was an inspired decision. Obviously it helps having a player like Dimitri Payet but it’d have been difficult for him to show his quality when he’s having to chase down a 70 yard pump up field from James Collins and whip it in for Nolan who’s sprinting into the box at a top speed of 4 mph…but I digress.

I think Aston Villa now should be preparing for the Championship, probably should’ve been preparing in November. They should be looking at which players need offloading, which players they can keep and which players are going to take them back up at the first time of asking, The Championship is an incredibly difficult league to get out of once you’re in there.

The last thing I’d like to say is that I think Garde would be well within his rights to ask some of these players to take pay cuts and stay on in The Championship. You’d like to think that players like Lescott and Richards would stay since “it's not about the money” and I think those two would be part an unbeatable back line in the Championship if they were to stay. I’m gonna assume there are some Villains who would rather Heskey at the back than those two but it’s just my opinion.

Anyways that’s it for today. As I said before this season is a bad one and is probably going to be the worst in their recent history. But I have full confidence they will bounce back if Lerner sticks his hand in his pocket. Best of luck to them.

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Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Good evening/morning everybody. Today I present to you the fun and games that is managing a football club. My special guests for this post? Well first up I have none other than Louis Van Gaal *boos from the audience*, then I have Jose Mourinho *cheers from the audience*, followed by Pep Guardiola *exciting chatter from the audience* and a whole host of others thrown in. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

Yes today’s post is going to be focusing in on the shocking “philosophy” of LVG and how he has managed to take one of the biggest clubs in the world out of the Champions League. Not only has he done that but also put them 2-1 down on aggregate in the Europa League against a club that was formed in the same year that we got smash hits such as ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin, ‘Tragedy’ by Steps and ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ by Britney Spears.

After this defeat (also before and during it) Manchester United fans were calling for the Dutchman's head and rumours are beginning to circulate that Jose Mourinho is the next manager in line for the Old Trafford hotseat. As everyone would’ve guessed Man Utd fans have creamed in their little pants over this prospect, expecting “The Special One” to make them kings of English football once again...for 2 years.

We all know that Jose will only last for around 3 years, so is it worth the two or three championships he might bring just to be back in this situation in 2019? I’m not saying keep Van Gaal in, all I’m saying is there must be a better option. Pochettino for example; he is genuinely trying to build something at Tottenham as he tried to at Southampton. After only being with them for a short amount of time, both clubs already look better off.

Personally I thought David Moyes was the answer. Handpicked by the best manager Manchester United have ever had, destined to guide The Red Devils on another 20+ years of English dominance and then forced out by fans at the first sign of struggle. If the fans had patients the owners wouldn’t have been forced into making such a drastic decision.

Now Van Gaal for me was never going to be a long term solution Not since his days as Ajax manager has he spent more than 4 years at a club. He seems to be one of those high profile managers who just seems to get passed around the best clubs, never really having a difficult time of it. Look at managers like Carlo Ancelotti as another example of this; doesn’t matter who he gets sacked from or after how long, he’ll always find himself back in a cushty job within a year or two.

But this doesn’t make these guys bad managers, it just means they are good at making positive situation in short spaces of time. I mean look at LVG his main task at Manchester United was to get them back to the Champions League in his first season. He did that. If he hadn’t made a few poor choices, he could’ve been challenging for the Premier League.

~ Side note: If you want to know the specific bad choices. I’d suggest reading my “Managerial Genius” post ~

When you look at a manager like David Moyes you see consistency. You see a plan coming into fruition. At Preston he managed to build a team so strong in Division 2 (NPower League 1 as its called now) that he got promoted and got to the playoff final in the league above with roughly the same team. This obviously attracted Everton where I don’t really need to explain what he did for them.

I honestly think if the fans had given him more time they would’ve seen the beginnings of a plan beginning to unfold, mixing the ideology of David Moyes with the never say die attitude of Sir Alex Ferguson. Now though all Manchester United fans want is Mourinho to come in and “fix” the club by just simply winning games and not looking to the future. Give a team patients and let them build consistency, the rest will come.

Now one man who seems to work magic wherever he goes; bringing an intricate style of play and having clubs mastering it within a couple of years is the next Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. Pep was announced and immediately spouted as being the boss to dominate English football and take Manchester City to the next level in Europe…

...sadly I can’t see it going as smoothly. This man has had a very easy ride going from Barcelona’s B team to the full Barcelona team and then onto, the biggest club in Germany, Bayern Munich. Now for anyone saying it’s not that simple, LVG managed and won trophies with both teams...and he’s apparently a shite gaffer?

I am impressed with the way Guardiola manages to instill his tiki-taka style of play within seemingly months but he’s had to work with professionals in the past. For me it's going to be a real shock to his system when he has to work with premadonna’s who think the league should be given to them because they’re the richest club.

I’m not saying Pep is definitely 100% going to be a flop. I just think he’s going to have to spend big in the transfer window to bring in some true world class professionals, in which case is going to take the shine off it because everyone’s just gonna say “God sake Manchester City have bought the league again.” Oh well…

Anyways that’s all for today’s post hope you all enjoyed it. Don’t forget to tune in next week when I’ll be talking about managers again after Van Gaal gets the boot and there’s a shock twist as Tim Sherwood is offered the job. More news as it develops. Back to you Jeff.

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Cheers for reading.

Follow The Leader

How many games does it take to change opinion? After last Sunday it turns out only one. Everyone said Leicester would win the league after they beat Manchester City 3-1 only 2 weeks ago. Now, after a close 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, the title is back up in the air and anyone could win it again.

A friend of mine said that Spurs were the clear title champions as they are in the best position... to which I replied “2nd?” Although Spurs are on a good run of form, taking 25 points from a possible 30, you have to say that Leicester are in the driver's seat as they are currently 2 points clear.

The Foxes have taken a sum, not as impressive as Tottenham, of 18 points from a possible 30 which had seen them unbeaten in seven before losing to the Gunners. Even with this they are 2 points clear at the top of the table with 12 games remaining.

Now for my mate to say Tottenham have won because they’re in form is like saying Palace are relegated because they’ve not won in nine even though they are currently 8 points clear of relegation and have a four team buffer.

~ Side note: For the record I genuinely do think Palace are going to get sucked into the relegation battle if they don’t start scoring some goals again. Without a doubt they’re missing Bolasie ~

For me Leicester are currently the side that are going to win the league. My reason being that I can’t see them losing a game from now until the end of the season, even with away games against Manchester United and Chelsea. They might draw these games admittedly but I can’t see a loss coming.

Now fair enough a draw might be the deciding result to take Tottenham or Arsenal first but for me they have much tougher fixtures to play. Tottenham still have to play Chelsea and Liverpool, Arsenal have got Man City, West Ham and Sunderland who won’t be going down without a fight and both teams are still yet to play Manchester United. Of course both the London clubs also have themselves to play which could knock one of them right out of the running.

Now on top of these games The Lilywhites have two Thursday night Europa League fixtures against Fiorentina which could cause problems for them in the league as we have seen many times in previous years as well as a glancing look at the FA Cup. Arsenal on the other hand have to concentrate on continuing their FA Cup run whilst also worrying about Barcelona in the Champions League which could either raise spirits if they knock out the current Spanish league leaders...or more likely lower moral when they are eliminated 12-0 on aggregate.

Leicester only have the league to think about which means they can be extra prepared mentally and physically for each league game. At no point would I question the Leicester players’ stamina and work rate but I do think the only thing that’s going to lose them this is the pressure that will be growing week on week the longer they stay at the top.

All it could take is one loss and The Foxes could find themselves 3rd. Not that any Leicester fans would mind a third place finish. This is a club who were in League 1 not so long back; they no a real crisis is like. Not like Manchester United fans who think going from 1st to 5th is a disgraceful drop or Arsenal fans who think finishing 4th consistently every year is a bad thing...but I digress.

In my honest opinion though I think leicester will win the league this year simply because they are top and I can’t see them losing any of their games for the rest of the season. But if they do manage to lose a game then I would put my money on Tottenham to win it because I can’t see them losing a game for the rest of the season. But if by some miracle both Tottenham and Leicester lose then Arsenal have it...guess why? Cause I can’t see them losing a game for the rest of the season.

I didn’t want to make a prediction because the last prediction I made about Leicester was I thought they were going to be relegated last season. Boy was I shown up haha. But I will say that I seriously want Leicester to win the league, I want them to show everyone you don’t need a bank account bigger than your ego to win the Premier League...and to be honest I think everyone else does too.

Also for the record, if anyone’s wondering why I didn’t add Manchester City into this, it's because if they win the league it would be the greatest disappointment in Premier League history. If a club with overpriced, overpaid and overrated players, who can’t even fill their own stadium during a potentially league deciding match for the title then there’s literally no hope for any of our clubs gaining success unless some billionaire gets bored and decides to change our clubs into a husk of its former self.

But anyway’s hope everyone enjoys the Champions League games tonight. Hopefully Zlatan can get payback and score five past Chelsea and we can all enjoy our pints a little bit more.

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The English Way: Overpriced, Overpaid and Overrated

After Wednesday’s FA Cup fourth round replay between Peterborough and West Brom I felt compelled to write about Saido Berahino. I just couldn’t believe that a player “worth” £21 million misses a sitter in added time against a League 1 club. A free header at the back post (granted the keeper closed the angle well) you’d expect any striker worth his boots to stick that in the back of the net…

Surely if this kid is worth £21 million I must be worth 2 or 3 million. I was trying to weigh it up; he had one good season last year, scored 14 goals, he’s young...where’s this price tag come from? What separates this kid from the likes of N’Golo Kante who’s had a blinder of a season, is instrumental in Leicester’s Premier League challenge and is only 24? Or Riyad Mahrez who I don’t even need to explain? What about Timmy Cahill, a player who brought more than just goals to Everton for years?

~ Side note: I’m sure you guys can think of better examples than that. I can also guess you know where I’m going with this ~

In my opinion the only thing that raises Berahino’s value from a few million to £21 million is the fact that he is English and frankly overpricing English players has been a theme for years.

If it’s not £35 million for Andy Carroll it's £49 million for Raheem Sterling or its £20 million for Stuart Downing or £16 million for Henderson (the next Steven Gerrard…) or £22 million for Lescott or £18 million for Darren Bent or £15 million for David Bentley or £21 million for Shaun Wright-Phillips or £12 million for Jonjo Shelvey...it was at this point I gave up my search due to a mild form of depression.

In some cases I think it’s warranted such as players like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, etc. The players who have more than paid back the money to the clubs in the form of league success and European cup glory too.

Now I’m sure a lot of people will say “That’s not fair, how could they know that those three would turn out world class and the rest wouldn’t live up to the price tag?”

Well you see that’s the thing, you don’t know. You don’t know if a player is gonna live up to his hype. You don’t know if a player is gonna become a hero or a zero. So why offer £50,000 a week and slap a £30 million price tag on a player who has had one good season?

Personally I feel that in some cases offering silly money to players who’ve essentially done nothing with their careers is a huge problem. As I stated above Berahino was offered £50,000 a week and for what? 14 goals last season? Ighalo has already scored 14 this season and it’s only February...if he keeps scoring come the end of the season what should he be on? £80,000 no no £90,000?!

The thing that really gets me about the wages is that offering a lucrative contract like that makes him think he’s made it as a footballer. For me there is only one time you can make it as a footballer and that is your first day of retirement; you can look back at all your winners medals and think “I’d fucking made it.”

Plenty of young players have thought they’d made it in the Premier League and found themselves at 35 playing for Chelmsford City in the Conference South. Watch one episode of Premiership Years and a load of forgotten, promising players will start coming out the woodwork. Lads like Francis Jeffers, Lee Hendrie and probably the newest recruit Ravel Morrison *facepalms*

~Side note: For anyone who say “Morrison actually plays for Lazio now” well look it up he’s made 3 substitute appearances for them since July last year. Also I’d like to add that he’s been playing for what will be 6 years and has made a mere 70 league appearances in that time for 5 different clubs. Just another flop ~

When Jeffers used to play for Wednesday I used to pray he’d score. Not just because I wanted The Owls to win but because I wanted Jeffers to show people that he was still The Fox in the Box, still that England debut goalscorer, still that top quality striker...but 5 goals in 54 league appearances tells its own story.

From what I could find Jeffers in 2001 was making £30,000 a week. Money for me is a good indication to a player that he is now a big time Charlie. So my question is, should a player be capped until the age of 24?

You’d think that the only motivation a needs at that age is to prove himself but the games changed so much since we had truly committed players. Players who were playing for glory, but only if that glory came with the team they loved. They wouldn’t demand pay rises and hand in transfer requests when they didn’t get their own way. They were professional footballers. But I digress...

If we cap wages until they’re 24 it gives clubs time to evaluate the player; see how consistent he is season on season, whether he is improving year on year and of course the big question, how much he is actually worth? And this question can be determined by either clubs who are selling or clubs who are buying.

Now this could cause complication with clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea who can offer huge contracts to youngsters for when they come of age but I’m sure there’ll be a way stop these clubs from do this. There would probably have to some rule put in place...I don’t know...maybe it’ll work...probably not...I don’t care...

My main concern with this idea would be to stop players from hitting their financial peak whilst they’re young. It can be damaging to players when they have to drop a league but refuse to let go of their previous salary. I can 100% guarantee to Berahino that he would not find a £50,000 a week contract in the Championship.

That miss from Berahino on Wednesday night is the start to a slippery slope that will have Saido aged 30 looking for a £50,000 contract in the championship with only ‘I once scored 14 goals in the 2014/15 Premier League season’ on his CV.

There will be clubs stupid enough to give him a contract...and knowing my luck, it’ll be chuffing Sheffield Wednesday.

Anyway’s if you liked this please feel free to follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook where I share my blog posts regularly. If you agree with what I said let me know below in the comments and if you disagree tell me why and let me hear your point of view. One of the reason’s I started doing this is because I love hearing different views and opinions and I’d honestly love to yours.

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Football: A Rich Man's Game

After reading the title of this post most people can assume I’m talking about the price of tickets in football. If I’m  honest I’m a little pissed off that because Liverpool have kicked up a fuss about paying over the odds on tickets that suddenly it's a huge issue...whereas for me it’s been a huge issue for years.

I haven’t been to a Sheffield Wednesday game in almost 6 years (last game was our 2-0 over Dagenham and Redbridge, the first game of the season back in 2010) and this is simply because the ticket prices are too high. Say this on any forum site and you will be shot down in a blaze of fire, being called an “armchair supporter” or not being “loyal” enough…

Sadly the stubborn people who say these things have a vague idea of a life outside of Wednesday and don’t get the premise that my minimum wage doesn’t cover things like bills, a social life, saving for a mortgage/holiday whilst trying to pay for a whole match day experience which some weeks can cost almost £50 (tickets, petrol and halftime pie included.)

I find it shocking that The Owls’ most expensive ticket is £52 whereas, Premier League table toppers, Leicester charge £50 at most for their big games. It would’ve been easy for Leicester to up tickets prices after their shock rise to fame but to them as they are (currently the cheapest in the league at £22 for Category C) is brilliant to see.

It was well talked about the other year that a season ticket for Bayern Munich was cheaper than a season ticket to watch Wigan Athletic and sadly that is still the same this season as it turns out both Munich and Barcelona’s season tickets are cheaper than every club in England and the SPL...even I was shocked at that fact.

But anyway enough about facts and figures I’m trying to get my true opinion across.

It’s truly disgusting that the fans are just treated like customers. As I stated earlier some people don’t have a life outside of their respective clubs so potentially pricing them out of their only joy in life is an awful thing to do to someone who has dedicated his time and effort to it.

I was talking to the warehouse manager at my work. He’s been a Leeds United fan for over 50 years but hasn’t been to a game in many years. He told me when he was my age tickets were about £3 for First Division football and that he stopped going once they reached £12 due to him being made redundant. By the time he wanted to go again Leeds were in the third division of English football and still charging Premier League prices which he wasn’t willing to pay...does this make him any less of a fan? Of course it doesn’t!

For me there should be a cap on ticket prices in each division respectively. It’s terrible that fans have to pay extortionate prices because of their club’s history. This goes for clubs such as Leeds and Liverpool. I honestly think the only reason Liverpool's prices have gone up this season is because the board are expecting a good season with Klopp at the helm…

That to me though is a form of gambling. We’re all expecting Klopp to do well once his own players are in but how can you guarantee it? We all expected Mourinho to do well this year, what if Chelsea’s ticket prices were raised for this season? We’re all expecting Pep Guardiola to do well at Man City, should they raise their ticket prices? No of course not because nothing is guaranteed in the Premier League.

All it would take is Klopp to flop and this gamble could all come crashing down. As it’s be stated before by countless people ‘football is nothing without the fans.’

With tickets at £77 and more games on television, this will drive fans to just watch the games from home or the pub. And if your child sees you doing that then they’re more likely to do that too when they’re older. In a couple of decades fans will be cheering on their beloved clubs on Sky Sports in the pub while the players play in front of almost empty stadiums. Bill Shankly would be turning in his grave if he could see how Liverpool is run now...

But that’s how football is going now. A money game, funded by the rich for the rich. Hopefully it changes but at the minute I, an armchair supporter on a shit wage, can’t see that happening. If you enjoyed this post please feel free to share it and also tell me how much you pay for your tickets or your reasons for not going to games.

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