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Michael Ballack: A tribute

  By O-Posts Team | October 2, 2012 - 23:07 | , , , , ,
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Michael Ballack

The powerful midfielder ended his playing career today after 17 glorious years representing some of Europe’s most prestigious clubs as well as captaining his home nation Germany.

Ballack’s journey began in a historic German town named Gorlitz. His father was also a footballer, playing for the local side, Chemnitzer FC. Ballack began his professional career at Chemnitzer FC at the age of 19 in 1995, making 67 appearances in just two years. It wasn’t long before Ballack joined one of Germany’s bigger clubs and in 1997 he joined FC Kaiserslautern.

Ballack played a vital part in the Kaiserslautern team that caused shockwaves around the world of football by winning the Bundesliga in their first year in Germany’s number one league. The then 22 year old Ballack played 16 games on Kaiserslautern’s route to glory but after just two seasons at the club, Ballack was on the move again. This time, an even bigger club by the name of Bayer Leverkusen came calling.

Due to his more attacking role, many feel Ballack was at his best while at Leverkusen. He scored 27 goals in his 79 games at the club, an impressive goalscoring record considering he was bought primarily as a box to box midfielder.

The year 2002 was a particularly special one for Ballack as he played in the Champions League final (a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in Glasgow) and in the 2002 World Cup where Ballack scored twice on Germany’s route to the final. Sadly for Ballack, he was suspended for the World Cup final, which Germany lost 2-0 to Brazil.

In the summer of 2002, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were in a battle to sign Ballack with the German deciding to go to Munich in a deal worth €12.9 million. During his four year spell at Bayern, Ballack further added to his status as a world class player and won three Bundesliga titles. Ballack’s 47 goals in 135 matches did a lot to make Bayern Germany’s most feared club in the mid 2000’s.

In 2006, Ballack made another move, this time switching countries as well as clubs. The then Premier League champions Chelsea were the team who signed the German international and after a difficult first season in English football, Ballack blossomed in the 2007/08 season, helping Chelsea to the Champions League final. Ballack added to his collection of prestigious medals by being part of the Premier League winning Chelsea side of 2010.

After two years at his old club Bayer Leverkusen, Ballack decided to hang up his boots stating: ‘’At the age of 36, I can look back on a long and wonderful time in professional football. As a child I could never have dreamt of having such a career’’.

Ballack has had a truly magnificent career achieving so much and remaining a world class player throughout most of his career. A genuine footballing legend.

 

Written by Joshua Sodergren

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Emile Heskey: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

  By O-Posts Team | September 24, 2012 - 12:20 | , , , ,
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Heskey

Emile Heskey. Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey. Born in Leicester, Heskey is a professional footballer that played for Leicester City, Liverpool, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, and currently plays for the Newcastle Jets, in Australia.

He made 696 appearances in English football, scoring 151 goals in a span of 18 years. He also played regularly for the English national team, winning a total of 62 caps and scoring 7 goals.

Heskey may have received his dubiously fair amount of critics over the years (even comedian Michael McIntyre had a go at Emile and the England team during one of his shows), but the fact remains that Heskey has to be considered one of the most successful English strikers of the past decade.

Emile Heskey started off his playing career at Leicester City, his hometown club, making his first appearance against QPR in the month of March, 1995. However, Heskey had already been submitted to criticism early on; after only scoring 6 goals in 98-99 season (4 less than last seasons total) he was condemned for a low scoring ratio.

This didn’t discourage certain key people, such as Michael Owen, and the England U-21 manager, Peter Taylor, who saw Heskey for the talent he could be.

Heskey joined Liverpool in 2000 for 11 million pounds, a Liverpool transfer record at the time. The 22 year old didn’t take long to settle in, and scored 3 goals in 12 appearances during his first season with the Reds. Heskey played his best football at Liverpool, complimenting Owen and Fowler superbly, and was an integral part of Houllier’s team.

During the 2000-2001 season, Heskey had arguably his greatest season of his professional career, notching 22 goals, as the Merseyside club secured the FA Cup, the League Cup, the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) and the UEFA Super Cup (in which he scored in a 3-2 win against Champions League winners Bayern Munich).

Despite the fantastic season, it was only really downhill from then on for Heskey, who, at the end of the 2003-2004 season, departed for Birmingham City.

Heskey signed a 5-year contract worth around 4 million pounds with Birmingham City for the 2004-2005 season, but failed to make the impact that he was once penned to make. Despite a good first season, winning both the fans and players player award, his second season at St. Andrew’s was poor, scoring only 4 times as Blues were relegated, and Heskey moved on.

He went back to the Premier League with Wigan Athletic, who paid 5.5 million for the 28-year old. He stayed at the club for 2 and a half years, years which were unfortunately plagued by injury and rumors of a transfer back to Liverpool to play Champions League football, rumors which turned out to be false, as in the January window of 2009, Heskey signed for former team Birmingham’s rivals, Aston Villa.

Heskey’s career never really picked up after Liverpool, and he will continue his football at Newcastle Jets, in Australia.

Heskey, while never praised as much as he should’ve been, was never undaunted, and kept playing his football; something many footballers should think about doing today.

In a world where big-scoring strikers and fast wingers make the headlines, Heskey remained a solid and stoic reminder that the under-thanked are sometimes the one that should be idolized.

Thanks Heskey, and good luck in Australia.

 

Written by Cormac O’Brien

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Manchester United: Dimitar Berbatov- Gone but never forgotten

  By O-Posts Team | September 6, 2012 - 13:32 | , , ,
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Dimitar Berbatov- Gone but never forgotten

When Manchester United bade farewell to the languid Bulgarian Footballer, Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov, many fans breathed a sigh of relief as they were happy to see his back finally after slating him for the 4 torrid years he had at the club. He never had the support of the MUFC faithful because of his playing style.

That ‘Berba’ as he is fondly called is a talented footballer is beyond any doubt, but MUFC fans demanded much more than he was displaying. The consensus was that he had to put in more work on the field, forgetting that not all players have the ability to work as hard. Berba is a master in every sense of the word. Unarguably the 2nd greatest Bulgarian player of all time (behind the GREAT Hristo Stoichkov), his foray into English football began at North London where he flied out for Tottenham.

It was his combination with Robbie Keane that was even more captivating. With/alongside the Irishman, Dimitar terrorized defenders in England with devastating ease and finesse. When he signed for Manchester United, the club of my life in 08, I was the happiest man in the world. For a long time, I had been looking for someone Ibra-esque who would wear the great red shirt of the MOST SUCCESSFUL EPL CLUB OF ALL TIME.

Berba brought with him the complete package and even though things did not work out for him as planned/ anticipated, he still caught the eye in more ways than one. The highlight of his MUFC Career was the game v Liverpool at OT two years ago when he took it upon himself to destroy our greatest rivals with a fantastic hat-trick that even the LEGENDARY FERENC PUSKAS would be thrilled with. He entered his name into United folklore after that match winning performance. NO one had managed to score a hat-trick against the Merseyside club in more than 40 years.

For the Bulgarian genius to achieve it was beyond memorable. He went on to become joint highest goal scorer (with Tevez) that season (10-11) with 20 exceptionally fantastic goals. He would have scored many more if he hadn’t been consigned to the bench by SAF in favour of the just discovered scoring jewel-‘CHICHARITO’.

Berba didn’t play much in his final season at MUFC because another ‘Englishman’ Danny WELBECK LEAPFROGGED him & Chicharito to 2nd choice. He still managed 7 goals and kept his head held high as he only started a handful of games. Berba was the ‘perfect professional footballer on and off the pitch’. As disclosed by Chairman, David Gill, Berba was extremely loyal and never gave anyone a single cause for worry in his 4 seasons at the Theatre of Dreams.

Finding chances few and far between, he chose to leave a few days ago, and Fulham was his preferred destination much to the amusement of football lovers. Juve and Fiorentina, in particular, couldn’t believe their eyes when he chose to pitch his tent with the West London outfit coached by Martin JOL, the man responsible for bringing him to England from German Bundesliga giants, Bayer 04.

I am happy that he can find a place to play regularly at and also continue to fascinate the spectators, fans and haters alike with his mesmerizing talent that sometimes takes my breath away.

AU REVOIR DIMITAR..WISH YOU ALL THE BEST MATE.

 

Written by Ohireime Eboreime

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Manchester United: Alas Dimitar Berbatov, we bid you farewell

  By O-Posts Team | August 31, 2012 - 11:36 | , , , ,
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Dimitar Berbatov

Dimitar Berbatov is not going to be a Manchester United player talked about by all generations in the same way Bobby Charlton and George Best have been. But for the section of United fans who have watched Dimitar Berbatov play for the club for the past four seasons will always remember themselves what a wonderfully gifted player the Bulgarian forward was with many of the things Berbatov could do with a football leaving the Old Trafford crowd simply astounded.

There has always been the argument that Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer to Manchester United has been a flop with the player having cost £30.5m and never really cementing a place in the team on a consistent basis. The Bulgarian was often lamented for his seemingly low work rate although a point to make is that this criticism of Berbatov’s work rate coincided with the departure of Argentine forward Carlos Tevez who would during his time at Old Trafford run himself into the ground for the cause.

It was a stark change from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United for Berbatov with the former Bayer Leverkusen striker no longer being the focal point of the team, he was now sharing the stage with superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and whilst he never made reference to this you wonder how much of an impact this actually had on Berbatov in an almost identical way to how Juan Sebastian Veron struggled to adapt into a midfield which contained Roy Keane.

Berbatov was at times unfairly criticised and was essentially made a scapegoat when the team played poorly, for example at the end of the 2009-2010 season when Manchester United travelled to Ewood Park in May needing a win to keep their title bid alive Berbatov started the match with Wayne Rooney missing out through injury and when the Bulgarian had a poor game with the match ending 0-0 he was blamed.

There have been times where Berbatov has undoubtedly frustrated United fans in particular the 2009 FA Cup Semi Final against Everton where Berbatov’s nonchalant penalty kick left him open to ridicule when Tim Howard comfortably saved it, but these frustrations were always minimal and were far outweighed by the outrageous skill that Berbatov possessed.

Dimitar Berbatov is the most naturally gifted player in terms of technical ability and first touch I have ever seen pull on the Manchester United shirt, Berbatov’s ability to control a ball from impossible heights and angles was at times staggering and the players first touch often left defenders for dead and allowed him to run forward with the ball or bring teammates into play.

Another of Berbatov’s great attributes was his skill on the football with the most iconic moment of Berbatov’s United career came in the 2008-2009 season when the European Champions at the time faced West Ham United at Old Trafford and Berbatov kept the ball in play with a Cruyff like scoop turn right on the touchline leaving James Collins for dust before neatly squaring the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo who duly applied the finish.

Berbatov’s best season for the club came in the 2010-2011 campaign with the Bulgarian topping the clubs goal scoring charts with twenty one League goals including a hat trick against United’s fiercest rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford and a five goal haul against Blackburn Rovers. Despite this impressive season the writing was almost on the wall for Berbatov’s United future when he was left out of the full squad for the 2011 European Cup final against Barcelona at Wembley.

Many expected Berbatov to kick on from the previous year in the 2011-2012 campaign despite the European Cup final snub however this was not to be the case with Berbatov struggling to get into the team at all throughout the season and it was confirmed by Sir Alex Ferguson midway through the year that Berbatov would leave at end of the season.

One of his greatest personal qualities during his time with the club was his great humbleness with the Bulgarian always seeming thankful to be at a club of Manchester United’s magnitude and despite the difficult situation he found himself in never ever spoke out against the club to his utmost credit.

Just like Juan Veron during his time at United there has always been a feeling with Berbatov that this was the right player but at the wrong time, with United having just won the European Cup and boasting the finest forward line in all of Europe it was always going to be difficult to accommodate Berbatov into the system without significant change to the teams style of play and this never actually came to full fruition.

If United had signed Berbatov when they were first interested at the end of the 2001-2002 season he would have had much more of an impact with United with the club in a period of transition then with Cole, Yorke and Sheringham all nearing the exit doors of the club.

Regardless of all the negative publicity surrounding Berbatov’s move and the slightly unfortunate way in which he has ended his career with the club I will always remember the quality and class I saw from Berbatov every time he pulled on the colours of Manchester United and he really is a player who is far too good to sit on the bench week in week out and a move away from Old Trafford is what the Bulgarian deserves.

I wish him the best for his future be it with Fulham, Juventus or even Tottenham Hotspur and that he plays regularly and scores goals on a regular basis and although he won’t go down as one of the clubs greats there will always be a section of us United fans who will always recollect just what quality we saw from the iconic and relaxed Bulgarian.

 

Written by Chris Winterburn

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Freddie Ljungberg: A Tribute to a Football Legend

  By O-Posts Team | August 25, 2012 - 09:32 | ,
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Freddie Ljungberg- The Invincibles

So another legend of the game has decided to call it a day on their football career. This blog comes on the back of the recent announcement from Arsenal legend Fredrik (Freddie) Ljungberg. The Swedish international decided to retire after 18 years in the game.

Ljungberg said upon retirement, ‘It’s still fun to play the big games, but when you no longer have the motivation for training then it’s time to call it quits, I’m grateful for everything football has given me and all of the fantastic people I’ve met during my career’

Freddie Ljungberg was born on 16th April 1977 in Vittsjö, Sweden. In 1989 at the age of 12 he joined Swedish club Halmstads BK , where in 1994 he made his debut in the senior team in a game against AIK. That very year Halmstads BK went on to win the Swedish Cup and  the Allsvenskan league title 3 years later. Ljungberg made a total of 92 games for Halmstads scoring 11 goals.

In 1998 Ljungberg was signed by Arsenal for a fee of £3 million. Arsene Wenger was a huge admirer of Freddie after watching him play for his country and signed him. Ljungberg instantly made an impact as he scored on his debut on 20 September after coming on as a substitute against rival club Manchester United, the match ending 3–0 . He immediately became a popular figure amongst Arsenal fans.

He was a natural gifted winger who loved to take on defenders and was that little menace that opposition defenders hated, popping up in the box unmarked on many occasions and sneaking a goal for the Gunners.

Ljungberg scored many important goals for the gunners. He was the first player to score a goal at an FA Cup final outside England, when Arsenal lost against Liverpool in 2001 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. A year later, against Chelsea, he became the first player to score in consecutive FA Cup Finals. He also scored a penalty in the shootout in Arsenal’s 2005 FA Cup Final victory over Manchester United.

Freddie was famous for his iconic hair-do as he proudly wore the red stripe through his hair. A popular chant amongst Arsenal fans was directed at the Swedes outrageous hair-style:

“We love you Freddie, because you’ve got red hair, we love you Freddie because you’re everywhere, we love you Freddie, you’re Arsenal through and through.”

Ljungberg played a total of 339 games for Arsenal scoring 73 goals. During his time with the Gunners he won 2 Premier League titles, 3 F.A Cups and 3 F.A Community Shields. Freddie was also part of Arsenal’s famous invincibles team that won the title in 2003- 2004 by going 49 games unbeaten. This team has gone down in Premier League history by being named the best Premier League team ever witnessed.

Since leaving Arsenal in 2007, Freddie has played for many clubs around the world such as West Ham United, Seattle Sounders, Chicago Fire, Celtic and Shimizu S-Pulse.

Freddie was also a Swedish international and a legend for his country. Ljungberg made his international debut in 1998 against the United States . Ljungberg has represented his country at Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008. Freddie represented Sweden in the Korea/Japan World Cup in 2002. Ljungberg was suffering from a hip injury which prevented him from playing in most of the games.

However, Ljungberg did muster the strength to play against England on 2 June 2002 and Nigeria on 7 June 2002 despite the pain. In the 2006 World Cup, Ljungberg was named the Golden Ball winner for helping Sweden advance to the next round in the World Cup by heading in the game-winning goal against Paraguay. Freddie Ljungberg played a total of 75 games for his country scoring 14 goals.

Outside of football, Ljungberg was involved in many other projects. Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear until 2007 and modeled for many Swedish magazines and was a hit with the female fanbase of the clubs he played for. He recieved many personal honours such as Sexiest Player in the Premier League voted by The Sun (2007) and E! (Entertainment Channel, USA) among the Sexiest Men in the World (2008)

On 27 June 2008 Ljungberg announced that he was ending his 10 – year career for the national team and on the 24 August 2012 Ljungberg announced his retirement from football.

Not only as an Arsenal fan, but a football fan in general I was delighted to have the pleasure of watching such a talented footballer in action and I wish him all the best for the future.

 

Written by Arran Farrell

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