Journal of European Soccer

Do you like watching English Premier League? If you do, you will notice a team that can break the tradition in the Premiership. The team that I am trying to tell you is Manchester City Football Club. In the last five years, there was nothing special about this club. The old Manchester City was a just a mediocre club that had never reached the top position in the Premiership. Now Manchester City is totally a different club. Just like Chelsea 4 or 5 years ago, Manchester City has changed into a stronger club. I think there are three factors that trigger the change.

First of all, this club has a huge amount of budget to buy some new great players. Eversince Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan took over the club from the previous owner, he has bought several top-class players, such as Carlos Tevez and Robinho, to build a new Manchester City. He also built a new stadium, City of Manchester, that can seat more supporters than the old stadium. He has ambition that his club can be on the top flight like Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea.

Next, this club has bought some really quality players. Supported by a huge amount of budget from the new owner, this club has signed some great players, such as Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and some others are still on the list to be brought to the City of Manchester stadium. With the new squad, the team's performance on the field is really boosted. Those new players' contributions are undoubtedly equal to their expensive prices.

Finally, The club has Roberto Mancini, a new manager behind the team. We cannot argue his quality as a coach. With his managerial skill, he brought Intermilan to win Serie A championship title last season. He has already shown what his team can do by winning several matches, including a prestigious 2-1 win over their home rival, Manchester United, in the first leg of Carling Cup semifinal.

In conclusion, supported by those three factors, Manchester City could be one of the teams in the top flight of the Premiership. They have just started what Chelsea did 4 or 5 years ago. Let's just wait and see what this team can do in the future. Read More......

Barcelona FC is one of the best teams in Europe. They proved it by winning a lot of trophies last year. Many people say that this team is a perfect team because the team consists of a lot of top-class players with great talents and skills. Every time they play, they always show the most entertaining football with one-two-touch football and quick, accurate passing. They usually win their games with big scorelines. Even so, it doesn't mean that they are not unstoppable. In my opinion, at least there are two ways to stop them.

First, be disciplined. Barcelona always play possession football in their games. They pass the ball from one player to another quickly, waiting for a gap in your team's defence. What you have to do is being disciplined. Apply combination of man-to-man marking and zonal marking. Don't let them have space to pass the ball in and around the penalty area. That way, you can minimize their threats and your goal will be safe.

Next, deploy quick players on the field. As I mentioned earlier that Barcelona always play possession football in their games, so they will never let your team to get a touch of the ball. In this case, you should wait patiently until Barcelona lose possession of the ball. When they do lose possession, pass the ball quickly and make Barcelona's players run and run. By doing so, you will see one or two gaps at Barcelona's defence. Then maximize the chance into a goal scoring opportunity.

So, although Barcelona is the best team in Europe or perhaps in the world, it doesn't mean that you cannot stop them. At least, there are two ways to stop them from playing their games. Being disciplined and deploying quick players are the ways to beat them. Read More......