Sports Then and Now

The season has just come down on another season of soccer in Europe – which the natives of the continent prefer to call ‘football.’ In England, the lucrative and widely-viewed Premier League was won by Manchester City for the second consecutive season. While it was a cause for celebration for the fans of the club, it drew criticism from some quarters because of the amount of foreign money invested in the club to help them achieve their status. It would seem the complaints aren’t without some foundation – the club is currently under investigation for financial irregularities.

The fans of the club will be quick to point out that it’s not against the law to invest money into a team and help them to move forward, but the pace of City’s ascent to the throne of English football has been rapid. This season, they won an unprecedented domestic treble, adding both the League Cup and the FA Cup to their Premier League triumph. Twenty years ago, they were playing in the third tier of English football, having been relegated twice in the seasons prior. Their Maine Road stadium was falling apart around them, and the idea of competing at the same level as their illustrious neighbors Manchester United seemed like a ludicrous dream. Foreign investment, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped into the club to buy top-tier players and built a new stadium, has changed all that.

There is no doubt that soccer has gained some popularity over the past few years. The women’s national soccer team winning the World Cup tournament in 2015 drew a lot of attention. Unfortunately, the attention was short-lived. So, why is soccer less popular than football in the United States? Find the answer to this question and more information in the article below.

It’s About Winning

In America, it is about winning, which is why soccer cannot gain any popularity. While the women’s national soccer team have several World Cup titles under their belt, the men just cannot muster up enough skills to pull off a single win. When you compare the popularity of hockey and soccer in the United States, the two sports are lacking a lot. With that said, hockey does appear to be more popular than soccer in America. This is probably due to the Lake Placid Olympics win in 1980.

If the U.S. men’s team can pull off a win, it may actually help draw some fans. It is unclear whether or not Americans will be tuning in to the upcoming World Cup.

Substitutions Are Limited

Unlike football, soccer has a lot of regulations that Americans view as unnecessary. One regulation has to do with substitutions. When a player gets injured in soccer, the entire team is punished, at least that is how Americans see it. This is because the injured player cannot be substituted. When you look at it, losing a player makes the team weaker. So, they are not on a competitive level with their components, which gives them an unfair advantage.

In some countries football is more than just a game; it is a national obsession that drives people crazy in a good way. Did you notice that during the football season, your colleagues and friends speak only about the game? If you don’t want to feel left out, learn important football terms, slang and cliches. The next FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar in 2022, so it is better to start preparing for its ‘madness’ today.

Tiki-Taka

Tiki-Taka is Barcelona’s style of playing football. It was implemented by Johan Cruyff in the early 1990s. Basically, it means ‘taking quick, light steps.’ This style implies short passing. Also, team players are not positioned in a traditional formation. On the contrary, they are free to move and pass the ball. In 2009, it helped FC Barcelona to win six trophies.

A fox in the box

It is an English idiom that is used to describe deadly strikers who are extremely good in the penalty area. For instance, Filippo Inzaghi, Italian professional footballer is an excellent example of ‘the fox in the box. ’ He retired with over 300 career goals and deserved the title of a ‘ killer striker.’

Sports has evolved in some aspects while completely changing in others as in the early days of the NFL seeing players smoking cigarettes on the sideline was not uncommon. The money that is now generated is immense compared to the past due to TV deals and the expansion of ways to watch the game due to technology. Being able to watch a soccer match across the world used to take some lucky local programming but now it can be accessed by nearly any smartphone with an internet connection. Sports were due to change in one way or another but this will incorporate the social media aspect of how sports has changed for the better…as well as for the worse in the rest of this article.

Players Posting Their Offseason Training Sessions

The secret training regimen being kept from competitors was a common tactic used in the past. Now athletes are friendlier than in the past with players training with rivals on other teams that might have knocked them out of the playoffs. This is due to more opportunities for young elite athletes to play on teams and in camps against other top prospects. In essence many professional athletes grow up together whether they live near each other or see each other a few times a year at large tournaments. Social media helps them stay connected while in the past they would have had to call each other or write letters. There are still those old school players that do not train with rivals as they think they could use they gained knowledge to their advantage during the next professional season. Kobe Bryant noted that he used playing with the Olympic team as a way to pick up tendencies of players that might not be visible on tape.

As the football kits get tighter and the pay packages get heavier a perpetually bamboozling question arises in one’s mind; will the Football fever ever die down? Will the apparent craze and demand for the product ever be fulfilled? Will the media giants ever be satiated from making money out of selling live action? Will the ever increasing viewership ever die down? Ever since its launch in 1992, the Premier League has turned into an ever inflating balloon which makes you think; will the balloon ever burst?

Make an appointment or watch matches on demand?

There has always been a non-ending competition between TV channels and service providers, all trying desperately for the customers i.e. you and others like yourself as a bait to win the largest customer viewership. Likewise TheVang TV and BT have been trying to venture into other methods for customers to view their content, other than merely through a television service. You must know that now the smart phone/ tablets have become very much part and parcel of our life, and this is what the media giants and service provider are after, they are targeting growing number of audience shifting to smart devices. And at most of the times these devices are not included in the headline rating figures. Even more you will agree over the past years, the way people watch entertainment has changed altogether. Viewers no longer feel they should wait for a show or episode to come on. People are streaming matches, seasons, and binge watching TV shows after TV shows. Customers are no longer afraid of missing matches, because they know they can easily catch it on demand. Cable subscriptions rates are sky rocketing, with the availability of cheap internet unlimited packages; it is certainly starting to feel like a luxury you can no longer afford.

Roman Abramovich brought Chelsea for £140 million in 2003, but by no means was that the end to his spending. Over the last 16 years, the Russian has spent over £1.5 billion on new players, with not all of those being of the caliber needed to compete for honors.

The Abramovich era has seen a trophy haul of 13 major trophies; including five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and one Champions League success. The 2009/10 campaign also saw the Blues complete their first FA Cup and Premier League double.

One place where you won’t be guilty of wasting time is NetBet. Here you will find all the perfect markets for your sports betting needs. There is an array of markets for soccer, basketball and American football.

1.            Adrian Mutu (£16 Million from Parma)

Things started very well for Mutu following his big-money move from Italy. He scored four goals in his opening three matches and was shaping up to be a top quality signing. However, things quickly turned sour for the Romanian international.

Chelsea signed the former Series A star in 2003, and he was quick to fall out with new manager José Mourinho who arrived the following season due to questions about the Romanian’s attitude. Read the rest of this entry →