Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Football Betting Tips: Using The Revenge Factor To Give Yourself An Edge

When it comes to football betting tips, there are very few you'll find that will really be of true value to you. There are many websites you can go to that will offer you football betting tips. A lot of times you will get this information for free, but exactly how valuable is that information if it is being given away for free?

Well, I'm going to give you a few football betting tips, well more like one. However, this one tip is going to be very powerful and if used correctly can make you a consistent profit. Now how often have you been watching a football match where one team was so much more superior to their opponent that you felt a win was virtually guaranteed? Did you have money on this game?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Lionel Messi - The Greatest Footballer Ever?

The footballing world watched on in utter amazement and delight yesterday as Messi's Barcelona put 7 goals past a hapless Bayer Leverkusen side in a UEFA Champions League game at the Nou Camp. For the first time ever, we saw one person score 5 goals in a Champions league game and it so happened to be no other person than Lionel Messi.

Yes, the number of goals may be a new record which I think he can better in the years ahead, but it's more the manner and the sheer class with which he scored the goals that made many a football enthusiast admire this rare talent that has emerged in this generation.

Of course, we all knew about his ability already but his display yesterday has put him in another League. The way in which he made the difficult act of scoring spectacular goals look so easy was just a joy to watch. One was a left foot lob, another a delightful right foot lob, then a careful control from an acute angel, a laser-guided placement with his left foot and then a drive through a number of opposing players. His unique sense of picking the right moments in games to do what he does best is simply quite extraordinary.

He has often been compared with the Legendary Pele and his fellow country man Diego Maradona as to who is the greatest player ever but I will dare to say that even these legends will secretly admit that it's just a matter of time before this boy from the backside of Rosario, Argentina supersedes their achievements if he hasn't already done so. Considering the fact that Messi is only 24 years of age and has at least 10 years of top flight football in him, the prospect of what he could achieve can be incredible.

It's almost inconceivable that the world would never have seen what happened yesterday had it not been for the Barcelona scouts who intervened to save his career when he was being given up on. River Plate, one of the biggest clubs in the Argentine First Division who wanted to sign him from Newell Old Boys Club in Rosario, soon discovered that his inability to endure playing for 90 minutes was due to the absence of a growth hormone that hindered his normal physical development as a person. He looked so tiny for his age at the time that, they were not sure if he could develop physically to meet the demands of the modern game even though his talent was never in dispute. The money needed to put him on a special dieting programme was just too much they couldn't afford it. They gave up on him but thankfully, he was spotted and taken to Barcelona's La Masia's training academy and the rest, they say, is history.

Talking about humble beginnings, his first contract was signed on a white handkerchief because his Dad was so frustrated with the directors of Barcelona at the time due to their indecision about his son's future that, he gave Charles Rexach, the Director of football at the time a brief window of opportunity to make up his mind. Either they give him an answer there and then or forget about Messi forever once they fly back to Argentina. His exploits today has proven that it doesn't matter where you begin in life but rather, it's about you believing in your unique abilities and giftings given to you by God regardless of your size, age, race or gender.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Arsene Wenger: Best Bargain Signings

What can Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger do with under £10 million? He does love a bargain signing, in fact you could argue that he's made a career out of them. Here are some of his best.

Kolo Toure - £150k - To say Kolo Toure was plucked from obscurity would be an understatement. When the Arsenal scouts found him he was playing for the Ivorian club ASEC Mimosa (no, we haven't heard of them either), he impressed on a trial and cost just £150,000 when signed permanently. He played 225 games for the club, so that transfer fee works out at less than £700 a match. Pretty good business, hey?

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Why Free Soccer Predictions Might Not Be Successful In The Long Run

It might seem like a good idea in the beginning to use free soccer predictions to try and make a profit with soccer. You must ask yourself one important question though. If the soccer prediction has any sort of value then why would any reputable person be willing to give it away for free? Just think about how much time it has to take to come up with a prediction.

It can take hours to analyze various statistical data, trends, patterns and other information that changes by the hour. Why would someone be willing to give away that information for free? There is no such thing as a free lunch, so you should be asking yourself - why are these tips free? Even if the goal was to ultimately draw you in as a paying customer, giving away such valuable information just wouldn't make sense.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Betting on Popular Markets

I have often wondered if anyone consistently makes money betting in standard markets in the 'big leagues'. By this I don't mean betting huge amounts of money but rather betting on very popular markets like the NFL and Premiership soccer.

These markets attract hundreds of millions of dollars in betting action every season but because they are so popular there is very little 'edge' to be had by bettors. A mistake could cost a bookmaker a lot of money and that is bad for business, so a good chunk of money made from these markets is reinvested in expert market analysis. Top lines-makers and odds compilers ensure that prices are accurate and balanced to attract good betting action on both sides of a game. Prices also need to be shortened or lengthened in line with demand.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Barcelona Beats Sporting Gijon But Still 10 Points Behind Madrid

Week 26 of the Spanish League took place on the weekend of 3rd and 4th march 2006, with Real Madrid going into the weekend a full ten points clear of FC Barcelona, the previous year's title holders and bitterest rival. Madrid was to face the second team of the city of Barcelona, Espanyol, at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, while FC Barcelona was to play host to Sporting Gijon, sitting down in the relegation zone.

While on paper at least, Sporting looked to be a walk over, football matches don't always follow mathematical logic in that respect and so Barcelona were fully prepared for whatever their visitors could throw at them.

Monday, July 4, 2011

All About The World Cup Soccer Tournament

Soccer is one of the largest, most watched sports in the world. It is a sport that has no boundaries, cultural or international, and as such, the World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world. It only happens once every four years, and that only helps boost it's popularity. To grasp how large it is, in 2006, FIFA estimates over seven hundred million people watched the final match of this tournament. To put it into perspective, that's twice the population of the USA.

The World Cup is one of the few sporting events that is played globally. As so many teams are from so many different countries, this makes the location of the event very important. FIFA tries to alternate the hosts between countries in Europe and the Americas. Historically, it has been held in many participating countries, from Brazil, to Italy, to the United States, to Germany, as well as many other countries. It has been scheduled in Brazil in 2014, in Russia in 2018, and in Qatar in 2022.