Jack Reynolds, the man who changed football forever...

John "Jack" Reynolds started his career as a player for teams such as Sheffield Wednesday, Grimsby Town and Watford. After his playing career he decided to go into management and moved to Belgium to manage St.Gallen after 2 years their he became coach of the German National team but due to the war he had to leave and he moved to Amsterdam and managed Ajax. This is where his sucess occured. Ajax before he came thier had previously never won anything, they didn't have any leaders in the club, they had nothing. Jack invented a new style of football which adapted into the "Total Football" system and he also started the Ajax youth system which is one of the best in world today. So with these immediate changes it is not a suprise that in 1917 2 years after he had taken charge Ajax won their first trophy then managed to win the league title the following year, and ended up managing to win 8 league titles under Jack Reynolds in a 27 year reign.

One of the players Jack managed was Rinus Michell who went on to manage the team after Jack left, he maintained Ajax's style of football and they continued to play the"Total Football" system which was also adapted by the Netherland National team who managed to get to the final of the World Cup but unfortunately lost 2-1 to West Germany. One of the biggest successes of this style of football was Johan Cruyff who is considered one of the best players of all time. After his playing career Cruyff went on to manage FC Barcelona and adapted the "Total Football" into a new style with the same fundamentals as total football just with slight differences, this style is called "Tiki-Taka" and is used by FC Barcelona and Spain who are argubaly the 2 most succesful teams in football today.

So without Jack Reynolds moving to Ajax all of this wouldn't be possibly and maybe FC Barcelona and Spain would of never been as sucessful as they have been. But what do you think do you agree with me that without Jack Reynolds football wouldn't of been the same? or do you think someone else would of adapted the beautiful game the way he did?

Thanks for reading,

Julian Draxler the fututre of German football?

Schalke were in need of a player to step up to fill the vacuum left by Lewis Holtby’s departure in the winter, a creative presence in the middle that can both link the game and create for those around him. With the addition of Michel Bastos on the left, Julian Draxler has been allowed to play that central role in the last month and has been thriving in it.

Draxler was one of the youngest players to make his debut in the Bundesliga at the age of 17. In September he became the youngest player ever to reach 50 appearances in the league, showing he is going to be one of the greatest player in the Bundesliga. As a player, Draxler is known for his shooting technique.  He announced his arrival at the age of 17 in the German Cup final in 2011 with a brilliant goal from outside the box and has since scored several memorable goals in similar fashion. Unlike other great shooters of the ball though, Draxler is equally good with both feet which gives him the advantage of setting up and taking shots without having to adjust to a stronger preferred foot. Watching Draxler play reminds me of watching the great Raul when he was at Schalke and if Draxler becomes anywhere near as good as Raul, then he will have very bright future ahead of him.

Julian Draxler stats for this season are 13 goals along with 5 assists.

Who are going to be the underdogs of the 2014 World Cup?

The 2014 World Cup is an event every football fan looks forward too. It has everything drama, pride, excitement and great quality football, what more could anyone want. The World Cup brings a nation together, we all sit infront of our T.V's at home or in the pub and hope to see our country do us proud. The World Cup is also great as it reveals new talents for the game, shows us which players have the compsure to perfrom on the big stage when it matters.

Every time the World Cup comes along their is always one team that comes along and knocks out the big teams. Last World Cup it was Ghana who managed to get to the quater-finals and were unrightly knocked out of the final, thanks to a certain Mr. Suarez who hand balled the ball of the line. But this time who will it be the suprises the World? will it be Ghana again?. I believe that this time round Denmark will be the suprise team that advances far into the tournemant as they have many young exciting players that are capable of performing on the big stage. Denamark have a strong defence with Agger in the middle and also have young Kasper Schmeical or Lindegaard to go in goal, and with players such as Fischer and Eriksen creating oppurtunites for Niklas Bendtner, I am sure he will grab some goals.

But what do you think ? do you agree with me? or feel someone else has the capabilty to go far in this prestigious tournemant.

Who is the greatest right back in football today?

Not many people express their opinion on who they feel is the best fullbacks in the game today, mainly because everyone would rather watch a strong piece of attacking play than a well organised defence.

There are many contenders that could be associated with being the greatest right back in football today such as, Anuykov, Srna, Ivanovic, Rafael, Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos or Phillip Lahm. But what makes a great full back, is it someone that is reliable in defence such as Corluka or is it someone that is able to support their team whilst in attack such as Maicon. Well in my opinion I think their needs to be a strong balance between both and the best contender that is able to be a threat whilst attacking but still be solid in defence is Lukasz Piszczeck. I feel that Piszczeck is often forgotten when people are talking about great full backs as he does not come from a country with a strong footballing background, so people look more towards Brazilian, Spanish, French, Italian or English fullbacks instead, but watching Piszczeck play this season has been a pleasure, he has been exquisite in defence and has also managed to score 2 goals and get 8 assists in the Bundesliga this season which is remarkable for a defender.

Is Javier Hernandez good enough to be a world class striker?

Javier "Chicarito" Hernandez plays for Manchester United and is used as a super sub. In my opinion I believe Hernandez has the ability to be a crucial first team player for any club in the world. He is hardworking, fast, always in the right place, strong finisher and a deadly aerial threat. He has managed  to score a significant amount of goals this season even though he spends most of the game on the bench, he has the best minute per goal ratio in the premiership with a goal every 94 minutes. 

Quotes about Hernandez: "There is no doubt that Hernandez is a promising player. He is excellent, I have seen some games of his on television and he is a fantastic footballer," High praise from one of the greatest of all time, Pele, in May 2011.

This shows that not only I believe Javier has the talent to be one of the best strikers in the game.

Adam Maher as good as Christian Eriksen?

Adam Maher over this past season has proven himself as an exciting new prospect and has interested many clubs in signing him over the summer. When you think of talents in the Eredivisie the first person to pop into your mind is Christian Eriksen, and rightly so he is an incredibly gifted player they can take on the world, but over the next year or two I think a new name will pop into your head.   Maher. Maher this season has shown and exquisite range of skill and flair, he is able to use both feet comfortable, which is becoming essential due to the way the modern game is developing. This season Maher has won games single handedly for example the cup final against PSV were he managed to run through the whole of the team from the half way line and he also set up an assist for the first goal. 

So, because of Maher's recent performances he is now being put into the category of young Eredivisie talents. But whether he is as good as Eriksen purely comes down to opinion.

Viktor Fischer

Viktor Fischer is one of the most exciting new talents football has ever seen in its history.

He has pace, good ball control, ability to pick out a pass, able to finish when he is given the chance, he is quite simply the most enertaining youngster to watch in this era. In Viktor Fischer's debut season for Ajax he has managed to score 10 goals from 17 starts in the eredivise, which is truly remarkable for some one of 18 years of age. He has also managed to get 6 assists in total this season, showing he is not just deadly at finding the net, he can also split a team apart with his pin-point accuracy. To top things off at the end of this season Viktor was presented with the Ajax talent of the year award, proving that it is not just me that values him so highly.