My World XI for 2013

At the Ballon d'Or ceremony the FIFA World XI was unveiled, and many felt there were some huge snubs. I was among those people. The FIFA XI was as followed:

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer

Defenders: Philipp Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, Dani Alves

Midfielders: Xavi, Iniesta, Franck Ribery

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi

Amongst those chosen I felt too much praise had been given to the two La Liga giants again. Here is my World XI:

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer; No argument here. Neuer was far and above the best goalkeeper in the world last year. He was a huge part of Bayerns historic trophy haul.

Defenders: Philipp Lahm, Thiago Silva, Dante, David Alaba; Removing the La Liga duo and replacing them with two Bayern players. Dante stepped right into the Bayern starting line-up and helped transform them into a team that was near impossible to score against, just ask Barcelona. David Alaba moves into the team after basically solidifying himself as one of the top 2 left backs in the world, and he's my age.

Midfielders: Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Gareth Bale; No more Barcelona favoritism people!!! Xavi and Iniesta shouldn't have even SNIFFED the world XI. I replace them with Schweinsteiger and Bale. Schweinsteiger was by far the best box to box midfielder in the world last year and he was the heart of the 5 star Bayern team. Bale is the most debatable here. While having a great season it would be easy to leave him out and throw someone else in, but just by the eye test Bale was quite possibly the best player in the world not named Ronaldo or Messi towards the end of last year. His health was an issue, but his quality is nothing to scoff at. 

Forwards: Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Messi; I mean, c'mon. 

So there you have it, my World XI. We need to acknowledge that last season the spanish teams weren't the best in the world and don't deserve to have a crazy amount of players in these teams! Let me know what you think of the replacements. Who deserves to be in it, who doesn't, and why should your player be in instead!

Mesut Ozil: The Pressure is On

Arsenal fans were crying out for a signing, and it seemed as though the club were going to have another disappointing transfer window. And then it happened.

Soon after Gareth Bale completed his world record move to Real Madrid there were grumblings about what stars Madrid would be willing to sell to cover the cost of Bale. Di Maria, Benzema, and Ozil were all names thrown out as potentially expendable. One club linked to all of the names was none other than Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's lack of spending was the butt of every transfer market joke this summer, and then he broke the club record transfer fee.

Ozil was announced with less than an hour left in the transfer window, and though Ozil wasn't the signing that was needed, he's the signing every fan of the club wanted. A marquee, big money move by a club being slammed for not being able to attract top talent.

It seemed Ozil saw the writing on the wall with the transfers of Isco and Bale. That coupled with the fact he was regularly not finishing games and being subbed off with a good portion of the games he started remaining made it most likely an easy choice. Fans of every other team in La Liga should be rejoicing right about now, according to Squawka Ozil created 91 scoring chances last season. He is arguably the best playmaker in the world right now, and his ability combined with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, and the other attackers on the team could be deadly. Not to mention he will likely make Olivier Giroud look even better than he has already this season.

Now, as amazing as the signing of Ozil is, it doesn't completely make us forget what Arsenal lack. They still need a box to box midfielder, another center back, and a second striker. But we can't dismiss that Ozil will make the Arsenal attack something that has to be looked at closely and feared by all defenses.

Does Ozil make Arsenal a title contender this year? No, not at all. As amazing as he is he won't make up for the deficiencies the club still have. But, he will invigorate the clubs fans with a feeling of, "this is the start of something special." A player like Ozil is the perfect building block for Arsene Wenger, and maybe the first real step to Arsenal finally ending the silverware drought.

For a more tactical look at how Ozil will effect Arsenal check out this post.

The Evolution of Gareth Bale

From young prospect to marquee name, Gareth Bale has quickly become a household name for any soccer fan. Having a breakout season in 2009-10, Bale helped his club Tottenham Hotspur reach the Champions League and in the 2010-11 season Bale showed his worth, providing an inspiring performance in the Champions League against Inter.

A left back turned winger, Bale has excelled in his current role. His new found brilliance while at left winger has drawn comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo for Bale. Bale and Ronaldo play very similar games, both like to be on the ball, take on defenders, and use their exceptional pace and agility to burn the opposition. Both players are deadly scoring threats and the main focus of any game-plan for opposing managers.

Bale struggled to find first team time his first few years at Tottenham, struggling with injury and being left out of the team in favor of Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Tottenham manager at the time, Harry Redknapp, finally picked Bale when Assou-Ekotto went down with injury, and Bale took the chance and ran with it. Fast forward a few seasons later and Bale is now on every major teams radar.

Linked with a move to Real Madrid, Bale could potentially replace want away star Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabeu. The prospect of playing at a big club like Madrid could sway him to leave White Hart Lane even though his contract there runs until 2016. Can you imagine Bale replacing Ronaldo and Neymar potentially joining Barcelona? That could be a new rivalry for the ages.

But for now we get to witness Bale's brilliance while at Tottenham. This season he has methodically guided his Spurs to Champions League contention. He seems to get better with each game, his IQ for the game seemingly increasing every match. This is scary seeing as Bale is only 23 years old and already one of the best in the world. If Bale chooses to stay at Tottenham, he could quite possibly be the reason Tottenham bring in enough world class players to be a Champions League contender for years. I personally hope Bale stays at Tottenham, I want to see the Gareth Bale era begin in EPL, because this player has all the qualities and talents to be the best in the world and he is well on his way to that now.  

What do you think? Could Gareth Bale be the best in the world? Should he leave Tottenham?

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