there are to many facets/nuances to the game to appreciate/understand it without having played it...and even many of those who have played don't even fully understand it...
Next season (2013-14) the English Premier League is to become the first domestic football league in the world to use goal-line technology. It will use British-invented Hawk-Eye, a piece of technology that is already being used in cricket and tennis. This technology will finally put to an end those controversial decisions when the referee disallows a goal because he thought the whole of the ball didn't go over the goal-line when replays clearly show that it did - as happened when Frank Lampard should have equalised for England against Germany in the 2010 World Cup but the ref wrongly disallowed it - or vice versa (a referee allows a goal when replays show that the whole of the ball did not cross the goal-line). Hawk-Eye technology has been used for a number of years in cricket - since a Test match between England and Pakistan in 2001 - to help the umpire decide whether or not the ball landed outside the line of leg stump before hitting the batsman's leg, to decide whether or not to give the batsman out by lbw (leg before wicket). The batsman cannot be given out by lbw if the ball lands outside the line of leg stump (the outermost of the three stumps behind the batsman, the one on the same side as the batsman's legs - the right hand stump if the batsman is right-handed and the left-hand one if he is left-handed) even if the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps, so Hawk-Eye often proves a vital aid to the umpire in making his decision on whether the ball landed inside or outside the line of leg stump as it was bowled. Hawk-Eye, used in cricket for several years to help the umpire to decide whether to give a batsman out by the lbw rule is to be introduced to the Premier League next season to show referees whether or not the ball crossed the goal-line if it was difficult to tell with the naked eye.
On current form Messi has been injured for a month but anyway, I would say messi fit and bale fit is a gap that is closing rapidly but yeah, I was just giving a shout out to Bale.
The gap is enormous!! Bale is not in the conversation with Messi. Or Ronaldo for that matter. He is among the second tier of quality players. With people like Suarez, Van Persie, Muller, Ibrahimovic, etc. And also, SAF retired!! What an amazing development!! Then he was replaced by Moyes, which is an amazing development in two ways. First it weakens Everton, but even better it weakens Man United!! Moyes is a fine manager, and did pretty well for Everton, but SAF he is most certainly not!! Hooray!!
bale is streets ahead of persie, muller and ibra and look at his age. Ibra only came good in last year or 2. bale is estimated at 40/50 mil. we would be lucky to get 30 for surez and persie was 25, muller prolly 15.
Everything you just said is irrelevant or inaccurate. Suarez is 40-50 million. Ibrahimovic has been a star and quality player for years. Muller would cost well in excess of 15 million. I am not sure where you are getting these figures from. They don't represent anything. PS. Bale costs more than Van Persie would, but not because he is a better player. Instead because he is younger. Andy Carroll cost 35 million is that an accurate representation of his quality as a player? He cost that much because he is young and British. Something which automatically makes players overvalued. Whether a player was a better 17 year old player than some other player is irrelevant. What matters is how good they are now.
everyone knows carrol was overpriced. The point is this then, how much is a player worth at his peak. Persie was 25, suarez is mentally floored and would not go for 40, too much risk, just you look how much he goes for, juventus are said to be the biggest suitors and they wont pay 40, more like 30. maybe ibra could compare to bale and muller is a cart horse. dont even mention him in this convo lol. just look how much bale goes for when he joins barca or madrid. The reason bale is worth that much is because he has pace to burn, vision, passing ability, strength, tackler, dribbling ability at pace, a rocket of a shot and an eye for goal and is young, imagine how good he is gonna be, there is nothing he cant do.
Bale is nowhere near Messi's ability. Messi is light years ahead. I don't even think Bale is even the best player in the Premier League. I would rank the likes of Van Persie and Suarez higher than Bale.
Why would I imagine he is going to improve significantly? He is already 23. He is not 19. He is at or near his peak abilities already. He is only 2 years younger than Messi. He is a top quality player for sure. He just isn't in the same realm as Messi, who is in the conversation for greatest ever. He has left the conversation for the best player in the world now, and the only actual debate is over 2nd, and really third because Ronaldo is a lot better than everyone except Messi as well (and I absolutely despise Ronaldo, but he is a great talent).
Bale has scored 42 goals in total for Spurs since he moved there in 2007. Van Persie, however, scored 38 goals for Manchester United this season alone.
You are not going to like this. I have given soccer a try many times, as a player in high school, as a spectator in college and when we got our first Pro team here in Vancouver, the White Caps. I hate soccer. It is boring to watch, and I am so sick of seeing players fall down in agony and writhe on the filed yelping like puppies for an hour after getting kicked in a padded shin. I live in Canada. I am Canadian. I played hockey all my life. Our kids take a frozen puck in the face at 100 MPH, get stitches between periods and are back out on the ice to take another one in the face to even off the black eyes. And that's the girls.
van persia is a striker, bale is a midfielder. Persie is not even fit to polish bales boots, different planets. you would know this is you ever played the game. - - - Updated - - - lol If you want to prove your masculinity, then do it without all the armour! (rugby)
Soccer is accessible for the majority of the global population, even in the 3rd world. You need a soccer ball, and some type of "pitch" to set up goals. You don't need special shoes to have a pick-up game, you don't need to be tall like you do in basketball...or big like you do in American football...any kid can play soccer. I have personally witnessed children in many parts of the World who do not have a pot to (*)(*)(*)(*) in......eyes light up...when you give them a soccer ball. You don't even need to speak their language to bring a little joy in their life. That is the beauty of soccer...it's Global...it's accessible and doesn't require the genetics of above average height or above average strength to excel at it.
I'd rather watch that than that silly game of knocking a little disk around a little bit of ice. - - - Updated - - - And there's a reason for that.
Yeah, van persie is too slow to play midfield, thats why arsenal moved him up front, to hold the ball up.
in summation you were never any good and haven't clue what the game is about... mmm I've seen a player have his leg broken after taking a studs up challenge on those padded shins...and hockey players aren't armoured? head to toe, you've never played hockey obviously...my personal soccer injuries, two destroyed knees(rebuilt then destroyed again 4 surgeries in all), broken nose two broken orbits( and I played the next day)...a few teammate injuries that I recall, broken ankles, legs, arms, 2 broken collar bones(same guy at one time), fingers, toes, teeth, skull fractures, detached retina from being struck by a ball, concussions from being struck by a ball, ruptured stomach from a ball, a leg opened up for 40+ stitches from a studs up tackle, broken nose/teeth from being kicked in the face(deliberate)...and our only protection? a pair of light weight shin pads that we resisted wearing until we were forced to do so... i'm canadian and you're full of it, I played hockey and there isn't a kid in the country that can hit the puck at a 100mph, kids have had mandatory face shields and helmets for a few decades, there are no black eyes or stitches... all girls/women play with full shields or cages no one takes a puck to the face...you've never played hockey or any acceptable level of soccer the only thing you do is lie and not very well at that either... ya soccer players are such little girls
that and ManU is a better side so van Persie will get more and better opportunities to score...both very good at what they do...and I'm not a ManU or Spurs fan...AJAX!!!
That'd be a different sport, handball. To answer your question though, the feet and legs are more powerful than the arms, potentially. Also they they are equally expressive given the time and dedication. Football is like boxing but with the feet and using a ball instead of someones face, much healthier activity.
