Month: May 2019

There’s no denying that the upcoming transfer window is going to be extremely busy. It’s for this very reason that we decided to take a look at the most indispensable players in football from some of the biggest clubs in the world. We are going to take an in-depth look at the players that have the most significant impact on the field and those that create goals and assists while showing off dribbling skills and through balls.

Fernandinho – Manchester City

Since he turned 30, Fernandinho has averaged 2,687 minutes out of 3,420 in the last four seasons in the Premier League. He is considered Manchester City’s ignition and anchor and has led the team in both interceptions and tackles this past season. He has also led all non-defenders when it comes to forward passes every 90 minutes. His incredible ability to win the ball and provide it to Man City’s playmakers is the reason. Pep can have more attackers on the field.

Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool

In 49 matches this season in both the Champions League and Premier League, he has only made 49 tackles without losing one of them. This means that no attacker, including Messi, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, or Neymar, has managed to dribble past him during the 2018/19 season successfully. Virgil van Dijk has managed to transform the defence of Liverpool from anxiety and chaos to a mind-blowing source of exceptional strength. During the first two seasons with Jurgen Klopp at the helm, the team committed 21 errors, all leading to goals. However, in the past two years, there’s only been 8. When Virgil wasn’t around, the team conceded 42 goals. However, when Virgil joined the team, that number decreased to 22.

Paul Pogba – Manchester United

Even though his goal-scoring numbers were bumped up by seven penalties and he was mostly benched during the reign of Jose Mourinho, Paul Pogba was still the most impactful player for Manchester United this season. He managed to bypass more defenders in every match with his passes than any other player at United, and the passes he received also managed to avoid more opponents than any other player in United. He also managed to register more assists, score more goals, and completed more dribbles in 90 minutes than any other player on his team.

Eden Hazard – Chelsea

There is arguably no other player within Europe who’s more vital to their club than Eden Hazard. Reports are stating that he wants to leave the club and the team cannot sign any new players until 2020. During the 2019/19 season, Hazard was performing like four players at once. He was leading his team with 16 goals, while the closest to him had 8. He was leading the team with 15 assists, while the closest to him had 6. He managed to complete 138 dribbles, while the closest to him had 45. He accumulated 240 touches in the penalty area of the opposition, while the closest to him had 113.

Brooks Koepka could not widen his lead during the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday at Bethpage Black. However, the defending champion of the PGA Championship didn’t give anything back either.

Koepka managed to hit even-par 70 to give him a 54-hole total of -12 to successfully maintain his phenomenal 7-shot lead ahead of the final round on Sunday, along with his friend Dustin Johnson, Jazz Janewattaanond, Luke List, and Harold Varner III chasing him as the competition’s closest competitors.

Since 1934, in the era of Masters, there has only been a total of 24 times when a golfer managed to take the lead with 5 or more strokes throughout a 54 hole course in a major championship.

There have only been four times when a player failed to hold on to that lead, including Jean Van de Velde during the 1999 Open Championship, Greg Norman during the 1996 Masters, Ed Sneed during the 1979 Masters, and Tom Watson during the 1978 PGA Championship. It’s quite apparent that Koepka will not pull a Van de Velde this time around.

Koepka on the PGA Championship

Koepka recently stated to reporters that he would not give up. He loves the force on the field and will try his best to extend the lead as best he can during the championship. He also stated that it would be nice to make a ten during the final hole. However, he is just going out there to play some good golf and to see how things end up. He will be satisfied if he can have another great game on Sunday before he makes his way home.

Although it’s still too early to place his name on the prestigious Wanamaker Trophy for the 2nd consecutive year, it looks inevitable after the way he played on Saturday. There are loads of reasons to watch the final day of the PGA Championship on Sunday.

Koepka has managed to torch the entire field and has set loads of milestones during the tournament as well. For instance, he will join the list of Best Score to Par on 54 Holes and the list of Players with Multiple U.S Open and PGA Championship Wins.

Who Will Finish Second in the PGA Championship?

There is a total of 15 players on the field that are currently under par on the 54-hole course, and one of them will take second place behind Koepka. However, who will this player be? This is precisely another reason why you should watch the PGA Championship on Sunday. Dustin Johnson believes he has an excellent chance to take second place.

Koepka wasn’t playing at his best on Saturday as he has successive bogeys on both the 9th and 10th hole. However, no other player in the tournament managed to take advantage of this. This makes you think if anyone else will be able to apply the necessary pressure to make Koepka crumble?

Lewis Hamilton recently stated that Mercedes could not be blamed for their excellent start in the 2019 Formula 1 season that has primarily been a one-sided affair. Lewis Hamilton assisted Mercedes to claim their fifth successive one-two finish during the Spanish Grand Prix. This inflicted more damage to Ferrari, a team that is losing grip on a two-way fight with Mercedes.

The 2019 Formula One Season for Mercedes

The performance showcased by Ferrari during offseason testing gave the impression that they would be competitive in the 2019 Formula 1 season. However, it hasn’t been the case over the last few months, and it appears that the Italian team have fallen behind Mercedes since the 2019 campaign started. Mercedes continue to win at every race, while Red Bull and Ferrari keep falling behind.

Unless Ferrari can make a remarkable comeback, it looks like Mercedes will claim their sixth consecutive ’constructor’s championship in 2019, a run that stretches back to the introduction of the V6 turbo engines that were introduced in 2014. This achievement will match the incredible record set by the Italian team between 1999 and 2004.

Lewis Hamilton has stated on numerous occasions throughout his career with Mercedes that although he enjoys winning, he wants to a lot more from his rivals in terms of competition. He also stated that staying focused is relatively easy these days. However, it’s far more entertaining for him when he needs to compete against another team. This is what Formula One is all about.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton was recently asked if he can win all 21 races this season with Mercedes. He replied that he doesn’t know. Both he and the Mercedes team didn’t realize that they would enter the season and win five consecutive races which were astonishing for everyone in the organization.

The entire Mercedes team works incredibly hard to ensure everything is perfect for every single race. Nobody in the organization is overconfident, and there are always discussions about the car and the improvements that can be made to make it even more remarkable around the track. The Mercedes team is the most reliable team in Formula 1 and the moment and thanks to all the races, it shows.

The Mercedes team continues to push the needle and push the benchmark to do better every single season. Therefore, it’s easy to understand why fans are so happy with the overall performance by Mercedes.

It’s just a shame that no other team currently provides any competition for Mercedes at the moment. We would hate to see Mercedes run away with the season so early on without anyone giving fans a genuinely nail-biting season to look forward to. Let’s hope this changes quickly.

A short time ago, it looked like dominant F1 races and Mercedes were a thing of the past. However, the team’s 1-2 finish in Baku was its 4th consecutive win in the 2019 season. Ferrari was quite confident when they entered the weekend. However, things started to unravel during qualifying. Due to the unpredictable nature of the circuit and the quick racing trim, we uncovered why everything unfolded as it did.

Racing Against Bottas

This wasn’t a classic F1 race. At first, Lewis Hamilton looked like he got a phenomenal start that would place him in the lead. However, Bottas held pole position after Turn 1 and also kept Hamilton behind him during Turn 2. A horrible start cost the driver in China, and he refused to let history repeat itself.

The start of the race was mostly the critical moment for Bottas as Hamilton would get this close again for the entire Baku race. Mercedes was also never under real pressure from Ferrari in the race other than the activity that occurred during the pit-stop window. Even though the challenge from Ferrari faded, Bottas was required to keep his composure because Hamilton kept pushing until the end of the race.

Although most spectators are still sceptical about Bottas 2.0, we believe he was fantastic in Baku and Australia. However, on both occasions, Hamilton seemed to settle for the second position once he lost the first fight. One factor that shouldn’t bring any doubt to spectators is that Bottas has the innate talent to create a genuinely exceptional battle for the title. Every pole position will give Bottas a boost in confidence. This is something that was genuinely lacking during the 2018 season.

Where Exactly Was Ferrari?

Ferrari didn’t have the pace when it mattered most. It’s unusual as this weekend looked like Ferrari’s weekend until Charles Leclerc managed to misjudge his breaking point when he attempted to take Turn 8 during Saturday’s qualifying. That incident managed to shit the momentum and assisted Mercedes to take the first and second position on the grid which allowed them to dominate the race on Sunday.

For a moment, it looked like Leclerc might have raced worth mentioning as he started on medium tyres as opposed to soft tyres that all drivers at the front opted in for. If the safety car was deployed when Bottas was still over 9 second behind, Leclerc might have had a free pit-stop that would have allowed him to take the lead with a brand-new set of hard compound tyres to make it until the end. However, while each lap passed without the safety car, it assisted Bottas to get closer to the long first stint of Leclerc which eventually allowed him to retake the lead.