GIF Sundsvall v Hammarby IF 29.10.17

A big game for the home side who prior to kick off sat 3^rd from bottom (in the relegation play off position). Jönköpings sit level on points with a +2 goal difference on them. There’s a sense that this is must win for the home side.

Sundsvall have a decent home record against today’s opponents, having not lost to them in their last 6 meetings. They started the game as you’d expect, quick, pushing up, creating chances. Wilson missed a chance he should have scored, but the resulting corner was put in by Gracia, 1-0 to the home side, easy, right? Hammarby were barely in the game until the last ten of the first half, they were clinical though, Svendsen headed in a cross to grab an equaliser before the half was over.

It only went downhill in the second half for the home side. Despite coming out quickly again, they looked vulnerable whenever they were made to defend. Svendsen took a run at the defence, wasn’t closed down and managed to beat the keeper for his second of the game. All you could hear from here on were the away fans and with good reason. Paulsen legged it up the pitch and his gamble paid off as the ball fell to him and he struck for 3-1. Sævarsson fizzed the ball across the box but it was intercepted by the keeper before it could reach Smárason. Not to worry for the midfielder though as Svendsen put it on a plate for him in stoppage for him to give Hammarby a flattering and well deserved 4-1 win away from home. Sundsvall will now have to beat Göteborg and hope Jönköping lose their final game to avoid the play-offs.

GIF Sundsvall 1 - 4 Hammarby IF

IFK Norrköping vs Malmö FF - 16/10/17

Taking my first steps into Swedish League football. Every time I have watched a Swedish side before it has been against one of the big guns in the Champions League, with the Swedes always being the underdogs. Today was different, I watched a match between IFK Norrköping and Malmö FF. Here was the table before the match:

With three games to go after this match, Malmö fans knew a win today would see their team seal the league title (and in place Champions League qualification for next season). The runner up and the third placed team qualify for the Europa League along with the winner of the Svenska Cupen (their domestic cup). Norrköping knew a win today would take them to 46 points and give them a real chance of qualifying for Europe.

It really was a match of two halves. In the first, it seemed as though Norrköping were winning all the first and second balls, they were latching onto everything. They were quicker, hungrier and much more direct in their offensive play. Malmö on the other hand, when they had the ball were playing at a snails pace. Norrköping were using their wingers well, and broke the deadlock and potentially Malmö’s party, with David Moberg Karlsson (or DMK). He was given the ball near the half way line and made a lovely run and shot from outside the box. The goal keeper probably should have done better, but the home side were in dreamland. For the most part they dominated the first half, though in injury time, Malmö midfielder Lewicki appeared to be pushed to the ground, but no penalty was given.

When I said it was a game of two halves, I meant it. Malmö were incredible in the second half, they were immediately on the front foot and it only took until the 48^th minute for them to equalise. It was a lovely team goal, with a nice through ball from Christiansen to Strandberg who finished it off neatly. Lewicki nearly scored a cracker, before Nielson headed in a corner to put his team 2-1 ahead. If the travelling Malmö fans weren’t ecstatic enough by now, after seeing Christiansen cut in and score a goal the superstars could be proud of, they were now! They impatiently waited for the final whistle, as soon as it came they were off. Malmö fans in their droves stormed the pitch to congratulate their team, who had successfully won a 20^th league title! The most successful Swedish club side in Allsvenskan history!

My man of the match has to be that Danish fella, Christiansen, he set up the first goal, took the corner that led to the second and scored a beauty. 10/10.

Don't forget about the dead balls

How important are dead balls to FPL?

A record 3.8 million players signed up for FPL as the season kicked off, a Game Week 1 record (now over 4 million players). As football fans, we surely want our team to dominant possession tika taka style and score a bakers dozen, as we've seen from the first 2 fixtures of the season, goals will flow but it'll be at both ends of the pitch. We want to look at the dead balls here, the penalties, free kicks and corners, why? Well, look at Pulis. West Brom are the only team I'd prefer to have a defender than a striker for, we only need to look at yesterdays game. A Brunt (5.5m) corner, a Hegazi (4.5m) header, 8 and 15 points respectively. Keep your eye on who's taking corners and who (specifically towering centre backs) is getting on the end of the those crosses.

Penalties

Sometimes a goal scorer isn't a goal scorer. Milner isn't known for his goal scoring attributes, but he scored 7 goals for Liverpool in the League last season, all from the penalty spot, now listed as a defender, his goals are worth 6 points rather than 5. 

Selected players who netted more than 3 pens last season were, Sigurdsson: 3 - 8.5m TSB: 7.7%, Deeney: 3 - 6.5m TSB: 1.0%, Aguero: 4 - 11.5m TSB: 11.2%, Defoe: 5 - 8.0m TSB: 5.6%, Kane: 5 - 12.5m TSB: 37.9%, Milner: 7 - 6.5m TSB: 7.4%

*TSB – teams selected by.

Looking at the newly promoted sides, in the Championship last season Ritchie scored 5 pens for Newcastle and for Brighton, Hemed (6) and Murray (4) buried a few. Huddersfield scored fewer penalties but Lowe and Mooy were both on target.

Clean Sheets

Clean sheets are hard to predict in the Prem (13 goals in the first 2 games of this season, phew!) so which goalkeepers are your best choice? You want those that make saves to get bonus points but it's also worth noting who can save a penalty (keepers get +5 points for a penalty save).

Last season, Forster topped the chart with three saves, but 16 keepers saved at least one penalty last season, among them: Heaton, Mignolet, Fabianski. I recall the season before last, Huerelo Gomes saving two penalties in one game, plus a clean sheet so 16 points before BPS, having him that one game would have meant the difference between finishing 2nd and finishing 1st in my league. 

Let us also not forget about free kicks, that Coutinho goal against Palace, the De Bruyne under the wall kick against Bournemouth or that Sigurdsson goal at Old Trafford. It is difficult to know which player/s from each team to side with, but one thing we know is there are a handful of fouls leading to a number of set pieces. Below is a list of possible dead ball takers.

Club	Penalty Takers	Direct Free-kicks	Corners / Non-Directs
Arsenal	Alexis / Lacazette / Giroud / Özil / Welbeck	Alexis / Cazorla / Özil / Walcott	Özil / Cazorla / Xhaka / Alexis / Chamberlain / Walcott
Bournemouth	Wilson / Defoe / King / Stanislas / Afobe / Arter	Arter / Fraser	Stanislas / Daniels / Fraser / Arter / Pugh / Gradel
Brighton	Murray / Hemed	Knockaert / Stephens / Gross (the b) / Skalak / March	Knockaert / Stephens / Gross / Skalak / March / Dunk / Bruno / Kayal / Murphy
Burnley	Vokes / Barnes / Walters	Brady / Arfield / Hendrick	Brady / Arfield / Defour / Gudmondsson
Chelsea	Hazard / Fabregas / Willian / Costa	Alonso / Luiz / Willian / Fabregas	Willian / Fabregas / Pedro / Hazard
Crystal Palace	Milivojevic / Benteke / Cabaye / Wickham	Milivojevic / Puncheon / Cabaye / van Aanholt	Puncheon / Cabaye / van Aanholt
Everton	Baines / Rooney / Barkley / Mirallas	Barkley / Rooney / Mirallas / Baines	Mirallas / Rooney, Baines / Barkley
Huddersfield	Löwe / Mooy	Mooy / Ince /Wells / Löwe	Löwe, Mooy / Ince / Hefele
Leicester City	Mahrez / Slimani / Vardy / Ulloa	Mahrez / Fuchs / Drinkwater / Albrighton / Gray	Albrighton / Fuchs / Mahrez / Drinkwater / James / Gray
Liverpool	Firmino / Milner / Henderson / Sturridge / Coutinho	Henderson / Milner / Coutinho / Sturridge	Milner / Henderson / Coutinho / Firmino
Man City	Aguero / Jesus / Toure / De Bruyne	De Bruyne / Silva / Toure	De Bruyne / Silva / Sterling
Man Utd	Lukaku / Pogba / Mata / Martial	Mata / Lindelöf / Lukaku	Blind / Mata / Herrera / Young
Newcastle	Ritchie / Gayle / Mitrovic	Ritchie / Shelvey / Gayle / Atsu	Ritchie / Shelvey
Southampton	Austin / Gabbiadini / Tadic / Bertrand / Ward-Prowse / Davis	Tadic, Ward- Prowse / Redmond / Van Dijk	Ward-Prowse / Tadic / Davis / Bertrand
Stoke City	Adam / Bojan / Shaqiri	Adam / Shaqiri / Arnautovic	Allen / Shaqiri / Adam / Affelay
Swansea City	Sigurdsson / Abraham	Sigurdsson / Carroll	Sigurdsson / Carroll / Routledge
Tottenham Hotspur	Kane / Janssen / Alli / Lamela	Eriksen / Lamela / Kane	Eriksen / Lamela / Son
Watford	Deeney / Gray	Holebas	Watson / Capoue / Holebas
West Brom	Chadli / Morrison	Brunt / Rondon / Morrison	Phillips / Brunt / McClean / Morrison
West Ham	Noble / Lanzini / Carroll / Arnautovic	Noble / Arnautovic / Lanzini / Snodgrass / Cresswell	Lanzini / Noble / Arnautovic / Snodgrass / Cresswell

Who was your secret weapon last season? Sigurdsson was mine. Got my eye on Xhaka following his 2 assists.

My favourite place on earth

It seems silly and unorthodox to me that I haven’t approached this subject sooner. It seems completely unfair that my heart hasn’t bounced and pondered over this very incandescent, I feel. Everyone holds a torch for somewhere and my torch is elevated for California. As an English born-and-bred girl of the world, I cannot possibly speak of life in California, as I have no frame of reference. I can talk of love and hopefulness, that’s what us Brits do best.

When I was a wee gal, I enthralled in a stunning obsession with the WWF (now commonly known as the WWE), in which a strange fantasy about San Diego began. This was for the meaningless reason that ‘Rey Mysterio Jr’ originated from there. He was my favourite. Probably because of his mask. Probably because he wasn’t so hench. Probably because he was different.

Since then, the name has played on certain strings of my heart. I’ve yet to find a negative. So, after a lot of overtime at work, me and my friend headed on a quest to California where we visited: Pomona, we visited LA, we rode a tram in San Fran, we were inspired at Alcatraz, we were in awe at Beverly Hills, in love at Universal Studios, confused by the early morning heat in Valencia (Six Flags theme park) and taken aback by the Grand Canyon. Really, there aren’t enough boasting-positive-breath-taking adjectives in the world to describe it and the California deserts.

To anyone who lives in the Sunny State I am sure this is all very stereotypical of a tourist attraction.

Let me explain. Here in England we have do have beautiful landscapes like: the Valleys and hill tops in Northern Wales, the acres of countryside in the South west of England (Devon/Cornwall), the shimmering views of the Lake District and these are just to name a view. There are many beautiful places in our part of the world, none are comparable to the masses and masses I saw in the summer. Being in a theme park in Valencia and seeing mountain upon mountain, all sides, all ways for miles, this is just something I couldn’t get my head around. It’s the same way I couldn’t get my head around the fact that New York City is always alive, the height of the buildings, the flashing lights at 4am, at 6am, at midday….it’s a completely different culture. One that I want to indulge in and lose myself in and breathe in.

I’m keeping this short and sweet, because the feeling of love is not one that can be duplicated, it is not one people can fully relate to (as people experience feelings to different to everyone else), it is not one you can confirm a concrete definition for. Here I’ve dealt with the concrete land, a place that encompasses all my happiness, but of course, my favourite place to be is in the cuddlin-arms, and that is where we’re all happiest.

Life-Impact

How much of a life-impact do the things we ‘enjoy’ have on us?

People ask me on a regular basis because of the part-time job I have, what else I do. When I tell them I’m at University, they ask what I’m studying, why I am studying English Literature, what made me do so, what I want to be etc.

An obvious answer, I enjoy literature - I want to write. But, recently whilst in a mist of stress and confusion, as anyone who has been to University (or College) will know the feeling all too well, that there are no clear choices as to why I’m here.

I could date back to my childhood yet for simplicity, I’ll withdraw and I’ll backtrack only as far as the summer before I started University. I was working as a Marketing Assistant for a Language College, and I’d applied and successfully been accepted for a place on a Marketing Degree at a prestigious University. I was heavily into my music back then, not that my love has dwindled, (it has just been sidelined for more important responsibilities). I unfortunately cannot remember how, albeit the path of a British Indie-Rock band called ‘Maximo Park’ aligned with mine. Incase you’re interested in knowing more about them, all that is really important to know is that they are lyrically very good. Many of (if not all) of their songs being able to be read stand-alone as poems and very beautifully at that. I was in aw, I grew up with simple lyrics to simple music (pop-punk). This band single-handedly transformed my future musical collection, I no longer looked for one-liners or ‘fun and meaningless’ lyrics, I instead dominated my collection with romantic poems, songs filled with picture-perfect metaphors and imagery that left my jaw dropped. Of course, I still enjoyed music for the musical goodness it had and classical music remains my favourite genre, but something had changed and made an impact on my mind in a way that nothing ever had before.

A few months after this discovery, I was hit by some bad news, as I’d never really experienced anything negative in my life before, I did not know how to deal with this. I’m not one that could douse myself in alcohol or junk food, so I decided to write in a complex style, much more complex than I had ever written before. I decided to follow this project through to the end even when my melancholy sadness had evaporated.

Alongside my writing and the starting of my Marketing degree, I concluded in my mind that I was undertaking the wrong degree. In a rapid turn of events, I dropped out of the University and was very very fortunate to be accepted onto a course just a few weeks after the start (the degree I’m currently taking).

Two and a half years later and I still find the same thrill in writing as I did that day I tried to cure my unhappiness, and now write when in all variants of moods. This is hardly a biographical acknowledgement as my career has barely begun, though one silly YouTube search a few years has shaped how I’ve spent the past three years of my life, the people I’ve met and the interests I’ve made. I’m intrigued in myself to see how far those first three minutes I spent listening and watching that music video, can take me.

How is maths important in our lives?

I want to start off by saying that this is not going to be a long fragmented piece about how you-need-to-learn-maths-at-school-kids because one day you may have to do some simple adding and subtracting. Y’know, when you grow up and get a real job and have incomes/outcomes and budgets and life to deal with. No, this is going to be an article about the real maths we encounter. The - how many minutes in an hour, how to tell the time on a 24 hour clock (which to my horror is still a major task for some of the population, how? I’m not sure either.) The real Maths in our lives. The schedules. Do you make schedules? Yes of course you do. And, do you stick to them? Perhaps sometimes, depending on what you do for a living, I suppose?

As soon as you mention the word timetables or schedules, an instant groan appears across the sweat-drenched acne-ridden teenager in the corner who now has to slave away from his Warhammer for a night. Or, the middle-aged bearded man who has to peel himself off his rotten sofa, drop the weed he was going to smoke and concentrate on a given task. I may be a bit harsh here, though it’s the lack of freedom which is the main contributor as to why many object the idea of scheduling.

Infact there are several kinds of freedom and usually a misunderstanding between two of them leads to a confusion.

First: the freedom to choose, to perform a free act.
It means that a human person cannot be forced to perform any free act against his/her will. This a negative form of freedom, because it is freedom from external necessity (such as physical coercion)

Second: the freedom to determine oneself to form oneself and one’s act. This is a positive freedom for one’s goal.

According to: The Augustine Club, at Columbia University.

Apparently a common understanding of the latter explanation can lead you to believe you’re not free at all. Let me explain with an example we’ve all experienced once or twice before. It’s a sunny day, so one might be tempted to enjoy a day at the beach or the park. There is nothing freer, in my opinion than being at one with nature. Although if you spend the day have fun then it could result in failure in your exam. Therefore, if you study then you become “free” to pass the exam and the new (or revised) knowledge could enable you to pass and better fulfil your goal in life.

Schedules are important because they me the: “ability to do what I want with my life as a whole”. In a mixed up kind of way, Maths is essential in our life, and no, I did not take Maths further than the compulsory.

pont des Arts and other magical beauties

Pont des Arts, and other magical beauties

The ‘Pont des Arts’ is a famous bridge, which crosses the Scine River in Paris. When you stand on the bridge you are apparently at the centre of Civilisation. On one side you can see the institute of France, a College which was built in 1670 and is a seat for education. On the other side you see the Louvre – the Palace of Art. If you look up stream then you are greeted by the Cathedral of Notre Dame. As a writer, artist – really anyone in the arts, to stand here is a dream come true. Many people have walked along the bridge just to feel inspired and take in what the city has to offer. Many great Novels have been written based on this spectacular landmark. One to note is Wilhelm Hauff’s Novel ‘Die Betterin vom Pont des Arts (1826; The True Lover’s Fortune; or The Beggar of the Pont des Arts), which he wrote while on a journey through France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Another example, of a place so inspiring the words just fling out of people’s minds onto their paper is Venice. Venice’s attributes are best described by Sergei Diaghilev, he said: “all that is real is in constant contact with magic and mystery”. There are many different explanations to this critique of Venice. Venice is built on water, reflections are darting off of the water so that you are never alone, the cobbled streets bring out the subtlety or blunt tones of your feet as the sound echoes its way into your ears and the translucence of the city toys with your vision. Just as the water will fall through your fingers so will the City. Light and darkness are never more prominent than in the Venetian City. Housing home to a magnificent cemetery that has buried the likes of Stravinsky amongst many other famous names and playing with the idea of what we see being light and dark. In terms of morality, sin, redemption etc. we are mis-led by the fact that we are enjoying the view. The patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (or Saint Mark’s Basilica) is a beautiful stature. It is one that many visit but it is full of stolen property. An arsenal of stolen property, even. Venice used to be the centre of trade, and therefore the Venetian Empire took from the world anything possibly could. They claimed it was done for spiritual reasons however.

The list of novels then which are set in Venice is remarkable. A few include: Michelle Lovric ‘The Remedy’, Donna Leon’s ‘Death at la Fenice’, and Michael Didbins ‘Dead Lagoon’. If you’re interested, a man called Jeff Cotton has compiled an extensive list of Novels set in the City along with various interviews and accreditations over at: fictionalcities.co.uk/venice

Going back to the Pont des Arts, and the centre of civilisation A question over what is civilisation needs to be asked. Civilisation is something that you are born into. Like a pack of wolves they are a civilisation, despite the fact they are hunting and killing food which is considered to be ‘uncivil’ by some. There has to be a higher acceptance, or morality that the way things are being done is correct. When a breakdown in civilisation occurs and conflict emerges, we start to question the human truths. Stolen items are in these magnificent buildings in Paris, these buildings were constructed by working-class people. The higher people are accepted but the lowers are doing the work. All that being said Venice and Paris are beautiful cities that continue to enlight and motivate hundreds every day.