Favourite Five: things to bring back from Football’s past

When I first got interested in football as a young child during the early 1990’s I always wondered why my elders kept going on about the olden days in football and how it is ‘not the same’. Fast forward twenty years and I can finally see their point of view as often find myself in a day dream of nostalgia in football past.

It’s not up for debate that football has improved dramatically from better playing surfaces, stadiums to player fitness and even ability but I’ve found myself brainstorming things from football’s past that I and maybe you would like to see back in the beautiful game. Let’s start the ball rolling with this top 5 and the Home Nations.

Favourite Five…..Highlights of the Season 2010/2011

 Well, despite being sick of end of season awards, alternative season reviews and anything else of the same, I thought I’d join in with this one-off piece on my Favourite Five feature on the best moments I can remember from the 2010/2011 season.

There have been so many incidents in footy over the recent campaign since the first ball was kicked back in August 2010 to the final whistle at Wembley for the Championship play-off final. Despite the English Premier League losing quality, it certainly made up for it in drama.

Whilst the Football League actually grew in quality making it a competitive 3 leagues across the 72. I’m doing this article on a whim, so I may have forgotten some key incidents from the season that really irked me or caused me to celebrate, laugh or spit my dummy out. Whatever, let’s get on with it. Here’s my best moments from 2010/2011…

Favourite Five…football video games of all time

With almost Twenty-Odd years of video game history there have been a huge number of Football games across a wide range of Consoles, from the early days of the Nintendo and Commodore to the now modern SONY and Microsoft models. But just what are Verbal Football’s Favourite Five football video games of all time?

Favourite Five…full-backs in the EPL this season

  Arguably the most underrated of all positions on the football pitch, the full back position whether left-back or right-back plays the unsung hero role. Whether it’s helping out the central defence and goalkeeper with vital interceptions and tackles, the full-back also links the defence with midfield.

In today’s game, the full-back position has transformed and progressed from that of the past. Despite full-backs in the past often asked to overlap and supply crosses into the area from deep they were more defensive minded than the modern day players, who are more like wing-backs.

Perhaps it is the change in football tactics and philosophy as well as the athleticism of the sport that have contributed to this but it’s no surprise these days to see the likes of Fabio, Raphael, Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker (to name a few examples) bursting forward like an old fashioned winger from the full back position.

The English Premier League has been gifted with some of the best right and left backs in the last decade with the likes of Ashley Cole and Gary Neville, the latter announcing his immediate retirement this season. This years EPL season has had plenty of criticism in terms of quality but there still has been some top performers. So who have been my Favourite Five full-backs in the EPL?