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Sportz - Ryan Smith
Today I will profile the nineteen year old German wonderkid...
Mario Götze
Club - Borussia Dortmund
Age - 19
Height - 5 ft 9 1⁄2
Position - Attacking Midfielder
2011-12 stats -16 Appearances (5 goals, 7 assists)
Many of you may have heard the name Mario Götze mentioned recently. This has probably come from the German starlet being linked to a host of top European clubs. Most notably from Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid, as well as German giants Bayern Munich.
Former AC Milan striker and German legend Oliver Bierhoff has recently urged Serie A clubs to take a look at him, stating he believes the youngster would excel in Serie A. He added: "Whoever signs him would be completing a great bit of business. He's only 19, but he can already be considered as world class". Big words from a big name in world football.
Götze has no shortage of admirers. Ex Dortmund sweeper Matthias Sammer, who won fifty one caps for his country, described Götze as "one of the best talent's Germany's ever had". So, should we be excited? Well, it certainly looks like this kid's the real deal.
A product of Borussia Dortmund's youth academy, Götze made his club debut at the age of seventeen. The 2010-2011 season saw him play an incredible forty-one games, scoring eight goals and making twelve in the process. Staggering form for a youngster at a top club.
He started the 2011-12 season where he left off last season, scoring a goal and setting up the other two in a 3-1 win over Hamburger SV. Since then, he's been a mainstay in the Dortmund team, his season tally so far reading five goals, seven assists.
Before making his full international debut at the age of eighteen, Götze had made made a mark on many levels in international football. He rose through the ranks, playing with the under 15's, 16's, 17's & 21's before being deemed worthy of gracing the senior team. So far, he has made ten apperances for his country, scoring twice. He will certainly make his first appearance in a major competion next summer at Euro 2012.
His career so far is reminiscent to that of Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder, now at Barcelona, broke into Arsenal's first team and the Spanish national team at a similar age to Götze. They also play in similar central attacking midfield roles. Götze can also be deployed on the right wing, but looks more comfortable playing centrally. Götze has every chance of achieving what Fabregas has and even exceeding it.
I've struggled to find any weaknesses in his game, his technical ability is second to none, a great passer of the ball who takes most games by the scruff of the neck. He is also very quick, and his stats show he creates as well as scores his share of goals.
This supremely talented young footballer has it all, and has everything it takes to become one of the world's greatest players.
Filmz - Josh Motteram
This week I'll be covering two foreign films, first up is...
Un prophete (A prophete) - 2009
Filmz - Josh Motteram
This week I'll be covering two foreign films, first up is...
Un prophete (A prophete) - 2009
Directed by Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), this French masterpiece is one of my favourite foreign films, and I would recommend it to anyone. At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival it took the second highest award and has since received a lot of attention.
Set in a gritty French jail split into Muslim and Corsican factions, the young and impressionable petty criminal Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) enters as a boy. But after being caught up in the inner workings of the criminal underworld and gangster hierarchy behind bars, leaves as a badass mutherfucker. The acting’s brilliant, the story superb and the subtitles mean you can’t take your eyes off it. Definitely check it out.
13 Assassins - 2010
This Japanese epic, directed by Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer), is another favourite. Imagine The Last Samurai without Tom Cruise and A LOT more fighting.
Set in 1840’s Japan
After first gathering a following of 12 other loyal samurai and then laying an ambush for the approaching Lord and his 200 men, the last two thirds of the film are an absolute bloodbath of excessive Kill Bill style artery explosions and decapitations. As the few face the many, most inevitably die, often in quite horrific detail.
But it’s not all gore. The back stories of each of the 13 samurai give the film a touching human feel, and coupled with the beautiful Japanese landscape and language throughout, it’s quite an experience, and one that I’ve come to find and appreciate with most Japanese films.
Muzique - Tommy Howe
I’ll also be writing about the numerous albums that have influenced my existence in a memorable way. This one is probably the album I’ve listened to more than any other in this year.
Artist: Talking Heads
Album: Stop Making Sense
Year: 1984
Genre: ‘Post Punk’, ‘New Wave’
Rating: 9.0/10
Verdict: Arguably the best live album ever recorded.
Stop Making Sense is a live album, recorded at a now infamous concert at the Pantages Theatre, Hollywood
The album starts to the sound of applause as charismatic front-man David Byrne graces the stage with a cassette player in hand. In ice-cold fashion he merely utters “Hi…I’ve got a tape I want to play you’ and using a pre recorded drum machine launches into a breathtaking rendition of ‘Psycho Killer’, the crowd in the palm of his hand hang onto his every note.
Gradually Byrne is joined by more and more members of his band, as he belts out a charming stripped down version of ‘Heaven’ before the tempo is raised for both ‘Thank You for Sending Me an angel’ and ‘Found A Job’. At this point the album has picked up considerable energy and subsequently things really kick off. ‘Slippery People’ gets funkier with every listen and ‘Burning Down The House’ is truly anthemic.
The album carries most efficacy in the middle section. ‘Life During Wartime’ & ‘Swamp’ in particular demonstrate the albums range of levels as it progresses from the expansive vigour of the former to the darker and more menacing tone of the latter.
For those of you not familiar with these funk gods, tracks 10 & 11 will undoubtedly cause the various cogs and gears in your memory banks to turn, trying to pin down where you’ve heard these two blinders before. ‘Once in a Lifetime’ and ‘This Must be the Place’ are perhaps the band’s most widely recognized hits.
The album eventually closes with ‘Crosseyed and Painless’, a song that initially delivers what you think might be a soothing instrumental end to this masterpiece, yet an abrupt change of pace provokes a frenzy of funk and soul, once again highlighting the bands proficiency in keeping the listener guessing.
What is invariably lost with the soundtrack is what’s happening on stage which makes the recording all the more spellbinding. Byrne, in his iconic ridiculously oversized suit wobbles and jerks throughout and instils my favourite outlook when it comes to dancing and inhibitions… Just fucking go for it.
This album has grown on me more than any other and as such I hold the Talking Heads in the highest regard. The movie is brilliantly shot and edited and I can’t stress enough how important it is to watch it in order to comprehend the genius of David Byrne. In my mind, Stop Making Sense is the greatest rock movie ever made and the greatest live album ever released. Truly stunning.
Watch these:
'Slippery People'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnu3TqDKXZY
'This Must be the Place (Naive Melody)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqg_ZGcuybs
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Check the following blogs out:
* 'Serie A Weekly' by Ryan Smith
* 'Trash Boredom' by Tommy Howe
* I also write for 'Forza Italian Football', my articles can be viewed here.
'This Must be the Place (Naive Melody)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqg_ZGcuybs
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Check the following blogs out:
* 'Serie A Weekly' by Ryan Smith
* 'Trash Boredom' by Tommy Howe
* I also write for 'Forza Italian Football', my articles can be viewed here.
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