Who are the all-time top goalscorers in the Premier League? Which Premier League players have scored 100 goals or more? Who has scored the most goals in each Premier League season? And who is the top Premier League scorer this season?

Below we’ve answered all of the above questions – all players in the Premier League 100 club, the golden boot winners from previous Premier League seasons and the goalscoring charts from the most recent (2011/2012) Premier League season.

The top five Premier League goal scorers get their own little write up and a link to video of their goals. Everyone outside of that gets just their name, the clubs they played and scored for (or club, in the case of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Matt LeTissier) and, of course, their total number of Premier League goals.

You can also jump directly to the Premier League Golden Boot winners and Most Premier League goals this season sections.

All Time Premier League Top GoalScorers

	ALAN SHEARER	260 EPL GOALS
	Blackburn (1992-1996), Newcastle (1996-2006)

Alan Shearer, OBE, was born on 13th August 1970. Having started his career at Southampton, he went on to become one of the most prolific scorers of all time with Blackburn and his beloved Newcastle.

Great in the air, predatory from close range and deadly from distance, Shearer was at one time the complete striker. A series of knee injuries robbed him of some pace, but Shearer adapted his game in his later years and continued to find the net.

After the first ten years of the Premier League, Shearer was named as the outstanding player of the decade. He is also listed in the FIFA 100 greatest living footballers.

Shearer played 63 times for England, scoring 30 goals. He captained the side on 34 occasions.

Now working as a pundit on BBC television’s Match of the Day, Shearer had a brief spell as Newcastle United manager in 2008/9, when he took charge for the last eight games but was unable to save the club from relegation.

Alan Shearer GOALS

	ANDY COLE	187 EPL GOALS
	Newcastle (1993-95), Manchester Utd (1995-2001), Blackburn (2001-04), Fulham (2004-05), Man City (2005-06), Portsmouth (2006-07), Birmingham (2007), Sunderland (2007-08)

Andy Cole, or Andrew Cole, as he now prefers to be called was born on 15th October 1971. He began his career with Arsenal, but played just one game before moving to Bristol City. His goal scoring exploits for The Robins caught the attention of Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, who signed the striker in 1993. Cole partnered Peter Beardsley, won the First Division and continued scoring in the Premier League for he following two seasons.

He was sold controversially to Manchester United in 1995, where he went on to achieve huge success. He was the top scorer in Europe for United in the treble winning season of 1998-99, a season in which he and Dwight Yorke contributed 53 goals between them overall. Cole scored the goal that won the Premier League title, and the goal that took them to the Champions League final. He has five Premier League winners medals, one Champions League winners medal and two FA Cup winners medals.

Since leaving United Cole has played at Blackburn, Fulham, Mancheser City, Portsmouth, Birmingham and Sunderland, without quite recapturing his best goal scoring form. Cole finished his career with a loan move to Burnley and a brief spell at Nottingham Forest before retiring in 2008.

Cole was awarded the PFA Young player of the year award in 1994, and played 15 games for Engand, scoring just one goal.

Andy Cole GOALS

	THIERRY HENRY	176 EPL GOALS
	Arsenal (1999-2007), Arsenal (2012)

Thierry Henry was born on 17th August 1977. He moved to Arsenal after a relatively successful career in France and Italy, but was regarded by many as an overrated wide player. Arsene Wenger converted Henry to be a striker and the rest, as they say, is history. Pacy, classy, goalscoring history.

Henry’s goals won the Premier League twice for Arsenal, including the 30 league goals he scored as Arsenal’s famous Invincibles went the entire 2003/4 season unbeaten. Henry was twice awarded the PFA Players Player of the Year award, and also won the Football Writers Player of the Year award on two occasions.

For France, Henry scored 51 goals in 123 appearances and has World Cup and European Championship winners medals.

Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona in 2007, where he won La Liga, the Champions League, Copa Del Rey and the Club World Cup. He currently plays for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. Henry made an emotional loan return to Arsenal in January 2012, playing for 7 weeks and scoring a few crucial goals, including 2 in the league.

Thierry Henry GOALS

	ROBBIE FOWLER	163 EPL GOALS
	Liverpool (1993-2001), Leeds Utd (2001-03), Manchester City (2003-06), Liverpool (2006-07), Blackburn (2008)

Robbie Fowler was born on 9th April 1975. He grew up in Toxteth, a rough area of Liverpool, and went on to become one of the best players ever to represent the Reds. In 1995 and 1996 he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Renowned for his natural finishing ability, in 1994 Fowler scored three times in 4 minutes, 33 seconds against Arsenal, still the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history. His goal scoring exploits were always matched by the controversy surrounding him. He was particularly criticised when after scoring a goal he pretended to snort the paint from the six yard line, following rumours of a cocaine addiction. Presenting his backside to Graeme Le Saux, rumoured to be gay, was also an episode that Fowler should not be proud of.

Fowler left Liverpool for Leeds United and then Manchester City, but was back at Anfield for one more year in 2006/7. Fowler went on to play for Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers before moving to Australia in 2009, where he played a season for North Queensland Fury before moving to current club Perth Glory.

Fowler played 26 times for England scoring 7 goals.

Robbie Fowler GOALS

	LES FERDINAND	149 EPL GOALS
	Queens Park Rangers (1992-95), Newcastle (1995-97), Tottenham (1997-2003), West Ham (2002-03), Leicester (2003-04), Bolton (2004-05)

Les Ferdinand, MBE, was born on 8th December 1966. He began his career scoring goals galore for lower league Hayes, and continued to do so wherever he went. His first big move was to top flight Queens Park Rangers, where he spent eight years banging in goals from 1987 to 1995 before earning a high profile move to Newcastle United. On Tyneside, Ferdinand developed a frightening strike partnership with Alan Shearer.

Like Shearer, Ferdinand was the complete package. Fast, strong, deadly in front of goal, and absolutely unbeatable in the air. After two years at Newcastle he moved on to Tottenham, where he spent six successful years before playing for West Ham, Leicester, Bolton and Reading.

Ferdinand was awarded the PFA players player award in 1996 and scored 5 goals for England gaining 17 caps.

Les Ferdinand GOALS

	MICHAEL OWEN	149 EPL GOALS
	Liverpool (1996-2004), Newcastle (2005-09), Man United (2009-12)

Michael James Owen was born on 14th December, 1979 in Chester, England. He is the son of a former forward of the 1970s, Terry Owen.

Michael Owen began his youth career in Liverpool in 1991. He progressed through the ranks and on his debut with the senior team in 1997, he scored. In his first full season in the English Premier League, he finished the season as the joint top-scorer with 18 goals.

Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and the Football League Cup and Owen was awarded the Ballon d’Or. He went on to score 118 goals for the Reds in the Premier League.

In 2004, Owen moved to Real Madrid and was frequently used as a substitute. The following season, he returned to England to Newcastle United with the highest goals scored to number of minutes played ration in Spain.

He scored another 26 Premier League goals for Newcastle until he was picked up as a back-up striker by Alex Ferguson. To this day, he plays for Manchester United.

Michael Owen GOALS

Rest of the EPL 100 Club

2011-12 Premier League Topscorers

Golden Boot winners

The following table is a list of winners of the Premier League Golden Boot per season, detailing their club, goal tally, actual games played, and their strike rate (goals/games).

Key to symbols:

      ^† – denotes the award was shared that season
      ^C – denotes the club were also League Champions that season
      ^E – denotes the player also won the European Golden Shoe that season
      (x) – denotes multiple winners of the award and their running total
 

 
NOTE #1: Teddy Sheringham scored his first goal of the 1992–93 season as a Nottingham Forest player, while the remainder were scored for Tottenham Hotspur following his transfer in August 1992.
NOTE #2: From the 1995–96 season onwards, the Premier League was reduced from 22 teams to 20, reducing the number of games in a league season from 42 to 38.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

In eighteen days’ time, Euro 2012 will start. Twenty three days of international tournament football, with matches being played almost every day for the twenty-three day duration. If you didn’t know or understand football supporters you may think that there wouldn’t be much interest. I mean the club season started in July and in late May we still have two playoff finals to take place. International football is plainly not of the quality or excitement of modern club football. Also this season we’ve had the most dramatic Premier League finale in decades, a captivating Champions League and amazing matches and goals. You’d think fans were footballed out.

Is this true though? In my case anyway, not at all. I think World Cups and European Championships are wonderful and the actual football that takes place is only part of it. It all starts the week before.  Special previews in the papers, magazines do special editions, podcasts pop up from summer hibernation. Lots and lots of build-up. Lots of talk about new players to terrestrial TV screens who in days of yore you’d never have heard of but now, in this age of Football Manager and millions of TV channels you nod sagely at talk of Oliver Giroud’s breakout season for Montpellier, Christian Eriksen being Denmark’s new wonderkid and Jose Bosingwa’s self-imposed exile from the Portuguese team.

Then you get the wall charts. Most offices and work places I’ve seen have these. I remember once at school going to see some IT technicians over some petty computer problem I had and seeing a World Cup wall chart where Uruguay was spelt ‘Uraguay’. I found that symbolic for what it must be like to be an IT technician at a secondary school. I also at the last World Cup plonked one on the wall of the upstairs toilet in my house. I filled in the results while having my early morning dump

The group stages are the best. This is because you get two or three games a day. Having football around the clock I find is great. If you don’t like football and live with people who like football I can imagine how loathed and feared having constant football for days on end can be. But I always abide by the principle that any football is better than no football at all. You may not always watch football but as long as there’s football to be read, analysed and discussed I’m happy.

The World Cup was great in that respect because in 2010 at least you had games kicking off at lunchtime. I’d occasionally watch games in my school’s sixth form common room before afternoon lessons. On one occasion I put £5 on North Korea to beat Portugal at 10/1. When I stopped watching late in the 1^st half it was only 1-0 Portugal. Then in my lesson we were watching a film and someone in my class was given the job of updating us World Cup watchers with the score. By the time we were halfway through the film North Korea had lost 7-0 and my friends were in hysterics. The mockery was much worse than the lost £5.

Having constant football to watch and talk about is the main reason why I love World Cups and European Championships. I may be showing a shocking lack of ambition by having little desire to do anything other than watch football monotonously for weeks on end, but sod it it’s not as if I want to do anything else.  I even quit the subject of Economics while doing my A-Levels earlier than I was supposed to in the last World Cup. Partly because I was planning to quit it anyway but mainly because I wanted to watch Argentina-South Korea one afternoon and the match was on while I was supposed to be in an Economics lesson drawing endless supply and demand graphs I didn’t understand. I can still remember playing football at lunchtime and then watching the 2^nd half of Argentina-South Korea to see a couple of super Higuain goals and thinking all was right with the world.

Football on the TV doesn’t make you meet new people you’d rather avoid, laugh at you for not having a spouse, chide you for your lack of social life or lack of enthusiasm for dubstep and modern fashion trends. Neither do wall charts or special edition podcasts or discussions about the cracking goal Russia’s left winger scored the previous night. The more reassuring wall charts and live matches on BBC1 and constant football chat, the better as far as I’m concerned.

I’m not even enormously bothered if the football is shite. The last World Cup for example was dreadful. I remember using the World Cup as a motivating tool to work through my AS level exams (the other motivation tool was finding every episode of Twin Peaks for free on the internet and watching two of those a day) and there were about two good games in a month of football. But given that I got a month of constant football I wasn’t complaining. And when the football is good like it was at Euro 2008, the better. I remember Turkey’s miraculous comebacks and Turks in my part of North London beeping horns and having parties at their native country’s successes.

I guess the negatives are that there is an uncomfortable stench of jingoism and patriotism when England are involved. Samuel Johnson once said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and he wasn’t wrong. The England team give a mouthpiece to a minority of idiots (known as ‘England fans’) who don’t know what they’re talking about and can be nastily aggressive if you aren’t some flag toting national anthem singing stooge. There’s more chance of George Osborne renouncing capitalism and condoning Keynesian economic policies than some drunken loon with little flags of St George painted on his face not belting out some horribly nationalistic, probably anti-German chant.

Obviously FIFA and UEFA do their best to ruin tournaments by doing little less than pillaging the country or countries hosting the tournament. They demand new stadia that are not necessary and quickly become white elephants. They are ferocious in the manner of a totalitarian government on sponsorship and marketing issues. Tickets scandalously go to corporate people who’ve done nothing their whole lives except lick arse and screw people out of money and get rewarded for this with seats situated on the halfway line for the Euro 2012 final. They grant tournaments to countries who imprison political opponents (Ukraine and Russia) and to Qatar where it’s so hot they don’t have natural grass, and where they see homosexuality as a criminal offence. Money is God.

If I was more conscientious and more politically minded I’d possibly boycott and protest these tournaments and their injustices. But to protest against one thing, that would start a snowball effect of loads of other things I should protest about and I’d end up unable to do or watch anything. All football has injustices with its governance somewhere down the line. And well, I want to watch football.

I want to watch football. In my life that’s largely what I do. And with World Cups or the upcoming European Championships, all football fans will have the chance to watch more and more football. And thank god we have the opportunity to do so starting on June the 8^th.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

On the back of a successful season that saw them achieve their highest ever Premier League finish, West Brom have reduced ticket prices in a bid to help the local community afford to watch live football matches and to encourage families and young fans to attend more games.

West Bromwich Albion have reduced all adult season tickets by £50 and knocked up to £70 off the cost of seats for youngsters. This is especially impressive considering that other clubs with outstanding seasons have all looked to increase ticket prices across the board. Man City, Reading, Swansea, Fulham and Norwich are all clubs that have hiked prices to either match demand or to bring ticket prices in line with ‘Premier League pricing’.

And unlike a few other Premier League clubs, Albion has little local pressure to drop prices. WBA’s 23,622 home allocation was 96% fully subscribed last season, and with the season ticket price cuts and the club on a stable footing in the league, WBA is likely to attract more fans now, especially from a younger generation.

In fact the club is mindful of the fact that they have a responsibility to help people in an area that has been particularly hard hit economically, and to also capitalise on their Premier League status by reaching out to local fans and making up for lost time when, in their words, a generation of supporters was lost.

Mike Jenkins, the Albion chief executive:

“I think our season-ticket prices for this season were already very competitive given our location and the size of the stadium, particularly when you look at our rivals, but we felt that we could still do more in the current climate.

There’s no doubt that youth unemployment is a very big issue at present. I’m a parent and I know full well that for teenagers and those in their early twenties even finding part-time employment is tough, never mind a full-time job. As a result we’ve really tried to focus on them and to focus on juniors too. In many ways that is the single biggest motivation behind our pricing strategy – to secure the next generation of fans.

Having talked with the consultation group, to season-ticket holders and supporters, it’s clear we lost a large number of a whole generation of fans between 1986 and 2002, primarily because we were out of the top division and struggling in that period but also because there were very harsh economic times in this area. If you look at the make-up of our crowd, there is definitely a weighting towards people from around 40 and older, and that reflects that period in time when we failed to attract as many new fans as we should have.”

West Brom Ticket Prices for 2012/2013

Albion have taken the unprecedented step of cutting season tickets by big margins, with the exception of the over-60s category where prices are frozen. All adult season tickets are down by £50, the Under-18 discount has been extended to Under-21s, where prices are reduced by up to £70, and the Under-16 discount has been extended to Under-17s, where prices are reduced by up to £30. Mark Jenkins, Albion’s chief executive, said: “We are hopeful this will lead to more young fans and families attending our home matches.”

Figures in full: Season-ticket prices reduced 11.3% for adults, frozen for over 60s, reduced 17.6% for U21s/U18s, reduced 14.98% for U17s/U16s renewing before 1 June (adults £349-£449, Over 60s £269-£329, U21s £199-£299, U17s £99-£139). Matchday prices: tbc.

Source: Guardian.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

David Villa has been ruled out of Spain’s Euro 2012 campaign, leaving Spain without their all-time record goalscorer. The onus will now fall on the likes of Llorente and of course Torres to step up to the plate and help Spain defend their European Championship crown.

The Barcelona forward has failed to prove his fitness to the head coach, Vicente del Bosque, after fracturing his tibia while in action for the Catalan side at the World Club Challenge in Japan in December.

Del Bosque had promised to give the 30-year-old until the last moment to get himself ready but, with his squad set to be named on Sunday, he has called time on Villa’s race to be fit.

A statement on the Spanish Football Federation’s official website on Tuesday night read:

“David Villa cannot definitely be on the list for Euro 2012.

“Villa spoke with the national team doctor this afternoon after the arrival of the team in the Austrian town of Schruns.

“After not getting in the final practice and development desired, David Villa spoke with Del Bosque, who relayed that although it was Villa’s wish to be with the team in Poland and Ukraine, that his physical state was ‘not as good’ as would be desirable.”

Spain will announce their Euro 2012 squad on Sunday.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Roy Keane was a team-mate and captain to Gary Neville for many years at Manchester United – at the same time that Ferguson brought Keane to Old Trafford, the young crop of players that included Gary Neville were making their mark in the youth team.

So when Keane was asked to comment on Neville’s appointment to the England backroom staff, you would expect an informed opinion. And Roy Keane, being Keane, duly delivered. In fact, he may even have paid his successor as United captain a compliment (see if you can spot it).

Roy Keane on Neville’s influence behind the scenes:

“It’s important you are yourself. Listen, Gary can talk but don’t think for one minute he was as influential in the dressing room as people might think he was. Gary would say his piece but he wasn’t running the show. Far from it.

So don’t think for one minute he will be going into England and calling the shots. He will be learning his trade and being a link between the manager and the players, and I think he will be good at that.”

On Neville continuing with his media commitments as Sky’s lead pundit for Champions League and Premier League matches, or his column in the Mail on Sunday:

“I’m surprised he has kept his role with doing TV. That can be difficult. You can get your way around criticising players by saying: ‘I’d expect the player to do better.’ He probably won’t be as critical as me and speak in the terms I do. I know Gareth [Southgate] does it, but he’s not in the dressing room, he’s not on the training pitch, he’s not working with the players.”

On Neville’s potential impact on England’s fortunes:

“There’s a lot of thumbs-up, everyone says it is a good appointment, but I’d say let’s wait and see. We’ve got to give him a chance. He’s not done any coaching before. I know he has done his coaching qualifications but sitting in a studio talking about teams is very different.

What he has got is he’ll be working under Roy Hodgson. It is not as if he will be calling the shots. He can learn his trade. I’m pretty sure if they have a decent tournament, or a decent couple of years, Roy Hodgson and his staff will get praise. If they don’t, the manager will get criticism and people will start criticising Gary. Gary’s a decent guy and he’s played at a decent level, but that doesn’t guarantee you success.”

On Neville entering management:

“You have to look at these opportunities when they come. You can’t be too clever when you are outside of football and not involved in a team, and if an opportunity comes up.

He is going to be working with top players and a top manager so there is no surprise Gary jumped straight into it. There is only one way to find out if you can do it or not – let’s get into it. It’s no good just talking about it. It’s not a week-to-week job. He will still have a bit of time off and will be learning from a top manager.”

It may not sound like it, but this is high praise from Roy Keane. I imagine his kids must be very jealous.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chelsea winning the Champions League will see the other English Champions League qualifiers lose a few million pounds each from UEFA’s pot of TV money going to the Premier League.

While this is a small part of the overall Champions League revenue split (explained in detail here for 2010/2011), it represents a loss nevertheless.

As part of the financial benefits of participating in the Champions League, each league’s clubs get a a share of UEFA’s TV money profits depending on their UEFA coefficient rankings. The Premier League were due £30m from the market pool pot, which would have been split according to the teams’ league standings.

Normally, as domestic champions Manchester City would get 40% of Uefa’s “market pool” pot of TV money totalling around £12m, the second-placed Manchester United 30% (£9m), the third-placed Arsenal 20% (£6m) and the fourth-placed club 10% (£3m).

Instead, with Chelsea winning the Champions League and qualifying as winners, they are now ‘tied’ with City in terms of TV revenue share. As such, City and Chelsea will each receive 30% (£9m), United 25% (£7.5m) and Arsenal 15% (£4.5m.). Uefa have said the figures would be confirmed by its executive meeting in July.

To put these numbers into perspective – each team gets a basic fee – £3.5m in 2010/2011 – for qualifying for the group stages each season, and the profits from qualifying for the knockout rounds and progressing further in the Champions League can mean a £20m difference.

The actual reduction in earnings will be loose change for the three Premier League clubs. Far more importantly, Chelsea’s bumper Champions League earnings will paper over the loss of earnings from finishing 6th in the league and continued Champions League participation will mean that they have another £20m-£25m to expect as a minimum next season.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The Samsung Galaxy Note is a powerful smartphone that doubles as a tablet – and when it comes to the London 2012 Olympics, it even has David Beckham using (and composing music with) the device.

The video, which demonstrates the unique features of the Samsung GALAXY Note, showcases Beckham’s incredible soccer skills as he reproduces the melody of Beethoven’s classic ‘Ode to Joy’ by kicking a series of soccer balls against a 15-foot wall of drums. Beckham uses the GALAXY Note’s large screen to plan his sequence of kicks against the drums. Then he uses the S Pen to annotate a photograph and post it on Facebook, capturing his experience and sharing it instantly with all his seventeen million fans.

GALAXY Note introduces a revolutionary new mobile device category. Retaining all the portability of a smartphone, its immersive large screen and advanced pen-input capabilities enable new possibilities for creating, rendering and sharing content with unique self-expression and spontaneity. GALAXY Note continues to win praise from consumers across the globe, recently surpassing 5 million sales in only 5 months since its launch.

Samsung, an Olympics sponsor since 1988, will be demonstrating the latest smartphones including GALAXY Note in the Olympic Village and throughout London for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The GALAXY Note – David Beckham full length video can be viewed on Facebook or Youtube.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Despite leading Chelsea to Champions League glory on Saturday it appears Didier Drogba has played his last game for the club.

France Football magazine has reported that the Ivory Coast star has confirmed he is leaving Stamford Bridge.

The striker has been quoted saying he informed his team-mates of his decision during the club’s open-top bus parade on Monday after leading them to the greatest moment in their history on Saturday night.

“We will no longer be together next season,” the 34-year-old said in quotes attributed to the magazine.

Drogba, who has reportedly already agreed a deal to join Shanghai Shenhua when his Chelsea contract expires this summer, is said to have admitted he struggled to get the words out and burst into tears.

He went on to say: “As I decided to leave, I wanted to tell them straight in the eye. Except that I could not do it. They made me crack.”

“Even though it’s been three years since I said I wanted to leave, I find it hard to admit that it’s over with this club – especially as I did not feel like this.”

“But I could not see myself sitting on the bench to watch others play when the club plans to set up a new team.”

“So that’s it – I am preparing for my leap into the unknown. It’s going to be another adventure.”

Man-of-the-match in Saturday’s historic Champions League final win over Bayern Munich, Drogba has repeatedly avoided questions about his future.

The 34-year-old has been linked with a lucrative move to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhuan, where his former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka is player coach.

If he does leave it would mean his very last kick for Chelsea would be the penalty that gave his side victory against Bayern.

For their part, Chelsea have refused to offer the two-year contract Drogba was looking for 

This news coincides with Fernando Torres announcing he’s also considering leaving the London club.

The Spanish International will hold talks with the club about his future after criticising the way he has been treated.

Torres admitted it was one of the biggest disappointments of his career to start on the bench in the Champions League final win over Bayern Munich.

Torres told Spanish journalist Guillem Balague:  ”I have been through the worst moments of my career during the season.

“I felt they have treated me in a way I was not expecting.”

The striker, signed from Liverpool for £50m in January 2011, has hit six league goals this season as part of a total of 11 in all competitions.

“It was a huge disappointment when I saw the line-up, perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life. I thought I would play in this game and I couldn’t imagine not doing so.”

Discussing his future, he added: “We’ve had a lot of talks and we’ll talk about my future at the end of the season because the role I’ve had this season is not for me, nor is it the one I expected to play when I came here.

There’s now huge uncertainty regarding the future of Chelsea’s two frontmen. If they were to leave, Daniel Sturridge would become the only established striker left at the club. Surely this means Abramovich intends to invest in a couple of attacking players this summer. Following Chelsea’s European success, the funds will definitely be available to do this.

Despite this, the next big question is: Where next for Drogba? Will he move to Asia for his own economic benefit? Or stay in Europe to challenge Chelsea in next year’s Champions League? There’s no doubt wherever he ends up, he will be playing first team football as a key member of the squad.

Follow me on twitter for football updates and opinions: https://twitter.com/#!/Chrisslinnell

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Germany has the most decorated national team in the history of the UEFA European Championship.

With three titles and three runners-up medals, Die Mannschaf is once again expected to be a force to be reckoned with.

However, they have not won a trophy since the European Championships in 1996 but many in the country believe Euro 2012 represents their best chance of doing so.

There is a strong-held belief that Joachim Low’s team have closed the gap on reigning champions Spain and that the time may be ripe to end the dominance of La Furia Roja

They will start the tournament in Group B where three heavily anticipated matchups with some of the world strongest teams await them.

Labeled the “Group of Death,” the German’s find themselves in the same collective battle for advancement alongside 2010 World Cup runners-up Holland, 2004 European Championship runners-up Portugal and 1992 European Champions Denmark.

However, despite all of these believed hurdles, Germany have the potential to record a fourth European title.

Qualifying Group Stage Goals Scored

Although any team can win on any given day, in the long run numbers do not lie.

Germany had the best differential out of their three opponents. With 34 goals scored and only seven allowed their 27 differential certainly proves both their offensive and defensive power in one number.

The nation’s 34 goals scored were only outpaced by fellow Group B nation the Netherlands, with 37 goals scored.

Only seven goals were allowed against the team, and the only other Group B nation with a better total was Denmark, who only allowed in six but scored just 15 for themselves.

Portugal was middle-of-the-road in both categories, with 14 goals against and 27 for.

The Germans have the best overall statistical total going into the summer competition.

Seasoned Core

Germany has one of the most veteran cores of players in the prime of their careers in the game.

Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Per Mertesacker, Manuel Neuer and national team captain Phillip Lahm are all between the age of 26 and 28 while combining for 425 appearances between the six of them.

These players were the youngsters at Euro 2008, but now another four years and a World Cup of experience later they all have the right amount of youth still left along with their time served to make them very important to the success of the nation this summer.

Youngsters Have Something to Prove

Not only do the German’s have a solid core of prime aged professionals, the nation also boasts some of the best up and coming talent between the ages of 19 and 23.

Borussia Dortmund’s Mario Götze, at only 19, is likely to be one of those that step into the spotlight and shine for their nation at the Euros.

Other young players that will look to begin a long tenure with the national team are Bayern Munich 22 year olds Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller.

Mesut Ozil at 23 is still looking to make an even bigger impact. The former Werder Bremen youngster starred at the last World Cup before linking up with Real Madrid after the tournament. Under Jose Mourinho Ozil has developed his game further and is now considered one of the best playmakers in the world. Ozil can dribble, play deft defense-splitting passes and scores his fair share of goals.

Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber are the next generation of central defenders for their nation and are set to be a major part of this summer’s back line.

Rounding out the possible youth display are several others in their early 20s, such as Borussia Monchengladbach’s Marco Reus, Schalke 04 defender Benedikt Höwedes,VfL Wolfsburg’s Christian Träsch, and Lars and Sven Bender of Bayer Leverkusenand Borussia Dortmund, respectively.

Podolski and Schweinsteiger in Their Prime

Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger will be hugely important to their nation once again.

There is no hiding their ability or their importance to the national side, as the two already have 95 (Podolski) and 90 (Schweinsteiger) appearances at the ages of 27 and 26.

As they enter the prime years of their career they have still years of service left at the top of their game and the German national team will see much more from the two of them.

The two have combined for 66 goals—43 for Podolski and 23 by Schweinsteiger.

Schweinsteiger also has 30 assists to add to his goals, while Podolski has nine.

This has been the best season of Podolski’s career from the club stand point which he will hopefully carry over into the summer.

Although he has had a recent injury, Schweinsteiger should be back to full fitness well within time to be at the top level for his nation.

Experienced Head Coach

Low has proved that he is not afraid to make ruthless decisions. In 2010 he told Torsten Frings that he would not be going to the World Cup despite being a fixture in the team at the previous World Cup, while last year he phased out Michael Ballack.

Low guided Germany to the final of Euro 2008 and the semi-finals of the last World Cup where they were beaten by Spain. He has lost just five competitive matches in charge of the national team.

Fan Support is Close at Hand

UEFA European Championship co-hosting nation Poland is one of Germany’s next door neighbours.

Once again, Germany are in the same situation with an ease of fan travel just as with the 2008 Euros in Austria and Switzerland.

If you think the fan support in Austria and Switzerland was strong four years ago, you can be sure it will be just as great or better this summer with Germany’s hopes higher than ever.

With three of the hardest games in the opening round—against Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark—the German national team will need all the support they can get.

Klose Wants the Record

Only five goals separate legendary Gerd Muller and modern day German national team sensation Miroslav Klose.

With 63 goals from 114 appearances Klose has taken more game to reach his total, but that time served only looks to prove his worth over time.

This summer’s European Championship is likely his last major tournament in which to achieve such greatness before the youth take his place up front.

History Likes to Repeat Itself

In Germany’s proud European championship history, they have already lifted Europe’s crown jewel of national trophies three times in 1972, 1980 and 1996.

What those results don’t tell you is that every time they have finished second place in the competition, the nation has come back and won the following tournament.

Their runner-up performances in 1968, 1976 and 1992 all saw the Germans come back more resilient and determined than before to make sure they were not humiliated once more.

In 2008, Germany were beaten 0-1 by Spain, thanks to a Fernando Torres goal. This time around the Germans will be out to make sure history repeats itself in their favour.

On top of it all the majority of the team is still together since the 2008 Euro’s, only now they are vastly more experienced after their third place finish in the 2010 World Cup.

Conclusion

Germany are set for a major fight to get through the Group stages.

They are in the ‘Group of Death’ and the presence of Holland, Portugal and Denmark means that Low’s side will have to hit the ground running in June. But they are arguably the strongest of these sides and one of the top two positions should be theirs.

A possible semi-final against Spain beckons if Germany can negotiate their way past one of Poland, Greece, Russia or the Czech Republic. There is a feeling amongst many that Spain, perhaps no longer as hungry, have plateaued while Germany are on the way up and this is the perfect opportunity for Low’s side to prove it.

Follow me on twitter for football updates and opinions: https://twitter.com/#!/Chrisslinnell.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

There are always plenty of ‘if’s, but’s and maybe’s’ when It comes to England at a major tournament; Euro 2012, though, will take that to a whole new level.

It says a lot about the upheaval surrounding the Three Lions that star man Wayne Rooney’s suspension for the first two matches of the competition is almost seen as the least of their worries. Since that ban by UEFA in December, England had also lost their captain and manager.

The disruptions to their preparations for this summer’s tournament, combined with a poor showing at the 2010 World Cup, have left even the usually impatient English tabloid press almost willing to write of Euro 2012 as a learning experience for the younger players.

However the recent appointment of Roy Hodgson as head coach, despite Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp being the out-right favourite, has seen the same approach as usual taken towards the competition, at least in terms of team selection.

The selected 23 players travelling to Ukraine contain many of the squad that featured at the last World Cup. With the tournament set to be the last international hurrah for the likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry and the newly-appointed captain, Steven Gerrard, can Englands ‘golden generation’ go out with a bang?

With Rooney missing until the Ukraine match; the forward line has required a huge overhaul. The attack is likely to be led by Manchester United youngster Danny Welbeck and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll. With just 7 caps between, it’s clear to see England lack a recognised international goal scorer in the absence of Rooney. I was slightly disappointed to see Crouch missing from the list of 23 players last Wednesday – his goal scoring record for his country speaks for itself (22 goals in 42 games.)

With a technically gifted player like Wilshere unavailable through injury, England are unlikely to compete with the likes of Spain when it comes to the short passing game. But what they do possess is a wealth of athletic and technically gifted wide players in Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ashleu Young. Getting the ball forward quickly may be England’s best chance of creating openings, and until Rooney returns they’ll need to do that as often as possible.

However, the three lions do have a squad full of players with Champions League experience. Even the Nation’s promising young talen t – the likes of Welbeck and Phil Jones – have already featured in Europe’s elite club competition.

There is also greater balance in midfield, with England finally having found a replacement for the Injury prone Owen Hargreaves, albeit most likely only a short term one, In Scott Parker. The Spurs enforcer, 31, having one only 3 senior caps before his 30^th birthday. But the composure, intelligence and maturity in his performances have seen him quickly become one of the first names on the England’s starting eleven. It’s just a shame that the injured Jack Wilshere cannot play alongside him.

Parker even captained England during Stuart Pearce’s short time in charge, leading the team to a 2-2 draw versus Holland. Personally, he would have been my choice as captain.

While in previous tournaments England have had a settled back four, there is now a degree of uncertainty regarding the starting players. With little time to bed in a unit, selection headaches at the back could prove particularly unwelcome.

It’s unlikely that Terry and Ashley Cole would miss out on a place in the first eleven, especially given their vast experience at international and European level. I think Ashley Cole will be very important for England if they wish to stand a chance against the best teams in the tournament. This season, for Chelsea he has proven his quality once again. Particularly in the Champions League fixtures, as he’s come up against the World’s best players including Lionel Messi and Frank Ribery.

The remaining defensive positions will keep us guessing until England’s warm up games. Having seen Ferdinand dropped and Kyle Walker side-lined, expect to see the likes of Lescott, Cahill and Glen Johnson making an appearance.

In goal, Joe Hart looks likely to make the position his own for the next decade. The Manchester City stopper is a steadier presence than some of the goalkeepers England have used in the past, such as David James and Robert Green. This is Hart’s first major finals as first-choice keeper, so it will be the biggest test of his character yet.

For me, Andy Carroll could prove to be England’s ‘secret weapon’ and the biggest surprise of the tournament if he’s given playing time and the chance to shine. I have a good feeling that with his growing confidence after a strong finish to the season, he could create huge problems for the opposition, particularly Ukraine and Sweden in the group stages. Against Chelsea, in the FA cup final, he showed just how much of a threat he can is, after coming off the bench and scoring Liverpool’s only goal. His areal ability provides the potential to completely change the momentum of a match. Hopefully Hodgson will realise this and will give the ex-Newcastle striker a good run-out.

England have benefited from finally learning that 4-4-2 isn’t the only option. Their warm up matches against Belgium and Norway will give an indication as to whether they will stick with the 4-2-3-1 system that served, the since-departed, Fabio Capello so well in their undefeated qualifying campaign.

There’s no denying Hodgson’s ability as a manager when in charge of a team failing to meet expectations. England certainly fit this category. Despite having a flurry of top European footballers during the past decade, the team have always struggled to perform. At both Fulham and West Brom, Hodgson achieved great success with a lack of real quality at his disposal, most namely, reaching the Europa League final with Fulham.

Above all else, for England to succeed in Poland and Ukraine they’ll need to be well drilled tactically and defensively sound. Hodgson may not have been the fans first choice manager, but with his incredible experience, anything is possible for his team.

Personally, I believe this competition will make or break England for the next decade or so. If the players meet expectations, support from the English fans and press will improve, giving the players confidence going into future competitions. At this stage, England will be very optimistic, a new manager and a few fresh young players could be exactly what the nation needs to be successful in Poland and Ukraine. Considering the number of quality teams in this year’s European finals, I think England can probably consider reaching the Quarter-finals a success, but don’t get me wrong, I would love to see them go further.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News