Introduction

Welcome to Extra Time, a sports blog. In particular, I will be writing about football stuff, mainly on English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and European Cup. I will feature pre-game and post-game analysis of several matches, scouting and post game-week reports of EPL fantasy league, and value bets on football betting. In addition, I will write about tactical analysis of effective and efficient formation that was fielded by clubs or national teams.

Why Extra Time? Extra Time is the two 15-minute periods awarded in a match, if the two teams are tied after playing 90 minutes, during a one-game knockout phase of  a cup – EURO 2012/World Cup. As a football fanatic, 90 minutes of watching a beautiful game is not enough, even the score was already settled, extra time is always needed with mates and netizens to tackle the tactics, player(s) of the match, play(s) of the game, and sometimes the breaks of officiating that brought the game into a conclusion.

Why EPL, UEFA and EURO? World-wide reach is the common factor of them all. Literature and statistics are all in the headlines of sports section when published in an international journal. Then, teams are home of the most celebrated football icons. And, coaches are figures like politicians, constantly questioned of their decisions.  

What is all about the fantasy league? Sports fanatics globally are one way or the other have been into fantasy sports, where fantasy players have the satisfaction of customizing and owning their team. By definition, fantasy league is an owner simulation game, where fantasy players compete with other owner using the statistics generated by the real individual players or teams. In an estimation of a U.S. study, fantasy sports are estimated to have a $3-4 Billion annual economic impact across the sports industry. 

What is value bet in football? Punting for value bet is very subjective in nature, as value differs from punters and bettors. Likewise, bookies differ in opinions and margins, although rarely disagree on favorites and underdogs. However, as to my opinion, I could derive value bets on tactics and key battle areas between the team, where statistics would disagree, such as form and win-loss record. 

Whose team worth looking of their formation and tactics? Formation and tactics in football could turn a small cohesive club into a giant killer, while slight twitch on an evenly derby match could break the tie. For this blog, I will write about spectacular upsets which an underdog or small club employs to slay the heavily favorite club, wherein the small club made an immense change of their usual formation and tactics. Whilst, matches of big clubs that was tipped as an evenly game to a one-sided show, using a different formation or tactics.

So there you go. I am Mike DC, the owner and primary author of this blog. Feel free to suggest and comment on every post. To be directly in touch, my email address is mark88utd@gmail.com.

“The most important thing for a forward is the speed of thought. Top players read the game.”