When you read the title, I’m sure a whole range of different things come to mind. A football for one, because you cannot be a footballer without a football. But in this case, we are going to be limited to the context of playing good football. So I ask again, what is the one thing a footballer cannot be without when he/she wants to play a great game. They need adequate rest.

What Is So Important About Resting?

If you didn’t know already sleep deprivation is a real nuisance and can severely have effects on your health. But for many of us, this isn’t the case, so I move on to say that, much like sleep deprivation, when you lack rest, your football gets affected severely for the worse. So what exactly does rest do to you on the field? You will get tired and fatigued much easier than normal, which is one of the worst nightmares any footballer would face. Being in front of a crowd to realise that you lack that extra strength to go after the ball with all your might and being. This restlessness becomes a lob-sided game for you as every 50/50 ball becomes a 70/30 ball, in favour of your opposition.

One Good Example Is Me

Many tell me I have great talent when I play on Saturday afternoon, but this gets thrown out the window on Sunday afternoon. Why? Because on Saturday, I go out onto the field and play my heart out, risking limbs and joints to make every ball count. This helps the team secure a victory. Most the time it works and we are victorious that afternoon. I feel good about the way I played and all that cheesy stuff that goes along with it. After hitting the showers, I realise that I have a lot of bumps and bruises, and overall I feel like my legs are about to collapse. Then it hits me. In around 18 hours I have another football game I need to play. I will tell you now, 18 hours is no where near enough after the ferocious and tiring representative games that I play. So Sunday rolls around and my performance on-field is sub-par due to the tired state my body is still in. I can still play, but no where near as good as the day before. The only decent rest I get all week is between Sunday and Tuesday, even then I do my own training, but it’s much lighter.

Ronaldinho Realised This

And that is why he pulled out of Copa America, so that he could get the rest he needed after a whole year of playing football. I hope this post has really opened up your eyes to how important having rest really is in the world of football. Many tend to throw this idea out the window thinking that rest is for the weak, but if you do come across anyone like this, straighten them up. Preferably by showing them how well you play all rested up

I keep talking about the value of Ronaldinho and what he brings to marketing for any company, but now AC Milan have come out to put a price on Ronaldinho coming over to their side. Reports in Spain and Italy report that the Milan chief, Silvio Berlusconi, is willing to hand over £84.5 million for the best player in the world. This transfer fee would easily break the record set by Real Madrid for their acquisition of the French magician, Zinedine Zidane, for £45.6 million back in 2001.

Barcelona Chief Defiant

There have also been reports that Ronaldinho has been in extensive talks with Barcelona in order to improve his contract which lasts until 2010. Speculation was that talks had stalled between Ronaldinho and his club, but Barcelona president Joan Laporta eased suspicion last night stating that:

“We will keep him to his contract. He is contracted until 2010 and we are very happy to have him here. He is a reference player for this club and is not for sale.”

One thing is very true here. Ronaldinho is the main reference for the Barcelona team, so to lose Ronaldinho is to lose not only one of the greatest players to play the game, but in addition, the clubs image gets tainted in the mans shadow. I personally love seeing him at FC Barcelona and he has expressed his happiness for being at the club on many occasions so I don’t think he would change his mind just yet.

You’ll find that many people think that Ronaldinho has a real horse face and I guess the artist behind this statue was thinking the same thing. I wouldn’t be able to tell you whether this was hand sculpted or moulded using a cast, but it’s been really well done. The funniest thing about this statue is the shin guards the horse is wearing underneath his socks, very clever too. You can find this image and many others up in the Image Gallery under the Miscellaneous section.