So Much Music

2013 In Music So Far

Lately I've been listening to a lot of new music, plenty of albums have been released in the past few months so I thought I'd write a quick review of everything I've listened to so far.

Albums

The Strokes - Comedown Machine - 2/10 - The Comedown Machine doesn't offer anything new or original from The Strokes, there is some interesting electric guitar work at times but overall a massive disappointment.

Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain - 4/10 - Aplin finally released her album after her cover of The Power of Love catapulted her into the spotlight towards the end of last year. Please Don't Say You Love Me and Panic Cord are the stand-outs however the rest are, for the most part, fairly slow and forgettable.

Laura Marling - Once I was An Eagle - 4/10 - Marling's new album has received universal acclaim with an average rating of 8.7/10 according to metacritic. Her poetry and haunting song-writing skills have reached new levels but the album is largely devoid of the subtle melodies present on all of her previous work. More songs like Where Can I Go and Undine would have been better.

Phoenix - Bankrupt - 4/10 - A highly anticipated album and one I was especially excited about. Lead single Entertainment showcased a more electro and synth heavy sound which is apparent on the rest of the album, and seemingly at the expense of the catchy guitar riffs found on their previous work.

The Cat Empire - Steal The Light - 5/10 - The talented jazz/ska/pop/reggae band from Melbourne released their 6th album last month and it contains the same bouncy trumpet solos and catchy tunes as usual. There's a few unspectacular numbers but songs like Brighter Than Gold will appeal to most fans.

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City - 5/10 - Another album I was looking forward too but it fails to meet expectations. As an overall album it's hit and miss; Step is one of the songs of the year so far and Obvious Bicycle and Young Lion are also brilliant but some of the others are average at best.

Daughter - If You Leave - 6/10 - An album of minimalistic folk/indie accentuated by the powerful Youth and the beautiful Shallows.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories - 7/10 - I'll admit that I've never listened to an entire Daft Punk album before and I decided to give it a listen after jumping on the Get Lucky bandwagon. The album was four years in the making and its musical depth and variety is to be applauded. Some of the tracks are too long and don't really go anywhere but overall I'd definitely recommend it. Beyond is the stand-out track.

Caro Emerald - The Shocking Miss Emerald - 7/10 - Modern catchy jazz with sampled beats and scratching. Another really impressive album from Miss Emerald. The Maestro and Liquid Lunch are both great but the album is a good listen all the way through.

Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse - 8/10 - The Italian composer is back and his new album is a mixture of the familiar echoing pianos and orchestral ambience. The addition of new sounds; glockenspiel, percussion, and even guitar really cement his position as one of the worlds leading classical musicians, and is the perfect soundtrack for revision (or almost anything for that matter).

Others from 2013

New Zealand's Lorde released her first EP to widespread acclaim, the 17 year old surely has a big future. Royals has been championed by a number of critics and The Love Club gets my vote for song of the year thus far.

Marika Hackman is seemingly another folk artist from the conveyor belt of British talent, fans of Laura Marling and Lucy Rose should appreciate the 21 year old who finds her niche in delicate guitar picking and melancholic songwriting. She recently released a video for the excellent Bath is Black.

It's hard to define the genre of We Were Evergreen's music, I suppose it's simply catchy pop with brilliant harmonies and great instrumentation. They are one of few bands who use a glockenspiel/xylophone as a primary instrument and for that they should be applauded! Check out Leeway and Summer Flings.


And also:

We're still waiting for their first album but Chvrches new song Gun is worth a listen. Primal Scream's new album isn't brilliant but lead single It's Alright, It's OK, is fantastic. Many people recommended Bastille's album to me so I obliged and gave it a listen. I'm not particularly a fan but Daniel In The Den and Pompeii are excellent. I'm not sure why I decided to give Dido's new album a listen but her collaboration with Kendrick Lamar; Let Us Move On is interesting. Youtube sensations Walk Off The Earth are the masters at music videos and Gang of Rhythm is no different.


So that's 2013 in a nutshell so far, if you've got anyone else to recommend, send them my way and I'll give them a listen! Also here's a few recommendations from artists whose music I've heard about this year but isn't from 2013.


Joshua James - From The Top Of Willamette Mountain (2012) 6/10 - The American folk artists continues to slip under the radar, The video for Queen of the City is rather strange but the song makes up for it

Caravan Palace - Panic (2012) - 6/10 - Parisian electro swing apparently, their mixture of jazz and electro is a little strange but brilliant at the same time. Dramohpone is a little similar to Caro Emerald but with more RPM.

Birdy - Birdy - (2011) - 7/10 - I've been meaning to listen to this album for a while, the then 16 year old released a record consisting of almost entirely covers, turned into piano ballads. Her adaptation of Phoenix's 1901 is melodious.

Incise - Daily Methods - (2010) - 8/10 - For the musicality and instrumentation of his beats and the lack of stereotypical lyrics (drugs, guns etc), I would highly recommend Incise to those who aren't the biggest hip-hop fans in the hope of changing their perception. Check out Got To Go and Magic.

The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown (2012) - 9/10 - The three sisters from Watford's album filled with the most blissful harmonies. Motherlode is particularly beautiful.

Dry The River - Bible Belt (2012) - 10/10 - Similarly Dry The River's acoustic version of their album is haunting, atmospheric and contains the most ethereal vocals and harmonies. A must listen. Shaker Hymns is one of numerable highlights.

My Premier League Team of The Season 2012/13

Team of the Season

Jussi Jaaskelianen - Made the most saves of any keeper with 166 and helped his team to 11 clean sheets.

Leighton Baines - Finished the season with most most accurate crosses (46) of any player in the league and excelled both attacking and defensively. Finished the season with 5 goals and 5 assists, and averaged 2.4 tackles and 3.1 key passes per game.

Phil Jagielka - Last season Fabricio Coloccini and  Vincent Komapny were the unanimous choice for CB pairing but this year has been lacking in real stand-out defenders. Jagielka was solid at the heart of the Everton defence that kept 11 clean sheets and only conceded 40 goals.

Jan Vertonghen - His form dropped towards the end of the season but the Belgian showed his versatility  with 4 goals and 3 assists while averaging the second most tackles per game of an CB with 3.1.

Glen Johnson - Much criticised for his defensive failings throughout his career but after an impressive Euro 2012 for England the 28 year old has become a mainstay of a Liverpool side that kept a league's second best 16 clean sheets. Along with Jose Enrique, Johnson forms one of the best full back partnerships in the league.

Juan Mata - No-one could argue against the Spaniard's inclusion. With 12 goals and 12 assists Mata was the heartbeat of every Chelsea attack and remained consistent throughout the entire season.

Santi Cazorla - Another Spaniard who controlled the tempo of his team. Cazorla finished with 11 goals and 12 assists - one of only four players to record double digits in each (Rooney and Walcott the other two). He averaged 65 passer per game (PL's 5th best).

Michael Carrick - A player who almost never gave the ball away, Carrick was finally given the recognition he has deserved over the years, winning Man Utd's player of the year over Robin van Persie. The midfielder averaged 77 passes per game at 88% accuracy.

Gareth Bale - My player of the year. Bale scored 9 goals from outside the box this season (more than any player in Europe in the past 4 seasons) and if there ever was a case of a one man team Bale was it for Tottenham. The Welshman contributing to 26 of their 72 points with 21 goals from midfield after making the transition from  winger to a more central role throughout his career.


Robin van Persie - The decider in the title race? Robin van Persie's 26 goals certainly helped Man Utd to title number 20. The striker proving the difference when it mattered.

Luis Suarez - Much has been made of some of his pathetic on and off field antics but on football ability alone Suarez has to be on the list. 23 goals and 5 assists in 33 games helped Liverpool to a 7th placed finish.


Manager - Sir Alex Ferguson - No other contender, after seeing his side lose on the final day of last season Sir Alex made sure there was no repeat this year, the signing of van Persie obviously helped but you could argue it wasn't Man Utd's strongest ever squad and their manager was the difference.



Subs

Simon Mignolet - Unlucky to miss out on the starting line-up. The Sunderland keeper kept  his team in games single-handedly at times and made a league second best 149 saves.

Matt Lowton - An integral part of Villa's starting 11, Lowton took a while to settle but a string of excellent defensive performances capped off with a wonder goal vs Stoke gave him some well deserved recognition. Finished the season with over 100 interceptions, one of only two players to do so.

Pablo Zabaleta - The Argentine right-back finished the season with the most tackles per game of any defender (3.8) whilst also averaging 44 passes and helped his side to a league high 18 clean sheets.

Steven Gerrard - Another solid all round season for the Liverpool captain, 9 goals and 9 assists plus 2.4 tackles and over 66 successful passes per game.

Michu - 18 goals for £2m is quite some investment, the attacking midfielder was pushed forward by Michael Laudrup and helped Swansea to their first major piece of silverware. A promised Spain call up from Vincent Del Bosque still awaits.

Chrisitan Benteke - Aston Villa's season would have been a whole lot bleaker without the Belgian's presence up front. 19 goals in 33 appearances, the striker's strength was unplayable at times. Unlucky to miss out on the first 11.

Romelu Lukaku - 17 league goals in 35 appearances but with 15 of those from the bench Lukaku had the highest strike rate of any player worth a goal every 118 minutes. 


Other Mentions - Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and Frank Lampard all deserve credit too.



Goal of the season

Leighton Baines vs Newcastle - An unstoppable bullet of a free-kick from 35 yards out.

Robin van Persie vs Aston Villa - An unbelievable first time volley from Wayne Rooney's quarterback pass.

Loic Remy vs Wigan - A first time swerving side footed striker form outside the box. Ridiculous technique and accuracy at such pace.

2012 In Music

A - Asteroid Galaxy Tour -The brilliantly named Danish band returned with an impressive second album, the title track 'Out of Frequency' boasting one of the catchiest choruses of the year.

B - Breakthrough - The Alabama Shakes seem to have been fast tracked to success, the band was founded in 2009, championed as one to watch by the critics in 2011 and had a US number 8 album by April 2012. Boys & Girls is a solid album, especially 'Hold On'.

C - Chvrches - The Scottish electro trio released single 'The Mother We Share' earlier this year to much critical acclaim and are featured as one to watch on the BBC's Sound of 2013.

D - De Novo Adagio - Alicia Keys' classical pianist background is showcased on album opener 'De Novo Adagio', the catchy 'Tears Always Win' also one of the best from her new album Girl on Fire.

E - Eyes - Rapper Hopsin's contact lenses are quite scary even if they are just a publicity stunt. He excels as a lyricist with a biting critique of modern youth culture in 'Ill Mind of Hopsin 5'.

"You’re an adult with no skills at all.
You don’t read any books or play ball.
You don’t draw, you literally do nothing at all"

F- False Pretences - Lupe Fiasco put his neck on the line by following up his poorly received album Lasers with the ambitiously titled Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 and it's fair to say it fails on both counts. 'Strange Fruition' is one of very few highlights.

G - Genius - Probably the best description for Jack White's musical talents. His first solo album Blunderbuss is nothing short of a masterpiece, featuring a range of different styles/genres and showcasing White's skill on a multitude of instruments. Worth listening to the whole record but in the meantime 'Trash Tongue Talker' is almost perfection.


H - Hair - King Charles has plenty of it. Debut album LoveBlood is full of melody and flamboyance. Mumford & Sons collaboration 'The Birghtest Lights' is musically sublime.  

I - Isolated System - Pondering thermodynamics and apocalypse, Muse's latest album The 2nd Law features a mish-mash of styles and ideas, with even some dub-step thrown in. 'Panic Station' (apparently inspired by the Scissor Sisters) sounds like Superstition mixed with Thriller. 'Supremacy' is classic Muse.

J - Jessica -  "I can't write a song for you, I'm out of melodies" sings Regina Spektor on one of the most beautiful and melodious song she's ever written. 'Jessica' along with 'Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) are the two standouts on one of the best albums of this year.

K - The Killers - Battle Born is a rather uninspiring effort from The Killers but the slide guitar on 'From Here On Out' is exceptional.

L - The Lumineers - It just took one song to put The Lumineers on the map. Nothing else to say apart from 'Ho Hey'  is a great piece of music.

M - Middle Of The Bed – Lucy Rose finally released her debut album Like I Used To, and it was just as delightful as expected. Her sweet vocals and delicate songwriting style seem more suited to acoustic performances but the energy and volume of her live set is quite the opposite.  Fan favourite 'Middle Of The Bed'  and bonus track 'Little Brave' are both worthy of a mention.

N - Number One - Nothing particularly exciting topped the UK Singles Chart this year with the exception of Calvin Harris' and Florence Welch's 'Sweet Nothing'.

O - Olympics -  Elbow's incredibly powerful 'First Steps' provided the backdrop to the BBC's Olympics coverage, with booming drums, orchestras and choirs it couldn't be more befitting of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.
Also, Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics brought Public Enemy's  'Harder Than You Think' back into public consciousnesses. 

P - Pink - Not the artist but the colour of choice for Canadian band Jets Overhead, their album and title track 'Boredom and Joy' was praised by Travis's Fran Healy on twitter. 

Q - Quality not Quantity - Someone should tell this to Green Day whose idea of releasing a three part album ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! might have been original, however any quality control seemed to be absent. 'Kill The DJ' is a good attempt at a dance song but otherwise ¡Uno! doesn't have much else. ¡Dos! is filled with a collection of empty punk songs although ¡Tré! contains a lot more variety and melody, 'Drama Queen'  is impressive.

R - Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang pay homage to the great artist on the aptly named 'Ray Charles'. Groove and soul in abundance.

S - Stumpf Fiddle - The instrument of choice for Rend Collective Experiment, the Northern Irish folk group are very much the Christian equivalent of Mumford & Sons. 'Build Your Kingdom Here' their best new song in 2012.

T - Tallest Man On Earth - Comparisons to Bob Dylan aren't far from the mark, with a unique voice the Swedish singer received rave reviews for his third album There's No Leaving Me Now. The record is full of powerful vocals and melancholic guitar.  Hard to pick individual song on an album so fantastic but 'Revelation Blues' is a worthy shout.

U - Unicorn - The ever unpredictable Sufjan Stevens reached the 100 Christmas songs mark this year with the release of 58 brand new songs in volumes 6-10 of his annual Christmas EP's. Featuring covers of classic carols as well as original material, the prolific songwriter's variant style is prevalent on the 12 minute long epic 'Christmas Unicorn' which features a Joy Division refrain towards the end. Also the wonderful Lumberjack Christmas  combines Christmas cheer with the haunting "No one can save you from Christmases past".

V - Varðeldur - Sigurs Ros, the masters of ambiance and echoing instrumentation. Perfect music to serenade you to sleep. 

W - The Welcome Wagon - Onto their second album now and we first get to hear New York folk act The Welcome Wagon write for themselves without the aid of Sufjan Stevens who co-wrote their first album and EP. Overall a mixed album, some joyful songs like 'Rice and Beans (But no Beans!)'  and some more mellowed. Overall more good than bad.

X - Xylophone - Ok technically it's a Glockenspiel but I had to find something for 'X'! Anyway Tom Read's debut album Compass contains a lot of unique instrumentation. Apart from 'Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep' his work isn't readily available on YouTube yet but his album is definitely worth Spotify-ing.

Y - Yassassin - The most obscure act to feature on this list, the unheard of London rockers demo of 'Be The Ones' deserves a lot more attention! 

Z - Zone - Comfort zone that is, and Keane made a welcome return to theirs with their fourth album Strangeland. After the poorly received synth/pop effort Perfect Symmetry the band went back to what they do best - piano driven ballads like 'Disconnected'. Although they do try something different on the excellent 'Boys' which features marimba and a quirky guitar solo.

So there it is, I'd go as far as saying 2012 was one of the most memorable years of music in recent years.
A quick mention to Passion Pit whose catchy album Gossamer just didn't quite fit into my list and a nod to Howard Shore whose composing skills for The Hobbit soundtrack deserve recognition (and also, apologies to Mumford & Sons fans, I'm told by everyone that Babel is a great record but I just can't get into them).

To recap my top 3 albums of the year are:

3. Lucy Rose - Like I Used To
2. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
1. Jack White - Blunderbuss

And my top 3 songs:

3. Sufjan Stevens - Lumberjack Christmas - (No-one can save you from Christmases Past)
2. King Charles ft. Mumford & Sons - The Brightest Lights
1. Elbow - First Steps

Graham Alexander Penalties

Managed to find clips of my two favourite penalties ever, (and I'm not even a Burnley fan). Graham Alexander with the outside of the boot twice in the same game!

A Tamboruine Eulogy

Often considered the spare part instrument or the the one to give the singer so they can 'join in', the tambourine actually plays an important role in rhythm with it's unique sound that spans across all genres and cultures.

It doesn't have to be used incessantly (as Chris Martin tells an eager fan!), although being tasered for using one certainly seem harsh, but from The Beatles to Motown to Florence + The Machine the power of tambourine will continue to slip under the radar.

Here's my 6 part appreciation:

1. The perfect intro:

 Jets Overhead - Boredom and Joy

 Jet  - Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin' 



2. Dictating the tempo

The Beatles - Day Tripper

Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape

Jackson 5 - The Love you Save

The White Stripes - The Denial Twist

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

3. Keeping rhythm during quieter parts

Feeder - Just The Way I'm Feeling 

Laura Marling - My Manic and I

4. Power and Echo

Lucy Rose - Bikes

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 

Florence and the Machine - Never Let Me Go

5. Adding percussive depth and layers

Florence and the Machine - Between Two Lungs

Diane Birch - Valentino

Fatboy Slim - Brimful of Asha

KT Tunstall - The Girl and the Ghost

6. Accentuating the snare drum

Jack White - Trash Tongue Talker

Jamiroquai - Blue Skies

 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Even You Brutus

Keane - Bend and Break

My Olympics Review!

Most Impressive Performance - Jessica Ennis, after years of build up she delivered Gold emphatically, unfazed by the immense pressure of a home Olympics and media scrutiny. Also a mention to Andy Murray who played the best tennis of his life to win Gold, even sung the national anthem too!


Best Match - Women's Hockey - GB 5-3 South Korea - GB took a 3-1 lead into half-time but the Koreans pulled it back to 3-3 with 12 minutes to play. But in front of a packed crowd complete with England football Band, Georgie Twigg and Chloe Rogers gave GB the win in an epic match. Great to hear Barry Davies' commentary during the tournament too.


Brightest New Star - Laura Trott, The 20 year old took home 
two Gold medals, surprising herself in the process while seamlessly taking over the 'Queen of British Cycling' mantle from Victoria Pendleton.



Best Celebration -  Kate Copeland's exclaim of  "We've won the Olympics!" (2:45) was probably my highlight of the entire Olympics, that one moment of delight summed up feeling of victory.

Fitting Farewell - It was the final Olympics for Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Ben Ainslie and Katherine Grainger and they have been fantastic representatives for their country over the years.

Saddest Moment - Liu Xiang, after heartbreak on home soil in Beijing it was even harder to watch the Chinese superstar crash out with injury again, although it was great to hear that fellow athletes helped him over the line afterwards.

Special Mention - Luol Deng, Britain's highest paid sportsman faced immense pressure to skip the Olympics from employers the Chicago Bulls, after their star player Derrick Rose suffered injury at the end of last season. But after the UK gave him and his family asylum from a war-torn Sudan, Deng promised to play at the Olympics for a country that helped him so much.

Star of the Show - Mo Farah no doubt, witnessing him take his second Gold with 45,000 other people at Hyde Park was something I'll never forget. One of the most humble and genuine sports persons around and London 2012's hero.

Worst Part - The handling of tickets wasn't great, some of the extortionate prices exploited people's desire to witness a once in a lifetime event. Also giving away so many tickets to cooperate sponsors (some of whom didn't even bother turning up) seemed unfair on the British public who bore the majority of the cost for the games. Also a mention for the closing ceremony which was poorly received all round for it's cheap and uninspiring musical performances.

Best Interview- Another particular influential aspect of the games was the humility and joy of the British athletes who won medals, a sporting event devoid of arrogance or fame seeking was refreshing to witness. Samantha Murray who won a Silver medal in the Pentathlon used her post-event interview to inspire people ordinary people to achieve anything they want.

British Public - This may sound clichéd (I don't care!), but generally the public have been incredible and I can't remember a time when people were just generally so happy and united.  Seeing people still draped in Union Jack flags on a train station outside Wycombe at 1:30am on Saturday was memorable. The noise of the crowd at all the venues to was quite something too, even just through the TV.

Games Makers - 10,000 people gave up two weeks of their life to volunteer to help at the games, hats off to them!

Iconic Image - Had to get this in somehow!

BBC Coverage - Absolutely brilliant all round, pundits and presenters were informative and asked the right questions, the detailed coverage of every sport was exceptional and there were some great moments too (John Inverdale's tears and the Athletics' team jubilation). Gabby Logan made Olympics Tonight a must watch each day. Another reason why the license fee is justified, we are very lucky to live in a country with 24 simultaneous live streams with no adverts.
Only minor criticism was Clare Balding's feminist musings which had no place or value.

Critics - Proved completely wrong, yes the Olympics were expensive but money isn't everything and London  2012 managed to capture the imagination of a whole nation and the doubters were forced to eat their words.

Song - Bit of a pointless category I know but Elbow's Olympic Theme for the BBC deserves a mention, couldn't have written a more triumphant and powerful song to represent the games. Nice touch of the band to give all proceeds from sales to charity too.
Also Chariots of Fire and Gold by Spandau Ballet!

And it seems fitting to end with this brilliant video from Team GB. To quote Lord Coe " When our time came, we did it right. Britain, thank you".

My Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament 

GK- Iker Casillas - Lifted his third successive major trophy as Spain captain, and has gone through the knockout rounds of all 3 tournaments without conceding, also became the first international player to win 100 matches.


RB - Joao Pereira - Having only made his international debut in 2010 at the age of 26, the Portugal full-back has only just started to live up to his full potential. Valencia were relieved to seal a move for Pereira before the tournament started as the right back starred with some excellent defensive and attacking perfomnaces.


CB - Mats Hummels - A Centre back with all round ability; pace, height and composure on the ball, Hummels has formed a solid partnership with Holger Badstuber which should be the heart of the German defence for years to come.


CB - Leonardo Bonucci - A partnership formed at club level with Giorgio Chiellini, Bonucci was the lesser known of the two but averaged more interceptions and clearances than his teammate.


LB - Jordi Alba - A fee of €14m looks like it could be one of the bargains of the year for Barcelona who add another creative fullback to their ranks. Alba finished with a goal, an assist and a pass completion percentage of 91%.

RM -  Vaclav Pilar - In a tournament devoid of any real breakthrough stars, the 'Czech Messi' perhaps created the biggest name for himself during the tournament. Guiding the Czech Republic to the quarter finals where he looked the only real threat against Portugal. Finished with 2 goals (50% of his team's) and sealed a £1m move to Wolfsburg to boot. 


CM - Xavi - Not surprisingly Xavi finished with the best passing percentage out of any player to have played at least 3 games (92%). Put in a masterful performance in the final with two sumptuous assists.


CM - Andrea Pirlo - At times Pirlo was a one man team for the Italians, a custodian in possession and a source of creativity, finished with 2 assists and 1 goal.


CM - Steven Gerrard - The England captain lead his team through the group stages, finishing with 3 assists (joint most in the tournament), again showing why he's been one of the worlds best midfielders in the past decade


LM - Andres Iniesta - Awarded official player of the tournament by UEFA, technical director Andy Roxborough said: "Picking Iniesta as the best player of Euro 2012 sends a message about creativity, incisive football and humility."
The midfielder was Spain's attacking focal point in a team that often played without a striker and warrants his place among the greats despite no goals and only one assist.


ST - Fernando Torres - A tournament without a real exceptional striker, Torres takes his place as golden boot winner with 3 goals and 1 assist in just 189 minutes of football.







Substitutes 


Gianluigi Buffon - Undisputedly the second best keeper in the World.


Joe Hart - Made the most saves in the tournament (22)



Theadore Gebre Selassie - Another attacking full back, another breakthrough star.


Phillip Lahm - Has anybody ever seen the German captain have a bad game?



Sergio Ramos - Full back turned attacking centre back, excelled in tackles, interceptions and passing.


Jakub Blaszczykowski - A goal and an assits in 3 games and also one of the most inspiring human stories.


Fabio Contreao - Finished 4th in most successful dribbles, one of the most exciting full backs in the game.



Mesut Ozil - 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 games.


Joao Moutinho - Portugal's Xavi, creative and excellent in possession.


Alan Dzaogev - Finished joint top scorer with 3 goals in 3 games.


Mario Mandzukic - 5 shots, 3 goals, sealed a move to Bayern Munich as a result.


David Silva - 2 goals and 3 assists, the only player with at least 2 of each. 





Goal of the Tournament


3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Scissor kick volley into the bottom corner.


2. Jakub Blaszczykowski - The roof lifted off in Warsaw when the Poland captain fired in a bullet.


1. Mario Gomez v Holland - The most exquisite piece of skill, turn and finish.





Wooden Spoon Award


Team - Holland - No-one expected the World Cup finalists to lose every game.


Player - Phillip Mexes - Awful in every France game, warrants the worst player award.