Most of you must know Goal.com. They are one of the biggest online football websites in the world. With thier global reach you would expect at the very least, they would have a responsibility to their vast fanbase to give them the best coverage of the beautiful game possible. That surely can't be too much to expect from such massive website.
That is not the case. Goal.com have made a mockery of their standing in the football journalism world. Instead of being a website that focuses on breaking news, covering the vast expanse of the footballing world and delving deep into the complex world of tactics and formations; they present themselves as a clickbaiting TMZ-style tabloid piece.
Maybe the owners at the site don't realise this, but there are other things to write about than the mythical rivalry of Cristiano and Messi. I mean, sometimes I think that the writers at GOAL each morning have a brainstorming session where they try and think of what stories they can conjure up pertaining to Cristiano. The one about his yacht was really stretching. If someone can tell me what someone's yacht has to do with the beautiful game, I would be eager to know.
As I scroll down my timeline, I see the same articles recycled again and again and I wonder about all the other leagues or even looking back at the very deep history that football has. There is so much to write about, but instead they stick with what will get the most attention and clicks.
You see, if you're a website that is up and coming then I can understand the clickbait strategy to begin with. That's the best way of getting readers in the first place and you can start building up from there. Then you can revert to being more broad in your writing once you've established your core fanbase. For Goal.Com, they already have a colossal reach and so there's no need to clickbait. They ought to rather educate their readers and be proper journalists who cover the entirety of the game.
For anyone who wants to setup a football site and get into the game, GOAL set a bad precedent. If they look at that, all they will take from it is the need to write articles that promote controversy and invites clicks rather than trying to educate your audience and treat them with more respect.
I say this, but the amount of people that actually click, like and comment on the most stupid stories that have nothing to with football maybe adds fuel to GOAL's argument that their strategy works.
But what Goal are doing is simply taking advantage of Cristiano and Messi's popularity. It's no longer a football site; it's a fansite for these two players. They know that headlines which get the emotions of the die-hard fans of either of these two players will get them clicks, and thus more eyes on their ads. That's all well and good, but it's a bad look for a site that should set the standard for commentary on all of football and not just two players.
There are websites out there that are far better, and talk more seriously about the beautiful game, but they're not just as famous with as big a reach as Goal. It's just so sad that a website that's so popular does such a rancid and horrendous job of basic, respectable football journalism. To choose popularity over in-depth writing is sad and wrong. HH
Comment below using your Facebook or Twitter Account to Log Into Disqus. HH
