The art of the thumbnail. It's the first thing one see when you go onto Youtube. A good thumbnail will catch the eye and entice the person into clicking on the video and watching it...but sometimes Youtubers go a bit too far in search of those precious clicks.
You can see why a good thumbnail is important in the world of football content. Thousands of videos of Messi and Ronaldo get produced every week.
At the end of the day, there's too many videos out there that just show the same clips of players doing skills, scoring goals or just doing something mad. To get the clicks, creators make up completely wild images to bait people into watching their video. We're talking amputations, attempted armed assault and Ronaldo disrobing after scoring a goal
Twitter user Adam Boultwood has kindly compiled some of the maddest youtube football thumbnails of all time. It was the best ten minutes of our internet day.
Like who remembers Lionel Messi pulling out a gun on a referee when he didn't get a foul.
I studied the greatest YouTube football thumbnails ever.
Here's what I learned.
A very serious and important thread: pic.twitter.com/xTH3mTtth1— Adam Boultwood (@adamboultwood) February 11, 2022
Or when poor Antonio Rudiger picked up a nasty head injury at the hands of Heung-Min Son.
An obvious one, but focus on iconic moments. Remember when Son Heung-min decapitated Anthony Rudiger? Of course you do. But for some reason, not everyone does.
By putting this little known incident front and centre, this channel has smartly guaranteed that all important click. pic.twitter.com/JYwgFGPI3G— Adam Boultwood (@adamboultwood) February 11, 2022
Some of them even just try to catch you out.
Did you fall for that one?
The craziest thing about some of these thumbnails is that they actually work. Even though the image is outrageous and didn't happen, people still click on the video, just look at the views on this one.
Get creative. Have fun! But DON’T go too over the top. Audiences are smart. They can sense clickbait a mile off.
A mildly irritated Cristiano Ronaldo drowning in a flash flood that submerged the whole of Turin is entirely plausible. Creativity = clicks! pic.twitter.com/fQ7ilwswwY— Adam Boultwood (@adamboultwood) February 11, 2022
This one takes the cake for funniest football thumbnail for sure. Imagine if Zidane was doing that in real life!
Some of these thumbnails are also here to remind us of some important stuff, like just showing how good Lionel Messi is.
A strong contender pic.twitter.com/NnW2RHQRYC
— Lewis (@MactavishLewis) February 11, 2022
Even in recent times there's been some cracking thumbnails.
Also keeping up with the most recent events are very important pic.twitter.com/uVfm3lShCF
— xavfcst (@xavweier) February 11, 2022
Have a look at the Twitter thread to brighten up your day.
See also: Gary Neville Ignores Green Elephant In The Room During In-Depth Declan Rice Interview
