Bleacher Report - Articles by Alex Dimond

Manchester City Need Emmanuel Adebayor to Learn from Didier Drogba

Alex Dimond — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:27:32 -0500

As far as starts go, perhaps few can have too many complaints about Emmanuel Adebayor’s early career at Manchester City.

In the nine Premier League games in which Adebayor has featured this season, the striker has scored five goals, and laid on a further three assists for his teammates.

On paper, then, it is a solid return from the 25-year-old after joining the Eastlands outfit from Arsenal for £25 million during the summer.

As has often been the case with Adebayor in England, however, the positives have been offset by a number of negatives. In no game was that better encapsulated than when he faced his former club earlier in the season.

Throughout the game against his old team-mates, the Togolese international was often at his blistering best.

He tormented the Arsenal players—taking advantage of their seemingly reckless desire to clatter him—but then proceeded to torment their fans after his well-taken goal.
That celebration, running a full 90 yards to gloat in front of those who had spent much of the game abusing him, earned him a three-game suspension after a review by the Football Association.

City, without their leading scorer, subsequently lost their next league game against arch-rivals Manchester United, in a cruel 4-3 thriller.

"I had a bad afternoon against Manchester United because I am sure that if I had played that day then I would have scored a goal,” Adebayor said.

"It was a shame that we lost in added time. United did not deserve to win—a fair result would have been a draw."

Rather than bemoaning missing out on a chance to add to his goal tally, however, Adebayor should perhaps have been reflecting on his own conduct. His performance against Arsenal helped the team, but his subsequent conduct certainly didn’t.

That just isn’t good enough for a top striker.

Take Didier Drogba, for example.

Chelsea’s last game, against FC Porto, was yet another example of Drogba’s all-round contribution. Despite being kept relatively quiet in attack, the Ivorian did not let frustration get the better of him and continued to contribute in any way he could.

In the first half, there was Drogba, deep in his own box determined to get up and clear the ball for his team. For his troubles, he caught a blow to the head from an equally determined John Terry.

The 31-year-old seems to make such contributions every game. He perceives defending set-pieces as a crucial part of his duty to the team, despite providing nine goals and five assists in his 12 league games this season.

Drogba has had his outbursts in the past—for example in the 2008 Champions League final, or after elimination in the semi-finals of the same competition last season—but now he seems to have matured and those around him at the west London club are only too aware of his value:

"We have seen what Didier brings to this team in the first games of our season and this is why I said he was irreplaceable when I came to Chelsea," said manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has admitted he wouldn’t swap Drogba for any other striker.

“His love for this club and the passion he shows is unbelievable," club captain John Terry agreed.

"When we lose a game there is no one more disappointed than him. He shows his frustration, because he cares.

"You see him in the dressing room, in training motivating the players. He really cares.”

Adebayor has still to show that he cares that deeply. Last weekend, he was clearly at fault as Martin Skrtel nipped in ahead of him to open the scoring in the game against Liverpool. The Togolese forward had switched off, allowing the Liverpool defender in and letting his own side down.

In fairness, he made amends minutes later by scoring the equalizer for his side—his first goal for the club since that strike against Arsenal in September.

Drogba, however, is happy not to score if can make a telling defensive contribution.

“I often sacrifice myself for the good of the team,” said the former Olympique Marseille hitman.

“I don’t look at my scoring statistics. Have you ever seen any other great striker do as much defending as I do?”

That is the difference between the truly world-class strikers and the rest. Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent, and Adebayor can all score goals for fun, but the likes of Drogba, Torres, and Rooney elevate their contribution into a different dimension by tracking back and contributing to their side’s defensive play.

Adebayor still needs to make that step, to take on that mantel. He has done it infrequently, when the occasion (e.g. playing against your former team) suits him, but never week-in and week-out.

Arsene Wenger, a formidable judge of player, clearly got tired of waiting for that to happen at the Emirates.

But on arriving at City, the former Monaco man seemed to suggest everything would now be different.

"This is a team, maybe in one year or two years, that will be one of the best in the world," he said.

"I had a good discussion with the coach, Mark Hughes, and he told me that here he wants to be in the top four.

"We know it's not going to be easy at all. But we are going to fight for it. I think the players are here for that.”

"As you can see, the fans believe in us that we can bring them something. That's what we're going to fight for now."

So far, evidence of such commitment has been fleeting. Manchester City has failed to take advantage of Liverpool's early troubles to bolster their claim for Champions League football, a situation they might regret come May and one Adebayor must partly take the blame for.

History has been littered with expensive signings failing to cope with the pressure suddenly put on them—it took a while for Drogba to embrace such responsibilities, too.

But, Adebayor cannot hide behind that excuse.

After all, he has chosen to be constantly reminded of the price tag that weighs heavily around his neck—he wears it on his back.

Perhaps City’s No. 25 now sees the number he has long worn as a badge of honour, a status symbol.

But if he is to lead his team to all the places he seems to believe they can go, he needs to start viewing it as a responsibility to be lived up to instead.

Gael Kakuta Has Debutant Ball for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Alex Dimond — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:03:32 -0500

No one can say they weren’t warned.

If anyone had missed the furore surrounding Gael Kakuta that overshadowed the early part Chelsea's season, Carlo Ancelotti’s comments ahead of yesterday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers added another reason why the Frenchman has become one of the most talked about young players in world football.

“He (Kakuta) is a very good talent. He is very young and he can be a player in the future of Chelsea with his quality,” Ancelotti said.

“His character is good, he is a quiet boy, and at that age I have never seen a player with this talent,” he revealed.

Coming from Ancelotti, that is some statement. The Italian has observed some fabulous players in his 30-year career in football.

The fact that Kakuta is the best 18-year-old he has ever seen—just last year he was working with another fabulous teenager, AC Milan's Alexandre Pato—will only increase the expectation around the young winger.

But the France U19 international has already become used to that.

After all, in September he went from being just a highly regarded member of Chelsea’s reserve team to one of the most notorious players in the world.

With FIFA judging out of the blue that Chelsea had broken the rules in luring Kakuta from French club RC Lens as a 16-year-old, the west London club found themselves forbidden from making signings for two consecutive transfer windows.

Kakuta, portrayed in many places as one of the villains of the piece, was banned from competitive football for four months.

Mentally weaker players would have crumbled under the increased scrutiny. But after a brief period of panic, the club's 2008 Scholar of the Year soon composed himself.

“I think Kakuta suffered for one or two weeks about the situation and then after that he was better,” Ancelotti said.

“He returned to being quiet and calm and stayed with us to train. Still now he is well.

“It was not so important to speak with him, it was important to train with him and he stayed with the first team in this period.”

Kakuta had served six weeks of his ban by the time the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended all punishments awaiting the hearing of Chelsea’s appeal.

That decision came just a few weeks ago. Returning to competitive action with a few appearances for Franc U19s last week, Kakuta found himself on the bench for yesterday’s Premier League game as the Blues were deprived of many regular first-team players.

3-0 up inside 20 minutes, Ancelotti was given some freedom to experiment. So with 30 minutes to go, Kakuta was given his club debut.

By Chelsea players’ standards, it was nothing more than a good individual display. But as Wolves proved, that is nothing less than exceptional in the context of the league.

With young players on debut, often the performance is the least revealing aspect. In terms of long-term potential, frequently it is the attitude displayed that is the most reliable indicator of their future.

With a nonchalant shake of Nicolas Anelka’s hand and a wry smile, Kakuta entered the fray clearly at home in the environment he found himself.

Unfazed by the considerably larger and more physical opponents he was up against, the No. 44 played like it was a schoolyard game.

His first major contribution saw him pick up the ball on the edge of the area, and in one swift movement beat a bemused Richard Stearman with a body feint before pulling his shot just wide of Wayne Hennessey’s near post.

From then one the Stamford Bridge knew they were witnessing a special talent. Kakuta passed, moved, and dribbled like a star.

He flashed a 30-yard shot just wide of goal. He kept the Wolves’ defenders guessing with a variety of tricks and touches.

It would have been an embarrassment for the club if Kakuta had not looked worth all the trouble. But, having been forced to overcome a horrendous double-ankle fracture already in his fledgling career, it might not have been a surprise if he had failed to live up to the enormous hype.

After all, pressure gets to veterans of the game, never mind youngsters who have never played a minute of top-flight football.

But the very best young players—Wayne Rooney, for example—announce themselves with impressive performances from the first minute on the pitch.

And while Rooney might have grabbed more headlines on his debut, by scoring a 90th minute winner for Everton against a previously unbeaten Arsenal in October 2002, it was his attitude that really revealed him as a genuine star in the making.

He looked at home on the football field, like that was where he was born to shine.

Yesterday, Kakuta showed that same raw quality.

The Frenchman still has some way to go to become one of the very best in the game, but the potential is clearly there.

Because of Kakuta, Chelsea might yet be unable to buy players come next summer.

But because of him, they might not even want to.

”We had a lot injuries before this game today, but our play was the same,” Ancelotti noted.

“In January, we may not even need to buy other players.”

On The Big Occasion, Thierry Henry Fails To Meet His Own High Standards

Alex Dimond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:27:30 -0500

It wasn't the way to win a place at the World Cup, never mind lose one.

Nevertheless, Thierry Henry's illegal intervention during a closely-fought World Cup play-off between France and Ireland was the decisive act in a tie that deserved much better.

From the player to the referee and even the sport, few came away from the night with any credit.

The valiant Irish players can hold their heads high—but that will be scant consolation considering the devastating manner of their defeat.

It was worse that the pivotal moment came in extra-time, after Robbie Keane had clawed Ireland back onto level terms after an admirable team performance.

With questions of offside in the build up to a free-kick being delivered into the box, Henry looked to have misjudged the ball’s flight—before his hands came to the rescue.

The first contact looked instinctive, with the French No. 12 arguably knowing little about it on a conscious level.

But the second touch with his still-outstretched left arm was clearly deliberate, and set the ball perfectly for him to then slip the ball past the onrushing Shay Given with the outside of his right boot.

William Gallas, barely a yard out, had the simplest of jobs in nodding the ball into the open net.

For some, the fact Henry wheeled away and celebrated the goal was the most distasteful aspect of the whole scenario.

If the incident itself suggested the Barcelona forward was a cheat, then the public way he enjoyed the moment certainly confirmed it.

With referee Martin Hansson turning down Irish players' prolonged appeals for hand-ball, the goal stood and France held on to book their place in South Africa next summer.

After the game, unsurprisingly all discussion was focused on Henry.

Arsene Wenger, the 32-year-old's former manager at Arsenal, stated on French television that France had gone through thanks to a “refereeing error”.

French goalscorer Gallas professed that he did not notice an infringement. Manager Raymond Domenech went as far as to suggest he didn’t see anything.

Irish players were not quite so reticent.

“I think it was quite blatant that he cheated. The linesman was in line with the incident, it wasn’t even a hard decision to make,” defender Richard Dunne said.

“All European people saw the situation. I am sure that, if the referee had asked Henry, he would have admitted to the handball,” Irish boss Giovanni Trapattoni noted.

“I am sad because the referee had the time to ask the linesman and Henry.

"I am upset for fair play because we are told many times about fair play. I go into schools to talk about fair play and tell the young kids that it’s important for their life.”

Having avoided the press after the game for as long as he could, eventually the villain of the piece emerged from the dressing room at the Stade de France to admit his guilt, albeit with a caveat.

“I will be honest, it was a handball,” Henry said, “but I’m not the ref.

“I played it, the ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him.”

In the subsequent news and media coverage, few stepped in to defend Henry.

But once some of the dust had settled, Noel Le Graet, vice president of the French Football Federation, attempted to put the Barcelona striker’s actions into perspective.

"Having seen the replays it seems the hand made contact—the player has confirmed this. It's part of the game and you know it is not something Thierry Henry makes a habit of doing,” Le Graet argued.

"I think [a description of] 'cheating' is extreme. Football is complicated. Hand-balls are part of the game. Henry should be judged on the full extent of his career and therefore I think the one word you cannot associate with him is cheat.”

He is a man of enormous quality. He loves football and he loves the French national side.”

Whether in time many will come to see the 67-year-old’s view as reasonable remains to be seen, but right now many are wondering why a player like Henry would do such a thing.

To some the equation is simple: The ends justify the means. Henry’s act will see France play at the World Cup next summer, with the chance to lift the biggest prize in sport.

But because it is Henry, such a clear rationale leaves a hollow feeling.

If it had been Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, or even Nicolas Anelka taking matters into their own hands, then perhaps the outcry would be more predictable.

Such players are good but not greats of the game, and in the case of Anelka at least still struggling to shake off a negative public perception.

Such a pillorying of these three players, or any of the other 21 who took the field last night, would have been swift and without discord.

But Henry has the power to stir complex emotions in almost all football fans.

In the history of football, Henry will rightly stand head and shoulders above anyone else who took the field last night.

His career has been one sparkling highlight after another, with his time at Arsenal a halcyon period for both Gunners fans and those of English football.

His footballing ability inspired millions, but his character and easy charm equally warmed many to a special player.

A World Cup winner in 1998, he was well on the way to ending his playing days revered as one of the finest the game has ever seen.

But his actions yesterday evening served as a slap in the face to all who have admired him.

Yesterday’s debacle will not ruin Henry’s reputation, just as a similar act did not leave the legacy of Diego Maradona, another great, in tatters.

But it will certainly tarnish it.

After all, Henry was faced with just two simple choices after Gallas turned his cross home—deceive or disclose.

In the heat of the moment, he choose the wrong and, most disappointingly, easier option—turning his back on a moment of sportsmanship that could arguably have been the making of him, as a man if not as a footballer.

Paulo di Canio, a player with a habit of sharing Fascist salutes with fans and pushing referees, will always be remembered for his famous act of sportsmanship in 2000, stopping play and spurning an easy goal scoring opportunity because the opposition goalkeeper had gone down injured.

Thierry Henry, a man held as an example to kids around the world due to his spotless image, was unable to match Di Canio's honesty and integrity under the same split-second pressure.

Such is the unpredictability of human nature.

At the final whistle, Henry shunned the celebrations of his fellow team-mates to go and commiserate with a distraught Richard Dunne. Under different circumstances, such an act of sportsmanship would have been widely lauded.

Last night, it didn’t even balance the books.

For once, Henry had failed to attain the same high standards he has set throughout his career.

Only time will tell whether that will be his lasting legacy.

David Beckham Deserves 1000 Caps If He Rescues England's World Cup Bid

Alex Dimond — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:24:26 -0500

As happens without fail every four years, World Cup talk is dominating English football.

For the players in and around manager Fabio Capello’s national squad, the focus is on making the plane for South Africa next summer.

For those lucky enough to be all but guaranteed their seat—and there are a few—the focus is on launching a bid to win the big prize on the horizon.

For the Football Association, the situation is slightly different.

While the directors of English football’s governing body are still devoting considerable resources to give Capello everything he needs to launch a strong challenge next summer, they are also focusing equal attention on launching a successful World Cup bid of their own.

Instead of 2010, the FA is looking to 2018, when they hope they can bring the World Cup back to England for the first time in 52 years.

When England hosted that last tournament, in 1966, Bobby Moore famously lead the Three Lions to their solitary triumph in the game’s biggest tournament.

And hopes are high that, after so many years of hurt, a return of the final to a new Wembley might yield the same famous old result.

That long wait to host, as well as England’s self-proclaimed status as the "home of football" (something that has been deliberately underplayed during campaigning so as not to offend) would seem to give the bid more weight than that of its rivals.

Couple that with the fact it has an unrivalled collection of world-class stadiums and infrastructure to call upon, and, on paper at least, any bid from the sceptred isle would appear to be a winner.

But in many respects, England and the wider United Kingdom is not currently in the best of health. While many other European and world nations are slowly steering their ship clear of recession, the United Kingdom is still waging a seemingly losing battle with high unemployment and floundering industry.

And while London will host the Olympics in 2012, disputes and debates about how the event will be financed has raised awkward questions in many minds.

Equally, the continued fall-out of the invasion of Iraq means the United Kingdom does not enjoy political popularity with many on the world stage.

But, unlike many other prominent sporting or cultural events, football tends to exist in its own world, with the 25 voters on FIFA’s panel concerned with the politics of football above and beyond anything else.

Nevertheless, the England 2018 bid has so far managed to make a real hash of things.

Prominent FIFA voter Jack Warner—who has the power to significantly influence who is awarded the honour—has criticized the bid on numerous occasions, and the common consensus is that England’s pitch—lacking the impressive spokesman that many successful bids have had (for example Germany with Franz Beckanbauer for 2006)—has so far failed to impress, especially against stiff competition from the likes of Spain & Portugal.

"My colleagues are saying very quietly that the guys [from England] who are coming to them are lightweight. This is the type of thing that loses you a bid,” Warner said last month.

"You have to look at what others are doing and also be creative yourself, these things are not happening."

With the bid perceived to be handicapped by the lack of heavyweights and hanging by a thread, this week the bid team turned to desperate measures.

Six members of the bid’s board were demoted, including National Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, while former FA chief Geoff Thompson—who is on FIFA’s executive panel—has been drafted in to improve the situation.

Lord Triesman, the current FA chief in overall charge of the bid, tried to put a positive spin on the move:

"In our view, these changes reflect a positive development and send a loud message of absolute determination to bring the World Cup tournament to England,” he said.

"We've got to a point where the England 2018 campaign requires focus, determination and where everybody involved has a specific purpose to help us win the bid."

This week, the bid also appointed former Chelsea director of communications Simon Greenberg to oversee their positive presentation in the media. But hopes of success, ironically, now seem to lie on the shoulders of one very prominent player.

David Beckham.

He might not have played in English domestic football for over six years, but the current LA Galaxy and AC Milan midfielder is the man who now carries the hopes of a nation.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, without a doubt,” Beckham said.

“If I can fly to different countries and help us have a chance of winning, then I’ll do that. It would be special to win the World Cup and then host it, but there is a long way to go before that.

"It’s everyone’s dream to do that, but there is a lot of hard work for both.”

The 34-year-old will spend £50,000 of his own money to part-finance the chartering of a private jet to locations from Kuala Lumpur and Cape Town to woo the FIFA voters. The England 2018 team is hoping he will be exactly the heavy hitter Warner et al believes they have lacked.

"He's a phenomenal asset," admitted Lord Triesman.

“There are certainly a number of people who they (FIFA) want to meet and the person whom I suspect most want to meet is David.

"We want him there the maximum amount of time, we want him to be safe when he's there and to do as much with us as we can get him to do. Thank goodness he's totally up for it."

Yet Beckham’s reputation in the media and with the England squad has rarely been rosy.

From his sending off in the World Cup against Argentina in 1998 to his unceremonious removal from the squad by Steve McClaren, the low points have outweighed the highlights during his 113 caps.

Even now, his position in the national squad is the source of much debate.

Much was made last week when LA Galaxy’s successful progression to MLS’s Western Conference final forced Beckham to withdraw from the England squad against Brazil, thus meaning England would have to reach the World Cup final next summer (and Beckham play a part in every game) for him to equal Peter Shilton’s national record of 125 caps.

Even more was made, much of it in outrage, when Beckham equaled Bobby Moore’s outfield record of 108 caps back in February. Few believed Beckham deserved to equal the incomparable Moore, regarded as England’s greatest ever captain.

But while Bobby Moore may have won the World Cup, David Beckham might yet bring the whole tournament to England.

It won’t be a single-handed triumph, but many close to the bid now accept he will play a massive role in any success.

And if the bid is eventually successful, perhaps he deserves all the caps he eventually collects.

After all, such an achievement will surely make him the most significant single player in the country’s history.

Time for Chelsea's Academy To Counter the Effect of FIFA's Transfer Embargo

Alex Dimond — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:43:18 -0400

It may not be an exaggeration to say that the football world has been rocked by the news of Chelsea’s year-long transfer embargo, imposed on the club by FIFA after the Blues were found guilty of acting improperly in their acquisition of young French midfielder Gael Kakuta.

On top of the ban, which will last for two transfer windows and mean the next opportunity for the club to sign new players will be in January 2011, the club have been ordered to pay compensation to Kakuta’s former club, RC Lens, totalling around $186,000.

Understandably, the Stamford Bridge club are not going to willingly comply with what is an unprecedented, if not unpopular, decision from the game’s governing body.

"Chelsea will mount the strongest appeal possible following the decision of FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber over Gaël Kakuta,” a statement on the club’s website read.

"The sanctions are without precedent to this level and totally disproportionate to the alleged offence and the financial penalty imposed.”

On this, it is arguable Chelsea have a point. The club might well come away from the inevitable hearing with CAS (the Court of Arbitration for Sport) with a reduced embargo, or even just a sizeable fine.

If not, as they have already found out with the recent Adrian Mutu saga, there is always an even higher court to continue their appeal in.

However, no one should be under the illusion that a successful appeal is inevitable. FIFA will not have come to such a decision, especially knowing how much attention it would bring, without a determination to see it enforced.

If little else, it can be taken as read that the organisation will do everything it can to ensure the London club comply to ever aspect of the ‘sentence’ they have passed down.

As such, the Chelsea hierarchy must start making contingency plans (as limited as they may be) in case the punishment imposed on them remains in place, especially as it has such widespread implications on their prospects.

With an already ageing squad (the average age of the first XI this year is over 29), the prospect of not being able to sign fresh blood until January 2011 is something that could well prove detrimental to short-term fortunes.

In that time, they are likely to miss out on long-rumoured targets Sergio Aguero and Franck Ribery, among others. With both players likely to move next summer, Chelsea will have to watch on mournfully as rival clubs fight over players they have long coveted.

Not only that, but they will have little opportunity to respond as key squad members (Drogba, Kalou, Essien) head to the African Cup of Nations in January of this season, or make arrangements next summer to counter the potential impact of certain important players (Drogba, Ballack, Carvalho) hitting an age where their talents will reasonably be expected to diminish rapidly.

Lastly, the club faces the prospect of being held to ransom by its squad players, many of whom might take advantage of the transfer embargo and their own expiring contracts to negotiate inflated wages for themselves that the club will have little option but to pay.

All in all, FIFA’s ruling could destabilise a squad that could arguably be considered the most settled in England just a few days ago.

Many have already taken this as reason enough to right off Chelsea’s chances, if not this season then certainly in 2010-11.

This doesn’t have to be the case, however, as there is some scope for Chelsea to turn FIFA’s decision into something of a positive—by focusing on the one thing that got them into trouble in the first place.

Youth development.

Chelsea’s academy, so expensively maintained and overseen by coaches of international repute since Roman Abramovich’s take-over, has so far failed to produce a notable first-team contributor since John Terry—a player who hit the first-team long before the Russian billionaire ever even flew his helicopter over Fulham Road.

Michael Mancienne might be a player considered worthy of note—indeed, the on-loan Wolves defender will undoubtedly be called upon frequently next season—but beyond him few academy graduates have made the grade in recent teams.

This state of affairs exposes the club’s current youth setup as an abject failure. For all the bluster, Frank Arnesen (now the club’s sporting director, but originally appointed as head of the youth team) has achieved very little in his time at the club.

Now more than ever is the time to refocus on making the academy effective.

Just last week, club chief executive Peter Kenyon called on his club’s youth system to provide the first team with the quality of players it requires, while bemoaning the costs involved.

“Every club is spending more time, more money and more resources on the academy. But the standard which we're demanding of the players is just going up all the time,” Kenyon said.

“I think we're all producing more good players but it's hard to get them to breakthrough at the level we need them and that will take time. The infrastructure is certainly there at our club, it is as good as anyone's and I'm sure the next John Terry will be coming through.”

Now, more than ever, Kenyon will be hoping his words are prophetic.

And, with no other players to spend money on, resources invested in the club’s youth infrastructure might suddenly be even more plentiful.

Youth development has not just been a problem for Chelsea in recent years; it has been a problem for almost all clubs in England.

While Barcelona started last season’s Champions League final with seven players from their own youth team, the ‘Big Four’ combined would only realistically be able to contribute four—Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Ryan Giggs.

Perhaps that is due to a widespread problem with how English youngsters are introduced to football. Perhaps it is just a cause of poor coaching. Whatever the cause, Chelsea find themselves in an enforced position where they can attempt to do something about it—and gain an unlikely advantage on their rivals in the process.

If they can, then youngsters like Kakuta (the club's scholar of the year last year), Miroslav Stoch, and Ryan Bertrand might develop enough to reinforce what will become a stale first team squad.

With other junior players like Daniel Sturridge and Nemanja Matic already in the first-team squad and showing great potential, the club might surprise many and be hold things together until the embargo is lifted.

And, as an added bonus, the club might be even stronger in the long run.

No one can reasonably suggest that Chelsea did not have this sort of scenario coming, even if many of their rivals have no doubt indulged in similarly murky practices.

In their pursuit of Ashley Cole and John Obi Mikel, Chelsea were shown to be more than willing to bend the rules, so it can easily be inferred that similar tactics were being employed with the 15 and 16-year-old youngsters the club wanted to attract.

Make no mistake; FIFA’s ruling is a body blow for a club that has become accustomed to life at Europe’s top table. But maybe, even if an appeal fails them, the club can salvage something from the wreckage.

They might not develop an exact substitute for a multi-million pound signing, but perhaps with the right steps a silver lining can be found from what looks an especially dark cloud.

Usain Bolt Stuns the World Again With Gold and Another 100m World Record

Alex Dimond — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:12:40 -0400

The gold trainers may have been traded in for orange ones, and Beijing’s Bird’s Nest exchanged for Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, but in the end, the result was exactly the same.

A gold medal, a world record, and an awe-inspiring performance.

Leaving the competition trailing in his wake, Usain Bolt added a World Championship 100m gold to his growing medal collection with a stunning time of 9.58 seconds.

Mere adjectives can perhaps not do justice to the feats Bolt seems capable of achieving.

Exactly one year earlier, Bolt had stunned the world in Beijing, grabbing gold in the most comprehensive fashion imaginable and setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds in the process.

The fact the lanky Jamaican ran that time despite slowing down over the last 30 metres to celebrate his impending victory (with his shoelaces undone), only added to the majesty and mythology of a performance few thought humanly possible.

It also led many to logically assume that, if the Jamaican ever did run flat-out for the whole 100m, a time of around 9.60 seconds would not be beyond him.

In Berlin, the 6’5” phenomenon proved that such logical assumptions were not wide off the mark.

“Back up a little bit, back up,” Bolt told the camera as he lined up before the race. “I’m ready. Are you ready?”

No one could have been.

His opponents certainly were not.

After a solid start that left him level with his rivals, Bolt soon exploded into his stride and, unlike in China, didn’t relax until he crossed the line.

Tyson Gay—who won both the 100m and 200m at the World Championships in 2005, and entered the race as the fastest man this year after setting a personal best of 9.77 seconds in Rome in July—can be credited for that, pushing Bolt closer than anyone managed in Beijing.

But even his time of 9.71 seconds, a new national record, was nowhere near the answer required to meet Bolt’s challenge.

The one remaining medal on offer was grabbed by Asafa Powell, perhaps the forgotten man of sprinting in light of his compatriot’s recent endeavours. He came home in a time of 9.84 seconds—but the history books will not remember the race because of that.

Once again, it was all about Bolt.

In the semifinals that took place earlier in the evening, Bolt cruised through the first heat in a time of 9.89 seconds. It was a comfortable sprint—perhaps jog might be a more apt description—as Bolt hit the front by 40 metres and then eased his way to the finish. An impressive performance it was, but it gave little clue as to what was waiting in store.

Following on in the second semifinal, Tyson Gay set up the long-awaited final battle between the world's two premier sprinters as he won his own heat in a time of 9.93 seconds. The 27-year-old endured one of his customary slow starts, but his late burst gave encouragement to those who thought he might challenge Bolt.

In the final though, Bolt ended those hopes.

“I was ready, and feeling good after the semifinals,” Bolt said afterwards. “I knew it was going to be a great race, and I just came out and executed. It’s a great time.”

Last year, former 400m Olympic champion Michael Johnson described Bolt’s Olympic performance as “amazing”. This year, if it’s possible, the praise was even more effusive:

“Usain Bolt is unbelievable. We’ve never seen anything like him, and I’m not sure we ever will again,” Johnson said, clearly shell-shocked. “I didn’t think I could be more shocked than I was last year. It’s absolutely mind-boggling what he can do.”

Bolt's competitors had no choice but to acknowledge the 22-year-old's superiority:

"I ran the best I could, it just wasn’t good enough tonight,” the likable Gay said afterwards. "I believe I put in a championship performance. I’m happy with a national record.”

Seventy-three years earlier, in the same stadium, Jesse Owens did his bit to break down political and social barriers by embarrassing the Nazi regime in its own backyard. As a result, the 1936 Olympic Games has gone down in sporting history.

Bolt's effort might not have such a widespread social impact, but it will surely become equally important in making people re-evaluate the limits of human physical performance. For that, it will surely be remembered just as long.

Earlier in the week, Bolt suggested to reporters that a time of 9.40 seconds is the absolute limit of his physical abilities. Just over a year ago, most knowledgeable athletics commentators would have suggested such a mark might would not be achieved in the next 50 years.

In light of recent events, perhaps some will believe we might see such a time with the next few years.

Such is the incredible nature of Bolt's talent.

Unfortunately for us mere mortals, such a pursuit will have to wait. In the meantime, for Bolt and the rest of the world, the attention must now turn to his next event.

"I’ve got the 200m to come, so no partying for me!" the Jamaican replied after being asked how he might celebrate another historic performance.

Will another epic performance, and world record, come in that event?

Few would bet against it.

And perhaps therein lies the true majesty of Usain Bolt.

Premier League Preview: 2009-10 Final Table Prediction

Alex Dimond — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:41:10 -0400

With the new Premier League season almost ready to start, the time has come for fans and pundits alike to make their last-minute predictions as to how they believe the league table will look at the end of the campaign. This is my version. What follows is my estimate of the final position of all 20 teams, along with a little explanation of what each side can expect from the forthcoming campaign. If I'm honest, I'll be happy if even one of my predictions turns out to be correct. NB: Andrew Jordan has already published a very thorough look at where he feels the Premier League's 20 teams will finish next season, so please check his out to see where we agree and, more probably, disagree. Finally, before we start, an admission. I'm not the world's biggest fan of slideshows as a means of presenting articles, but every once in a while a man must make an exception. This is it.

Begin Slideshow

Hull City Swoop To Sign American Jozy Altidore on Loan

Alex Dimond — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:08:56 -0400

Hull City look to have completed a surprise moves ahead of the new season with news emerging that United States and Villarreal forward Jozy Altidore will join the Premier League club on a season-long loan.

Altidore, writing on his Twitter page, did not explicitly state he was joining the Tigers, but left enough clues for fans to work it out.

“England here I come!” the 19-year-old wrote. “First match is against Chelsea (wink, wink) subject to a work permit.”

Hull travel to Stamford Bridge for the first match of the new season on Saturday 15th August.

Spanish side Villarreal paid €10 million for the American international at the beginning of last season. But the former New York Red Bulls player (he scored 15 goals in 37 games for the MLS club) struggled to adapt to La Liga, and only managed one goal in six appearances with El Submarino Amarillo.

He was subsequently loaned to second division Xerez for the second half of the season, where his campaign was ended by injury before he could play a game.

Nevertheless, Hull manager Phil Brown saw enough of Altidore’s talent at the Confederations Cup to convince him the youngster was worth signing to bolster his attacking options at the KC Stadium.

Altidore had a starring role in South Africa, where his power and presence caused opponents a real threat. The striker’s calm finish in the semi-final, coming somewhat ironically against Spain, also demonstrated his ability in front of goal.

Brown will be hoping Altidore is more suited to the Premier League than he was in La Liga, and will believe Altidore's size and power will enable him to be a success. At 6'1", the Haiti-born player certainly has physical presence but perhaps lacks some technical ability—something that was exposed by Spanish football.

If the example of other Americans who have plied their trade in England is anything to go by, then Altidore should hit the ground running. Past and present international teammates Brad Friedel, Brian McBride, and Clint Dempsey (to name just three) have all acquitted themselves well in England.

According to a source close to the deal, who spoke with ESPN, Altidore is excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League, and also the opportunity to play regular first-team football ahead of next year’s World Cup—something that will also please Bob Bradley and fans of the US natioanl team.

Although Altidore will probably find himself on the bench initially, while Hull's backroom staff assess his fitness and give him time to adjust to their style of football, he will certainly hope to push the likes of Caleb Folan and Craig Fagan for a starting role in the near future.

Altidore stated on his Twitter that there will be a press conference tomorrow (August 6) at 2:30pm GMT formally announcing the move.

Arsene Wenger Right To Keep Faith Despite Arsenal's Puzzling Summer?

Alex Dimond — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:47:26 -0400

Few clubs, and perhaps even fewer managers, provoke such conflicting opinions as Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. To some, the club plays beautiful football but its playing staff lack the resilience and mental strength to win the game’s big prizes.

To others, their brand of football is just a bit of experience and a dose of good fortune away from winning every trophy they compete for.

As for the manager, even Arsenal’s fans sometimes seem divided about the direction Wenger is leading the club. Some are unquestioning in their faith to his vision. Others are less impressed—frustrated by his apparent refusal to pursue expensive signings and outright angered by the misguided faith he appears to have in his young charges.

Deliciously, it often seems the 59-year-old’s comments only serve to provide ammunition for both sides of the argument. This summer has proved no different.

"This team has improved a lot as compared to last season. They played 21 games unbeaten from November until the end of the season. We reached the semi-final of the Champions League, FA Cup,” Wenger has been quick to point out.

“We have a squad which is very ambitious. We have the basic quality, they have international quality and are under 23, so their best time is now.”

Certainly Arsenal impressed during periods of last season, and got better after an abysmal start that saw some shocking defeats (most notably, and embarrassingly, at home to Hull City). But while they may have managed all the feats Wenger mentions, they also finished a full 18 points adrift of eventual champions Manchester United.

For a club that believes it is a full member of the “Big Four” that is simply not good enough.

Wenger may believe this season is the one for his team, but the summer sale of two high-profile assets has led many to question whether he is correct in that assertion. After all, it is one he has seemingly made for the better part of four, ultimately trophy-less, seasons.

With the sale of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, Arsenal have undoubtedly lost two important players and diminished the squad’s strength. But on the other hand, the club seem to have profited in at least three important ways.

Firstly, and most obviously, the have added £40 million of much needed finance to their bank balance. Whether Arsene Wenger chooses to reinvest all or any of that remains unclear, but one way or another those funds will help the club’s future.

Secondly, Wenger has sold two players who would otherwise have probably missed a key period of the season to play in the African Cup of Nations. With Emmanuel Eboue also likely to be offloaded, Wenger is ensuring that his team is minimally disrupted (Alex Song should be involved) by the competition, unlike two seasons ago.

Thirdly, Wenger has managed to offload two players who threatened the dressing room harmony. Adebayor’s poor attitude was becoming increasingly apparent, and left a sour taste in the mouth whenever he made his not-so-subtle comments to the media.

Toure might have seemed the archetypal loyal servant, but his recent comments about his “six-month” relationship with Manchester City indicate that was not necessarily the case.

Now, however, those issues will be Mark Hughes’s—a privilege for which he has also played handsomely.

Wenger might lose some sleep over the loss of Adebayor, who was capable of moments of magic when the occasion most demanded it. But the Togolese international was also lackadaisical and disinterested when his team desperately needed more.

With the Robin van Persie leading the line, Nicklas Bendtner in the squad, and a litany of attacking midfielders to provide from midfield, Adebayor had become expendable.

As for Toure, the Ivorian was a defender of limited ability whose athleticism often made him look significantly better than he deserved. Statistically poor last season, he was nevertheless an integral part of an Arsenal defence which conceded 37 goals in the league last season (Manchester United, by contrast, conceded just 24).

Clearly, the 28-year-old should prove eminently replaceable.

Whether Thomas Vermaelen, the £10 million summer signing, will prove that replacement remains to be seen. But the Belgian brings with him a decent reputation from his time with Ajax and as long as he settles well, should prove a competent performer.

Nevertheless, Wenger might well be scouting for an established Premiership central defender to provide further steel to a sometimes soft Arsenal defence. The club have been strongly linked to Fulham’s Brede Hangeland, and at the right price the 6’5” Norwegian would be a great capture.

If St. Etienne’s Blaise Matuidi is also brought in to address the club’s glaring deficiency at defensive midfield, perhaps alongside former talisman Patrick Vieira, then it would not be unreasonable to suggest the club have had a successful summer.

On the other hand, Arsene Wenger is notoriously reticent to make too many big signings. Such a stance—especially when high-profile players are sold so willingly—has disappointed many and only served to overshadow the good news of returning players this summer. But the Frenchman is unrelenting in his stance:

"We have developed a style and culture of play that everybody accepts, so I feel confident and very strong. Our focus should not be who can help us from outside, but who can help us from inside."

For example, the return to full fitness of both Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo will feel like two new signings for the Gunners. The Czech midfielder has fantastic technical ability, and as long as his return continues in the same promising vein it has throughout preseason, he should be able to slot in as a perfect replacement for the injured Samir Nasri.

Eduardo, meanwhile, is one of the most naturally clinical finishers in the game today. If the Croatian can get a decent run of games, he has the ability to more than replace Adebayor’s goalscoring contribution. Even in the Emirates Cup, the 26-year-old has shown great composure in front of goal.

However, the biggest cause for optimism for the North London club could just be the first full campaign of their expensive January signing, Andrei Arshavin. Having tracked the Russian for many months, the club finally got their man in an eleventh hour deal.

The 28-year-old showed fleeting glimpses of his ability in the second half of last season (including a memorable four goals at Anfield against Liverpool) and fans will no doubt be excited to see what the mercurial midfielder can conjure up this season.

Available for the club’s European campaign as well (last season he was cup-tied), the diminutive Russian international will have a massive role to play in the club’s season.

“He now knows how English football works,” Wenger said after Arshavin lead Arsenal to a 2-1 victory against Atletico Madrid in the Emirates Cup. 'He knows as well he is part of the team from the start, and the team know how important and how big an impact he can have on the results.

"Arshavin has what you cannot give to a player—he understands when there is an opportunity in the final third, and is certainly dangerous.”

With the likes of Arshavin, Fabregas, Rosicky and Walcott supporting Van Persie and Eduardo, Arsenal should once more prove a formidable attacking threat.

With youngsters like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and the returning Armand Traore (who have all been impressive in preseason) also keen to be involved on a regular basis, the first-team squad could find itself competently reinforced from within.

It might not necessarily all be doom and gloom for Arsenal, then, even if the cause for optimism is based on a lot of "shoulds", "woulds", and "ifs."

Yes, the squad might have been weakened during the summer—but so have the majority of the other Big Four sides. Depending on which side of the Wenger debate they fall, fans at the Emirates might well be feeling more confident about their summer activity than fans at either Anfield (especially if they lose Xabi Alonso) or Manchester United.

The Gunners may have lost some quality to their squad, but they have made improvements in team cohesion. Their rivals appear to have dropped back in both departments.

Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Arsenal are coming from a long way adrift of their rivals after last season’s campaign. And with tough games facing the club from the first whistle, Wenger knows that snap judgements of him and his young charges will be immediate.

"We have Man United, Everton and Man City away in the first four games," he said. "The team is conscious of a difficult start, but very determined to do well."

With so much speculation surrounding the club, and even fans divided by what has gone on during the summer break, only the start of the season in two weeks will begin to reveal any real answers about the club’s true health.

Why the Ibrahimovic-Eto'o Transfer Makes Good Sense for All Concerned

Alex Dimond — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:54:40 -0400

It may have taken a while, but European champions Barcelona have finally responded to the gauntlet thrown down to them by rivals Real Madrid.

While Los Blancos have added Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema among others for exorbitant transfer fees this summer, Barca have finally responded with the signing of Inter Milan’s mercurial striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as Samuel Eto’o leaves for the San Siro as part of the deal.

With Barca reported to be paying around €43.5 million (£37.6 million) on top of Eto’o for Ibrahimovic’s services, many eyebrows have been raised about the sums involved. But, when the deal is examined closely, it quickly becomes clear that the deal makes absolute sense for all the teams, managers, and players involved.

Until the season kicks off in earnest, everyone will be happy with their end of what is a blockbuster deal.

Barcelona

Ibrahimovic, despite concerns about his temperament on the biggest stage, is undoubtedly one of the finest strikers in world soccer. As powerful in the air as he is imposing on the deck, the Swedish international has struck fear into Serie A defences since he arrived in Italy with Juventus in 2004.

Since joining Inter in 2006, the former Ajax player has scored 57 goals in 88 league games for the club—an impressive record.

Considering Real’s inflation of the transfer market, Ibrahimovic could reasonably be valued just shy of the €65 million (£56 million) that AC Milan demanded from Real for Kaka. Inter seem to believe this, as they were prepared to make their talisman Serie A's highest paid player (at €11 million a year). While keen on the player, Barcelona couldn’t rationally sanction such a high transfer and wage fee for a player who, at 27 years of age, might hold little resale value.

With Eto’o as a bargaining chip, however, the balance shifted slightly. The Cameroonian international is another of football’s premier hitmen, but at 28 and with only a year left on his contract, was a source of concern for the Barca hierarchy.

Once Manchester City failed in their bid to sign the former Real Madrid player, the Blaugrana board knew that they would have to sell Eto’o this summer, rather than see him leave on a free next summer. Considering his age and contract status, however, his market value could not realistically be considered to be above €10 million (£9 million).

But by involving Eto’o in the Ibrahimovic deal, Barcelona have effectively managed to knock off around €20 million from the transfer fee for a player that might only fetch €10 million on the open market. Not only that, but if Florentino Perez believes that Kaka and Ronaldo’s signings will eventually pay for themselves through higher revenues, then Barcelona can expect a similar boost in shirt sales and advertising fees by signing one of Europe’s most recognisable names.

If, as many outlets are reporting, Alex Hleb’s loan is also part of the deal (conflicting reports suggest the midfielder was actually part of an earlier deal between the two clubs that saw Maxwell head to Spain) then Barca will also be happy to reduce the wage bill slightly, and free up a space in the squad for one of their talented youth products to impress.

The Catalan giants will feel that while they have spent a vast amount of money, they have got great value in return.

Inter Milan

Ibrahimovic’s relationship with the powers-that-be at Inter had become increasingly strained over the past season, and with the board becoming more and more frustrated with the club's inability to make a real impact on the Champions League, president Massimo Moratti was becoming more open to selling a mercurial player who had—much to the Nerazzurri’s infuriation—developed a habit of going missing in Europe’s biggest games.

When Barcelona came calling, the chance to add Eto’o—a player who, if nothing else, frequently excels when the occasion most demands it—was not something they would pass up easily. Memories of his 36 goals in all competitions last season (including the opener in Rome’s Champions League final), will have been hard to ignore.

Taking Eto’o’s contract situation out of the equation, the 28-year-old would have a transfer value of around €30 million. Believing they have effectively sold Ibrahimovic for nearly €75 million, and signed a player that might have eluded them on the open market, Inter will be delighted.

Getting Alex Hleb on loan as part of the deal is a no-lose situation for the club. The Belarussian has a reputation as a creative force, and the club might be hoping he links up with Eto'o to provide the chances for his illustrious teammate to put away.

If such a plan doesn't work out, however, then they have lost little and the player can return to a club that no longer wants him. As the Italian club are only paying 30% of the player's wages for the duration of the loan, it is an inexpensive gamble.

For a net profit of €43.5 million then, they have lost a proven Serie A performer that has so far failed at the level Inter are most desperate to impress, but managed to acquire a lethal finisher who knows how to win European football’s biggest prize.

With the compensation more than covering their "loss", Inter will be extremely happy.

Josep Guardiola

The Barcelona manager will be privately relieved to offload what he perceived as a disruptive dressing room presence, even if the incoming player carries a similar reputation.

"I fully understand that people ask why [he wants Eto’o to be sold]. He is a wonderful player. Everyone knows there are no 'football' reasons. So why? It is a question of feeling," Guardiola told a news conference earlier this summer. "I feel that it is the best for the team, for the club. I am very grateful to Samuel, not for this year but for the five years he has spent here.”

Guardiola will be confident that Ibrahimovic will comfortably slot in to Eto’o’s old position as the focal point of Barca’s three-pronged attack, and will be excited to see how the Swede’s impressive attributes—a sublime touch, creative brain, shooting threat from in and outside the box—might add extra dimensions to his team’s 4-3-3 formation.

While the proof will only come once the season kicks off, Guardiola will believe the transfer immediately makes his first-team considerably better.

Not involved in the financial side of the club’s operations, the 38-year-old will see this piece of business as the belated culmination of last season’s operation to remove the club’s undesirable influences (Ronaldinho, Deco, now Eto’o), and a timely improvement to a squad already proven to be among Europe’s very best.

Jose Mourinho

The "Special One" might well be delighted at the conclusion of a transfer that not only will swell his transfer budget, but also sees him get a clinical striker as an immediate replacement for a quality player he did not always see eye-to-eye with.

"Only a stupid coach would not be happy to have Samuel Eto'o and only a stupid coach would be happy to lose Ibrahimovic. I am very happy to have Eto'o," Mourinho told La Gazzetta Dello Sport this week. "For me this is a €100m deal. Eto'o is worth as much as Ibrahimovic."

Despite what he might say in public, the Portuguese manager will not be devastated to see Ibrahimovic go, a player with whom he had more than a few run-ins with over the last year. This included a final day on-pitch drama last season, where the striker was forced to play the full 90 minutes despite demanding to be substituted soon after half-time.

Apparently the Swede, along with other members of the squad, had over-done the title celebrations the previous night, but Mourinho felt it necessary to put in his place a player who was increasingly getting too big for his boots.

The former Chelsea manager might be concerned that the team will suffer without Ibra’s presence in domestic games, but will be pretty confident that Eto’o and other summer signing Diego Milito (who had a fine Serie A goalscoring record with Genoa, and scored twice in a pre-season friendly against rivals AC Milan) will more than pick up the slack.

If the money is wisely invested elsewhere—Mourinho has a decent track record of handling large budgets—then he and the rest of the club will undoubtedly feel that the transfer allows the club to go into the new season stronger than they have ever been.

Samuel Eto’o

The striker always knew his relationship with the Barcelona management was an uneasy one, and as disappointing as that situation was for him he must have understood that he would leave the club, either this season or at the end of his contract in 2010.

Testing the market as a 29-year-old next summer might have made it difficult for Eto’o to attract an offer from the sort of club he feels fits his ability, especially if he did not have as great a season as in 2008-09.

By moving this summer, even if as a makeweight for another player, he at least finds himself at a club capable of helping him to continue adding trophies to his cabinet. Financially, a raise from his €128,000-a-week wages to a reported €190,000 deal—and the security a five-year deal brings—will also bring a smile.

"I'm very happy to finally have arrived in Milan," Eto'o said in his first public statement since arriving in Italy. "For me this is a new adventure and I really want to make the very most of everything. My first aim will be to win the Champions League."

The club might still be a little distance from such a challenge, but having won everything the game has to offer at the Nou Camp and, rightly or wrongly, received very little affection for it, Eto’o might will see this move as the chance for him to not only win further trophies, but also the adoration and praise that he feels he richly deserves.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Never lacking for confidence, Ibrahimovic will be delighted to join the best side in Europe, and arrive on a stage that he feels is befitting of his talent.

"It's difficult to explain my feelings," the Swede, who will inherit Eto'o's No. 9 shirt, said on Monday. “Every player wants to come to Barca, but not everybody can. When I saw Barca were interested in me, I told my manager to sort it out and he’s done a great job. I think any player would want to represent what is the best club in Europe and maybe the world. The best players have to be at Barca and I hope to be one of them.”

Ibrahimovic enjoyed his time at Inter, but as his departure from Juventus after the Calciopoli scandal shows, the Swede has no time for sentiment. Just as he saw Inter’s offer as a chance to keep playing at Italy’s highest level, now he sees Barcelona’s offer as the opportunity to show himself to be the very best in Europe.

While his wage—around €210,000-a-week in Milan—will not rise significantly, Ibrahimovic's ego will be more than fed by the move itself.

Barcelona is among the handful of clubs that signify the absolute pinnacle of a player’s career, and at only 27, Ibrahimovic has plenty of time to make sure his time in Spain is a very successful one.

Alexander Hleb

An awkward third wheel to the headline-grabbing protagonists, this transfer saga only shows how far Hleb’s star has fallen since Barcelona paid €13m for his services only last summer.

But after a torrid time at the Nou Camp, the former Arsenal man will be delighted to get the opportunity to resurrect his career with a manager familiar with his ability, in a league that might ultimately suit him slightly better than La Liga.

For now, then, both clubs will be happy with a deal that suits their respective ambitions and needs. But the kick-off to the new season, barely three weeks away, will begin to reveal which side should really be most satisfied with a transfer that looks like to have massive implications for the destination of next season's Spanish, Italian, and European titles.

Team Unity, Not New Defenders, Is the Real Challenge for Hughes' Manchester City

Alex Dimond — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:20:58 -0400

Much has been written—and perhaps even more said—about Manchester City’s apparently ludicrous summer transfer policy.

With the recent acquisition of Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez for a combined £50 million, bringing Manchester City’s roster of top-class strikers to seven, some commentators have been led to state that having such a depth of offensive talent on the books is not just greedy, but a little pointless.

This is especially true, as many have been quick to point out with a certain glee, when a team still relies on defenders of the quality of Richard Dunne and Micah Richards.

“Manchester City's All-Star lineup of strikers looks impressive—more than that, it looks electrifying—but they have to build a defence, or else it will be the Real Madrid galacticos reborn; lots of goals and nothing else to show for it,” wrote former Liverpool midfielder turned Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp this week. “In seven of the last 10 years, the team who won the title have also boasted the best defensive record.”

Clearly, City wouldn’t decline the opportunity to upgrade their defence from Micah Richards and Richard Dunne, especially after both had disappointing seasons last year. But with holding midfielders in front of them of the quality of Vincent Kompany, Nigel De Jong, and Gareth Barry, it should not exactly be seen as a massive problem either.

With both full-back positions reasonably covered with the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Wayne Bridge, and Javier Garrido, on the whole, Manchester City’s defensive unit can be viewed as relatively solid.

In truth, of greater importance to City’s immediate prospects than addressing the defensive issues is manager Mark Hughes’ ability to get his illustrious squad to gel quickly as a unit.

After all, as Redknapp might agree, 10 of the last 10 Premier League champions have boasted incredible team spirit.

Improving team unity is an undertaking that shouldn’t be taken lightly. As much as it might annoy the City hierarchy, it is not something that can be bought.

With such a wealth of attacking options, City look almost certain to employ a 4-3-3 formation, a la Barcelona, with Adebayor leading the line alongside Tevez and Robinho.

In midfield, Stephen Ireland and Gareth Barry look likely to play slightly ahead of De Jong or Kompany—although the Belgian could potentially slip into central defence if he must.

The problem, however, is that Ireland and Barry—plus, to a lesser extent, De Jong—are not in the same league as Xavi, Iniesta, and Yaya Toure. To replicate the roles of their illustrious Catalan contemporaries, they will have to adapt their game significantly.

This in itself is not a massive problem. City could always opt to fashion a system similar to that Liverpool employed last term (De Jong acting as Mascherano, with Barry as Xabi Alonso) or even come up with a unique tactic of their own that plays to their formidable strength.

But, just as the above formation leaves no place (on a regular basis) for talented players like Roque Santa Cruz, Elano, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Martin Petrov, no formation on earth will be able to accommodate every one of City’s big names.

How will the unlucky players that do get left out be kept happy, and prevented from letting their discord spread to the rest of the squad?

Publicly at least, Hughes seems unconcerned by what looks an impossible task.

"It doesn't faze me at all," the 45-year-old said. "I understand it's a big responsibility and it's up to me to make sure we blend the team in the right manner and we get a winning team. Everybody has a view on how you deal with big players and big world stars, the likes of Carlos Tevez."

"But from dealing with top players the reason they are top players is because they have certain qualities and certain attributes and blend themselves to being top professionals. From my experience the top, top players are easier to handle, so there's no apprehension about it. I just view it as an outstanding opportunity for myself and my football club.''

Perhaps Hughes should have reason to be fazed. Last season, Hughes visibly struggled to get his team to work as a unit, particularly away from Eastlands.

At home, City had the third best tally in the league, as its 39 points from 19 games only surpassed by cross-town rivals Manchester United and Liverpool.

But away from home, the club’s measly 11 points represented the fourth-worst away record in the league, better only than Stoke, West Brom, and Middlesbrough.

If Hughes is not to find himself under pressure early into the new season, he will have to sort out such problems almost immediately.

While certain that City will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future, even those closest to the action doubt whether this season will see Manchester City get to the level required to challenge the “Big Four.”

"This year might be tough for them but, next year, you never know given the guys they are buying," Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole said recently. "The players they are bringing in are good quality. You never know, they may just gel, click, straight away and it's magic. But you won't really know until you see them play.”

Those within the club, however, have no such doubts.

"The city is blue already. I was amazed by that," Nigel De Jong said last week. "But now also on the expectation side and performance side, it can be blue, too. Manchester City are making a point that nothing is impossible. We can buy whoever we want and just go for the best players in the league and compete. I hope we can be the dominant team."

Perhaps Hughes will surprise almost everyone, and get his side playing with a style and harmony reminiscent of the Barcelona team his tactics might well impersonate.

If De Jong’s confidence is representative of the rest of the squad, then such an outcome is far from unlikely.

But if the Welshman cannot get the midfield, and the team as a whole, to link together as a cohesive unit in both attack and defence, then even the greatest central defenders money can buy will struggle to deal with the resulting problems.

John Terry and Joleon Lescott Exemplify Differing Attractions of Manchester City

Alex Dimond — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:17:59 -0400

Manchester City’s footballing master-plan has kicked up a notch in recent weeks, with attacking reinforcements acquired at a rate that has rattled a transfer market already reeling from Real Madrid’s early summer moves.

In the signings of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Gareth Barry—to name just three—City have added a host of players who have played for, or were once coveted by, members of the “Big Four”.

As a result, the message the club is sending out is clear—Manchester City are in it to win it.

Whether the players mentioned above will be enough to catapult City to title contention is debatable, but what is certain is that the players currently at manager Mark Hughes’ disposal make the club realistic Champions League contenders—especially if the defensive reinforcements are brought in before the season starts.

Interestingly, the two targets manager Mark Hughes has identified to solve his defensive issues, John Terry and Joleon Lescott, exemplify better than most the differing attraction of City for certain players.

On the one hand, Lescott is the sort of signing that many clubs in Manchester City’s position would love to make. The 26-year-old has proved himself an outstanding Premiership defender over the last two seasons, chipping in with crucial goals, but most importantly—playing a pivotal role in making Everton a difficult side to beat.

Everton’s understandable inability to break into the Champions League—and their failure to win last year’s FA Cup—would lead him to be intrigued by any offer from Manchester City who, while finishing lower in the league than the Toffees last term, seem to have the personnel and the financial clout to challenge the dominance of the “Big Four” across all fronts.

A bid of £15 million for the former Wolves player has already been rejected, but anything nearer the £20 million mark is likely to seriously test the resolve of manager David Moyes.

Lescott’s conduct throughout the transfer process should also renew Hughes’ desire to try and sign him. Lescott, while privately keen on discussing a move with the Eastlands club, has so far refused to confront Moyes with his wishes, and has declined from making any public comment about the situation—a viable option if he wished to engineer a move away.

Lescott’s actions illustrate a player more concerned with playing football to the best of his ability than maximising his earning potential.

"Absolutely we want Joleon to stay. I don't think anyone would want a player like Joleon to leave," Lescott's teammate Leighton Baines told the club's official website after the club's midweek friendly with Rochdale.

"He's done so well for the club over the last few years. His mind isn't elsewhere and he's fully focused on what he's doing here at Everton at the moment. That's great."

Hughes might well feel such an upstanding character would be a welcome addition to a dressing room quickly being filled by multi-millionaires, whose footballing desire has been publicly questioned.

Another man whose character seems highly desired by Mark Hughes, is Chelsea defender John Terry—the subject of a £30 million bid from the club that was apparently rejected by the Blues.

"I played alongside him at Chelsea and I admire him as a person and captain from afar,” Hughes said this week. “He's obviously the type and calibre of player we need if we are going to progress and compete at the top level.”

Yet City’s bid for the England international has created more questions about Terry’s character than it has given answers.

The 28-year-old is a man who has carefully and deliberately cultivated the image of being “Mr. Chelsea.” It is a status that has enabled him to be more than looked-after by his club (his wages are believed to be around £130,000-a-week), and even rise to captaincy of his national side on the back of his much-vaunted leadership skills.

For a man whose defensive abilities are not above criticism, Terry cannot be said to have underachieved.

But without his reputation as a talismanic leader, Terry would simply be another example of the overpaid and over-pampered modern footballer, brazenly parking in disabled spaces and more interested in the size of his pay cheque than the size of his trophy cabinet.

If that was the case, the England captaincy would surely have eluded him.

Surprising, a refusal to deny an interest in Manchester City suggests that such an analysis might not be too far from the truth after all. Surely a real “Mr. Chelsea” would not consider leaving Stamford Bridge for a club that is still some way from reaching the same standing in the world game?

Surely, after regularly stating his desire to win the Champions League with his boyhood club, he would not turn his back when the possibility of such a dream being realised is still realistic?

The answer to either question is as yet unclear.

But in refusing to make any comment about the situation, Terry is doing his own image more harm than good.

There appear to be two likely outcomes from the whole saga. The first sees Terry join City for a giant transfer fee that perhaps overplays his importance as a player, but underlines his significance as a leader.

For such a move, he will doubtless be handsomely rewarded with an astronomical weekly wage.

The second outcome would see Terry stay at Chelsea, but use Manchester City’s interest as a bargaining chip with which to squeeze more money out of Roman Abramovich, upping his wage from its current £130,000.

Terry might pass it off as the price of loyalty. Others might simply see it as greed.

But with either outcome, Terry will see a rise in his income.

In the modern game, the chance to increase earning potential is almost as powerful an attraction to a player as the opportunity to increase their chances of winning trophies.

This summer, City are in unparalleled position to provide an attractive proposition to players motivated by either money or potential titles. They can attract players otherwise out of their reach (Adebayor, Tevez), as what they can offer financially outweighs what they cannot provide in short-term opportunities.

But they can also attract ambitious players at clubs outside the “Big Four” with the otherwise unlikely prospect of Champions League football somewhere down the line.

The task facing Hughes is to find the right balance of either type of player in his squad.

The way things look at the minute, some might suggest it is a hungry player like Lescott the club needs most, rather than John Terry—a player whose character suddenly finds itself firmly in question.

Diego Forlan Finds the Net Easily, But Having a Time Locating a New Club

Alex Dimond — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:11:33 -0400

As the summer transfer window rolls on, strikers have quickly hit the top of the agenda, with every big club looking to improve their team by adding a world-class finisher.

Manchester City have already added Roque Santa Cruz (£18 million) and Carlos Tevez (£25 million) to their squad, with another £25 million believed to be heading Arsenal’s way in exchange for the services of Emmanuel Adebayor.

In Spain, Real Madrid have already spent money on attracting French striker Karim Benzema to their ranks, hoping the former Olympique Lyonnais hitman will be the focal point of the Madrid attack that will also feature £80 million Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real, along with arch-rivals Barcelona, have also been consistently linked with Valencia striker David Villa. The Spanish international is highly coveted by clubs throughout Europe, but the Mestalla-based club are taking a hardline stance in negotiations in order to get the best deal possible for their talisman.

Down the big club’s lists, however, and so far failing to gain serious interest, is a player that—on recent form—is arguably the superior of all the aforementioned names: Diego Forlan.

Some clubs, most notably Barcelona, have flirted with the Uruguayan striker but have yet to get serious with their intentions.

"It is not strange to me that Joan Laporta [Barcelona’s president] says he likes Forlan, as we have known that for a long time,” said Forlan’s agent, Daniel Bolotnicoff, recently. “But the reality is that there has been no offer[s], and we are calm. Barcelona have at no time made contact with us. Laporta has made no movement for Forlan."

Elsewhere, the top clubs in England seem prepossessed with a move for Atletico’s other talented striker, Sergio "Kun" Aguero, although the club’s valuation of the player might prove an insurmountable obstacle.

Yet it is the Uruguayan striker, and not his Argentinean teammate, who currently holds the Pichichi, the award given to the top scorer in La Liga, having beaten both Villa and another highly sought-after striker, Samuel Eto’o, to the crown last season.

In the 2008-09 season, Forlan scored a fantastic 32 goals in 33 league games, capping yet another great season in Spain for the former Manchester United striker.

Forlan arrived at Manchester United with an impressive reputation, but a poor return of just 17 goals in 120 games (although some of those proved vitally important) saw the £6.9 million signing’s stock plummet.

Indeed, the man once dubbed “Diego Forlorn” around Old Trafford has become virtually unrecognisable ever since he was offloaded to Villarreal in 2004 for a reported sum of just £3 million.

Forlan won the Pichichi in his first season with the Villarreal club, helping the club to its first-ever Champions League qualification.

The Uruguayan international went on to score 54 goals in 103 games for the club before Atletico Madrid came calling with a sizeable €21 million offer for his services.

In two seasons with the capital club, Forlan has notched 48 goals in just 69 games—a record that compares favourably with anyone else in Spain or Europe.

But that hasn’t been enough to make him the focus of Europe’s biggest clubs.

For many, the memory of his underwhelming period at United acts as a deterrent to any transfer bid.

For his part, Forlan is remarkably sanguine about the failures of his career:

“Every coach has his own players,” Forlan said. “Maybe I was not the player that Sir Alex [Ferguson] liked, which is fair enough. He can choose—that's why he's the manager.”

For the others, Forlan’s age is the problem. The 30-year-old doesn’t look like a particularly attractive proposition considering the limited number of years left in his career, particularly for English clubs concerned by his failure to adapt to the Premier League, when his 21-year-old teammate Aguero could be purchased for just a slightly higher fee.

But more so than most players currently being bandied about in the rumour pages of newspapers, Forlan’s record should excite any club serious about their aspirations—and with the money to back it up.

Aside from his formidable goal-scoring record, the Montevideo-born man is a truly two-footed finisher—last season he scored 16 goals with his right foot and 15 with his left—with the knack of producing the spectacular.

Forlan doesn’t just rely on his teammates for goals; he has often created his own openings out of nothing. As deadly inside the box as he can be 30 yards out, Spanish defences have had five years to nullify Forlan’s threat and have so far failed miserably.

Content to stay with Atletico, who will enter the Champions League in the playoff round this year, Forlan would nonetheless be intrigued by a second opportunity to prove his worth with a European heavyweight.

"Diego is at Atletico, very happy there because he has been treated wonderfully,” his father Pablo told Spanish station COM radio this week. “But, without a doubt, playing in a team like Barca would interest any player.”

It might interest him, but it looks like Forlan will have to wait until the future of players he has regularly outscored—particularly Eto’o and Villa—is resolved before he can mull over any proposals of his own.

All things considered, a transfer this summer looks unlikely.

“In football, you cannot predict what will happen,” Pablo admitted, “but neither myself nor Diego want to talk about something that has not happened. He is happy at Atletico."

And Atletico are happy to have him.

Portsmouth and Newcastle Fearful of Threat Posed by Takeover Troubles

Alex Dimond — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:59:13 -0400

In general, takeovers tend to bring positive results to the club involved.

Transfer budgets and ambitions are increased, as a new chairman comes in and approves the purchase of expensive new signings who invariably help the team to dramatically improved league positions.

But, by the same token, a takeover can bring many problems to a previously stable club. If a takeover drags on and takes a while to complete—particularly during the vitally important summer months, where fresh talent must be recruited for the new campaign—it can spell disaster for a club’s short-term prospects.

That is the fear that currently grips Premiership club Portsmouth, and recently relegated Championship outfit Newcastle United.

While Newcastle seemed to be paralysed by owner Mike Ashley’s failure to sell the club this summer, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim’s protracted negotiations over the purchase of Portsmouth have resulted in the South Coast club losing a lot of ground in the transfer window.

Star player Glen Johnson has already moved to Liverpool in the transfer window, with the £17 million fee helping to alleviate the club’s existing financial concerns—concerns held over by the outgoing regime.

The right-back’s move has also gone some way to assuaging Al-Fahim’s fears about the economic integrity of the club he proposes to buy, as the Middle East-based businessman finally completed due diligence of the club yesterday.

“The formal application for the fit and proper person test has been submitted to the Premier League and it is with them now,” said Ivo Ilic Gabara, Al-Fahim’s spokesman, after announcing due diligence had been completed.

“The buying party, Fahim Associates, are now doing the final commercial assessment following the due diligence process."

As the takeover looks nearer to completion, there are nonetheless huge concerns about the immediate future of the 2008 FA Cup winners. No new signings have been made this summer, and even a full-time manager (Paul Hart is currently in caretaker charge) is still to be appointed.

Important players, like Sol Campbell, are out of contract and as a result of the ongoing ownership changes, negotiations have yet to be opened.

"Who knows who is going to be there as manager," said Campbell this week. "Is Paul Hart going to stay or is someone else coming in? No one has a clue. The fans are fantastic, but I really worry about the club.

"Glen Johnson has gone and there could be a couple of others going, so it's difficult. There's uncertainty, and that's not the best thing for a football club. Hopefully, they can sort it out before the start of the season, because you can't have this carrying on into the new season."

With the new season just over a month away, Al-Fahim will have to move quickly to ensure his first year of ownership does not end in a potentially crippling relegation.

If, as looks likely, he wishes to appoint a new manager (Roberto Mancini has reportedly already met Al-Fahim once this summer), then any appointment will have little time to come in, identify areas of the squad that need strengthening, and approach potential targets.

With the summer transfer window closing in less than two months, and the club currently only possessing 15 senior outfield players, that will not be an easy task.

Al-Fahim will have to move even quicker to retain key players the club already possesses. Assuring the likes of Campbell that Fratton Park is still the best place for them to ply their trade will be a vital, if difficult, first task.

“I want the best environment for me for at least the next two years. Play football, stability and no mucking around,” Campbell said. “I have to get the right package and make sure that the chairman, the manager, it's all proper. Where Portsmouth moves on from here, I don't know. It really depends on who comes in and at what capacity they come in."

Almost 400 miles north of Portsmouth, Newcastle are struggling with similar uncertainty, one magnified by the club’s relegation from the Premiership.

Chairman Mike Ashley, who has enjoyed a torrid reign since buying the then debt-ridden club for £135 million in 2007, has so far been unable to sell the club, despite setting a reduced asking price of £100 million.

While there are many interested parties, most seem deterred by Newcastle’s poor finances—a direct result of their relegation. Consequently, Ashley might reluctantly find himself still in possession of the club when the new season kicks off on August 8.

"The process [of finding a buyer] is moving extremely slowly, there is still genuine hope of a sale but it's not looking imminent," said a club source close to negotiations this week. "Newcastle comes with a lot of baggage."

While £100 million would prove a reasonable fee if Newcastle were to bounce straight back into the Premiership, the yearly wage bill—believed to be around £65 million—would cause great difficulties if the club was to endure a prolonged stay in England’s second tier, a league not renowned for its accessible exits.

"The fear is we could end up in a worse financial mess than Leeds did," admitted the source.

Like at Portsmouth, the situation has already begun to affect the players. While some, like defender Habib Beye, have publicly pledged themselves to the cause, many others have already gone to the media in a bid to express their concerns about the lack of activity on Tyneside.

"We would prefer to know whether Mike Ashley is going to keep [Newcastle] or someone else is coming in," said the midfielder Kevin Nolan, a man who might have been expected to lead Newcastle’s promotion charge. "In the next week we certainly want to know what is going to happen. This situation is unfair on the players and the staff."

Like Portsmouth, Newcastle do not currently have a permanent manager in place, a situation that has rather hampered the club’s footballing activity.

Club idol Alan Shearer oversaw the last eight games of last season, but wishes to wait before the outcome of all takeover talks before committing himself to the new season.
In the meantime, no new players have arrived at St. James’ Park.

With high-earners such as Obafemi Martins, Fabrizio Collocini and Jonas Guttierrez likely to leave before the summer is out—and an out-of-contract Michael Owen having already moved to Manchester United—many fans feel signings will have to be made if the Magpies are to get out of the Championship at the first time of asking.

With the start of the Football League season under four weeks away, Shearer—or whoever else gets handed what might prove a poisoned chalice—will have very little time to integrate new players into the squad.

“At this moment the football club is dying a slow, painful death,” said goalkeeper Steve Harper. “At the moment the club isn't rebuilding, it's in a state of limbo and that is no good for anyone."

Both Newcastle and Portsmouth started the summer with high hopes that a takeover would reinvigorate their aspirations.

But with most of that period now passed, and takeovers still to be concluded, many fans must now be wondering whether such a prolonged phase of uncertainty will end up doing both club’s short-term prospects more harm than good.

This Ashes Series Set To Serve Up Great Tests, but Not Greatness

Alex Dimond — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:32:05 -0400

England escaped defeat by the slimmest of margins on Sunday, as James Anderson and Monty Panesar—England’s No. 10 and 11 respectively—formed an unlikely yet defiant 69-ball final stand to deny an Australian side from a victory that they looked destined to take for much of the final day.

It was a dramatic end to the first Ashes Test of 2009, and the first Test match ever to be held at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

Much credit for the “great escape” must go to Paul Collingwood, whose valiant six-hour innings (during which he compiled the slowest England 50 in 14 years) got England to within sight of the finish line.

Ridiculed four years ago by Shane Warne as he collected an MBE despite only contributing 17 runs to England’s Ashes success, Collingwood looks like a man determined to have a big impact on the series this time around.

Absolutely mortified by his dismissal—caught feeling outside off-stump and ending up spooning a catch to gully—that prevented him seeing the job through to its conclusion, the 33-year-old should not be too down-hearted.

Nevertheless, the tense conclusion to the Test should not detract from the simple fact that Australia managed to gain the upper hand on England within three days of the first Test of a five Test series—and this is not even a great Australian side.

“In the end it was close, closer than we would have hoped for and at one point we looked dead,” Collingwood told Sky Sports in the game’s aftermath. “There are some happy people in that dressing room now. Realistically though we know we have to improve for Thursday.”

Nathan Hauritz is an average spinner at best, and while Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson are both threatening bowlers, neither would have challenged Glenn McGrath for strike-bowling supremacy in years gone by.

The fact that such a weak bowling attack, by Australia’s high standards, still managed to out-fox England’s upper and middle order, is not a good sign for the remainder of the series.

England—possessing of their own distinctly average bowling lineup in the form of Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, and Graeme Swann—will hope that a move back to the more familiar Test surroundings of Lord’s will reinvigorate all aspects of their game.

“We’re just thankful that we managed to get away with it,” England captain Andrew Strauss said at the post-match presentation. “We’ve not given away too much momentum, which is important in back-to-back Tests. We are just very, very thankful to get a draw and we can take pride in the fight we showed.”

England’s batsman will look forward to arriving at the home of cricket, bringing with i the likely prospect of a few runs. Only Ravi Bopara should provide real worries for the selectors, and the young No. 3 looks like he only needs one decent knock to give him the confidence to remain competitive throughout the rest of the series.

It is the toothless nature of the bowling attack that might need more than a change of scenery to address.

Steve Harmison—at his best a truly world-class fast bowler—is in the squad for the second Test and might well get another chance to take on the Aussies, against whom he has a bittersweet history, once more.

If he doesn’t make the starting 11 for the next Test, in replacement of one of the spinners (surely, despite his heroics, Panesar), then his Durham teammate Graham Onions surely should.

These are decisions for Andrew Strauss and the England selectors to make, although, as a captain, Strauss does not inspire confidence in the way Michael Vaughan did.

While Vaughan seemed to have the ability—and the courage—to actively make things happen for his side during crucial periods of matches, Strauss seems to be an altogether more reactionary leader, preferring to try and respond to events as they come.

Strauss does not strike you as a natural leader, and you feel after Kevin Pietersen’s antics last year he became captain through a lack of any other options.

In the annals of time, his captaincy will probably not be remembered amongst the greats. Although the ECB might be quivering at the prospect, Pietersen will surely re-assume the captaincy before too long.

With it, perhaps England will develop the sort of hard-nosed intent that characterises Australian teams. At the minute, that seems the major difference between the two sides—Australia are ruthless, intimidating, and abrasive.

England, while comparably talented, seem too nice to get involved in a real dogfight. Perhaps that will develop as the series, and the personal rivalries, progress.

Regardless of future events, England can take heart from the fact they have come through the inevitable early baptism of fire without any tangible damage being done to their series prospects. The junior members of the squad now know what the Ashes are all about, and the senior members have had the opportunity to see what the new faces in the opposition squad are all about.

From what has been seen so far, neither side should be scared of the other.

One the evidence of the first Test, it cannot be denied that the quality of the two teams is far diminished from the 2005 series.

But if the 2009 version continues to serve up dramatic finishes like Sunday’s, then it is doubtful too many casual observers will be that bothered.

Manchester United Hope to Nurture Gabriel Obertan's Natural Talent

Alex Dimond — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:04:33 -0400

With the summer signings of Michael Owen, Luis Antonio Valencia, and now Gabriel Obertan, Manchester United have hardly captured the imagination of their worldwide fanbase.

£17 million Valencia, a star performer in a solid Wigan Athletic team last season, has been viewed as a decent, if unspectacular signing to offset the loss of the irreplaceable Cristiano Ronaldo.

Michael Owen was undoubtedly one of the world’s best strikers once upon a time, but many supporters remain to be convinced that the 29-year-old, arguably 11 years removed from his finest hour as a player, will be able to replace the effort, goals and overall contribution that Carlos Tevez brought to the club.

And as for the £3 million Obertan; while 80,000 Madrid fans turned out to see Cristiano Ronaldo’s unveiling at Real Madrid, it is perhaps doubtful that even that many United fans had ever heard of the former Bordeaux winger.

Nevertheless, Sir Alex Ferguson has done his homework in scouting the wideman, and has seen enough to lead him to believe he has the potential to succeed at the club.

"Gabriel is a player we have tracked for a few years now, but because of his educational programme [at the famed Clairefontaine academy] our efforts to get him here have always been delayed," Ferguson said. "We are delighted to get him now, as he is an exciting prospect.”

The 20-year-old had long known of United’s observation of him, but admitted ahead of his move to England that he thought the opportunity for him to join the former European champions had passed.

"I knew they had been following me for a few years but I did not think it was going to happen this season," Obertan told French radio station RMC.

"We had no longer been in too much contact until the England U-21 game where I played well for France and scored a goal. That helped things along. We spoke again, and I ended up signing.”

For pundits and fans alike, however, the Obertan signing is not one that has been greatly celebrated. Partly this is a result of Obertan’s relative obscurity, but it is also a result of the Frenchman’s fairly uninspiring CV.

After all, as former club Bordeaux chased a first league title in ten years last season, manager Laurent Blanc deemed Obertan expendable enough to be allowed out on loan to lowly Lorient for the second half of the campaign.

While his teammates went on to clinch the title, Obertan managed a meager one goal in 15 appearances with the Ligue 1 mid-table side.

But Blanc, if not a confidante then certainly a close acquaintance of Sir Alex (having played under the Scot at Old Trafford during the later part of his career), will not have sold his former manager a complete dud, and Obertan does have pedigree at youth level.

He won the most valuable player award at last month’s international Toulon tournament, and Ireland fans will remember him as a player who tore apart their U21 side in a friendly last year. As United witnessed, he was also instrumental as France beat England at U21 level earlier this year.

The French World Cup winner is more than aware of his former charge’s promise, but realistic enough to realise that the French club (especially with the likes of Yoann Gourcuff reducing first team opportunities) might not be best environment for him to progress.

"I was surprised [when United came in with a bid], but it is an unexpected chance for him to play with one of the best clubs in the world," Blanc said recently.

"Manchester United certainly hope to advance him, something that Bordeaux and Lorient have failed to do. He has the potential, but he must overcome psychological and mental challenges so he can express his true value."

United will be confident they can help Obertan overcome such obstacles, and that their coaching methods will prove more productive than Bordeaux’s.

Signing a player for £12.25 million and selling him five years later for £80 million will give a club great faith in the training methods they employ, and that is exactly what United achieved with Cristiano Ronaldo.

When the Portuguese winger arrived at Old Trafford, he was a young player with great athletic ability and natural skill, but lacking any sort of end product—something his former club Sporting Lisbon were struggling to address.

Much like Obertan.

Under United’s tutelage, however, Ronaldo is now one of the finest players in the world, with a goalscoring (and assist) record that compares with the very best.

United’s back-room staff must take a lot of credit for that.

While calling Obertan Ronaldo’s heir might be overly optimistic, a prolonged stay at Old Trafford will undoubtedly develop his talents to a level he could previously only aspire to.

At 6'2", Obertan has the physical presence to survive in the Premier League. Like Ronaldo, he has already demonstrated the sort of trickery and natural speed that cannot be taught, no matter who the coach is.

It is his positioning, awareness and technique—among other things—that need work. These are all aspects that United’s coaching team, led by Mike Phelan, will be confident they can address.

“We like to get young players and develop them, and we will see that in Gabriel over the next two years," Ferguson said.

Before signing the 20-year-old, Ferguson will no doubt have sat the winger down and underlined to him exactly how he sees him progressing, and how much effort he will have to put in in order to succeed. Ferguson will have wanted assurances that such a commitment will be made before finalizing a deal.

Publicly at least, Obertan seems to have taken that message on board.

“This is a big opportunity for me to play at such a great club," Obertan said. "It's my potential that interests him [Ferguson]. He has confidence in me. It is flattering and surprising—but I know I still have a lot of work to do."

Obertan joins Zoran Tosic, Nani, Valencia, and Adem Ljajic (currently on loan at Partizan Belgrade) as the naturally-talented young attackers on United's books.

And with the quality of nuturing available to them from United’s world-class staff, Sir Alex Ferguson will be confident that in the near future at least one of them, if not more, will develop into able successors for the departed Ronaldo.

Steve Savidan's Fairytale Career Over As Heart Finally Fails Him

Alex Dimond — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:32:22 -0400

Oh, the irony of life.

A week ago, Steve Savidan was just another footballer nervously awaiting a transfer that might elevate his professional career.

Today, as a direct result of such a transfer materialising, the French international is resigning himself to the fact he will never play football at the highest level again.

A player renowned for his heart and resilience, Savidan has seen his career ended without warning by a problem with the one organ on which he could always rely.

Expecting to complete a move over the weekend from recently relegated Caen—for whom he scored 14 goals in 38 games last season—to one of France’s biggest sides, AS Monaco, only a medical stood in the former journeyman’s way.

But, in the same week where a successful medical reignited the career of an injury prone Michael Owen, the discovery of a severe heart defect by the Monaco physios has had the opposite effect on the Savidan—a player for whom fitness was rarely a problem.

“Unfortunately, signing for Monaco is no longer possible,” Savidan was forced to announce over the weekend. “The tests show there is a cardiac anomaly that has recently appeared. It is a real mental blow. It is likely that the doctors will not let me pursue my career.”

If Caen had not been relegated, if Savidan had not been forced to move to keep his slim international hopes alive, then perhaps he would have continued played—ignorant to the perilous danger he was in.

But throughout his career Savidan has not had much time for “what ifs”. He’s just dealt with problems as they arise. And he is well-versed in overcoming adversity.

After all, football hasn’t always been kind to him.

Barely five years ago, Savidan was supplementing his measly income with non-league Angoulême by working a number of menial jobs. One of those was as a binman—a fact that would mar the headlines he would subsequently make throughout his career.

Angoulême was his sixth club. Having already failed to make an impact at the previous five, it looked likely that striker had a better chance of making a living from emptying the trash than scoring goals.

Savidan would prove the doubters, and to an extent himself, wrong however, as he suddenly found his goalscoring touch (12 in 37 games) with the lowly side.

"I am proof that the system doesn't always work," said Savidan recently. "I was born at the wrong time. I'm from the same generation as Henry and Anelka [he is the same age as both men] and when they were coming through you had to be well over six-foot to be picked for youth schemes. I'm quite a bit under six-foot."

A move to Valenciennes—a once respectable side, who had fallen out of the top divisions—materialized, and it was there that the 5’9” Savidan discovered it was his head—his heart had never been in question—that had held his career back.

"Whenever I was given a chance in the past I didn't take it,” Savidan later said. “It's possible that I destroyed myself. Very possible, in fact. You could almost say I was suicidal. But then I was analysed and helped by the right people, specifically a psychiatrist at Angers and a GP at Valenciennes."

Mentally more assured, Savidan proceeded to shoot his new team to two promotions in succession, back into France’s top division, Ligue 1.

There, his goalscoring touch did not desert him, and he proceeded to score 25 goals over two seasons for unfashionable Valenciennes, including four in one game past the World Cup winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

At the end of the 2007-08 season, Caen came calling and bought the former binman for €5m.

Savidan just kept scoring.

Soon, talk of an international call-up began to emerge. By now a 30-year-old, Savidan held little hope of such a dream materializing so late in his career. The last French player to earn his debut at 30 was Franck Juretti in 2005, and his international career lasted just 10 seconds.

The last Caen player to be called up to the French squad was in 1992.

But that didn’t stop him imploring coach Raymond Domenech to consider it.

"Imagine if it works,” Savidan said during an interview in 2008. “Imagine if I hit two goals just like I've dreamed of doing since I was a kid. Where's the risk in trying? If I don't fit in, I'll toddle back to where I came from and you can say 'see, I told you he wasn't up to it.'"

Whether it was the impassioned speech or his impressive goalscoring record that did the job, Savidan got his wish as Domenech called the striker up for France’s friendly against Uruguay.

In the second half, Savidan would achieve his ambition as he made his international debut in front of 79,000 at Stade de France. But there would not be the realization of the two-goal dream he had since childhood, as the game finished 0-0.

It would be Savidan’s only international appearance.

But then, one is always better than none.

Only a week ago, the spectre of undiscovered heart defects was brought sharply into focus as the Confederations Cup final become a stage to remember the death of Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe, who died of a heart-attack on the pitch, aged just 27.

Foe’s death, along with that of Hungarian Miklos Feher, made FIFA sit up and realise something had to be done to prevent such fatalities in future.

Savidan’s situation proves that such testing is getting better and prevention is becoming the norm, but hopefully it will also encourage FIFA to realise that they cannot rest on their laurels, that players of all ages and at all levels should have the opportunity to be tested against such life-threatening problems.

With his career brought to an abrupt halt, at least Savidan can look back with pride on what he managed to achieve, overcoming the odds.

And at least he will live to face the challenges of another day, whatever it may bring.

Michael Owen Signing Indicates Ferguson Is Thinking of Solskjaer's Heir

Alex Dimond — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:39:50 -0400

It has not been a particularly happy few months for Michael Owen.

First he saw his then-employers, Newcastle United, suffer a heart-breaking relegation from the Premier League, while he was forced to watch much of the run-in from the treatment table.

Then, as his contract expired, he had to sit back as newspapers and fans alike almost unanimously wrote him off—with one national paper even suggesting he should retire.

Commendably, Owen remained upbeat, and kept his dignity intact.

"When I scored a goal in the World Cup as an 18-year-old, people six months later were writing me off saying, 'It's a one-off',” Owen said in a rare interview during his difficult period. “There will be something, there always is—this country is renowned for it. Someone will always criticise you, no matter what.”

On the back of his ill-fated 32-page brochure intended to create interest—which became another stick with which to beat him—Owen had to endure the relative ignominy of seeing only Hull City and Stoke City publicly declaring their interest in him.

Even Sam Allardyce stated he would not look to sign Owen, even though realistically neither Blackburn nor the two clubs that did enter the “race” could have entertained realistic ambitions of luring the England international.

But with Manchester United’s surprise approach, it looks like all that strife will soon be forgotten.

Owen will get the last laugh.

After a frantic day of rumour and counter-rumour, it looks likely the 29-year-old will agree a move to Old Trafford this week, subject to a medical undertaken later today. The contract, rather sensibly, is expected to be incentive-based, with a low basic wage but sizable bonuses based on appearances and goals.

With Owen (who has a moderately successful horse-training venture) hardly needing the money but intent on playing at the highest level possible, and Manchester United in need of attacking players after the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, it looks like a deal that will suit all sides.

Once Owen signs, the topic of discussion will inevitably move onto how Sir Alex Ferguson intends to use the England striker.

Depending on fitness, it is probable that Ferguson sees Owen as the long-awaited heir to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s former role at the club.

The Norwegian striker made himself a cult figure at Old Trafford with his ability to join games late and make an impact almost immediately. Solskjaer is the top scorer from the substitutes bench in Premier League history, helping himself to an impressive 26 goals in the latter stages of important matches.

It should not be forgotten that Ferguson has long been admirer of Owen’s—and even tried to sign the England schoolboy before Liverpool eventually agreed a deal. That interest was piqued as much through Owen’s attitude and finishing as his raw pace—attributes he still possesses.

Sir Alex has seen first hand that, even without the pace that sparkled during their early career, players can still contribute at the highest level. If Ryan Giggs can do it, why can’t Michael Owen?

With Solskjaer still on the United staff as a youth coach, Ferguson will be hoping that with Owen’s inherent quality and a little direction from the former Norwegian striker, the England man too will be able to make regular game-changing contributions for United from the bench.

In recent times, Owen’s goals have come as a result not of his quickness of movement, but instead due to his quickness of thought—a quality that, far from diminishing with age, should actually improve.

In his fleeting performances with Newcastle this term, Owen demonstrated that he still possesses a lightning fast footballing brain. What he lacked, perhaps understandably, was match sharpness.

If the world-class United physios can keep Owen upright, then that match sharpness should return. And with the quickness of thought and opportunities he will be regularly presented with in the box, he could prove a vital weapon for United in what is currently a slightly barren attacking armoury.

But even if injuries continue to dog him, Ferguson might well see another role for a man with 89 international caps and 40 goals.

Reassured by Owen’s conduct during a trying time, Ferguson might well have given thought to the mentoring role Owen could bring to the club. While many believe Owen has been half the player he was since injuries decimated his turn of pace, a close analysis of his game indicates that his speed of thought and movement within the box has got even better with age.

With Ferguson having high hopes for both Danny Welbeck (“Danny’s a certainty to make it to the highest level,” he said last season. “I’ve told Fabio Capello he will be at the World Cup”) and Italian Federico Macheda, the Scot would be justified in thinking that even if the 29-year-old continues to suffer horrendously from injuries, the advice and technique he could pass on to the two young strikers might later prove invaluable to the club.

He can help them technically, but also mentally—on and off the pitch. Like Owen, both Welbeck and Macheda are set to become worldwide superstars at a very young age. Having experienced the pressures and influences such stardom brings, Owen will be able to advise the players on how to keep grounded and ensure that football remains their top priority.

That is something that will attract Sir Alex Ferguson.

A week ago, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Owen was upbeat about his career prospects.

“I will come back, I will play well and score goals and do all these things once more,” he said.

Perhaps such a statement was what Ferguson needed to hear, to convince him that a player he once highly coveted still has the desire to play at the highest echelons of the game.

Now he will get that chance.

Champions League: New and Returning Faces in Next Season's Competition

Alex Dimond — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:00:29 -0400

With new rules in place for qualification this year, UEFA is hopeful that the 2009-10 Champions League will see a host of new teams compete in the tournament, from a greater variety of countries than seen in previous years.

Ironically, with many previously unheralded teams already having earned automatic qualification for the group stages of the competition by triumphing in their respective leagues, UEFA—and, more accurately, Michel Platini—already seem to have got their wish, before the revamped qualification stages have even begun.

Here is the lowdown on a few of the teams set to take their bow (or, at least, their first appearance in a while) on Europe’s grandest stage.

Wolfsburg (Germany)

Led by the goal-laden duo of Bosnian Edin Dzeko and Brazilian Grafite (54 goals between them—the most prolific partnership in Bundesliga history), Wolfsburg marched to a shock league title last season, beating out perennial challengers Bayern Munich on the last day of the season.

It was a surprise triumph for the Wolves (once managed, in a beautiful twist of fate, by Wolfgang Wolf) earning themselves a first appearance in Europe’s showpiece competition.

The club were steered to triumph by former Bayern coach Felix Magath, who subsequently left the club to join German underachievers Schalke 04 (he had agreed to join the Ruhr Valley side before the title was won).

Without Magath at the helm, the club’s expectations for the upcoming campaign should be tempered somewhat, with new manager Armin Veh given the unenviable task of replicating Magath’s success. Unsurprisingly, Veh has already moved to play down hopes.

"Nobody can seriously demand that we defend our title,” he said. “A title defence would be a Utopian and over-confident aim."

Nevertheless, the club has so far resisted overtures from the likes of AC Milan for 23-year-old Dzeko—and tied Grafite to a new long-term contract—to give themselves the best squad possible for their first tilt at the Champions League. With the club membership having been boosted by 5,000 (from 9,000) in the wake of their triumph, the atmosphere has never been more buoyant.

With the new qualification rules surrounding the Champions League, Wolfsburg will be hoping their automatic entry into the Champions League, and the strength of squad at their disposal, will see them through to the knockout stages of the competition.

But, like a title defence, progressing further than that might be a Utopian aim.

Standard Liege (Belgium)

Unlucky to be drawn against Liverpool in the final round of Champions League qualifying last season (they eventually lost 1-0 on aggregate), a second consecutive Belgian league triumph and a change in qualification rules means Les Rouches will be in the group stages this time when the tournament kicks off in September.

Liege’s strength comes from their disciplined yet creative midfield, which boasts a bit of flair in the forms of Axel Witsel and Steven Defour—both rumoured to be targets of various Premier League sides—and Brazilian-born forward Igor de Camargo.

At the heart of the defence, American Onguchi Onyewu keeps things tight and makes it hard for the opposition. As their performance against Liverpool last year showed (indeed, they went on to beat Everton over two legs in the UEFA Cup just weeks later), Liege will prove a handful against any team they face.

A lot will depend on whether they can keep all their star players (striker Dieumerci Mbokani has already been heavily linked with German side Vfl Stuttgart, and their midfield stars are coveted by Europe’s big sides), but even if they keep their squad intact it would be a surprise to many if they made it any further than the group stages.

Rubin Kazan (Russia)

First time champions of the Russian league way back in November 2008, Kazan will make their long-awaited Champions League debut when the group stages kick off almost a year after they qualified.

Due to the idiosyncratic scheduling of the Russian league season (which runs from March to the end of November), Kazan will be reaching the climax of their domestic campaign when they make their debut against Europe’s best.

While that might prove an advantage in the early rounds, it did not help Zenit St. Petersburg escape the group stages last season, and fatigue might well hamper Kazan in the last few games of their group.

Unlike Zenit, who could call on the mercurial talent of Andrei Arshavin (now of Arsenal), Kazan seem to lack a real creative threat. Argentinian striker Alejandro Dominguez will be a player opponents legislate for, while Russian international Sergey Semak will attempt to control things from midfield. But overall, the squad is one low on established stars.

Kazan are once again challenging for the top honour in this season’s Russian League (two points off the top with a game in hand after 11 games) and in a competitive league that indicates a certain amount of pedigree.

But the Champions League is more than a step up.

Opponents will be wary of the threat Kazan pose, and certainly won’t fancy an away trip to middle Russia as winter deepens.

Nevertheless, only the most optimistic of fans will expect them to progress beyond the group stages.

CSKA Moscow (Russia)

The second Russian side already in the group stages—UEFA class their league as the equal of those in France and Germany—CSKA Moscow might well prove a more difficult proposition for European opponents than domestic champions Rubin Kazan.

CSKA have a squad of demonstrable quality. In Igor Akinfeev they have one of Europe’s premier goalkeepers, and they provided no less than seven players to Russia’s squad for the recent World Cup qualifier with Finland.

It is with their two influential Brazilians, however, that the majority of their threat will lie. Daniel Carvalho is an attacking midfielder with guile and poise, who possesses the ability to unlock defences at will. Back from a loan spell in his homeland with Internacional, he will hope to make a big impact for his side.

Up front in Wagner Love, CSKA have a truly mercurial striker—at times the 25-year-old is simply unplayable. Thanks in part to Love’s quality, CSKA knocked Aston Villa out of the UEFA Cup last season, and his presence will ensure the side go into the Champions League respected by every team they face.

If they can keep the majority of their star players—they already appear to have lost wide-man Yury Zhirkov to Chelsea—then they could pose a threat to the more renowned members of their group, and may well find their way into the knockout phase.

Unirea Urziceni (Romania)

Former Romanian international defender Dan Petrescu led Unirea Urziceni to their first domestic title in June, following a 1-1 draw with traditional domestic powerhouses (and 1992 European Cup winners) Steaua Bucharest on the final day of the season.

It was Urziceni’s first ever league crown and came after just three seasons in the First Division. Quite an achievement for a club with a stadium capacity of just 7,000, and town population of around 14,000. Unsurprisingly, these statistics make Unirea the smallest club to have qualified so far for the Champions League group stages.

Indeed, their stadium is so small that UEFA have ruled that their European matches will have to be played at Steaua Stadium—Bucharest’s home ground, which holds nearly 30,000—because their own doesn't meet requirements. Even home games might feel like away games for Urziceni.

Consequently, nothing will be expected of the side, with former Chelsea defender Petrescu no doubt expecting nothing more from his side than a good account of themselves.

Few will expect them to finish anything other than last in their group.

Having said that, Urziceni’s predecessor as Romanian champion, CFR Cluj, caused problems for the teams in their group, including holding Chelsea to a draw on home turf.

So while Petrescu and his side will have no expectations, such freedom might well make them dangerous, if only in front of their—admittedly, limited number of—home fans.

Besiktas (Turkey)

With their first title win in six years, Besiktas ensured their place in the group stages of the Champions League after a year’s absence. And the club is intent on using their return to Europe’s top table to attract many new signings to the club.

Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has been linked with the club, as well as Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. Italian defender Matteo Ferrari has already signed on, with Turkish international striker Nihat returning home from Spanish side Villarreal to join the Instanbul-based club.

“Intense negotiations are going on right now,” said manager Mustafa Denizli. “We have choices, and we're trying to make the best of what we have. We are negotiating according to our means and will continue to do so.”

The squad is littered with homegrown players, so perhaps it is understandable Denizli is looking for foreign talent to increase the continental experience at his disposal. It seems this season, the club is not prepared to fall out of the competition at the group stages like they did last time out, in 2007-08 (they finished fourth, and lost 8-0 at home to Liverpool).

“The important thing is that our team exceeds itself in the Champions League,” Denizli said this week. “There are teams that spend more than 150, 200, 250 million euros for transfers. We cannot afford such figures, so we need to enhance the limits of our players to exceed their potential.”

Besiktas are certainly talking a good game at this early stage, but even if they do add many of their rumoured targets to the squad, you feel it will take a kind draw and some fortunate results for them to find their way out of the group stages.

Sevilla (Spain)

Another side with European pedigree, having won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007, Sevilla, like Besiktas, are back in the Champions League after a year’s absence, courtesy of finishing third in a hotly contested La Liga race.

Led by former player Manolo Jimenez, Sevilla are blessed with talented players across the pitch. They have two solid goalkeepers in Spanish international Andres Palop and Italian Morgan De Sanctis, along with the highly touted Federico Fazio in defence.

In attack is where their main strength lies, however. Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano showed his quality on the way to becoming top scorer at the recent Confederations Cup, and youth products Jesus Navas and Diego Capel provide a constant threat from the wings. Navas’s acute homesickness, however, might reduce the team’s threat if they are drawn against clubs that ply their trade many miles from the Iberian peninsula.

Sevilla might compete in the shadow of Barcelona and Real Madrid, but—depending on the draw—they will nevertheless be expected to progress beyond the group stages with relative ease. A quarterfinal appearance is a reasonable target for the Rojiblancos, as striker Frederic Kanoute recently stated:

“We have the desire in the Champions League to get as far as we can,” the Mali international said last week. “To get to the quarterfinals will be difficult but we will be trying to get there.”

AC Milan (Italy)

After an embarrassing season spent in the unfamiliar surroundings of the UEFA Cup (expected to challenge for the cup, Milan went out in the first knockout round to eventual finalists Werder Bremen) the 2007 Champions League winners are back on a stage they are more accustomed to.

However, they may find that the competition has got a lot stiffer in their absence.

Much will depend on how the Rossoneri cope with the loss of their talisman Kaka, who joined Real Madrid in the summer. Former world player of the year Ronaldinho might be given the chance to reclaim his form and reputation within the game, although the loss of manager Carlo Ancelotti (to Chelsea) might not have as positive an effect on the majority of the squad.

Ancelotti, while sometimes falling short in Serie A, often seemed to be tactically astute in Europe—leading his side to two finals in three years between 2005 and 2007. New manager Leonardo will not be given long to prove he has a similar ability.

The fans will expect their team to breeze through the group stages, and with the quality of players still at their disposal, they should easily achieve that. But you feel that their new Brazilian manager will have to add some fresh blood to the squad, get the tactics correct, and get his compatriots (Alexandre Pato, Ronaldinho, new signing in defence Thiago Silva) playing to their full potential if they are to progress much further than the quarterfinals of a competition they once used to dominate.

AZ (Holland)

What is with Champions League teams and a change of managers? Dutch side AZ won the Eredivisie for the first time in 25 years last season under the guidance of legendary manager Louis Van Gaal, who then promptly agreed to join German giants Bayern Munich.

Former Dutch international Ronald Koeman is the man charged with maintaining what Van Gaal got started, but with many bigger clubs circling around the team’s man stars (in particular, strikers Mounir El Hamdaoui and Moussa Dembele) most fans will be happy with a solid showing in Europe this season.

Koeman is certainly not prepared to raise expectations:

"It will be a nice season,” he said. “Playing in the UEFA Champions League is something to look forward to for everyone; players, coaches, staff, and fans."

Back in the early 90s, Dutch teams were among the most feared in Europe. AZ might be the emerging power in domestic football, but even their fans will not be expecting their side to do more than finish third—and so continue their European adventure in the newly-formed Europa League—this year.

That would do nicely.

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland)

For a couple of seasons left in the shadow of cross-city rivals Celtic, the 2008 UEFA Cup finalists took their first SPL title in four years to book their place back in the Champions League.

With Walter Smith at the helm, ably assisted by former striker Ally McCoist, the team have a wealth of coaching experience on which to draw. But the Scottish league is not the strongest, and additions will have to made to the squad if they are to challenge in Europe.

Last season, Celtic struggled valiantly but failed to make it out of the group stages. Rangers may be the equal of their rivals on the paper, but the lack of recent experience in the competition will undoubtedly make their task very difficult.

Few fans of the Gers might admit it, but privately they will be satisfied if their team acquit themselves well against more prestigious opposition, and prolong their European adventure via the Europa League.

The other clubs already qualified for the group stages are: Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bordeaux, Olympique Marseille, Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Porto, Bayern Munich, and Dynamo Kyiv.

The remaining ten teams will be decided at the conclusion of the qualifying stages.

The Debate That Won't Go Away: Equal Prize Money at Wimbledon

Alex Dimond — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:09:20 -0400

Before the All England Club finally relented in 2007, the subject of Wimbledon’s allocation of prize money had become something of a millstone hanging around the necks of all those associated with the tournament.

While hardly on the same level as Augusta National—host of the Masters golf tournament—which singularly refuses to allow female members, Wimbledon's payouts that reward female winners of the tournament with smaller financial rewards than their male equivalents led many to accuse the Club of being archaic and misogynistic.

In fairness to the Club, for many years the situation had been improving, albeit at an unsatisfactorily slow pace.

In 1968 the men's singles champion, Rod Laver, won £2,000 for his triumph, while the ladies' winner, Billie Jean King, received just £750. But by 2006, Amelie Mauresmo was taking home just 5% less than Roger Federer’s £675,000.

But the fact that there was any difference at all still rankled with many.

Fortunately, that nominal difference finally disappeared in 2007 as Wimbledon officials announced that competitors would receive the same amount of prize money—at all stages of the tournament—regardless of sex.

This put the tournament on par with the US and Australian Open, and ahead of Roland Garros—which quickly fell into line).

Despite this, however, some have continued to criticize Wimbledon, arguing that female competitors do not deserve their new-found equality, for a variety of reasons.

It is a debate that is set to run and run.

It is perhaps both ironic and unfortunate for the Wimbledon committee that in the years immediately following their decision to award equal pay to both victors, the quality of the female game has tailed off dramatically.

At the same time, the excitement surrounding the men’s game has reached a level not seen since the days of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

While Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer seem to be contesting the world’s grandest tennis match as they rally trophies and titles back and forth across the globe, the top players in the female game seem to have become entrenched in an uninspiring battle to see how many of them can become world number one without actually winning a Grand Slam title.

As a spectacle, there is simply no comparison between the two.

But is that a reason against equal prize money?

It cannot be doubted that female tennis players put in the same amount of effort and dedication to the honing of their craft as their male counterparts.

The fact of the matter is: prize money for sports stars is not calculated on the hours they have put in on the training ground, but rather on the interest and attention they manage to garner from sponsors and, most importantly, spectators.

In this respect, male tennis players have a clear advantage.

"There are not many opening-round matches in the women's draw of grand slam tournaments that I would cross the road to watch,” said former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. “Predictability has always put me off [the women’s game] and things aren't too different from ten or 15 years ago."

Cash’s sentiment is one echoed by most casual fans. On television, men’s finals are more widely viewed than women’s. In 1999, a Wimbledon survey revealed 70% of spectators come to the tournament first and foremost to see men’s singles matches.

For better or worse, the men’s game is most often what fans will pay to see.

Even the most casual of fans can name upwards of 20 top male players, based primarily on their abilities on the court.

But could they name more than five or ten top female tennis players? Of those named, are most not known more for their looks than their devastating forehand smash?

If that constitutes equality, then somewhere the rulebook has been mislaid.

Some, however, see nothing wrong with such a situation—even within the game. For example, the Women’s Tennis Association seem to be enthusiastically employing the maxim that “sex sells” to boost their sport, regardless of the message that may send out.

“I actually feel that one of the great strengths of the tour, is the personalities off the court twinned with these great athletes on the court," said Larry Scott, the out-going chief executive of the WTA Tour, this week. “Our players are very comfortable with that positioning [the Tour’s advertising focus on looks], and I think they are great role models for women showing that, you know, you can be gritty and determined on the court and go out to win, and still be a feminine celebrity off the court.”

For some, such an attitude is the core problem for the respectability of women’s tennis. The fact that Anna Kournikova is arguably the most famous exponent of the sport—a result of her good looks rather than her tour titles, or lack thereof—is a saddening aspect for many.

Due to the reduced emphasis of power compared to the men's game, some neutral tennis viewers may prefer the women’s game as a spectacle.

But on the whole, it is not what many viewers would choose to see.

If TV companies could get away with it—or, indeed, were only able to show a limited number of matches—then they would undoubtedly show coverage of men’s games at a far greater frequency than anything involving women, at least until the later stages of the tournament.

So if fewer spectators pay to see females play compared to the men, and broadcasters tolerate the women’s game rather than actively promote it, then how can they justify the equal prize money that some of them—most notably the Williams sisters—lobbied so forcefully for?

After all, many male players think it is an equality that isn’t really, well, equal.

“I don't think [equal prize money] is really fair,” said professional men’s player Tommy Haas when the change was announced. "I think the depth of men's tennis is much tougher than the women's, plus we play best of five sets.”

To earn their equality, then, should women play five set matches too? As Ian O’Doherty of the Irish Independent noted, apparently not:

“In the spirit of equal work for equal pay, should the female game not also adapt to best of five?

Erm no. Because as top female player Jelena Jankovic whined last week at the prospect of playing best of five: ‘What, you want to drive us into oblivion?’

So, we want the same money because we're women. But we don't want to do the same work. Because we are women.

But only a sexist pig would point out that absurdity, of course.”

O’Doherty may well have a point, but to penalize women for their physiological shortcomings would hardly be a great demonstration of equality. As Dinara Safina’s victory over Amelie Mauresmo showed, it is still possible to pack a lot of enthralling tennis into a three-set match.

But, on the other hand, the reduced interest in the women’s game means that outside the four Grand Slams, prize money is markedly reduced for women’s events, making it impossible for top women to earn as much as men from their craft.

Not to mention that at many events, the men also play best of three sets games. The difference for the men being that the prize funds are far greater than at women’s satellite events.

Similarly, sponsorship deals are more apparent in the men’s game. Women can sign multi-million pound deals to wear a certain brand, but again this is often based as much on the looks of that player as her ability from behind the baseline.

At least the Grand Slams allow women to earn well regardless of appearance. Perhaps economic equality there is not such a bad thing, after all.

At such high profile events, equal prize funds for both sexes sends a message to young girls—and, perhaps more importantly, boys—that equal pay is a basic requirement of a civilized society.

Such an example is undoubtedly an important one.

Still, once those young minds start to develop and they begin to appreciate the two tours and the difference between three sets and five, many might begin to question the situation.

But whatever the rights and wrongs of individual arguments, the reality is that the All England Club’s decision to move to equal prize money is one that can never be rescinded. The backlash that would come from any reversal would be such a PR disaster that it could never be beneficial to the tournament.

At Wimbledon, equal pay is here to stay.

But that will not stop the discussion from continuing to run and run.

Female players might just be happy to reflect that they are playing in the modern era where, in the Grand Slams at least, their presence is rewarded as handsomely—if not more so—than they deserve.

Despite Defeat, USA Announces Arrival on International Stage

Alex Dimond — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:11:39 -0400

On June 29, 1950, in a game remembered as “The Miracle on Grass," Team USA beat traditional international powerhouse England 1-0 in a World Cup game in Brazil.

As the score was wired back to newspapers in England, sports editors were so convinced a mistake had been made during transit that some even printed the score as 10-0 to England in the next day’s edition.

They would soon be told of their mistake.

At the time, many thought the U.S. might soon become a real force in world football. Alas, such an emergence did not happen, and the country continued to operate on the fringes of the football fraternity.

Nearly 59 years to the day since that famous result, all that changed.

Despite a defeat to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final, the U.S. announced themselves as genuine competitors on the world stage.

Any team can pull off an unbelievable result, as the U.S. did in 1950 and against Spain in the Confederations Cup Semifinal on Friday.

But to go on and push another world-class side right to the limit, as the U.S. did in the final against Brazil, indicates that perhaps that is the level at which the team belongs.

It wasn’t quite a second “Miracle on Grass” for the American team, but at one stage it looked like it just might be. After goals from Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan gave the U.S. a 2-0 half-time lead, Brazil fought back in the second half valiantly and showed their renowned class as they ran out deserved 3-2 winners.

Luis Fabiano (twice) and Lucio combined to deny their opponents, but the American’s assent to football’s top table was already complete.

“It’s a tough one to see slip away,” said U.S. coach Bob Bradley after the game. “We gave the goal up so quickly in the second half that we put ourselves in a tough spot. But I’m extremely proud of the team.“

Two weeks ago, the U.S. were viewed as dark horses, even in a tournament of only eight teams. The elite teams in the world—Spain, Italy, Brazil, etc.—would not have lost sleep about the team as potential opponents.

Now, however, no international team will take the US for granted.

Still, fans of the U.S. team should not get ahead of themselves. No one should fool themselves into thinking that the Confederations Cup is a big international tournament, one of prestige and standing within the world game.

It isn’t.

By the next tournament, in four year’s time, the result of this final will barely be remembered—that does not indicate a world-class tournament.

But, by the same token, the small field is one of undisputed quality. America beat arguably the best national team in the world, Spain, in the semifinals, and pushed the game’s traditional powerhouse to the limit in the final.

They mixed it with the best of them, and will have learned a lot from this experience.

“We continue to try and move ourselves forward, and playing these sort of games only helps,” Bradley said. “I hope people around the world will see we have good players and good results, and hopefully, we will get even better.”

The trophy cabinet may still be empty, but the U.S. has finally arrived on the world scene.

They might not be expected to win international tournaments in future—few teams ever are—but they will certainly be expected to progress to the later stages of any competitions they enter.

That is a small, but significant shift in status.

With two impressive results, they have gone from novelty act to, if not the main event, certainly top of the undercard.

“They are now a bit more confident about their capacity on the world stage,” said French World Cup winner Marcel Desailly. “They have some good players and have shown that when you play tight and strong, then you can achieve something. I can see some disappointment on the players’ faces, but c’mon, it was Brazil in front of you.”

Traditionally, American squads have travelled to international tournaments with little more than hope.

In a year’s time, assuming all goes well in the remainder of the qualification process, Team USA will return to South Africa with more than hope; they will travel with expectation, too.

As much as it might pain the rest of the world to admit, the U.S. are now a force to be reckoned with—even at the highest levels of what they call “soccer."

David Villa Determined Not To Become a Victim of Circumstance

Alex Dimond — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:54:53 -0400

A man who willingly lets himself become a victim of circumstance is invariably a man who never achieves his ultimate ambitions.

David Villa is keen that he does not become a victim of circumstance.

Over the past year, the Valencia striker’s name has been linked with almost every top club in Europe but, despite a concerted recent effort from those around him, a move has yet to materialise.

At 27 years of age, the prolific hitman knows that he needs to move soon if he is to achieve everything the game has to offer, at least at a domestic level.

Valencia will be competing in the newly-formed Europa League next season but, like all world-class footballers, Villa craves a shot at the Champions League and the opportunity to win league titles.

With Valencia’s well documented financial troubles, it is unlikely the Mestalla-based outfit will be able to reach that stage in the immediate future.

And it is not as if the striker isn’t coveted by clubs that can offer him such opportunities. With his reputation buoyed—along with the rest of the Spain squad—as his country won 2008’s European Championship, Villa took his spectacular form into the 2008-09 season, scoring a stunning 49 goals in 57 starts across international and club games.

In the process, he cemented his position among the very best strikers in the game today.

Less than a week ago, Valencia were openly shopping around their crown jewel to anyone who might feasibly stump up the asking price, believed to be €53m.

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Chelsea (among others) were believed to be queuing up to speak to the player affectionately known as “El Guaje” (The Kid).

Now, however, it is a slightly different matter.

"Villa is not for sale," Valencia’s president, Manuel Llorente stated this week. "But if there is an offer that is scandalously scandalous we will consider it."

No one knows the reason behind the u-turn. But having spent the past week actively approaching clubs to encourage talks, David Villa’s agent, Jose Luis Tamargo, certainly isn’t happy about it.

"We have no choice but to back out of the market with our tails between our legs," Tamargo said. "I'm annoyed that they are toying with us like this. It would have been easier to say that he was not for sale in the first place, not say yes before and no now. I don't like this at all.”

Disappointed but respectful of Valencia’s wishes, it appears all Villa can do now is try to persuade a club to make the “scandalous” offer his employers now require. And with some head-turning performances at the Confederations Cup over the past weeks, he has gone a long way to doing just that.

In Spain’s final group game on Saturday against a determined South Africa, Villa gave a timely exhibition of his ability to change a game at the highest level. With the game scoreless after 50 minutes, things looked bleak for Villa, when he saw his penalty saved well by South African keeper Itumeleng Khune.

But within a minute of that save, the 27-year-old responded to the disappointment with the sort of mental fortitude and goalscoring nous that few in the world game currently possess, chesting down and volleying an Albert Riera cross in one smooth movement that left Khune with no chance.

It was a goal that would have grabbed attention in boardrooms from Madrid to Manchester.The problem for Villa, however, is that attracting attention alone might not be enough. The asking price set by his club, even before they all but removed him from the market, was obviously deemed slightly prohibitive to interested parties.

No one can be sure what Llorente deems a “scandalously scandalous” offer to be, but it is safe to assume it is at least the original €53m quoted.

Chelsea and Liverpool, both believed to be fervent admirers of the striker (indeed, Rafa Benitez might be the most keen of all managers to sign him), have obviously been put off by the transfer fee—mainly due to the poor exchange rate.

Valencia’s asking price translates to £45m in the current market, but would have only been about £30m this time last year when the pound was still riding high.

At that price, at least one of the clubs would likely have fancied a bid.

Now however, the price is not a financially viable one.

Manchester United, having lost both Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in the past two weeks, are also evidently in the market for a striker.

With £80m (over four years) to budget with as a result of Ronaldo’s sale, they could afford a move for Villa—especially considering the Spaniard’s talents are of the sort that would enhance the team and, significantly, appear to compliment Wayne Rooney’s versatility, rather than exploit it.

But the recent admission that they would not sign players over the age of 26 (Villa is 27) due to the perceived lack of re-sale value such players would have, indicates both the enforced prudence of the Glazer regime, and the unfavourable economic conditions that English clubs face in the European market.

Villa’s challenge, then, is to encourage United, or his suitors on the continent, that the various obstacles they face are worth overcoming in order to acquire his services.

In that pursuit, Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid look the most likely to be persuaded. The exchange rate is not a barrier for either club, and the price demanded (assuming it still remains around the same figure) is one that they will be willing to start negotiations from.

But for Real Madrid, with upwards of €150m already invested in attackers, president Florentino Perez might not believe that Villa’s signing will create a profitable marketing frenzy in the same way his other blockbuster signings are set to.

Perez might feel it wiser to invest remaining funds in defensive reinforcements—and see which of his unwanted attackers (Robben, Van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar) have departed—before returning to Villa later in the summer.

That leaves Barcelona in the driving seat. But with a settled and successful squad, do they need to make any changes? The potential transfer of Samuel Eto’o (rumoured to be on the verge of an exit) might prove the pivotal factor, but it is almost certain the club will make no firm moves until the Cameroon international's future is decided.

As much as he hates it then, Villa’s only off-the-field option might be to wait and see.

"Last week was not easy at all. I admit that it's been bad for me,” Villa said after the South Africa game. “I wouldn't wish all this on anybody but, with the advice of my family, I've erased it all from my mind.”

Sensibly, Villa seems to have realized that all he can do is remind football’s heavy hitters of exactly what he can contribute during games.

“When I go out on the pitch I try to show what I can do. On the pitch is where I feel better, and I'm proud to be part of this national team.”

Scoring the goals that take his country towards Confederations Cup success might not be enough to secure himself a move, but at least Villa can be consoled in the fact that there is nothing more he can do.

If Villa is to be a victim of circumstance, at least he will not be so willingly.

Barcelona Bide Their Time Before Making Real Response in Transfer Window

Alex Dimond — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:06:38 -0400

Only Real Madrid.

Only Real Madrid could steal the spotlight so quickly from Barcelona.

Barely three weeks have passed since Barcelona’s historic triumph against Manchester United in Rome, a triumph that added the Champions League to the Spanish league and cup double the Catalan giants had already acquired. Yet already such triumphs feel like a distant memory.

Right now, the spotlight is only interested in Real Madrid.

Winning might be what professional football is all about, but during the summer months it is transfer activity that grabs the attention. With the expensive acquisition of Kaka already concluded, and the club just waiting to seal a world-record deal with world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, Real have ensured they have comprehensively won the summer transfer battle.

“These are not the market prices. The reason they are doing this is that they have emergencies, so they have to take risks,” club chairman Joan Laporta told the New York Times this week. “Football Club Barcelona is their rival, and we won everything last season and that made them anxious.”

But amid such bullish statements, Barcelona’s response has been conspicuous in its absence. When, if at all, will Josep Guardiola open the summer chequebook?

In many ways, the response of the Nou Camp outfit might be the most revealing of any transfer moves made by any club throughout the whole summer. Pundits will be looking on with interest to see how Guardiola handles himself in (thanks to Real) an intimidating transfer market.

Inspired by Guardiola’s on-the-field success, other prestigious European clubs have followed Barca’s lead in appointing a legendary former player. Juventus have looked to former defender Ciro Ferrara to lead them back to the top of Serie A, with AC Milan opting for Brazilian star Leonardo.

Yet, inevitably, after only one season at the helm, there are things Guardiola has still to do. He is yet to dip his toe with any conviction in the transfer market, for example. Last summer was more about clearing deadwood from the squad than adding quality.

This summer might prove a different matter.

Laporta doesn’t believe appointing Guardiola was any more of a risk than pursuing an established name.

“At the time, we were sure that this coach had a lot of experience at our club. Pep was a player. He was a reference. He was captain. He knew our club very well,” Laporta said.

“We knew him as a coach of our second team, and we followed him for a season. So from our point of view, it was not as risky as people said. It is much riskier to create a team by paying a lot of money to buy names.”

Guardiola has already proven himself a great tactician, but how is he at purchasing talent?

Identifying suitable signings is a tough task at any club, but is made even harder by the tenets that Barcelona hold dear. The club’s 4-3-3 formation is sacrosanct, and players must fit in with the short, intricate passing game that the club has always propagated.

Unlike at Real, players will not be signed simply because they are among the best in the world. They must also fit the system.

“We already have the best player in the world, Lio Messi,” said Laporta. “But the most important thing that we have is a team that works. For our rivals, it’s normal that they do their best to be more competitive than they were last season. Like I told you, they sign names, and we have a team.”

Despite such words, it will be interesting to see whether Barca feel compelled to respond to the spending of their archrivals. Bids for players including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Franck Ribery have already been mooted this summer, but nothing serious appears to have happened.

Club vice president Rafael Yuste admitted this week that talks with Valencia over David Villa were “absolutely open,” but that is about as concrete as transfer news from the club has been.

Unsurprisingly, Laporta is remaining relatively coy: “It’s very important to work with secret. These journalists, they are professionals at this, and I’m surprised that they are able to guess a lot of things. But it is our secret.”

For all the speculation, the likelihood is that at least a couple of signings will be made. A left-back is a priority, with Eric Abidal failing to impress at the same level as his colleagues during his time at the Nou Camp.

A new goalkeeper might also be coveted—Victor Valdes is not an elite keeper, and is out of contract next summer—as well as a couple of attacking options to improve the squad’s depth.

Valencia’s two Davids—Villa and Silva—would seem the obvious targets here. Villa would fit in well with the mix of close control and clinical finishing that spearheads the team’s attacking intent, and Silva is perhaps the player most reminiscent of Andres Iniesta or Xavi not currently plying his trade at the Nou Camp.

With the well-documented financial difficulties at the Mestalla, reaching an agreement for either—or both—players should not prove too arduous.

Of course, it is not out of the question that the club will not make any big moves in the transfer market at all. After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Whatever moves the club do eventually make, the unhurried approach they are taking should indicate they do not feel unduly threatened by Madrid’s blockbuster moves. They are happy to let Real pursue all their targets, and then assess their own options once the dust has settled.

It seems a sensible approach.

While the wider footballing world may believe that Kaka and Ronaldo’s arrivals have tipped the balance of power in Spanish football firmly towards the capital club, the European champions clearly remain quietly confident in their approach—the sort of confidence that can only be gained by winning things.

Real Madrid might be winning the summer battle, but, with or without new signings, Barca clearly still fully expect to win next season’s war.

Madrid Solve Milan's Recession Woes, in the Hope Kaka Can Solve Theirs

Alex Dimond — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:13:18 -0400

The first Galacticos era under Florentino Perez has not been viewed too kindly by history.

Overblown salaries and egos are remembered, and not with great affection. Too many big names, and not enough team unity seems to have been the overriding summation of Perez’s unique experiment.

When the inevitable end came, it came with ugly recriminations for many concerned.

But, amidst the hedonism and glitter, there were some highlights. None more so than the Champions League title the club won at Hampden Park in 2002, thanks to a sumptuous volley from Zinedine Zidane.

The Frenchman, one of the greatest players ever to grace the game, arrived at Madrid in 2001 for a world-record €73.5m. Along with Luis Figo he was one of the original Galacticos, and invariably the best.

But in the long run, that wasn't enough.

Back for a second bite at the cherry, the returning Madrid president is hoping history can repeat itself for the Galactico experiment—initially at least. But with Zidane retired (he now acts as an advisor for the club), a new talisman had to be found for a club noticeably lacking in leadership.

For Zidane in 2001, then, read Kaka in 2009.

In the Brazilian, Real Madrid hope they have found the player to reassert their position at the forefront of European football.

Unveiled yesterday for the eye-watering fee of €65m, the former AC Milan attacking midfielder is arguably the modern player most reminiscent of Zidane in his pomp.

The 27-year-old might be more sprightly across the turf with the ball at his feet, but he possesses the nearest approximation to the consummate touch and vision that the Frenchman always exhibited.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi might be the two names most frequently mentioned in conjunction with the phrase "the best player in the world", but over the last five years, it is hard to argue that Kaka has played at a higher level than his two illustrious peers.

His new employers, perhaps unsurprisingly, clearly agree.

“Kaka, who many consider the best footballer on the planet, now plays for Real Madrid,” Madrid stated bullishly on their website. “What he does from here on out will only add to his legend and that of Real Madrid.”

For their part, AC Milan were remarkably sanguine about the loss of their greatest player. In the current economic climate, such a vast sum of money simply could not be turned down.

“It will be very difficult to fill the void that will be left by Kaka, a shining example of commitment and professionalism,” a statement on the club’s website read. “The Rossoneri offer him the most cordial and affectionate wishes for the continuation of his sporting career.”

The player himself admitted that the transfer had been completed with the club’s approval.

“Everything I've always done for Milan has been by mutual agreement, from the moment I arrived until my departure today,” he said.

“The world financial crisis has taken a lot of people by surprise and some clubs, such as Milan, also suffered. This is the best way to help the club at the moment.”

While the sale of Kaka has all but solved the Italian club’s financial problems—chief executive Adriano Galliani admitted last week the club was losing €70m a year—Perez is hoping that the player will solve Madrid’s own footballing recession.

Second in La Liga this season, it was clear to all observers that the club were streets behind the accomplished and exuberant football played by arch-rivals Barcelona.

As the Catalan giants grabbed every trophy in sight, Real seemed to lurch from disaster to disaster. The fans demanded change.

In the end, change seemed to mean regression as Perez was re-elected. But Kaka's signing, while clearly indicating a return to Galactico's policy, also hints at a slightly adjusted approach.

Where past Galacticos signings might have been as much for economic reasons as tactical ones—David Beckham being the obvious example, as the club turned down Ronaldinho in his favour as the Brazilian was deemed “too ugly” to be a marketable asset—this time it appears football has been prioritized.

Kaka does not have the world image of Messi or Ronaldo. But by adding his creativity, poise and threat to their side, Perez is hoping the club will be back challenging, and winning, the game’s biggest trophies in the very near future.

The club’s footballing recession would be over.

And in the long run, being successful on the pitch makes more money than any other method.

Kaka is just the first high-profile piece to Madrid’s puzzle. Cristiano Ronaldo might indeed end up being the second piece, David Villa the third. But that is not the real issue.

Last time, Perez’s undoing was to forget about the smaller pieces—the unfashionable water carriers like Claude Makelele who allow the attacking superstars to perform. Possessing the likes of Luis Figo, Ronaldo, and Zidane was great—but worthless without a rigid and disciplined defensive structure.

Will the likes of Lassana Diarra—the nearest approximation to Makelele in the current squad—find a place in the Galacticos Mark II?

Will the signing of a worldclass defensive midfielder (Javier Mascherano, for example) be sanctioned?

For all the attacking talent in the world, it is questions like these that will decide whether Perez's second coming is more successful than the first.

Gary Cahill Gets Reward For Fine Form With England Call

Alex Dimond — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:29:25 -0400

Gary Megson might not be the most popular Premiership manager, but it is difficult to criticise the job he has done at Bolton Wanderers.

Following in the footsteps of Sam Allardyce—no easy task, considering the results “Big Sam” engineered for the Trotters—the former West Brom and Nottingham Forest manager has carefully steered the squad to two safe mid-table Premiership finishes.

This season the club finished 13th, an improvement on last season’s 16th place effort. Considering the meagre budget Megson has had to work with, that is no mean feat.

While he might not have had much to spend, when he has he has invariably spent it wisely.

The £5m spent on Gary Cahill is a case in point.

The 23-year-old central defender has been arguably Bolton’s best performer this season, if not ever since arriving from Aston Villa in January 2008.

Finding opportunities frustratingly limited behind Martin Laursen and Curtis Davies, both Cahill and Villa manager Martin O’Neill were open to Gary Megson’s offer to take the former Burnley and Sheffield loanee to the Reebok Stadium.

In the reminder of the 2007-08 season, he slotted into the team admirably. After a great season for Bolton this term—his first full campaign with the club—the 6’2” defender has seen his efforts rewarded not only with the club’s player’s player of the year trophy, but also with a call-up to the full England squad, after Rio Ferdinand was forced to withdraw through injury.

“It's come so quickly that I haven't had time to take it all in,” Cahill told Bolton’s official website this week. “I'm just looking forward to going down there and doing my very best. I'm thankful that I have got the chance and I'm determined to take it with both hands.”

With West Ham’s Matthew Upson likely to fill Ferdinand’s starting role, the 23-year-old will probably have to be content with a place among the substitutes. However, with both Kazakhstan and Andorra expected to pose little threat to an England side in good form, Cahill might well get the opportunity to win his first cap at some point in either game.

The former U21 international, who has been in Fabio Capello’s provisional squads twice before but never made the final cut, believes international recognition would be the icing on a great season for him.

“I've had a good season and I've worked really hard,” he said. “It has just capped off a great year and to have the chance to play for your country is any footballer's dream.”

An England cap would only add to an already impressive resume. Imposing in the air, comfortable on the floor and, most impressively, almost immune to lapses in concentration, Arsene Wenger has been rumoured to have made enquiries about bringing the defender to the Emirates Stadium.

Megson, while worried, is unsurprised that his young charge is garnering such attention.

"I think he’s the best young centre-half in the country by an absolute street and I’ve been delighted with him again this year,” the Bolton manager said last week.

"I want to build the team around him for the next few seasons. I can understand why the big clubs are interested in him but it’s going to take an offer over and above what we received for Nicolas Anelka from Chelsea."

Bolton received around £15m for the Frenchman back in 2008 (part of which was spent on acquiring Cahill). In reality, however, a fee of around £12m is likely to prove very difficult for the club to resist.

With finances limited, Megson might begrudgingly accept that such a fee for one player would give him the scope to improve the team in a number of ways ahead of the new campaign.

An England cap might just justify a little inflation of Cahill’s asking price. But conversely, such international recognition might also convince the money-men behind interested parties that he really is the genuine article.

He might not make a move this summer, just as he might not win his first cap, but it looks certain that the young Englishman is destined for bigger and better things—internationally, and domestically.

Guardiola the Emperor As Barcelona Dominate in Rome

Alex Dimond — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:08:27 -0400

Veni, vidi, vici.

They came, they saw, they conquered.

It may not be the most original summary of events in Rome, but it is the most accurate. Barcelona did not just beat Manchester United in Wednesday’s Champions League final, they demolished them.

They rendered their opponents mere spectators with their intricate passing game. They stood firm defensively as United probed desperately for an opening.

Like Spain in the Euro 2008 final barely 10 months earlier, the Catalan giants entered the game knowing that their opponents had a sizeable physical advantage. But by making the ball do the work, they exposed that advantage as insignificant and made sure the game was played they wanted it to be played.

From that point on, the comfortable 2-0 win was almost inevitable.

“I think the whole year we played the same way, we wanted to play well,” said Thierry Henry after the game. “We didn’t start well—United were better than us in the first 10 minutes—but once we had the ball we played the way we can.”

Once again, manager Josep Guardiola must take a huge amount of credit for the triumph. Like in the semifinal against Chelsea, he masterminded a tactical victory that belied his managerial inexperience.

Yaya Toure was again imposing as a make-shift centreback. But Guardiola gave him permission to push forward when necessary, and the Ivorian’s seemless interchanging of roles with the equally impressive youngster Sergi Busquets caused United a lot of problems.

Equally, Barca seemed to have done their homework in identifying Michael Carrick as United’s key distributor. For the first 40 minutes, Busquets surged forward to stifle Carrick whenever he got on the ball.

By half-time, the England midfielder was demoralised, and United were searching for other outlets.

In the second half, Barca had possession almost uncontested.

Carrick, like almost all of United’s players, will likely be forced to face some criticism during the game’s post-mortem. But it would be inaccurate to simply state that he didn’t perform—in reality, Barcelona just didn’t allow him to play.

“You’ve got to give credit to Barcelona, they played well,” admitted Rio Ferdinand after the match. “On a day like this you need to be able to play your best football, and today we couldn’t produce it. On today’s performance they were the better team.”

All the best managers seem to also be lucky managers, and there is certainly a case to say Guardiola falls into that category. “Pep” will no doubt accept that Barcelona enjoyed a crucial does of luck on Wednesday—just the sort of luck a team needs to win major finals.

Gerard Pique was lucky to get away with only a yellow after cynically blocking Ronaldo as the Portuguese winger threatened to bear down on goal inside the first 20 minutes.
And Samuel Eto’o’s goal—after only 10 minutes—came just as United had made an imposing start to the game, and immediately and irrevocably changed the balance of the tie.

If that first shot had not gone in, United might well have taken over totally.

Yet, even this critical moment was touched by Guardiola’s tactical hand. United seemed caught unawares as Barca started with Messi on the left, Henry in the centre, and Eto’o on the right—roles different from their traditional lineup—and Eto’o’s pace and quick-thinking enabled him to lose Patrice Evra, twist inside Nemanja Vidic, and poke it beyond Edwin van der Sar.

United were 1-0 down before they had tactically adjusted to the questions Barca posed.

“We started the game brightly and I thought we looked confident, played well, and could have been in front,” said Sir Alex Ferguson after the match. “But the goal was a killer for us. Trying to get the ball back off them is difficult, and they use it very well. They’re the better team.”

Guardiola, just 38 years of age, is 30 years Sir Alex Ferguson’s junior. But you wouldn’t have thought that from the action on the pitch. Blessed with the mercurial talents of Andres Iniesta and Xavi, two players built very much in his image, the former Barcelona captain was always going to know how to get his team purring.

Years ago, when Guardiola was captain of the first team, he took aside a young Xavi on the training ground, and directed his attention to a baby-faced Iniesta, who had just been promoted to the first team.

“Remember the first time you played with Andres,” Guardiola told Xavi. “You're going to retire me; he's going to retire us all."

Little could he know that, almost a decade years later, the three of them would end up crushing United’s Champions League ambitions at the final hurdle.

Against arguably the best side in Europe over the last three years—lest we forget—the mercurial trio made sure the Spanish side played to the best of their ability.

That proved more than enough for victory.

After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson commented that Carrick and Anderson might have learned a lot from coming up against the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi. If United’s midfield did learn from the footballing lesson they were given, then they will be back with a vengeance next season.

But for now, Barcelona are the deserved champions of Europe.

And in Guardiola, they have a manager who already looks destined for greatness.

Champions League Final Is Fitting Stage for Barcelona's Historic 4-3-3

Alex Dimond — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:23:54 -0400

In football, 18 years is a long time.

Eighteen years ago, the Champions League was still just an idea being bandied about between UEFA board members. It would not replace the traditional format of the European Cup until the 1992-93 season.

Tomorrow in Rome, English champions Manchester United will face Spanish champions Barcelona in the final of the Champions League.

Eighteen years ago, Manchester United had not won a top-flight title since 1966-67. The Premiership—and United’s subsequent dominance of it—would only begin from the 1992-93 season.

In 18 years, however, things haven’t changed too much for Barcelona. In 1991, the Catalan giants were under the stewardship of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, and about to embark on one of the greatest seasons in the club’s history.

Cruyff had introduced to club an attacking mentality, with a style of play centred around short passing, creativity, vision, and uninhibited expression. At the end of the 1991-92 season, Barca would win the first European Cup in their history, at the old Wembley Stadium.

At the heart of it was Cruyff's innovative formation—the 4-3-3.

Eighteen years on, Barca still play the same way—and are still competing on the same level.

Back then, the stars of the side included Ronald Koeman (who scored the winner in the Wembley final), Hristo Stoichkov, Josep Guardiola, and Michael Laudrup. When Brazilian poacher Romario arrived in the summer of 1993, Cruyff’s side cemented its status in Spain as “The Dream Team”—a legend that exists to this day.

“The fact that Barcelona still play the way the Dream Team played says enough,” said Jordi Cruyff, Johan’s son, this week. “You can’t imagine Barcelona playing a different system to the 4-3-3, and that’s what the Dream Team brought about. Even today people speak about that team, it made a big impact in Spanish football.”

On the pitch, a new era of heroes fill the Dream Team’s boots. Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Carles Puyol—to name just a few—are at the forefront of the Blaugrana’s modern charge.

Led by Guardiola—who has re-established the tenants of the Dream Team’s modus operandi since taking the helm—the club now finds itself on the verge of winning the treble, something no Spanish club has ever achieved.

“Turning and passing, plus a good vision of the game, so that the team can move the ball well. If you’re playing for Barcelona, that is our main weapon,” was what Guardiola reminded the players when he took over. ”The main objective of this season is to make sure our fans are proud, more than ever before, of the team and above all that this season is a very good season in the history of Barca.”

High ambitions, indeed.

But with La Liga won and the Copa Del Rey already in the bag, Guardiola has so far seen his side more than live up to expectations. The Champions League is the final hurdle.

But Wednesday’s final with Manchester United will prove to be a touch proposition—as injuries and suspensions look set to cause Barcelona some problems.

With a change to the 4-3-3 formation proving unthinkable, Guardiola will have to improvise.

Eric Abidal and Daniel Alves, the club’s first choice fullbacks, are both suspended after picking up cards (red and yellows respectively) in the club’s semifinal triumph against Chelsea. Centre-back Rafael Marquez is injured, and niggling doubts still remain over the fitness of Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry.

As a result, holding midfielder Yaya Toure looks likely to have to deputise once more in the heart of defence. The 35-year-old Sylvinho will get a rare start at left-back, and club captain Carles Puyol will likely be forced to fill in at right-back.

Inevitably, with such a makeshift backline to attack, United will look to expose any frailities that emerge. With the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, and Berbatov to fend off, just one mistake could prove fatal.

Replacing Toure in Guardiola’s former role in the 4-3-3 is likely to be Sergi Busquets, the 20-year-old cantera product. He will be given the task of winning the ball in midfield, and distributing possession to Xavi and Iniesta. For someone so young and inexperienced, it is a massive responsibility—but one Guardiola has little option but to bestow.

All to preserve the sanctity of the 4-3-3.

Crucially, however, such defensive reshuffling should enable the attacking quintet to continue as it has done throughout the season. With Messi, Thierry Henry, and Samuel Eto’o having combined for a staggering 97 goals in all competitions this season, United will have food for thought.

And with Xavi and Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield, United might find themselves preoccupied with finding a way to stop what Sir Alex Ferguson has described as their “dizzying carousel” of intricate passing.

Last year, when the two sides met in the semifinal of the competition, Ferguson implemented a defensive strategy that limited the effectiveness of Barcelona’s 4-3-3 and, in particular, shackled the intricate passing game that Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi thrive upon.

Paul Scholes scored a 30-yard thunderbolt that allowed the English side to progress 1-0 on aggregate. Messi does not believe that will be the case in Rome tomorrow.

“I think that when they played against us [in last year’s semifinal], they just waited for us to attack and played with a counter-attacking style—with Cristiano, Rooney, and Tevez, who are players of great quality and are very fast,” said Messi.

“But I think that a final is different; they’ll come to play more as they have been doing throughout this year and last year, so I think it will be an open match. We know that we are facing a great team, with the added experience of having played in the previous final—but we’ve also had a great year.”

Eighteen years ago, Manchester United were just beginning to reap the rewards of sticking with a manager named Ferguson. Tomorrow, that Scot might pick up his third Champions League title and 26th trophy as Manchester United manager.

Eighteen years ago, Barcelona were just beginning their love affair with the 4-3-3. Tomorrow, it might reward them with a third European Cup title.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but tomorrow, two footballing dynasties will walk out at the Stadio Olympico with the hope of cementing their legendary status.

It is what Barca’s 4-3-3, and the Champions League, were built for.

Don't Blame Daniel Sturridge for His Outrageous Contract Demands

Alex Dimond — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:57:48 -0400

In the library of stories about footballer’s greed it may never rank at the top, but Daniel Sturridge’s recent contract demands with current club Manchester City have certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The 19-year-old striker, who has started just three league games for the Eastlands club this season, looks destined to leave the club after rejecting their final contract offer. According to reports, Sturridge turned down the club’s offer of £45,000-a-week as it fell short of his £75,000 demands.

It should be patently obvious to anyone who watches football that Sturridge is not worthy of £45,000-a-week, let alone £75,000, at this stage in his career. After all, Stephen Ireland—the club’s player of the year—is about to put pen to paper on a deal "only" worth £65,000-a-week.

The temptation, because it is Manchester City, is to make sweeping generalisations about Sturridge’s intentions.

But his outrageous demands should not be simply written off as pure greed.

There must be more to it than that.

Sturridge, unlike many other young players, has already seen at close hand the legacy that professional football can leave. His uncle, Dean Sturridge, was a successful Premiership striker with Derby County, Leicester City, and Wolverhampton Wanderers for more than ten years between 1995-2005.

But Dean is unlikely to be remembered for his ability in another decade’s time—if indeed, many still remember him now—and for such a short-term career he didn’t earn vast sums of money, either.

Still only 35, Dean has few avenues left open to him within football, and even fewer outside football. How coaching, his prospects of ever earning considerable sums again are extremely slim.

As a close family member, Daniel has no doubt witnessed the final stop for football’s average players. Yet, at just 19, Daniel finds himself with the chance to earn enough money to secure himself and his family financially for life.

Who wouldn’t want to exploit that opportunity?

Perhaps the boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. expressed it best, when he said this week, “Your legacy lives for ever, but if you make enough money your great-great-great grandkids are taken care of for ever.”

But it is not purely about taking care of his family for Sturridge. As City’s No. 28 said in an interview on the club’s website a few months ago:

“The main thing for me is to get in the first team. My dad [who was at Birmingham] was a young player like me, but unfortunately he didn’t play in the first team. He’s made me realize I’ve got to work harder. He played loads in the reserves, but that told me the reserves don’t count for anything.”

Sturridge doesn’t undervalue his abilities either. “I’ve got the vision, I can score goals, I can excite the fans,” he said. “I can bring a lot of things to the table, but I just need the opportunities to show it.”

Yet this season Sturridge has seen his first team opportunities limited, especially with the arrival of expensive superstars like Robinho.

With Jo returning from Everton, Bulgarian international Valeri Bojinov back to fitness, Felipe Caicedo seemingly preferred and Benjani still hanging around—not to mention a new striker likely to arrive in the summer—it looks certain that chances will be even harder to come by for Sturridge next season.

£75,000-a-week would soften that blow. But more pertinently, if Manchester City agreed to such demands it would be the clearest signal to Sturridge that manager Mark Hughes intended to him regularly in the first-team next season.

Ultimately, then, Sturridge is testing Manchester City’s faith in him.

Money might be a crude measure of that, but such has been the case in football for the best part of a decade now. Sturridge should not be criticized for playing the hand he has been dealt.

If the club had agreed to his wage demands (which are still half of what Robinho is reportedly earning) then it would have told him unequivocally that the club intend to use him as a first team player. With some exceptions, the money men at City have proven they are not going to just throw money around.

If they paid Sturridge, it would surely be because they expected him to have the chance to deliver.

As it is, £45,000 (which was rumoured to be partially structured on appearances) will suggest to the England youth international that while the club wants him to stay, the don’t intend to play him regularly any time soon.

As such, he understandably feels he is better off searching for the first-team opportunities he craves so desperately somewhere else.

With four goals and three assists to his name in such fleeting appearances this season—and no initial transfer fee to worry about—there is undoubtedly a top-flight club out there willing to pay him upwards of £25,000 and to give him a starting role.

That would do nicely.

If he were to stay at Manchester City, then Daniel is savvy enough to realise that his first-team opportunities would be more limited than if he found another club that desired his talents. But if the Eastlands club could pay him twice as much money as he would get anywhere else to sit on the bench, why not stay?

Sturridge has scored goals at every level he has played, and intends to continue doing so. He believes implicitly in his talents—but unfortunately he has had to use money to ascertain his employer’s intentions, and his demands have shown that City, rightly or wrongly, don’t share his faith.

So call it an outrage, call it greed. Add it to the list of what is wrong with football.

But at least Sturridge now knows where he stands.

Alan Shearer Cannot Be the Messiah For Newcastle Now

Alex Dimond — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:16:31 -0400

Can you blame Alan Shearer?

Can you blame Joe Kinnear?

Can you blame Mike Ashley?

In the wake of Newcastle United’s devastating relegation on Sunday, fingers will be undoubtedly be pointed. Blame will have to be attributed.

As interim manager, Alan Shearer doesn’t believe one single individual is to blame. “Over 38 games, we all have not been good enough,” he said, in the wake of the club’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

But, having gained an average of 0.63 points per game from his eight games in charge (a statistic that would have amounted to 24 points over the full course of the season), he cannot—however much it might pain Newcastle fans—be absolved from all blame.

Mike Ashley, as chairman and bumbler-in-chief over the past season, will have to take the majority of the blame, and deservedly so. His mismanagement saw Kevin Keegan leave the club in acrimonious circumstances, and the difficult position that left him in forced his hand somewhat when it came to a replacement.

Joe Kinnear did well, if unspectacularly. But when he fell ill, the fat lady began singing.

Alan Shearer is a club legend—and deservedly so—but five points from eight games is simply not good enough. The challenge now is to take the club out of the Championship at the first time of asking, and that is a task that requires not just basic managerial skills—which Shearer clearly does not yet possess—but also specific motivational and tactical skills.

Most importantly, it requires experience.

Many players will leave, and many new players will have to come in. Does anyone really expect Shearer to be able to identify those players that a) are good enough to get play the club out of the Championship, and b) are willing to play in that league?

Shearer has not yet proven himself good enough for the Premiership, a league he has extremely intimate knowledge of. Having never played in the Championship, it would be ridiculous to suggest that he is the best man for the uphill task the club face.

Iain Dowie, Shearer’s assistant, may have earned promotion with Crystal Palace in 2004—but that was via the playoffs (where luck is the most valuable commodity) and with an inherited team already capable of such an effort.

Newcastle need a proven commodity to take the team on.

They do not have that at the moment. But there are some options out there.

Steve Coppell, for example, could be the man.

The former Manchester United winger has a decent record of winning promotion with many of his clubs, and has an intimate, recent, and successful knowledge of the second tier of English football. He also knows how to take a club up and then keep them up—in 2007 his newly promoted Reading side finished eighth in the Premiership (a finish Newcastle have since failed to equal).

He has the pedigree for the task and, more importantly, is currently unemployed. Ashley would not have to step on any toes to get him. The only question is whether Coppell would desire the challenge of managing such a massive club—after all, in 1996 he left Manchester City after just 33 days, citing the pressure of expectations as a reason for his departure.

If the former England international shows interest in the job, Ashley should not hesitate in holding talks.

But if Coppell does not want the challenge, then there are other options.

Gordon Strachan, fresh from resignation at Celtic, might be persuaded to take the manager’s job if he can be given guarantees on transfer budgets and long-term ambitions. Of course, he might end up at arch-rivals (and Premiership survivors) Sunderland, instead. The lure of the Premiership might prove the decisive factor in the Scot’s decisions.

If that happens, it should be just the dose of realism the club's directors and fans need.

The betting exchanges currently list Slaven Bilic, Avram Grant, Gerard Houllier, and Mark Hughes among the favourites for the job. Not one of them has Championship experience as a manager.

Coppell, Tony Mowbray, Alan Curbishley—all have experience of the Championship. Even Neil Warnock knows how to get a club out of the Championship. These should be the names given serious consideration.

Newcastle fans might not like the names mentioned above, believing them not to be worthy or glamorous enough for such a prestigious jobs, but that is exactly why so many fans at other Premiership clubs seem to have taken pleasure in their unfortunate plight.

Banners at Villa Park, from “Sob on the Tyne” to “Who Is You Next Messiah, Ant or Dec?” harshly mocked the devout followers of Newcastle United. Rightly or wrongly, this is down to the narrow-minded "holier than thou" attitude the Toon Army are perceived to have.

Thinking Alan Shearer is still the answer to their problems would only add further evidence to that perception.

If Newcastle want to get out of the Championship at the first time of asking, a man with Championship success on his CV needs to be in charge.

Mike Ashley needs to be strong enough to make such an appointment. Newcastle fans need to be realistic and humble enough to let him.

It would not be a criticism of Shearer.

It would simply be the best thing for the football club.

Newcastle Fans Forced To Place Faith in Unreliable Players for Salvation

Alex Dimond — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:30:36 -0400

It is said that pride comes before a fall.

For Newcastle fans, pride is perhaps the one commodity they possess in abundance. Perhaps the most devout fans in the Premiership, they follow their team with great passion.

The other commodity they have is faith.

Over the years, tangible success for the North East club has been fleeting and rarely satisfying—they haven’t won a major trophy since the 1969 Fairs Cup. Managers have come and gone, chairman have failed to deliver on their promises, and big name players have, more often than not, failed to live up to expectations.

Yet despite historical evidence to the controversy, the "Toon Army" still believe. Without past success, it is perhaps all they can do.

This season, however, the faith of the fans has often been proven to be misplaced. Performances have ranged from the tepid to the downright abysmal, and as a result it is hardly surprising the club finds itself in its current predicament.

Going into the defining games of what has been branded “Survival Sunday”, the scenario is delicately poised. Newcastle sit one point behind Hull City, and two adrift of arch-rivals Sunderland. While Aston Villa will pose a tough challenge for the Toon Army, their rivals have to contend with games against Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.

Crucially, Newcastle’s game takes place at Villa Park—while the other two teams will enjoy home support as they look to stay in the top flight for next season. Three thousand travelling Newcastle fans will attend the game—but they will not be able to influence the players like they might have done had the game been in front of 55,000 at St James’ Park.

On Sunday, it will be down to the players—the same players that in 37 games have yet to prove they can shoulder such responsibility.

Newcastle fans might take pride in their club, but it will be the players who will have to prevent a terrible fall.

One former Newcastle player who always shouldered responsibility was Alan Shearer. The striker signed for his boyhood club in 1996 for a then-world record £15m, and went on to break the club’s all-time goalscoring record.

Now interim manager at St. James’ Park, the former England international does not seem interested in reducing the pressure on his players:

“It’s bigger than a cup final, a hell of a lot bigger than a cup final,” Shearer said of the upcoming match at Villa Park. “We know what’s at stake, we know what’s riding on it and I am pretty confident we can go there and give our great fans something to shout about, I really am.”

For Newcastle, the task is simple—in all likelihood a draw will not do, so they must win. If they do, then in all probability they will be safe for another season of Premiership football.

Controversy may have dogged the Hull-Man United tie this week, but whatever team the champions put out will be more than capable of beating a side that has had a woeful run in recent weeks.

Win, then, and other results should ensure Newcastle's safety for another season.

“I am totally convinced we will get out of it, yes, and I think more importantly, so are my players," Shearer said. “I believe if we go there and win, it will be a very good day for us.”

The Newcastle players may believe they will win, but the fact is they will have to go out and make it happen themselves. Villa have only won six of their 18 home league games this season—but they have a squad more than capable of victory.

The Newcastle players must ensure it is they who come away with the points. They owe it to the fans that have put up with the various debacles of the past year—and they owe it to themselves.

With Habib Beye—the club's only senior right back—injured, Sebastien Bassong and Joey Barton suspended, and Obafemi Martins struggling with a knee injury, the team will be severely depleted. It is yet another obstacle to overcome in pursuit of survival.

Make no mistake, Newcastle United are a massive club. While fans of Leeds United, Manchester City, and Nottingham Forest might offer some disagreement, the Magpies would arguably be the biggest club ever to be relegated from England’s top tier were it to happen on Sunday.

But more importantly, it would be a tragedy for the city that is so intrinsically linked with the fortunes of its football team.

If it was down to the fans, Newcastle would be comfortably ensconced in the top half of the table. But it is down to players, and they have yet to consistently prove they are of Premiership quality this term.

Not for the first time, all the Newcastle fans can have is faith.