Posts Tagged ‘football’

Reports have emerged about an insane amount of money to be spent on AC Milan’s Star Kaka.

The ‘credit crunch…what credit crunch’ busting sum of £100 million has been offered by the Cash cow that it Manchester city for the player, and would smash the world transfer record by £54 million. The world’s most expensive player currently is/was France’s Zinedene Zidane.

The news was revealed late yesterday on a website that is owned by Milan president Silvio Berlusconi. The website claims that Manchester City want to buy Kaka “at all costs”.

“This time they (City) are here for real with an official delegation,” said the report on the Mediaset website.

“Manchester City want Kaka at all costs and they have shown their cards.

“Garry Cook, two representatives of Sheik Mansour and Kia Joorabchian, who is acting as a mediator, met with Adriano Galliani and Ernesto Bronzetti (Milan chief executive and commercial director) and made their offer.”

However City have declined to comment on the latest rumour to hit the papers.

A City spokeswoman said: “We have been linked with in excess of 70 names that could have been coming in this transfer window.

“We are not going to be drawn into any speculation on any names, no matter who they might be.”

Manchester City has already broken the Premier League transfer record with the £32 million Robinho joining their ranks. New club chairman, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has a personal wealth of around £15 billion so splashing out a few hundred million pounds in the January transfer window does not seem unlikely.

However, with the team struggling at the foot of the Premiership table, attracting even medium-sized names has proved difficult. The club have signed Wayne Bridge from Chelsea, but has had offers for Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz turned down in the past two weeks.

Kaka would be a spectacular signing for the club, and is to be lured with a pay deal that would see him net £500,000 a week. The star began his career with Sao Paulo where he scored 58 goals. He then transferred to AC Milan for £5 million and has scored 86 goals in 244 appearances.

The players contract runs until 2013, and although he said last February that he’d stay at Milan for the rest of his career, he believes that the Premier League is the “best championship in the world”.

Mark Hughes, the City boss, is said to be under pressure from the new chairman to make his side perform better. They sit currently in 15th place in the league with 6 wins, 4 draws and 10 losses.

The papers are going crazy this morning after Wayne Rooney stamped on another player’s chest during Manchester United’s Game against Aalborg last night.

Some of the papers claim that Rooney has gone back to his old ways, when he was a bit of a tough nut to crack, and happily took his frustration out on various players because he was having a bad game, or the other player said something to him – he couldn’t control his temper when he first emerged on the scene, and this latest act of violence shows that the stocky bloke in red has maybe not turned a new leaf after all.

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Rooney has regained his focus, and was growing up fast, but you can’t say that is the case now. His childish response to the tackle from Alborg midfielder Kasper Risgard in the middle of the pitch was reminiscent to Rooney’s painful message he sent to Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho’s groin during the 2006 world cup.

The devil was inside him that day, and this latest assault clearly showed that the pointy tail is hidden up his shirt. He should count himself extremely lucky that the French Referee never saw it. Rooney has apparently left a large mark on the Risgard’s chest, and as reported by the BBC apologised…sort of: “That’s football, it’s a physical game,” he said.

Later in the match, he clearly swung an elbow in the direction of one of the defenders while in a wall for a free kick, and when he scraped his studs into the calf of Michael Jakobsen, and then he really should have been sent off.

The Aalborg coach was remarkably calm about the incident:

“It is not good for a fantastic footballer,” he said.

“You have to keep your head and stay calm in situations like that… but that man was a little bit frustrated.

“I was not sure during the game and I have not seen the pictures, so I cannot be 100% sure. But some of my people have seen it and said it was.”

And Alex Ferguson pointed blame at the other team for being physical: “Aalborg are not short of tackles are they?” he said. “They got stuck in and the one on Carlos was a blatant attack. Probably what saved him was that Carlos got straight up,” he said referring to the sprawling Aalborg goalkeeper.

You see these kinds of challenges a lot in today’s football. Starting a couple of seasons ago was the trend of the two footed tackle. This is insanity, and so often results in a red card, yet players still do it. It’s a physical game yes, but at the same time would you want to risk putting another player out for six months? Imagine is Rooney had broken Risgard’s ribs – he could have easily done some serious damage, and people have died in pub brawls that have less violent moments…

Roy Keane’s only been gone a short while and already the media is buzzing about who the replacement will be.

When Keane first left Sunderland last week, big Sam Allardyce’s name was banded around as number one target for the job – and rightly so. A hugely qualified manager, he did a great job at keeping Bolton out of trouble a couple of seasons back, and would be back working with ex-Bolton striker Diouf.

But today, ex-Sunderland main man, Peter Reid finds himself involved in the media circus, a maelstrom that is whipping round the Stadium of Light. He managed the team for seven years (1995 – 2002) and bizarrely is coach of the Thailand national squad.

He spoke in an interview with the Daily mail and is clearly very keen:

“I would be interested. It’s fantastic in Thailand and the experience has improved me but everyone aspires to work in England.

“It’s the place to be. The players here dream about it.”

But what about his contract with the national squad?

“There is a clause in my contract that allows me to speak to English clubs if they show interest, so that would be up to chairman Niall Quinn.

“I do know Niall well. We speak occasionally and he invited me to their first home game of the season against Liverpool. He’s a man of stature, he’s got good business sense and he’s a chairman who has seen all sides - as player and manager as well.

“He has also shown he will back his managers. I know from my time as manager there that there are great expectations but £80m spent on players in two years shows you they are committed to achieving those expectations.

“I had two seventh-place finishes, which I think were the best since the war, before coming fourth from bottom. My being linked with the job may not please all the fans but I left the club in a better state than when I arrived and I’d be confident of success again.”

Reid is behind “big” Sam to take over the team, but would be happy to worth with him:

“Sam Allardyce has rightly been mentioned, too, and I’ve been talked of as a possible assistant to him but that’s disrespectful to Sam. Whoever is manager needs to make their own choices.

“The other option mentioned in the press was a role until the end of the season but that would be difficult for me with the job I have.

“If I did come back I know I’m a lot better for the experience with Thailand. It has widened my knowledge.”

I think its worth keeping an eye on, but whomever takes over will have a fight on their hands. The players don’t look very happy playing together, and their lowly league position needs to improve dramatically. Cisse and Diouf need to start banging in goals like they used to, or the chairman will have to open his bankbook again, and after Keane spending £80 million over the last two years, that’s highly unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has stepped down as manager after his clubs dire 6 losses in 7 streak and their lowly 18th place in the league. Ex-Bolton manager Sam Alardyce is among the favourites to take Mr Happy’s place.

Keane signed a load of players at the start of the year that have still not got used to playing with each other. He spent £80 million on the likes of Djibril Cisse, Anton Ferdinand, El-Hadji Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda and Steed Malbranque but the squad never really jelled, and last weeks display against Bolton (4-1) spelled the end. In fact it got so bad that bookies stopped taking bets on Keane’s departure.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn spoke on Keane’s career with the club:

“Roy deserves huge respect for his contribution and the manner in which he guided the club from the depths of the Championship back to the Premier League. His winning mentality and single-mindedness were just what this club needed”

“Roy’s decision to stand aside and allow someone else to take charge of the next chapter sums up his desire to always do what is best for the club. Even in his departure he has been more concerned for the welfare of the players and his staff than himself.

“He had put a lot of effort in here, brought more than just his presence here - he brought a way of thinking into this place. He was instrumental in developing a winning mentality - that was the toughest thing of all for him to come and do when we were at the foot of the Championship.

“He brought standards to this club which are amazing. But to do that, it’s intense. He is such a respected figure around the world that the media is intense, the fan pressure is intense.

“I tried for two years to keep as much pressure off him as possible, but obviously the Premier League is the Premier League and I guess it came to the point where Roy thought he had reached the end of that journey.

“Reluctantly, I accepted that. It was not the easiest thing to do, but I think it was the best thing to do in the circumstances at that point.”

Keane made a statement on his departure that was as short and concise as his Match of the Day interviews: “I would like to thank my staff, players, Niall Quinn and in particular the fans for their support during my time at Sunderland, and I would like to wish the club every success in the future.”

What now for Sunderland? Well right now al things point to the jobless “big” Sam Alardyce, which is good for him, and great for Sunderland. Diouf migt actually get a game too. All the best to Keane though, I shall miss his grumpy face every Saturday night.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the title of “European Footballer of the Year”, just two days after his bizarre sending off in the match against Manchester City.

Strange handballs aside, Ronaldo is arguably won of the greatest players of all time. It’s easy to compare him to the likes of Pele and Maradona when they were in their prime, and his skill with a football is unmatched in the world right now. You know those guys who do those keepy-uppy tricks and balance the ball on their feet/shoulders/heads, Ronaldo can do all that, but the difference is he’s running at full sprint at the same time.

I don’t think there is a defender in the world who thinks they can take the Portuguese star on, one-on-one. Ronaldo skips past the likes of Terry, and numerous other defenders like the ball is glued to his feet. His free kick’s are also legendary. I don’t think there is anyone else in the world who can smack a ball with such precision, hard as you like over 30 yards on the planet. He makes Beckham look like a non-league amateur.

If you look at the list of guys who have won the ballon D’Or in recent years he’s better than them all:

2007 Kaka
2006 Fabio Cannavaro
2005 Ronaldinho
2004 Andriy Shevchenko
2003 Pavel Nedved
2002 Ronaldo
2001 Michael Owen
2000 Luis Figo

From the looks of that list, the next guy could be Ronald McDonald. And you can fully expect loads of Manchester United fans naming their kids after the best footballer in Europe.

His 42 goals last season also made him top goal scorer in Europe, earning him the Golden Boot – not bad for a midfielder. It’s also easy to forget this guy is just 23 years old, which means he should be terrorising defenders for at least another 6-7 years.

My own personal football season (my five-a-side kick-about’s) came to a crashing halt last night, with an ankle injury. I was playing great, best game in weeks actually, I’d scored four times already, and when going for a 50-50 ball, I came out worst, as I got booted in the side of my right ankle, closely followed by a loud “pop”. I had got my foot round the ball, just before the other guy, and that was that, I was down on the (freezing) ground in agony. I limped like a wimp off the pitch for a five minute breather before coming back on, but I could barely kick the ball. So that’s me till after Christmas I reckon. Gutted.

Scotland lost last night which of course I’m gutted about, but England and Wales both won, so as far as mainland football is concerned 2 out of 3 ‘aint bad.

Sadly my predictions were way off for the England match, I said 3-1 to Germany, but the second choice team of players did good to pull the victory out of the bad – Terry must be thanking his lucky stars right now after his massive mistake to give Germany a gift of a goal. My Scotland prediction was close to the mark (1-1), and I think my team did great because they held it to a nil nil draw for 82 long minutes, which in Scottish terms is practically a win. Well done to Bellamy and Wales for sorting out the Danish and making their fry-up this morning extra special.

So, with the media having kittens about how good England are right now, do they have any chance of ever clinching world cup glory with England at this time?

I think that as far as England are concerned, this could be their time, and as a Scotsman it pains me to say that, but Capello has invigorated the team so much, and they genuinely look like they could walk away world cup winners.

It all depends on fitness and if the players want to work together effectively. Rooney spend as much time off the pitch as on it, Owen is gone forever IMO, Lampard and Gerrard clearly dislike each others playing styles, Beckham is getting a bit past it, but then you have guys like Defoe, Bent and Shawn Wright-Philips who had an exceptional games last night (definitely my pick for Man of the Match), Walcott and the rest of the new breed.

I think that they are doing well under Capello, but the English Premier League managers will only take so much of his arrogance before they tell him exactly ‘where to go’. I think Capello was out of line giving Benitez a hard time last week over the Gerrard issue, and I get the feeling other managers, like Sir Alex Ferguson or Martin O’neill could have something to say if he keeps acting like that.

Regardless, I like that they could do well in the world cup, they just need to hold it together. We’ve seen them crack under the pressure that the media heaps on them in the past, and it’ll doubtless happen again, but it’s just about focus.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, are in the same sort of boat. Scotland have proved they can play with the big boys, with the last couple of years showing vast improvement, and a big leap in the FIFA rankings. The problem is up front we are terrible. McFadden and Miller are Scotland’s only real goal scorers, and as they spend time on the injured list repeatedly, that means a lot of nil nil draws for the tartan army.

Wales and N. Ireland, two teams that show glimers of solid play, and have good results every so often, but I would be really surprised if they qualified for the cup. Well just have to wait and see.

So lots of football on tonight, but two main games that anyone needs to be concerned with: England Vs Germany and Scotland Vs Argentina.

I’m just going to put t right out there: England are going to be in serious trouble. With the news that Walcott is out now with a dislocated shoulder and anyone with a degree of decent ability gone, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 3, 4 or even 5 go past the keeper. Let’s have a look at who’s out of the match; Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Emile Heskey and Joe Hart.

That’s a massive loss to the squad that now consists of; Carson, Robinson, James, Bridge, Davies, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Mancienne, Richards, Upson, Barry, Carrick, Downing, Bullard, Parker, Wright-Phillips, A Young, Agbonlahor, Bent, Crouch, Defoe. ouch!

So England still has Terry but after his foot troubles the other day I don’t expect him to make it past the first 60 minutes. The real threat toward Germany comes from forwards, Wright-Philips, Bent and Defoe. They are going to have a serious problem in midfield, with the loss of Gerrard and Lampard, but to be honest they are terrible when they play together, so it’s a good chance for Barry and Bullard to make a real name for themselves.

The match I really care about is the Scotland Vs Argentina one. The press are all over this just as much as the England game which is great to see. I think that Maradona’s presence will make his players perform brilliantly, but a quick check has shown that Scotland are 4/1 odds on to win tonight. The Butcher thing is getting a bit stupid though – get over it please. It should be about Scotland not about his never-really-existed rivalry with the little coke-snorting midget.

Regardless, Scotland will have a tough time with the players they are missing, Craig Gordon’s just been pulled out, then you’ve got Darren Fletcher, James Morrison, Ross McCormack, Steven Fletcher and Kenny Miller all sitting on the sidelines. That’s Scotland’s best keeper, midfielder and striker all out, which means were left with Aberdeen striker Lee Miller and Dundee United midfielder Scott Robertson, who just got called up last minute.

I hope that both England and Scotland win tonight but realistically this is how I see it going down:

Germany 3 England 1
Scotland 1 Argentina 1

I’m particularly gutted as I won’t be able to watch the Scotland game, as I live in England and don’t have Sky TV, so I’ll be watching the England match with the sound turned down, and I’ll have my DAB radio on with the Scotland game on. It might sound confusing, but it’s for my country dammit!

So Didier Drogba is in the dog house for retaliating against football fans who pelted the Chelsea’s striker with coins after he scored against Championship side Burnley in the Carling cup. He got a yellow card for the incident last night, and the media have been giving the player a hard time with headlines like:

“Metropolitan Police to investigate Didier Drogba coin throw” – the times
“Police Probe Drogba Coin Throw” – Sky News
“Police investigate Drogba coin throwing incident” - Reuters
“Drogba is facing FA charge after throwing coin at fans” – This is London
“Chelsea’s Didier Drogba faces FA and police probe after throwing coin at Burnley fans” - Telegraph
“Drogba may face ban over missile” – ITN

Now I’m not even being remotely funny when I say, shouldn’t it be the fan who threw the coin at Drogba making the headlines for being a pathetic human being? What I’d really like to know was when did this become acceptable at football matches? It happens at almost every game, and believe me as someone who got hit with a coin once before, let me tell you – it hurts like hell.

Now, I’m not necessarily defending Drogba, he was wrong to let is emotions get the better of him, but at the same time, the Burnley fan/thug should come forward and apologise for making our footballing nation look bad.

The media have had a field day on the striker, and that’s not fair at all. I bet the fan in question is feeling one of two things right now. Hopefully he’s feeling guilty for being a stain on the underpants of society, but in reality he’s probably feeling proud of himself, as it’s the first noteworthy thing he’s ever achieved in his life.

The fact is that this hooligan’s team got through to the next round of the cup, so his throw at Drogba has even less significance. Surely in the crowd they must have seen ho threw it? Surely one fan from the crowd actually had enough guts to say to security point him out and say “he did it”, or is it like play ground again where the bully’s get away with murder because the nice kids don’t want to get beat up to.

How long before someone comes forward complaining that he/she was hit with the return throw of the coin? If that happens, then the media will tear Drogba to even tinier pieces. Drogba now looks to be facing down the barrel of a three match ban from the FA, but what good will that do anyway? Anelka’s doing pretty good on his own these days, and Drogba’s already said he shouldn’t have thrown the coin back.

Does anyone have a thought on this? Was Drogba right to strike back? What would you do if you were the FA? Ban him, or would you ban the fan from attending any football match for the rest of his life?

My office heating has broke, so i’m freezing right now. Because my fingers are numb, the majority of my text has required some serious spell checking, so appoligies if i miss one. It’s Monday, or as I like to refer to it: An average Joe talks about how good the football was at the weekend.

Enjoyed the weekend a lot. My beloved Bolton Wanderers won their game on Saturday, with Jussi Jaaskelainen now a serious contender for goalkeeper of the year. The match was good, and I felt (mildly) sorry for Hull City, but it’s entirely fair to say that Giovanni met his match. The saves Jussi pulled off were out of this world, but his whole game presence was phenomenal. He always knows when to come for the ball, and isn’t scared to jump at someone’s feet. Great keeper.

The Manchester United versus Arsenal game was the best of the season so far. Proper end-to-end stuff, with action all over the place, and you would have bet your house on Ronaldo scoring a goal from two yards out, but he’s just not completely back on form yet. Last seasons Ronaldo would have buried it without a flinch. I’m don’t really care much for either team, so as a neutral veering slightly towards Aresenal, I was happy.

Newcastle are in trouble. Losing again on Sunday is not what the fans want to see, but it happened, and I’m really starting to believe their going down this season. However, the league is a bit unpredictable this year, just two weeks ago Bolton were bottom, now were 11th so its really, if you’ll pardon the pun, open season.

I’m playing football tonight: A bit of five-a-side action. Played last week as well, and still have the cuts and bruises too prove it (it’s apparently a friendly kick about, but it never is). Hopefully this week, I’ll score more, as I scored only a couple of times last week, and they both were entirely average goals. The first goal was a total miss-kick that I scuffed into the bottom corner, and the other one was a one-step penalty for a hand ball in the semi-circle. I actually rather spectacularly miss-hit that one too, but somehow the ball skimmed its way through the keepers legs. Fluke.

It was amazingly cold last week too, so I’m currently debating whether to wear shorts or trousers, it’s a tough call as its outdoors, and as anyone who plays football knows when a ball is smacked off of your freezing cold thigh, its one of the suckiest pains you can have – not to mention the fact that you have to instantly man-up, even though your crying inside.

I used to plan how I was going to play when I was young. I’d say to myself that “I’m going to score in the top corner on the right-hand side of the net”, and then throughout the game, I’d have that aim in my head. Tonight, as I’m older and wiser?, I’m going to aim to not get smacked on the thigh if I can help it, come away with less bruise this week, and maybe not scuff the ball badly each time I get a chance.

If you happen to be a world class football player, where exactly does true talent lie? Is it in your feet, your head, your heart? Or is it a combination of all three?

Over the year the world has seen its share of world class players. Guys like the diminutive Diego Maradonna, the brilliant (he was my favourite player as a kid) Roberto Baggio, to the heroes of today like the ludicrously talented Cristiano Ronaldo, have all left their mark, but do they all have one thing in common? It’s hard to tell.

Maradonna was always going to be remembered ad one of the best. His on pitch antics are as memorable as his off field antics. The little guy could cut his way through the best defences in the world with all the grace of a brick, but he had the amazing ability to find the net – albeit with his “hand of God” guiding him on one occasion. Even if he is/was a bit-of-a drug crazed maniac he can still play a solid game of football, as I remember he was still pretty nifty even for a short fat bloke during the “England vs. the Rest of the World” charity match.

Roberto Baggio was my hero as a young kid. When I was young, the Italian football programme was just starting on a Sunday morning, and I was hooked. My brother picked Inter Milan, so naturally, I picked AC Milan as my team. With Roberto Baggio in his peak, I remember being astounded by his skill with a ball, I watched him score goals from all over the pitch, and I wanted to play as good as him. I remember hearing that he was called “Il Divin Codino” – the Divine Ponytail. Maybe that was the source of all his talent?

You look at today’s stars of the game. Beckham was the poster ball of the game a few years back. He made the game what it is, with its flamboyant players, flash cars, and players knowing how to spend their excessive sums of money.

Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded as the best player in the world right now – with many proclaiming that he’s the best player in history. While this is of course arguable, there is no denying that he is an astounding talent. His ability to strike a ball goalward is second-to-none, with some of his freekicks considered the best in the world. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wish they had a player like him in their team, even though he’s a diving git.

What makes a player good then? Maradonna was a little tank that used his body, and determination, Baggio used his flair and ponytail, and Ronaldo use his ability to see the way the game will play out a millisecond before hitting the ball, as well as his stunning ball control.

The main thing is they all have passion. You see teams with low moral getting hammered week in-week out, Spurs this season, Derby County last. They’ve lost the passion (fair enough Harry Redknapp has arrived to save the day) for the game. You need to have your feet, and your mind in tune with each other to become one of the greatest.

Its that old adage: you either have it, or you don’t. But to be honest, I don’t think you could ever truly know what “it” is.