Argentina counting on "The Hand of God"

I was a little surprise when I heard from the news that Diego "the hand of God" Maradona is going to become Argentina's national team coach. Though Maradona is one of the best player of all time, credential wise, I certainly do not see him as a worthy coach. Certainly, for a big footballing nation like Argentina, there are some other candidates with better credential. But I can see where this appointment comes in.

Argentina, despite boasting some of the best talents in the world in recent years, had failed to win any significant honours, with only the Olympic Football Gold Medal to show. In the past two edition of the World Cup, they didn't progress to the latter stages of the competition, and were even knocked out in the 1st round in Korea-Japan 2002. In Copa America, they again failed to win the competition, losing to a understrength, junior Brazil team in the final.

Something is not right, something is amiss that stopped them from winning honors, despite having a team filled with talents. Perhaps, that something, they now reckoned, is inspiration and the "magic touch". And Maradona certainly fit this criteria. He is the inspiration, and almost single-handedly lead Argentina to World Cup victory, with his "hand of god" knocked England off the competition they eventually win.

Now, their Football Association is hoping that Maradona can reproduced this midas touch, inspiring and leading the national team to the top of the world again. The effect already can be seen. Key players, and also the whole nation is feeling excited about Maradona being the national team coach. If he can emulate the great Franz Beckenbaur's achievements, he can certainly have his name sealed in the history of football, and had all his negative issue swept aside.

Welcome to the fashion capital, David!

Before David Beckham decided to move to the USA, I was so convinced that Milan will be his next destination to continue his football, being a fashion capital that will surely match his celebrity status. But I guess, the language barrier and the attraction of being an icon in the USA changed his mind.

He has surely make his mark in the MLS, and more specifically, LA Galaxy, though not fully on the field. Today, most football fans will know there is a team called LA Galaxy, and we can see people wearing a LA Galaxy jersey, though the only player in the team that they know is David Beckham.

Now, Beckham is joining AC Milan for a short-term loan to keep himself fit for the national team. Well, if he can suit to the Milan play, he should just join Milan permanently, as Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan coach, had publicly declared that he would like to sign him permanently.

His job in LA Galaxy, and MLS is done. He had increase the profile of his team, and the league to a certain extent. He bucked the trend by joining MLS at 31, and not at the end of the career (35-36?). So what more he can contribute to the LA Galaxy or MLS? The most is to keep the ticket sales, and keep on to be an icon in the MLS. LA Galaxy will not rise to become the champions because of one Beckham, as football, unlike some other sports, is a team game, and one superstar wouldn't win a team the championship.

So is now the time for him to leave LA Galaxy? Certainly, if he is to continue playing for England, and ready to take on the challenge of fighting for a place in a midfield full of talents. Certainly displacing the likes of Kaka, Pirlo, Seedorf, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Flamini and Emerson will not be an easy task, and he risk sitting on the bench for the rest of his career. But for a 3-month loan, certainly there will be no risk, and Milan will welcome him with an open arms, as they continue their fight to the top of the Serie A.

And for all football fans, once again we might get to see his trademark free kick during the match, and not from the news.

Can the Best League in the World win the 2010 World Cup?

Surely now when I say the best league in the world, most people will straightaway refer to none other than the Barclays Premier League (or more widely known as English Premier League). Yes, the English League. They have come a long way from European minnows (among the major football league) to ultimate conqueror of Europe's Premier Club Competition- UEFA Champions League. Last season's all English final is the ultimate evidence to cast away any doubts or doubters that- Barclays Premier League is the best league in the world right now!

To add the icing on the cake, Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named UEFA's European Club Footballer of the Year, and also the Forward of the Year, while John Terry, Frank Lampard and Peter Cech made up the BPL dominations in the Defender, Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year. So, now the question is, can the best league in the world win the World Cup 2010 in South Africa?

The implication of being the best league, is the foreign influx of players. Now, players-and also investors all around the world set their sight on coming to BPL. While more big money investors in the BPL will certainly raise the standard of the league further, the group of talented English footballers for the national team has certainly become an issue.

While Theo Walcott- the lastest young prodigy to set the world alight- hattrick may have cover up the national team's attacking prowess, but any right-minded can sensed a lack of talent when the squad include Emile Heskey, who is way passed his best years.

Besides, the goalkeeping department doesn't look good as well with Paul Robinson (who is not playing at his best) sitting on the bench, while David James (not the most steady of hands) started the game.

So now we know the problem, but what is the solution, or where is the potential talents that may be able to replace them. The bigger problem is, there are none, or they are not given the chance to show them. Why?Because in the best league in the world, the players must also be the best around. So no time for nurturing! One of the example is Glen Johnson, who moved to Portsmouth from Chelsea to play first team football. Who can blame Chelsea for not giving him more chance to play, when they have other complete-article players at their disposal?

The trend now and here-to-stay is there will be more players from outside the big four to join the England squad, and these teams actually provide the only hope for Capello if he is to steer England to glory. And if the Big Four expand to Big Five, then there will be a team less to produce talents for England, as they will be too busy buying the best players in the world to the best league in the world!

And in another 1 year plus, we will see whether the best league in the world can win the World Cup!

Dramatic end to transfer window!

I was stunned when I checked out soccernet for the last minute transfer deals before the transfer window close. Robinho leaves Real, and surprise surprise, not to Chelsea, but to Manchester City! WTF?! Manchester City? I thought Thaksin is having all kinds of trouble, and Bangkok in emergency rule partly because of him, yet he can outwits the mighty Russian owned Chelsea in transfer market?! Incredible!

The 32.5 million is definitely higher than the Chelsea's reportedly offer of 28 million. Even if Real accepted the offer, why the hell Robinho will want to play in the UEFA Cup? Manchester City offer more (in terms of transfer fee) for Ronaldinho as well, yet Ronaldinho rejected them. What is he thinking?

I finally understand when I read that Thaksin is selling his stakes to Abu Dhabi United Group. With all these Arab money, City not only can afford the transfer fee, but also huge weekly salary that should be tempting to a young lad. Besides Robinho, City also bought in quite a number of reinforcement during this transfer window. They are Gláuber Berti from FC Nuremburg, Pablo Zabaleta from Espanyol, Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea, Vincent Kompany from Hamburg SV, and Tal Ben Haim from Chelsea.

Though some of the signings are still unknown quantity, Manchester City should be a team to watch this season.

Tottenham also had a busy last day, with Dimitar Berbatov leaving to Manchester United for 30.75 million, while Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka join from Spartak Moscow and Manchester City respectively. These deals certainly solved the attacking options for both Spurs and Man Utd, as both will now have 3 strikers to sustain the whole season. Spurs won a psychological battle against Man Utd in the transfer market by not compromising the transfer fee, and also successfully completed two deals of their own in time to finally put the transfer saga behind. This is really a win-win situation where both teams get reinforcement, while Berbatov's wish to play for Manchester United is granted.

And we will be seeing the last of the tireless Andriy Voronin, who was loaned to Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga

The transfer dispute of 2008/2009 season

With the transfer window closing today, there has been many switches of players between clubs, league involving all kinds if nationalities for the past 2-3 months. Though there are many big names transfer that are already completed, some transfers are still in dispute or ended after months of speculating. And the most notable one are the 3 cases stated below:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United has shown their authority over player power as they successfully keep CR, even though CR had expressed his desire to move to Real Madrid, and even suggested that he is made a slave. This remark seriously infuriated a number of people (including me), as this remark is seriously crazy and offending. If a 100k per week bloke is a slave, then what do you call those on a few k per month? It was your decision to extend your contract with MU, and you will have to be responsible for it. If you really so desperate to leave for "the club you supported since kid", then don't extend your contract, and leave on free when your contract expire.

Dimitar Berbatov
Berbatov has been a hit with the Spurs fan, as he score goals for fun in the past few season for Spurs. But now, as he had expressed his wish to joined MU, the Spurs chairman to let him rotted in the reserve instead of selling him to MU for a lower price. In this case, no one is at fault, really.

Berbatov wants to play in Champions League, that's why he choose to leave. But when his wish is not granted due to different valuation of him by MU and Spurs, his morale and performance drop, and affected the spirit of the team.

Spurs is selling their best player to a BPL rival, so surely they will sell at a premium. Besides, they will be more than happy to keep Berbatov if MU can't match their price.

MU is unwilling to match the selling price set by Spurs, so they are unwilling to proceed.

If a deal cannot be completed before the transfer window close, hopefully Berbatov will leave the saga behind, and focus on helping Spurs to achieve greater success. Berbatov, at his best is a joy to watch, and also, prove a point to MU that he is worth every penny of the 30 million they are unwilling to pay.

Gareth Barry
Barry has shown that he is truly professional player. During the long transfer saga (which just ended with him staying put at Villa), he proved that he is not affected, and continue to perform at his best for Villa. His performance during the 1st BPL game is impressive, and if he can keep on playing at his best, his wish to move to Liverpool will still happened when they have the money and make him their 1st priority.

Soccernet title: Blues flop Shevchenko moves back to Milan

Is this a track record of a flop? You rate it yourself! But to me, the record is respectable, considering the injuries and the sudden change of style of football. People maybe saying that for 30 millions, Chelsea deserve better reward, but as in any investment, there is always risk that things may not go as planned, and this is one of the case. I do admit that at times, when he was given the chance to prove himself, he did not take it as well as he is capable. His performance is slightly worse than Hernan Crespo (which is also considered a flop, but if anyone just look at his record, I believe he is such a superb striker!)

And I believe, no one will disagree that Sheva is a top professional, never complained to the media during this tough period in Chelsea. He works his socks up, and fight for a place in the Chelsea squad. In the Champions League semi final last season when he comes on as a substitute, he made a on the line clearance to ensure Chelsea made it to the final. That moment just showed how good a professional he is, and he is a roll model to the footballers around, who is getting arrogant and acted unprofessionally.

2006/2007: 13 goals in total
4 in the League, 3 in FA Cup, 3 in League Cup, 3 in Europe

Appearances:
30 in the league, 22 starts, 8 as sub
6 in FA Cup, 5 starts, 1 as sub
4 in League Cup, 4 starts
10 in Europe, 9 starts, 1 as sub

- Significant strike at White Hart Lane in an FA Cup replay.
- Hernia operation in the closing weeks of the 2006/07 season ruled him out of the FA Cup Final win at Wembley.
- Carling Cup winner, having played all Carling Cup matches except for the closing seconds of a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the final at Cardiff.

2007/2008: 8 goals, 5 in the league, 2 in League Cup, 1 in Europe

Appearances:
17 in the league, 8 starts, 9 as sub
1 in FA Cup, 0 starts, 1 as sub
2 in League Cup, 2 starts
5 in Europe, 2 starts, 3 as subs

- fitness problems keep him out of competitive action until mid-September 2007.
- in his second game back he scored the final goal of the José Mourinho era, in a home Champions League draw to Rosenborg.
- there followed by an outstanding strike in the Carling Cup against Leicester
- leading up to Christmas, he scored six important goals in ten appearances with Didier Drogba out injured
- back-related problems called a seven-week halt.
- never start a game in 2008
- made seven sub appearances and scored the final league goal of last season

Why Gareth Barry should not go to Liverpool

Recently Aston Villa's coach said that he had not hear from Liverpool for the transfer of Gareth Barry for some time. It seems like Liverpool has now cool down interest of Barry, or there has been rumour that Benitez must sell to fund this transfer. Now it seems likely that Barry is staying after all, but it has always being my view that Barry should not leave Villa.

1) England captaincy: Recently, Barry has been made captain of England. Though he is not likely to win the race, but if he leave for Liverpool, he had totally no hope of getting the captaincy, as Gerrard will surely be the captain for Liverpool. If Barry stays in Villa, he may still get the chance to captain England occasionally, or when the 1st few choices of England captain unavailable.

2) Risks of being a non-starter. At Villa, Barry is definitely the 1st few names in the starting lineup. But at Liverpool, he risks being a bit part player, and jeopardize his England career just when his England career just started.

3) Liverpool unwilling to pay the amount, despite Barry confronting Villa manager and force for a move: Well, some may say the price is too high. Yes, I agree Barry is not worth 18m, but it's not Villa's fault, instead, English footballers are simply over valued. If Crouch is worth 11m (as paid by Portsmouth), then relatively Barry is worth 18m, no doubt!

4) Liverpool's handling of the transfer saga: Liverpool should not stop negotiation and waste Villa's time, while they announced new signings one after another. This shows that Liverpool is not too eager to sign him after all. If you can't afford it, then just say no to Villa. It's not as if Villa is unwilling to sell, like the case of Cristiano Ronaldo. But if you want to buy your rival's player, surely you'll have to pay more! Have you not heard of the story of Berbatov?