Football's Amnesia

"We have to hold on to our values and our rights and at the moment, the situation for Luka is that he is under club discipline." 

"Hopefully the situation does not drag on" 

"It doesn't help Luka and it doesn't help solve in any way the situation." 

Reading these quotes from Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas this week, it was hard not to chuckle over the large dollops of irony that were dripping from the Portuguese's words. Rewind one year and it was Villas Boas' who was actively pursuing the wantaway Croatian and have no doubts, agents and advisers would have been telling Modric that the best way to force a move through was to behave exactly as he is doing now. Modric has not yet handed in a transfer request as that is a last resort (as doing so instantly forfeits the significant and ironically termed "loyalty bonus" written in to every contract) but that may well be his next move.

Just down the Seven Sisters road, Arsenal are enduring a not wholly dissimilar nature to their rivals, with Robin Van Persie clearly set for the exit but his destination still unknown. Many Arsenal fans as well as many more neutral observers cannot wait to line up to slam the Dutchmen with all the usual weapons in the football fans' arsenal (no pun intended) of vocabulary. "Mercenary", "money grabber", "disloyal" the list goes on.

Yet Roy Keane made a point in his autobiography that still resonates just as much today as it did nearly a decade ago when the Irishman, or lets be fair his ghost writer, wrote it. Clubs and fans will always talk about loyalty when it suits them but if a club wants to rid itself of players such as Nicklas Bendtner, Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh etc, no one talks of disloyalty then. No one talks the club being a "mercenary" and "money grabbing" to get players of the books so to clear space and funds for new arrivals. 

Loyalty, whilst not dead, is certainly in the ICU. All these people lining up to condemn players such as Van Persie and Modric, not to mention men such as Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand (who were subject to some truly horrific vitriol by Tottenham and Leeds fans respectively), I'm certain that none of them ever left a company or a job in pursuit of another opportunity that they perceived to other greater rewards; financial or otherwise.

With both Modric and Van Persie can anybody truly argue that they do not stand to increase both their likelihood of success and of greater income by moving clubs. Modric is wanted by Real Madrid who have won the Champions League nine times which is exactly nine times more than Tottenham have. Likewise Van Persie is reportedly being courted by Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus. Two of which one their domestic league last season, whilst United's record in the time Van Persie has been at Arsenal reads: 4 league titles, 1 Champions League title and two more finals, 1 Club World Cup and 2 Carling Cups. As much as Arsenal fans (and this writer is a season ticket holder) hate to admit, they are simply not competing on the same level anymore.

Even those who like to level claims that financial doping and sugar daddy's have distorted the landscape must surely falter when it appears that Van Persie's preferred destination is either Old Trafford or Turin; two clubs with histories richer than Arsenal's who have left their mark indelibly on European history in a number of decades.

For football fans to discuss loyalty is questionable on another level too. How many of those who wish to disown Van Persie can state that they never wavered in their support of Arsenal last season. Boos were a regular occurrence at the Emirates and players such as Arshavin, Theo Walcott and Thomas Rosicky some of their regular recipients. Equally attendances were down which surely suggests that fans themselves were enjoying other pursuits during games.

Another stick used to hit Van Persie with is that the club stuck by him despite a procession of long term injuries and this is true. However the club only stuck by him because he was such an outstanding talent. Have no mistake if a lesser player had suffered the same woes as the Dutchman it is unlikely he would have lasted 8 years like Van Persie has (although Abou Diaby is making a strong case to disprove this theory). It should be remembered that Van Persie has regularly rushed himself back for both club and country often at great detriment to himself and had he adopted a more selfish streak as fellow Dutchman Arjen Robben did at Chelsea, where he infuriated Jose Mourinho with his unwillingness to declare himself available until being absolutely certain, he may not have suffered so many reoccurring injuries.

With the case of Modric people should recall two things that occurred last season. One, he put his disappointment of not being granted a transfer behind him and was one of Tottenham and the Premier League's best players and two; he turned down the offer of at least doubling his £40k a week contract. Whilst this was partly due to Modric being unwilling to tie himself to a long term deal thus making his move less likely, many players in the past have signed bumped deals before being sold and as such Modric deserves some credit for this.

Hopefully both these sagas will be over soon as nobody really enjoys the tedium of the daily gossip columns reporting on the most minute of developments but when they do reach their conclusion maybe fans will react with a bit more sanity than they have demonstrated so far.

Perhaps the best example of the shortsightedness of the football fan is when England enter the fray. Once every two years (or perhaps more if Steve McClaren is the manager and Paul Robinson is in goal) this nation gloriously gets behind our brave lions as they proudly and heroically lose to the first decent team they meet. This summer was no different and fans who had spent their entire season hurling abuse at John Terry, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll were suddenly right behind them. Yet just a few months later and the same people will be discussing how useless Carroll is and how unpleasant and overpaid Rooney, Terry and Cole are and reveling in songs such as these.  

Whilst it may seem strange to outsides, people will just shrug it off. That's football they'll say, and the sad thing is, they are right.


Comments? Views? Please add them below.
Please follow Game Ramble Weekly on Twitter @gamerambleweekly 

Paris Saint Germain: Revolution in the City of Lights

Rising Power?

What do London, Paris, Rome and Berlin all have in common? One of football fan's favorite pieces of trivia was ruined last May when Didier Drogba stroked the ball past Manuel Neuer to give Chelsea victory in the 2012 Champions League. Prior to Chelsea's most unexpected of triumphs, none of these four capital cities had seen the European Cup won by one of their own. Arsenal were 12 minutes away in 2006, Bruce Grobbelaar's wobbly legs deprived Roma of their chance at glory in their own stadium in 1984.

With London crossed of this list of famous cities never to taste European glory the question is which city will be next to go? Everything points to Paris and one of Europe's most famous clubs. In the 16th arrondissement of Paris a giant is stirring.

 Although a famous name and one of European football's most recognisable teams, PSG, which was established in 1970 as the result of a merger between Stade Saint-Germain and Paris FC, have not enjoyed the success that one would associate with a name of such calibre. Their golden period coincided with their last major take over. In May 1991 television giants Canal + purchased the club and with the help of significant investment, PSG enjoyed a period of unprecedented success. Between 1992 and 1998 the club contested two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, winning one, as well as reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. Domestically the club won its second league title, three French cups and two League cups.

However since those heady days in the mid to late 1990s the club has struggled to come close to emulating those glory years. The occasional cup success simply masked the fact that PSG were falling behind to southern powers Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux as well as Lille; all of whom have tasted Ligue 1 championships in recent memory.

However in the summer of 2011 the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) purchased the club and the club's new president Nasser Al-Khelaifi announced that he intended to invest a hundred million euros in the transfer market. He backed up these words by writing a cheque for £37.5m to acquire Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore from Palermo. The money has not dried up either, established names such as Maxwell, Alex and Thiago Motta have all arrived in Paris. Head coach Antoine Kombouare, a former player and much liked by the fans but not in keeping with the image QIA are attempting to cultivate, has been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, a man who has won the European Cup four times as a player and coach.

Despite this influx of global talent, PSG were pipped to the title by Montpellier last season but the club will return to the Champions League for the first time since 2004 and this has enabled them to embark on their latest round of spending which threatens to truly shake up the hierarchy of European football.

Silva Service

Last week, AC Milan accepted a bid of over £50m for Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Silva, the Brazilian national team captain and one of the best centre backs in Europe, has already completed his move whilst Ibrahimovic, Serie A's top scorer last season with 28 goals, is expected to conclude his transfer this week. This follows on from the signing of Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli for £24m. Does this latest round of petrodollar funded shopping indicate that PSG are here to stay? Or does it indicate little more than another exciting but unpredictable chapter in the clubs recent history?

Firstly let no one fool you, whilst PSG are certainly an established name and will compete in the Champions League next season, finance has played a major part in this. Milan are not the economic power they used to be and the struggles of Italy's economy only exacerbates this. An offer of such magnitude was always likely to be well received for in recent years, as power has slowly moved away from Italy to Spain and England so have Milan's biggest names. Andrei Shevchenko was sold to Chelsea in 2006 for £30m and Kaka departed for Real Madrid in 2009 for £56m. Even Milan know when to sell and the offer for Ibrahimovic in particular who is now 30 is an excellent one.

Equally the move will handsomely reward Silva and Ibrahimovic who are expected to be paid yearly net salaries of €9m and €13m respectively. When the 75% tax rate proposed by Francois Hollande is taken into account, one gains a true idea of the type of money we are talking about.

This takeover and spending spree is unprecedented in French football but comparisons can be drawn from further a field and it is interesting to compare the strategies instigated by those clubs who have been taken over by billionaire benefactors.

Chelsea, the first club club to benefit from what many dub "financial doping" brought in players both familiar with the Premier League and those who had never played in England. The one consistent factor in their policy was that all the players whom they acquired were relatively young and had their best years ahead of them, with a few notable exceptions. This, by and large, is the same policy employed at Manchester City by Roberto Mancini who has been equally disposed to by from home and abroad with again the salient factor being that the vast majority of his players are yet to peak.

Mark Hughes, Mancini's predecessor at City employed a slightly different method. Practically all his major signings were players who had plenty of experience of English football with his logic being that they would not need any adaption period and would be able to instantly secure the top four finish the owners demanded. Ultimately this did not work out however it should be noted that some of Hughes' signings have become key players for City such as Gareth Barry, Pablo Zabaleta and Nigel De Jong.

It seems probable that PSG will dominate domestic football for the next few seasons, Lille and Montpellier; champions in the two previous seasons have lost key players and will continue to. Anything other than a comprehensive league title next season will be seen as a tremendous failure for the club and would probably cost Ancelotti his job. However as to whether this summer marks the start of a dynasty for Paris Saint Germain is a question that cannot be answered for a number of years.

Everyone felt that Chelsea, with their unmatched financial power, would dominate English football when they retained the title in 2005/06 yet they have only won one league since. Real Madrid's  first galactico era did not usher in domestic or European domination, indeed it has now been a decade since Madrid lifted the European Cup despite expenditures approaching €500b. Big names do not always equate to sustained success and with Financial Fair Play around the corner, PSG will not be able to spend such huge sums each year to rejuvenate a squad that for all the relative youth of Thiago Silva and Lavezzi still numbers players such as Alex, Maxwell, Thiago Motta, Mohammad Sissoko and Ibrahimovic as its key personnel; none of whom are the right side of 30.

Whether PSG can make a tangible impact upon the Champions League this season will rely on their new players quickly adjusting to their new surroundings but more importantly on a favorable draw in the group stages. Manchester City could attest to this as they, like PSG, were 4th seeds and found themselves in a formidable group and before they had time to adjust to Europe were quickly knocked out. Below is the potential nightmare group for PSG.

Barcelona (Pot 1)
Manchester City (Pot 2)
Juventus (Pot 3)
PSG (Pot 4)

Whilst such a group would be mouth watering for the neutrals it would be a disaster for those involved.

Ultimately next season is a critical one for PSG and the QIA. Anything other than 1st place in the league will be seen as total embarrassment whilst a strong showing in Europe would help to expand the clubs brand as well as increasing the clubs revenue which, given the weak television income of the French league, is essential when attempting to compete against the Premier League and La Liga's big two.


Comments? Views? Please add them below.
Please follow Game Ramble Weekly on Twitter @gamerambleweekly

Whose on the Shopping List and Why?

With the European Championships over, the summer transfer market has begun shifting into high gear with a number of Europe's top clubs beginning to make their moves. Here's a quick look at who Europe's big hitters seem to be targeting.

Paris St Germain

With the signing of Ezequiel Lavezzi already secured, it seems that coach Carlo Ancelotti and sporting director Leonardo are in the market for a top class forward. The fact that Ancelotti rotated his strikers so often last season with Nene, Kevin Grameiro and Guillaume Hoarau all failing to  convince the Italian, a top class forward may well be on his way to Paris.

There have been rumors stating that PSG would like to offer Robin Van Persie a one way ticket on the Eurostar and a whole lot more to cross the channel but despite the financial might of PSG and the fact that they will compete in the Champions League next season it still seems unlikely that Van Persie would chose to move to the Parc de Princes.

The club were close to purchasing Alexander Pato from Ancelotti's old club AC Milan last season and may well go back in for the brilliant but injury prone Brazilian. A move for Carlos Tevez has also been mooted but seems increasingly unlikely. Rumors continue to persist about a move for Zlatan Ibrahimovic which is not as far fetched as it may seem and the enigmatic Swede may fancy a move to Paris if he feels that PSG can truly mount a challenge for the Champions League, a trophy that has eluded Ibra despite his vast collection of domestic trophies.

Elsewhere the club failed in their attempts to persuade another Rossonerri star Thiago Silva to join their petro-dollar fueled project. Do not be surprised to see Milan go back in for Brazil's captain.

Juventus

Having already picked up Lucio on a free transfer, last seasons undefeated champions are looking to strengthen a squad that was not subjected to the rigors of European football last season. The main priority it seems is to purchase a striker and Juve have already had one bid rejected by Arsenal for Robin Van Persie. The club also retains an interest in Luis Suarez but any chance of this deal occurring would be reliant on Juventus offering at least double the £22.8m that Liverpool paid for the Uruguayan and Suarez openly pushing for a move. Both events seem unlikely. The fact that these two strikers have been targeted by Juventus does gives an indication of what head coach Antonio Conte is looking for though.

Juventus were hugely flexible in their tactics and formations last season using a variety of systems throughout the season. The advantage of both Suarez and Van Persie is that they are both equally adept whether deployed on their own or alongside a partner.

The champions have also acquired Maruicio Isla and Kwadwa Asamoah to reinforce a midfield that was remarkably resilient to injuries last season. With Andrea Pirlo turning 34 this season, surely Conte will have to rotate his team more than last term and the arrival of Isla and Asamoah will bring proven quality to the squad. As will the arrival of Sebastian Giovinco, the talented play maker from Parma who enjoyed such a fantastic season.

Juve will also look to free up some funds and squad space by finally packing off Milos Krasic who not so long was one of Europe's most sought after players but after a couple of indifferent seasons may well find himself heading back to Russia.

Real Madrid

As we speak a story is breaking through the Daily Mirror that Modric has agreed personal terms for a move to the Bernabaeu. If this is to be believed then it is an interesting signing from Real as there does not seem to be an obvious position waiting for Modric. Jose Mourinho may well be looking to rest Xabi Alonso more this season as despite a superb season for both club and country, the Basque play maker did begin to tire towards the end of the season. By adding Modric to the books it would give Mourinho more opportunities to rest Alonso. Equally in matches which Real are likely to dominate Mourinho may see no need to deploy a defensive minded midfielder alongside Alonso and will instead use Modric to provide another supply line for Europe's most prolific front line.

Aside from Modric there seems to be little inclination to change much from a squad that won La Liga in record breaking style and was a penalty shootout away from reaching the Champions League final. Expect to see talented centre half Raphael Varanne given more playing time as Ricardo Carvalho continues to be eased out. Whilst both Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain would be pliable to a move there is a reluctance from the club to move either of them on. 

Arsenal

There are a few things you can always rely on during the English summer; British heartbreak at Wimbledon, English batting collapses  and Arsenal struggling to keep hold of their best players. This year it is Robin Van Persie's turn to step up the plate recently stood upon by Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas. With the captain's move to Manchester City inching closer and closer, it has managed to cloud the fact that, by Arsenal's standards, the Gunners have acted with more conviction than in many previous summers. Lukas Podolksi and Olivier Giroud have been acquired for a combined total of £25m so the fact that Van Persie dropped his bombshell on the club has been doubly devastating.

The major question is whether Podolski and Giroud were signed to play alongside RVP or to replace him. Wenger has insisted its the former but is hardly likely to say anything else. What is important is that with Van Persie set to leave it leaves Arsenal with recognised centre forwards; Giroud, Maroune Chamakh and Nicklas Bendtner. It is a forward line that is unlikely to keep opposing mangers up at night. With both Chamakh and Bendtner unwanted, Arsenal do appear slightly lightweight up front. Another striker is not going to come cheap and no realistic names have been mentioned.

Elsewhere the move for Rennes midfielder Yann M'Villa has either stalled, collapsed or was never really on in the first place. Other alternatives have been mooted but as yet nothing concrete has materialised.

Ultimately like the seasons of recent years, Arsenal's summer will be defined by how they handle the seemingly inevitable departure of their star player. If Arsenal are able to sell Van Persie and bring in additional players in good time prior to the start of the season then things may not be as bad as they seem now. However if the saga drags on into the first weeks of the season it could seriously destabilise the club.

Barcelona

After failing to win either La Liga or the Champions League last season the Catalan giants will be desperate to dethrone arch rivals Real domestically and will also have their eyes firmly on a return to Wembley in May for the Champions League final; a stadium that holds such special memories for the club.

To this end the club has already made its first signing, paying Valencia 14m Euros to bring Spanish left back, and former Barcelona youth player, Jordi Alba back to the Camp Nou. Considering that Leighton Baines England's second choice left back is being valued at £20m, signing Alba for a little over £10m seems like an outstanding piece of business. As Alba demonstrated so emphatically in Poland and Ukraine he is excellent defensively as well as potentially devastating going forward. With Dani Alves not getting any younger bringing in Alba allows for greater flexibility throughout the squad. Like Alonso at Real, Alves was in need of a rest at times last season and by acquiring Alba it allows Barcelona to rest the Brazilian without totally depriving the side of much needed width.

Elsewhere the message has been clear from the Barcelona board in recent seasons, there is not a great deal of money to spend. Any significant purchases are on the condition of a major sale and the two most likely candidates, David Villa and Dani Alves, both seem set to stay which means it could be a quiet summer for new boss Tito Villanova. Expect to see flying wingers Cristian Tello and Isacc Cuenca both given greater game time as well as the promotion of a few more graduates from La Masia.

The club has been looking for centre backs but from what you read their two top targets, Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Thiago Silva are both beyond their financial means. Moves have been mooted for both Holger Badstuber and Thomas Vermaelen but both deals seem improbable for any number of reasons.

Manchester City

Considering the club is short of centre forwards, a certain Dutch forward currently residing in London may be heading up the M6. After all considering the club only has Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Mario Balotelli on their books it seems only right to add at least one more to that. FYI the accumulative cost of those players is a bed wetting £159m.

In all seriousness there does seem to be agreement amongst the press that any move for Arsenal's want-away captain is dependent on at least two of those strikers departing. The problem is that it has consistently proven very difficult for the club to move on players who have been given long term deals on huge wages (Adebayor alone is rumored to earn £220,000 per week). If the club is able to find permanent buyers for Adebayor and Santa Cruz then it seems probable that Van Persie may well join the Premier League champions. Ian Mcgary of BBC five live has gone on record saying that a £225k a week contract has already been agreed and that the deal will be done within two weeks at a cost of £20-£24m.

Elsewhere there does not seem to be too much activity as it seems that Financial Fair Play is really starting to play a factor in the boardroom at the Etihad. Alexsander Kolarov is regularly linked with a move back to Italy but it seems Roberto Mancini is very reluctant to see him go and is unlikely to receive a bid close to the £16m that City paid for the Serb. Another centre back may be brought in given that both Stefan Savic and Kolo Toure did not prove themselves to be wholly reliable deputies last season.

Manchester United

Across town and United may have already made the signing of the summer in acquiring Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. Quick, intelligent, direct and with an eye for both a killer pass and a goal Kagawa could prove to be a real coup for Sir Alex Ferguson. There will doubtless be concerns about him being able to handle the physicality of English football but considering he has spent a number of season in Germany this should not really become a factor. The lack of a winter break however may well play a part, as will his regular long haul flights for Japanese international duty.

Elsewhere it seems very much a case of evolution rather than revolution for United. Ferguson has consistently espoused the values of his young squad and the fact they have yet to reach their potential. With Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David De Gea all having plenty to build on following a hugely promising but slightly inconsistent first season. Rumors of a £20m move for Leighton Baines refuse to go away and it seems that long term target Luka Modric is set to choose Madrid over Manchester.

Liverpool

One of the most interesting managerial appointments of the summer so far saw Brendan Rogers depart South Wales for the North West. Famed for his devotion to possession football and encouraging his players to play out from the back; seeing how Rogers is able to translate his ideas at Anfield will be a hugely intriguing aspect of the season.

Having missed out on Gylfi Sigurdsson who chose Tottenham over Liverpool, Rogers has turned his attention to another player who he worked with at Swansea with the £8m acquisition of Roma forward Fabio Borini. The signing is an interesting one for two reasons. Firstly to see whether Borini who has undoubted ability is able to show it on a more consistent basis than he has managed so far in his short career. But perhaps more importantly it surely provides an insight into how Rogers is planning on setting up Liverpool for next season. 

It seems likely that Rogers will employ a 4-3-3 and with Luis Suarez certain to occupy one of the forward spots, the signing of Borini gives an indication that Rogers is looking for a relatively fluid front three who are comfortable drifting out wide, dropping deep and constantly rotating positions. Three things that seem to exclude £35m Andy Carroll and given this it is hardly surprising that rumors of Britain's most expensive footballer going out on loan continue to gather pace.

Tottenham

With Andre Villas Boas now fully in charge developments at Tottenham will surely shift into over drive. In his first press conference AVB has made it clear that Luka Modric will leave and the talk of a move for Joao Moutinho, who was one of the best midfielders at the European Championships, gathers pace. The signing of Emmanuel Adebayor seems to be slowly moving towards a conclusion and Jan Vertonghen has finally completed his to White Hart Lane. So it would be fair to say that Tottenham have achieved most of their major goals for the summer already as not only have they secured Vertonghen and it seems Adebayor but Gareth Bale agreed a new contract with the club. 

One imagines that before any more players come into the club there will need to be a clear out of a squad that became increasingly bloated under Harry Redknapp. Steven Pienaar and Jermaine Jenas will surely both depart and William Gallas, Carlo Cudicini and Heurelo Gomes may also leave. Whether Ledley King retires or not may be key in whether Villas Boas signs another centre back but with Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone both fit for the new season things appear quite positive for Spurs which is slightly surprising given the sudden and surprising nature of Redknapp's departure one month ago.

Chelsea

So far the continents biggest spenders with Eden Hazard and Marko Marin both already secured and with Brazilian youngster Oscar seemingly also on the way. It certainly seems that a fresh injection of attacking talent is being targeted as Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka have all departed in the past 6 months. Equally with players such as Romelu Lukeku and Oriel Romeu set to be more involved next season it is an exciting time for Chelsea. The club also retains an interest in both Luka Modric and Hulk. Modric looks more likely to move to Spain whilst Porto are still living in the slightly delusional world of demanding over £50m pounds for Hulk. Unless they lower their prices significantly it seems probable that Chelsea will take their business elsewhere.

How all these players will fit into the side that had such an incredible end to the season will be a big test for Roberto Di Matteo. It seems likely that he will stick with the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 that served him best last season, but with Juan Mata and an increasingly confident Fernando Torres on the books, attacking berths will be at a premium.

In terms of departures there is still talk of Florent Malouda following Jose Bosingwa out the door and so a new defender may well be brought in as cover for Branislav Ivanovic.

AC Milan

Milan director Adriano Galliani gave an interview this week discussing the lack of financial clout now possessed by Italy's biggest clubs and discussing how the countries financial difficulties are increasingly hard to separate from the clubs fortunes. With this in mind do not expect to see any major acquisitions by Milan this summer. With the departure of two icons of the club in Pipo Inzaghi and Reno Gattuso as well as Gianluca Zambrotta Milan must rebuild and do so whilst winning back the Scudetto. 

Milan have had an unprecedented change over this summer and have added Francesco Acerbi, Bakaye Traore, Sulley Muntari and Kevin Constant amongst others to their squad.

Montelivo arrives on a free transfer and his perfomances as the Euro's will have been encouraging to his new club. The ex Fiorentina midfielder will bring plenty of craft and elegance to a side that had gained a reputation as one based primarily on power and strength particularly in centre midfield. Whilst the arrival of Traore and Muntari ensures that Milan will be able to deploy a more physical presence should coach Max Allegri feel it is required.

The fact that Thiago Silva chose to stay in Milan is a huge boost as is the return to fitness of Antonio Cassano.

Rumors linking Andy Carrol with the San Siro are surely little more than paper talk as the club currently has on its books Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Pato, Stefan El-Sharoway and Cassano so the need for another striker is certainly not evident. 

 

Inter Milan

Like their city rivals it promises to be a summer of change for Inter. New coach Andrea Stramaccioni has already begun to break up the team that was so successful for Mourinho with Lucio already gone and Julio Cesar, Maicon and others also available at the right price. The club has already brought in Freddy Guarin from Porto who is talented but wildly inconsistent. The club were interested in Eziquel Lavezzi but were unable to compete with the lure of Paris St Germain. Whether the club will spend big is unlikely given the looming impact of Financial Fair Play on one of Europes biggest spending clubs coupled with the fact that part of Stramaccioni's appointment was based on his excellent work in the youth system.

Inter have brought in former Udinese keeper Samir Handanovic to replace the transfer listed Julio Cesar. Handanovic has been one of Europe's best keepers over the past few seasons and will serve as an excellent replacement for Cesar, who like many Inter players, never recaptured the form he found under Jose Mourinho. 

Bayern Munich

After spending big last summer and coming close to a treble but instead ending up with nothing the pressure on Germany's biggest club will be huge this season. A trophy is an absolute necessity for Jupp Heynckes and his team. Xherdan Shaqiri arrives from Basle and brings with him bags of talent and a certain arrogance that many players who have succeeded at Bayern have possessed. How much game time he gets will depend entirely on the fitness and form of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. When both fit and in form they can be devastating however they're tendency to miss large swathes of games through injury coupled with their ability to aggravate anyone they come into contact with including each other, makes them an unmissable attraction.

Mario Mandzukic, who was impressive in the Euro's for Croatia also arrives to provide cover and competition for Mario Gomez, as does Claudio Pizarro who returns to Bayern after leaving for Chelsea seven years ago.

Heycnkes is expected to largely keep faith in the team that showed such promise last season. A fully fit Bastian Schweinsteiger will be key as will the promise shown by young left back David Alaba. A defence composed of Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng and Alaba has everything required to challenge both domestically and in Europe however the cover in these positions is largely unproven at the top level. Brazilian centre back Dante arrives from Monchengladbach and Diego Contento shows promise but too many injuries at the back will stretch Bayern.

 

Borrusia Dortmund

Champions for the past two seasons, Jurgen Klopps side will not only be looking to retain the Bundesliga but also make a far greater impact in Europe than they did last season. Although they have lost Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United they have acquired Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach and if they are able to retain the services of Robert Lewandowski then there is no reason why they cannot continue their recent run of success. Much depends on wunderkid Mario Gotze staying fit for the whole season something he could not manage last year.


Comments? Views? Please add them below.
Please follow Game Ramble Weekly on Twitter @gamerambleweekly 
 

 

Whose Number One?

It seems that barely a week goes by without at least one discussion over who is "the best player in the world" and whether Cristiano Ronaldo is greater than Lionel Messi or vice versa.

First and foremost one gets the impression that a great many people, myself included, are bored to death of this argument and wish that people could simply accept that 1) they are two completely different players, playing in completely different teams and being asked to do completely different jobs and 2) that people should just appreciate them for what they are which is two unbelievably good, amazingly entertaining athletes quite literally doing things that no footballer has done before.

However much one may wish for people to reach such a conclusion it seems unlikely. To be fair there is an argument to be made that being able to decide who is the better player is part of what makes sport such an attractive proposition to so many people.

And so it is inevitable that the Messi-Ronaldo debate will carry on for the foreseeable future and that people will be forced to pick one over the other. With the European Championships now concluded, much has been made of the fact that Ronaldo finally seemed to be stamping his authority in a major international tournament and that by doing so he was gaining something over his rival from Barcelona, at least that was until that fateful penalty shootout in Donetsk. The standard line of narration is that until this point neither Ronaldo nor Messi had produced on the international stage and that until they did they could never truly be regarded as worthy of joining the same pantheon as Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Puskas etc etc.

First of all I find serious fault in this logic, whilst obviously international success is obviously something which is desired by the top players it cannot be viewed in the same light as it was in the past, for the simple reason that international football is no longer the ultimate benchmark that it was. Whether people like it or not the latter stages of the Champions League are of a higher standard than international football. There are any number of reasons why this is the case but the most prevalent is the fact that elite clubs can attain a level of understanding and familiarity that international teams will always struggle to replicate. It does not seem entirely coincidental that the two teams who reached the final of Euro 2012 did so with a core of players plucked from the same team. Juventus, undefeated champions of Serie A contributed 6 players including 4 of the back 5 as well as Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio who were both outstanding throughout the tournament. Equally with Spain, 5 (6 if you include Jordi Alba) of their side are Barcelona players, and not only Barca players but also all graduates of La Masia whilst Real Madrid also contributed 4 of their own.

Secondly, players and teams now enter major international tournaments often on the back of 60+ games. This is in contrast to the days of Pele and Garrincha where A) far fewer games were played and also B) the major championships were unparallelled in importance whilst now whether one agrees with it or not club competition is unquestionably the dominant power in world football.
Admittedly there are obvious counters to this argument of players being more fatigued than previous generations; travel, hotels, medical technology and far superior pitches are all amenities that were unavailable to Brazil in 1958 and indeed many teams used to travel to world cups via week long voyages on the seas.

Pardon the digression away from the central point of this piece which is fundamentally that the argument over who is the superior player Messi or Ronaldo is as unanswerable as it is boring. People in both camps consistently produce arguments which they feel trumps the other side. A common one is that Messi is far more of a "gentleman" on the pitch and is always quick to celebrate with his team mates whilst Ronaldo's celebrations are usually designed to ensure no one is in any doubt over who just scored. Equally the fact that Messi rarely complains about the seemingly endless kicks and trips he receives and is unwilling to cultivate the celebrity lifestyle that Ronaldo does is further evidence of his more humble and grounded personality.

Whilst all these points may indeed be true, should personality traits be a decisive barometer in judging an athlete? If one feels that it is then many of the greatest athletes and sportsman the world has seen are subject to serious revision. John McEnroe was one of the greatest players in the history of tennis and his rivalries with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors have stood the test of time. Yet few could forget McEnroe's appalling behavior on court. "Super Brat" as he was known was regularly disqualified for foul mouthed, child like tirades at any person within ear shot.

Equally Mohammed Ali, who has often been named as the greatest athlete of all time, subjected his opponents, Joe Frasier in particular, to some of the most hateful and disgusting "trash talk" ever witnessed in boxing. He would often refer to Fraiser as an "Uncle Tom" and regularly called him a "gorilla". In spite of this Ali is remembered as not only one of the best boxers in history but also as a social and historical rallying point at a time when American society was tearing itself apart.

The list goes on, Tiger Woods will go down as one of the greatest golfers ever and there is a strong case for arguing that he, alongside perhaps Roger Federer, was the most dominant athlete of the century so far. Yet courtesy of a crashed SUV we all now know that Tiger himself was not everything he appeared to be. Should it matter?

Floyd Mayweather Jr, whose fight record currently stands at 43-0 and is a 5 division world champion, presently resides in a jail cell in the state of Nevada and has courted controversy his entire career.

The point of exhibiting these examples is that if one does judge a sportsman on all aspects of his life and character, personal and public, any list of great athletes will be significantly diminished. For those who wish to judge Ronaldo by such standards, remember that Messi, whilst a far more likeable and humble individual is no angel either.

A favored argument of those firmly in the Ronaldo camp is that Messi would be nothing without Xavi and Iniesta and that he is reliant on them hence his relative failings for Argentina. This is one of the more bizarre arguments I have heard and for some reason it only seems to be applied to Messi. Undoubtedly the Argentine does indeed benefit from playing alongside Iniesta and Xavi as well as all the talented players Barcelona possess. However does Ronaldo not benefit from the same at Real Madrid and previously at Manchester United? Did Alfredo Di Stefano not benefit from playing alongside Ferenc Puskas? Did Zidane not benefit from playing in a French team with Laurent Blanc, Youri Djorkaeff not to mention Patrick Vieira and Didier Deschamps who acted as midfield enforcers and bodyguards for Zizou? The point here is that throughout history the best players of a generation have come from the best teams of the generation. Puskas and Di Stefano in the 1950's, Law, Best and Charlton in the 1960's, Beckenbauer and Cryuff in the 1970's etc.

Does a great player need a great team to be great or vice versa? The answer is simple. Football is a team sport and one cannot be achieved without another. So to hold Lionel Messi to this logic and no one else seems at the very least illogical and at the most a sign of pure desperation on behalf of his critics. Also an interesting stat to those who do believe he relies on Xavi and Iniesta. In the 2010/2011 season which Messi ended with 53 goals, to go with his La Liga and Champions League medals, precisely 7 of those 53 goals were via assists from Xavi and Iniesta. Whilst Messi himself assisted 24 goals which is 3 times the amount provided by Barcelona's midfield duo. In the same season Cristiano Ronaldo scored the same number of goals and 17 of those goals were as a direct result of assists from Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil.... Food for thought.

The arguments and debates will continue to rage and who knows in the coming years it may become a three or four way argument. Whatever the case, maybe people should simply let it go and just enjoy watching two of the finest footballers in the world in two of the finest teams in the world. And who knows maybe they will both light up the 2014 World Cup in Rio putting to an end another argument that neither of them do it on the world stage. If such an event does occur don't worry, people will find something else to complain about.


Comments? Views? Please add them below.
Please follow Game Ramble Weekly on Twitter @gamerambleweekly