The Two Horse Race

It’s the beginning of the new football season. This time of the year, one usually encounters a lot of talk about one league being better. Like all others I have my own criteria of choosing one league to be better than another. Sometimes these criteria are not deemed as important to others and obviously theirs to me. That's when I decided to put down a post taking into account a multitude of factors and statistics before reaching a conclusion, if possible. I will safely assume that the only two leagues in competition are La Liga and the English Premier League.

I’ve broken down the comparison into different points. Of course, I could have skipped some, but I’ve put down whatever came to my mind.

• Top of the league

EPL 10 Che 86 Man 85 Ars 75 Tot 70
EPL 09 Man 90 Liv 86 Che 83 Ars 72
EPL 08 Man 87 Che 85 Ars 83 Liv 76
EPL 07 Man 89 Che 83 Liv 68 Ars 68
EPL 06 Che 91 Man 83 Liv 82 Ars 67

Liga 10 FCB 99 RMA 96 Val 71 Sev 63
Liga 09 FCB 87 RMA 78 Sev 70 Atm 67
Liga 08 RMA 85 Vil 77 FCB 67 Atm 64
Liga 07 RMA 76 FCB 76 Sev 71 Val 66
Liga 06 FCB 82 RMA 70 Val 69 Sev 68

o Chelsea and Manchester have dominated, similar to Barcelona and Real
o Similarly if one of the above teams win, most often the other finish 2nd
o Teams in 3 and 4 positions are usually off the winners by a fair bit

As we can see, both leagues are ultimately 2 horse races, which can put to rest the theory of one league being more competitive than the other. Point totals are also similar and equally high, which goes on to show the top teams are significantly and equally better than bottom rung teams. Of course statistics don’t always tell the truth, but they point you towards the right directions.

When we look at the overall history of both the leagues, we observe that Real Madrid lead the Liga with 31 titles followed by Barcelona with 20 and Atletico Madrid with 9. In the English league Manchester United and Liverpool are tied at 18, followed by Arsenal at 13, whereas in the era of the Premier League Manchester United are miles ahead of the rest of the pack with 11 titles followed by Chelsea and Arsenal at 3 apiece. This again reiterates that one or two teams always dominate the league.

• Performances in Europe

Both these leagues almost always send 4 teams to the Champions league and 3-4 to the UEFA Cup/Europa League as well. I suppose, for a CL or EL campaign to be called successful, semi-finals can be set as a benchmark. Some more statistics follow about number of semi-finalists from each country and the eventual winners.

CL 10 1 ESP 0 ENG Int
CL 09 1 ESP 3 ENG FCB
CL 08 1 ESP 3 ENG Man
CL 07 0 ESP 3 ENG ACM
CL 06 2 ESP 1 ENG FCB

Cup 10 1 ESP 2 ENG Atm
Cup 09 0 ESP 0 ENG Shak
Cup 08 0 ESP 0 ENG Zen
Cup 07 3 ESP 0 ENG Sev
Cup 06 1 ESP 1 ENG Sev

While it is evident that in the Champions league, England sends more team regularly to semifinals, Spain has a better track record in the ultimate prize. When it comes to the second rung, clearly, Spain has the advantage with more victories, and semi-finalists. A conclusion is hard to reach because one cannot say one league is better with just these statistics

• Players and Awards

Another central point of argument is the quality of players in each league which statistically can be measured in Golden Boots, FIFA Player of the year, and the Ballon d’or. As for Golden Boot, La Liga has produced 5 and the Premier League 4 in the new format of the award. When it comes to the FIFA award, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate with 4 and 7 respectively where as the only English entry is to Manchester United. Stats are similar in the Ballon d’or where Barcelona have 6, Real 5 and Manchester 4. This is the first time we can see one league that has a clear advantage over another. It is safe to assume the better players are from the Liga.

• Money Matters

Strength of any league financially is a good measure of how much a better a league is compared to another. This one clearly is in the favour of the EPL because of a much more stable structure where TV money is distributed in accordance to a predefined ratio, which ensures parity being ensured between top and bottom teams. La Liga allows teams to negotiate their own TV deals which creates imbalance at the top, which works against its favour with the view of maintaining equality and competition.


• Popularity

Again, I think the EPL is the clear winner here. Football is the religion in both countries where newspaper headlines are dominated by footballing matters, but where the EPL has scored points is in marketing the league as a brand to the rest of the world. Shifting the time of the matches in view of getting into the Asian primetime slot because of the potential financial benefits trumps the Liga in terms of popularity where most of the games are scheduled in EU night time which is the wee hours of the morning in Asia. I guess statistics are not necessary here.

• Intangibles

There are certain aspects of football you cannot measure. Bill Shankly famously said that football is much more than life and death. This is reiterated in La Liga. There is a certain romance to games which are not so in England. Football is a culture, more than just a sport. The connection between sporting history and political history is enough to say that it is more than life in that country. I somehow see this aspect lacking with England. Fans are equally passionate no doubt, but it is just not the same. Beauty is a subjective term, but it has been said time and time again that La Liga offers some of the most beautiful football in the world over the years. With a league full of talented Spaniards, Brazilians, and Argentines, this comes as no surprise. England on the other hand seems to have a much more tactical game, which has merits of its own, but surely can appear dull to the eye. In this regard, Liga has the upperhand in my opinion.

• The Verdict

I cannot think of more points to compare, so I guess I will leave it at that. It is clear that while each of the leagues have their own charms and advantages, it is difficult to come to a conclusion as to one being better than another. Liga is proclaimed to have the better history, EPL is said to be the hands down number one in the recent future, but with all said above, I will conclude by saying no one league is better than the other and all we can do is to enjoy the beautiful game and wait for this season to unfold.

Edit : A friend provided me with http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jonathan_wilson/08/24/epl.observations/index.html?xid=twitter_share another article on similar lines, do take a look.

A-Z of World Cup 2010

This is quite a clichéd topic after every world cup in most newspapers and websites, but I decided to have a go at one on my own anyway. So here's the A-Z of this year's recently concluded spectacle that is the FIFA World Cup 2010

A for Africa : This was always going to be pitched as the Cup hosted by the entire continent, and it's fair to say that the hosts have exceeded expectation in terms of organising.

B for Blue : Blue was a bad colour for jerseys this year as giants like France and Italy crashed out infamously after the group stages putting their nations and footballing legacy to shame.

C for Casillas : San Iker will go down in history as the first captain to break Spain's curse of not winning the World Cup. Of course there was the small matter of the Golden Gloves.

D for Diego Forlan : Forlan wowed us with what Manchester United failed to see in him. This class act showed us some fantastic football capping it off with lots of brilliant goals.

E for Expectations : France,Italy,England,Brazil,Argentina. What was common to them in this World Cup is that none of their teams performed to the fans mighty expectations, which seemed to be the flavour of this tournament.

F for Flops : Flops again seemed to be the bug biting all big name players. Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, Rooney were all bitten and put on quite a horrendous show.

G for Germany : If there was one team that deserved to win the tournament and didn't, It was the Die Mannschaft. Playing counter attacking football at levels we have not seen since the Brazilian teams of old, they gave us some amazing matches. This team is young and is bound to be around, and hungry for many years to come.

H for Handball : The world cup just seems to love Handball incidents. The Hand of God by Maradona paved way to a new tactic of using the hand to the benefit of the team. Suarez showed us all, a supposedly heroic sacrifice, with good presence of mind, taking his team past Ghana through to the Semi-Finals.

I for Injuries : Most teams were not at their full strength thanks to injuries. Blame the long club season or lack of fitness or desire to come back ahead of recovery period, we were unlucky not to see some good players in action.

J for Jabulani : World Cup's always have controversial balls and this was no different. A Goalkeeper's nightmare, this ball showed us physics as never seen before.

K for Kung-fu : A term that became popular after Nigel De Jong's tackle on Xabi Alonso in the final, justified the way The Netherlands tackled throughout the whole tournament.

L for Larissa Riquelme : The Paraguay lingerie model created waves all across the world and made lots of men Paraguay fans as she promised to strip if they went all the way.

M for Maradona : The man who was the centre of all attention even with the Argentina team boasting of arguably the best player in the World. Only Maradona could have done it, and it is only a pity that his coaching career is not nearly as glamorous as his playing.

N for Nigeria : Nigeria's FA gave us some humour by initially banning the national team from all competitions for the forthcoming two years as a punishment for their performance, which was later revoked after the firing of 3 top officials.

O for Oranje : Once again, the Oranje made it to the finals, and once again they would not win. I personally felt this was a good thing because the way they played would not do justice to the great Netherlands teams of the past, if they did better.

P for Paul : The most valuable person of the tournament would end up being the Psychic Octopus Paul who got the predictions right for all of Germany's matches and the finals. He has now become a betters’ favourite and German enemy number 1. Rumour has it that he has retired from his newfound profession.

Q for Questions : Some questions will never be answered. Was he offside? Did the ball cross the line? Were the FIFA officials right with that decision? Expectedly, this world cup was full of such Questions.

R for Referees : The refereeing this tournament was clearly sub-par. Barring a few excellent performances, most Referees, and linesmen made some rather horrible calls. Time for Video Technology.

S for Spain : Spain has at long last won a World Cup. The team always full of talent, and years of lack of unity due to regionalism and other reasons finally delivered with what is not becoming known as the Golden Generation of Spanish Football.

T for Tiki-Taka : The Spanish (Catalan) word for touch football used by Spain(Barcelona) has evolved into the new(boring) style of possession football and ended up winning the tournament(It was Villa!)

U for Uruguay : If everyone were to bet which South American team would qualify for the semis, nobody would have predicted Uruguay. Yet this bunch of no nonsense footballers, led by some spectacular goals by Forlan and Suarez did their country proud.

V for Vuvuzela : Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 'nuff said.

W for Waka-Waka : The jumpy number from the ever sizzling hot Shakira became the anthem for this World Cup with every Tom-Dick-Harry addicted to it, including my 3 year old cousin.

X for Xavi-Xabi : The X-Men (Ok, that was bad) were a solid centre of midfield pairing carefully picking out passes, became one of the hardest duo's to play against.

Y for Young Players : Every World Cup produces some fine young players, and this one no different. Germany being the most impressive with their youth gave us some fantastic promise in players like Ozeil, Mueller et al.

Z for Zuma : I was running out of creative thoughts, and thought I had to do justice to South Africa being such great hosts for this spectacle. The guy may be really boring with speeches but heads a country the loves football, which is now loved by the footballing world.

I hope that puts in a nutshell what this World Cup was about. Let me know your views, or if I've forgotten any important thing. Joga Bonito!

Dream team of our generation

While I've grown up watching the beautiful game, I have often wondered, who are the greatest set of players that I have been priviliged to grow up watching. If there was ever a dream team of the greatest players of our generation, who would it be. Here's my list. Opinions and refutations are mot welcome.

Goal Keeper - Iker Casillas - He's my favourite. He's won so many titles in so few years, when he's so young. And in my opinion the number 1 shot blocker in the game. Buffon's better in some aspects, but Casillas is the overall package for me.

Right Back - Cafu - What a joy he was to watch spring up and down that right wing. A great champion, a great man, and also a great football player. Probably one of the greatest ever to play the position, barring Garrincha. He's an automatic choice in this team.

Centre Backs - Alesandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini - Nesta is one of the modern day greats and Italians have always led the way in showing how one defends. Maldini, is one of the game's elites, possibly the greatest defender. These two would make a killer twosome at the centre of the defence.

Left Back - Roberto Carlos - Complementing Cafu on the right, Carlos would be an awesome add to the left side. One of the best long range shooters ever to have played the game, he was a terror on the wing in his days, and is almost an automatic choice for this position

Right Wing - Luis Figo - What a winger, multiple winner of the World and European player of the year awards and a menace down the wing in his days, has scored plenty of wonderful goals and almost carried the Portugal team when he led it.

Centre Midfielders - Claude Makelele and Pavel Nedved - Makelele is the best ever DM that I have seen. Pre Galactico era, Madrid were that stable because of him, and Galactico and post that, they weren't because of the same guy. Rock in front of the defense, is actually a pleasure to watch even if he is the DM. Nedved, although plays for my most hated team Juve, takes this place mainly because of one performance against Real where he scored a hat-trick to send us out of the CL. What a class performer, truly deserves the spot on this team.

Left Wing - Zinedine Zidane - My footballing god, the greatest player to have ever touched a football, the scorer of the most beautiful goal, I cannot stop talking about this guy. If there's one person I miss in the Real team and the world of football its my beloved Zizou. So versatile, so classy, nothing more needs to be told I suppose.

Forwards - Thierry Henry and Ronaldo - Henry, I personally do not like him that much, but his records stand out. He will always be one step below the greats because of his money minded move to Barca, but he is a classy striker he is on the pitch. Fatty Ronaldo, who is the greatest striker of our generation, is well, a shame to a young fan, but his talent was undeniable. Those stepovers, those quick dashes, and not to mention, the great finishing skills make him truly deserve this spot.

PS - Near Misses : Del Piero, Giggs, Pirlo, Ferdinand

PPS - Far Misses : Kaka, Messi, Iniesta, CR9? They have to achieve lots more before being considered for this.

Comment away people.

Criminal Financial Dealings

About a year back, I wrote an entry on this blog about how Marca sells newspapers by publishing false football rumours. Some of these news items materialise into deals, and most don't. While the earlier article talks about the hype rumours create, this one is for the hype, the actual transfers that come through, create.

Yes, Yes everybody knows Real Madrid splashed out 65m Euro for Kaka and 93m for Ronaldo. That's a hell of a lot of money. Now it would be a legitimate question if people ask, why Madrid overpay for their transfers. A possible explanation to that is that, teams know Madrid will pay close to whatever they demand, so they just inflate the transfer fee. This does have its bad effects on the transfer market, yes. What I find ridiculous is, not just fans or players or managers, but the management of several clubs are criticising the Madrid transfer system.

Some facts before you start jumping at me. Clubs in Spain are not owned by individuals, like the case is in England. You have Oil tycoons, Arab Sheikhs, American finance big shots and many more funding the English clubs, whereas in Spain, specifically Real Madrid, no single owner exists. There is a president who is the authority on the business dealings, and Perez being the shrewd businessman that he is, has pulled off some amazing deals. Our money, Our dealings, anything wrong with that?

People often complain, why do Madrid buy superstars of every club, why can't they grow or develop talent like some of the other clubs. The answer to that is pretty complicated. Madrid is a club where patience is unheard of, fans want success all the time. Such is their history and they have every right to be that way. It is not as if they do not produce good kids at all. They don't use them properly, but that's a different issue altogether. People who know the Spanish game will know that Negredo, Granero, Mata, Diego Lopez, all of whom are product of the Real Madrid Castilla, are superstars in the making at lower clubs. Coming back to the point, one way, and the right way in my opinion, to look at the transfers is this. A club X develops a player from its youth system, and his value increases. They do well with him, but after a point, he seeks newer challenges and better avenues for success/money whatever. This is where Real come into the picture. They pay a lavish sum and all parties are happy. X has not much more it can offer to the player, and also end up making a profit on the sale. This is how most transfers to Madrid work. Now your non Madrid big shot clubs, cannot afford such lavish sums, what do they do instead? Steal other clubs' youth talent for dirt cheap sums and 'develop them'. Such is the case with the top 3 players in the world at the moment. Ronaldo was nicked off a Portuguese club, Kaka similarly from a Brazilian club, both at around 18 years of age. Messi, the third was stolen at 12! 12- the kid would not be knowing percentages by then, but Barca recruit him and now call him one of their own. Now which policy is more criminal? You tell me.

Real-ly Ranting

When I started writing this blog, I told myself that I will never make a rant entry. And even if I did, I never once thought it would be about something I love so much, Real Madrid. And now that it is about Real, it must speak volumes about how bad the current scenario at the Spanish capital is.

With 11 games gone in the season, sitting at 4th place on the table, 3 points behind the leaders, and most probably getting into the next stages of the Champions League, would not mean that a team is in crisis. But this is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where, two continuous losses would mean that the manager's neck is on the line. A club where, a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where just winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is exactly why this season looks like a bad one for Real.

A wise man named Murphy once said that, everything that can possibly go wrong happens all at once at the worst possible time. He couldn't have been more apt with the current situation in Madrid. 2 back to back Champions League losses to Juventus is completely inexcusable. A friend of mine wrote on his blog in the preview to this game as the game against the Old lady with a broken hip, referring to the number of injuries they had. Away loss was okay, home loss, an embarrassing one at that is completely inexcusable. Losing to Real Union in the Copa, a Segunda B team, which means they play two divisions below us. How on earth does that happen? Only god knows how. Barely scraping a win against Malaga, and then going on to losing against Valladolid, a team that Barca beat 6-0 the previous weekend, surely meant there was a crisis at the Bernebeu.

Now, the blame game begins. Spanish press is dying to get things to sell their papers, And Real have given them a cakewalk for achieving what they want. So who is really at fault. Naturally fingers point to the manager, Schuster. I really do not think the fault lies with him. It is more at the top level of the hierarchy. Calderon cannot be expressed in non swear words at this moment by most Real fans. Mijatovic, the supposed technical director, is equally to blame. Their over ambitious chase for Ronaldo in the summer meant the rest of the buying would be hit, and hit it was. No naturally right sided winger yet in the team. An aging Cannavaro, a full of himself Pepe, and the truly horrendous Man Utd reject Hienze in charge of the centre of defence? Surely that is not the material of champions. Garay's loan has to be terminated. Ramos has to be moved back to centre and Torres has to play on the right. Midfield is a mayhem. There are far too many central midfielders, far too many players who stray forward never to bother about defending once they lose the ball. And to top all that, Van Nistelrooy is injured for the remainder of the season. Raul is looking like a mere shadow of the great man he was. Thankfully Higuain has found his scoring boots. And then there is Saviola? Who? That's right that Argentine, the Saviola we all know about. Yup, he is rotting the benches at Real.

With possibly the toughest part of the season coming up where Getafe, Sevilla, Villareal, Barcelona and Valencia the next five opponents and two crucial Champions League games thrown in to the mix, it will take quite a run to bounce back from the situation they have put themselves in. This is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is what this team has to prove. Hala Madrid.

Anything Barça can do, Madrid can do better

Warning: I've flicked the article from elsewhere, I liked it, I thought you might too.
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They're the cocky kids arguing whose dad's bigger, neighbours preening over their pebble-dashing, tuning types upping the stakes with another pointless appendage to their Seat Ibizas — egging each other on, winding each other up. "If Barcelona didn't exist, we'd have to invent them," remarked former Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, and he was right. Barcelona go Dutch, Madrid go Dutcher; Madrid go galactic, Barcelona go cosmic. They're the US and the USSR racing into space, with missions to the moon and monkeys at the controls. Anything Barça can do, Madrid can do better. No, they can't. Yes, they can. No, they can't. Yes, they can. No, they can't. Yes. They. Caaaan!

And, let's face it, mostly they can. Barça buy a posy new team bus, Madrid buy a plane. A rickety airfix plane soon quietly ditched but, still, a plane! Barça have two Catalan comics fawning over them, Madrid have two national ones. Barça celebrate their centenary by playing Brazil, Madrid celebrate theirs by playing the whole wide world. Barça visit the Pope, Madrid visit the King, the UN and the Pope. Barça nearly buy David Beckham, Madrid really buy David Beckham. Barça beat Madrid 5-0, Madrid take Michael Laudrup and beat them 5-0 back. Barça get Alfredo di Stéfano for three games, Madrid get him for 11 years, eight league titles and five European Cups.

And now it's getting really silly, with a little helping hand from a fixture list that groups together all the likely title contenders (except Atlético), meaning the champions may not be the best team over the course of the season but the best team over the course of two six-game stretches in which Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Villarreal and Madrid face each other. More importantly, a fixture list in which twice a season every team plays Sevilla, Barça, Madrid and Villarreal consecutively, giving Madrid the perfect opportunity to succeed and supersede Barça. Which is exactly what they've done. Barça lose 1-0 to Numancia on the opening day, in the very next match Madrid beat Numancia 4-3. Barça draw 0-0 with Racing Santander, the following week Madrid beat them 2-0.

So far, so standard, but even raising the bar impossibly high makes no difference: On Sunday night, Barcelona smash Sporting Gijon 6-1 (six bleeding one!), prompting the Catalan press to declare, "it doesn't get any better"; one Madridista pundit to declare, "Bah! We're better than Barça, 6-1 is nothing!"; and Sporting's marvellously moustachioed manager Manuel Preciado to declare, "Madrid suit us better, although I might be eating my words soon." Only it does, he's right, and Preciado is busy wolfing down a plate of Alphabetti Spaghetti when Real Madrid do it better. Barcelona smash Sporting 6-1; three little days later, Madrid smash Sporting 7-1. Anything you can do better, I can do better.

Real Season Preview

After a long and rather uneventful transfer season by their regular standards, Real Madrid get ready to kick off their proper season. With a string of preseason victories, which has never happened before, and just one signing, which hasn't happened in a long while either, this is a tricky season to predict. A team was bought last year to last for a few years. And thankfully the management is sticking to a long term plan. Although I would have welcomed maybe one or two more entrants to the squad, I am rather happy with the team for the upcoming season. No worries on goal. Defence doesn't look very concerning either with enough depth with lots of players flexible between centre halves and wing backs. Midfield is a concern, not because of the lack in talent, but the overflow. There are too many left sided players, and too many central midfielders and absolutely nobody on the right. Gago/Diarra/De La Red for the anchor position. Gago would be my automatic choice, but you will need Diarra for some games and De La Red needs to get a game once every few games else he will be off too. Guti/Van Der Waart/Sneijder for attacking midfield. Guti is a genius but unpredictable, Sneijder is the natural choice. Van der Waart is flexible so may be he can be played elsewhere. And to top it all off Robben/Robinho(if he stays) on one wing. That's a selection headache, it's better headache but it's still one. Although I'd kill to be in Schuster's position, this makes me thank god I'm not in it. Forwards is a slight concern. Van Nistelrooy will fetch you the goals, but he isn't getting any younger and Raul is not getting any faster either. Although I love the latter, so much so to an extent I would rate him as one of the top five footballers during my short football watching career, I would say we need fresher blood than him. Higuain is doing well and I just get the feeling Villa will arrive next year at least, if not for a shock transfer with two hours left for the window to close or some such. Bench strength is good, Team is motivated to win the Champions League. I hope this is a good season. We should win the league, and at least proceed to the quarters this time around in Europe. Hala Madrid.

Ole Ole Ole

It's football season once again. And once again it is the time for predictions, taunts to opposition clubs, and lots of anxiety as to what entertainment and action this season will bring. Some clubs have been very active in the transfer market and some not so much. Here's my take on the so called top 8 clubs at the cream of European Football. All these clubs aspire to win every tournament they enter. But of course not all of them can. Here's what I personally feel about them.

Barcelona: Very active in the transfer market. Alves is a brilliant signing albeit a little overpriced, but hey aren't all signings overpriced these days. Kieta is decent signing, much better overall player than their last year's Yaya Toure signing who was pretty much rubbish. Ronaldinho is gone, which is the best thing to have probably happened to them. Guardiola is in charge, for people who don't know what that means, it's almost like a Keane managing ManUtd or something to that effect. I don't expect them to do much this year but they are building a team. As the Spanish cycle goes, they should be very strong by next season.

Real Madrid: After many days of the failed pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, they have had an unusually quiet summer. Usually big players in the transfer market, it is their first summer in many a year, when they have made less than 5 transfers. Baptista sold to Roma, was a good deal at 15 million euro. And Van der Waart was a steal from Hamburg. With quite a decent squad, they should take the league pretty easily, but I don't know if they are good enough to be European Champions just yet.

Arsenal: Hleb, Flamini gone. Nasri In. Quiet summer by their standards as well. Arsenal this year are younger than ever before. Only God knows what Wenger is thinking. This squad needs a bit of experience to actually win trophies and not just play beautiful football. I don't see them doing too much this year.

Liverpool: Keane was a brilliant signing. Probably the best striker combination in the premier league, with Torres and Keane, they should be scoring a lot more goals and winning a lot more games. Alonso might leave anytime soon, but they have enough depth in the squad to challenge for the title be it in England or in Europe. I hope they play more on the ground and live up to how they look on paper. Top 3 finish in the league and final 8 in the champions league for sure.

Chelsea: What a squad! Great manager! and a drive to win especially since they were so close last year. Deco and Bosingwa are pretty decent signings and they have only lost the old horse Makelele. With probably Robinho joining their ranks, they are my bet for English champions this season, and to have quite a strong Champions League run as well.

Manchester United: Double Champions, it looks like they will have a tough time defending both those crowns. Extremely quiet in the transfer market, with zero sales or buys (although Berbatov might join soon), they are depleted by injuries in the starting part of the season, will hope for their talisman Ronaldo to be back and take them to the heights they achieved last season. I'd say they will fight it hard with Chelsea for the league, and will have a strong European campaign as well.

AC Milan: I hope Ancelotti knows what he is doing with such a glorious club. Random signings like Ronaldinho and nothing to improve their ageing defence. I predict a disaster season for them, be it in the league or in the UEFA Cup.

Inter Milan: As usual, they make many signings in the summer, and seem to have a squad the size of 2 average sized ones. That precisely is their mistake, they have lots of half-stars and they are just not good enough to make it big in the European stage. They might still end up dominating their league and win it just because there is not enough competition.

Worthy Mentions: Juve have a decent team, but it will take time to get back to the heights they are known for. Roma are very unpredictable and can hope for a strong league finish at most. Munich might enter the European fray if they manage to play some decent football with the nice looking squad that they posses. Atletico and Villareal are very nice teams, but I don't think they will proceed very far in the Champions League but will almost surely finish in the top 4 of La Liga again.

Now, it's time to sit back and enjoy one more season of Topsy turvy, unpredictable and the ever so awesome game called football.

Rafa!

Spain now has another Rafa, except he is not Spanish. Although this name is used mainly for Nadal and Benitez in the world of sport, we might soon see it being used for Real Madrid's most recent signing- Rafael Van Der Waart. Rafa was signed from Hamburg for a measly 9 million Euro. For Hamburg this is not too bad a deal, considering if they kept him for one more year, he would have left for a cheap 1.5 million Euro due to a contract clause. Real were constantly in the foray for signing a midfielder this year, but I'm glad it is not Ronaldo. The whole Ronaldo saga has put me off, and thank goodness he will remain remain a Red Devil for at least one more year. Coming back to Rafa, his signing couldn't have been made at a better time for us. Sneijder was the victim of a not so nice tackle from Diaby in a 'friendly' against Arsenal. He remains injured for much lesser than what was expected but three months is still a lot of time. And serious injuries have been known to unsettle players. Now Rafa, at the moment is most likely to take Sneijder's place in the starting lineup, although he is looked at as a long term replacement for Guti. The dutch connection in Real adds one more member. With a midfield that boasts of him,Sneijder when he returns, and the glass-man Robben and Ruud up front, that's pretty scary for oppositions when they click. Rafa can play anywhere in the midfield, be it centre, or on either wings, or even behind the strikers in the 'hole'. Problem arises when Sneijder returns, how will the midfield look? Will Robinho be on the team? We will only have to wait and find out. Apart from his work ethic, accurate long ranged shots, free kicks and great runs from midfield, Van Der Waart also brings another thing to please us Real fans. His bride Sylvie is smoking hot, and will be present at every home game. Yay! (Google her to see what I'm talking about).

Euro Review : Team of the tournament

Now that the Euro 2008 tournament is over, and Spain have deservedly won it, I will reserve writing about that for another entry. For now, I thought of putting down a team of the tournament. There were very many impressive players and finding a 11 is a pretty hard job. However this is the best that I thought that one could put together.

Goal Keeper - GIANLUIGI BUFFON : This was a difficult tournament when it came to picking a goalkeeper. You might be shocked I haven't picked Casillas being the Madridista that I am, but although he did not concede many goals, he barely had any saves to make, the defence was solid enough and Saint Iker did not have to show why he is god. The other keepers in the semis are not even worth a mention. The Russian, forgive me for forgetting his name, conceded way too many goals. Lehmann is a joke, and Rüştü is a bigger joke. Buffon gets the nod here because he made some fantastic saves, including Mutu's penalty and kept the Azzuri in the game with some incredible saves, until he came up against Casillas of course in the shootout.

Right Back - SERGIO RAMOS : Okay, here the Madridista in me comes out, but if you think about it seriously, he has been the best at this position. Defensively a little questionable early in the tournament, but slowly attained back the levels that he is so famous for as the tournament progressed. Constantly menacing down the right flank, he's a night mare for oppositions and to add to that he's almost the target man for any setpiece and almost came close to scoring in the final. Even defensively he had a brilliant last couple of games. Deservedly on this team.

Centre Back - CARLES PUYOL : Catalan by birth, you would not expect him to give his all while playing for La Furia, but he was the linchpin of the defence. Crucial tackles and interventions giving the Spanish defence the necessary experience and calmness, he was the defender of the tournament for me.

Centre Back - GIORGIO CHIELLINI : The Juventus wing back was employed in a make shift role for his country and he stepped up to the occasion. He was sure of all tackles, and was so solid and it is primarily due to him that when they played Spain they did not concede any goals. To stop such a creative force from scoring goals for 120 minutes, that is surely an achievement to put him on this team.

Left Back - YURI ZHIRKOV : The Russians took everyone by storm this year, and storm is the right word to describe this player. The pace with which he goes forward is unbelievable and defensively solid too, was a regular in Russia's now famous open approach to the game. Lahm had a fairly decent outing as well, but Zhirkov is my pick.

Defensive Midfield - MARCOS SENNA : If ever Spain has missed something all these years, it is someone like him. The Brazilian born holding midfielder is the most composed player in the centre of the pitch for the Spanish team. Sitting in front of the defensive and launching off attacks, the perfect blend for a holding midfielder, he gives room for the creative forces of the likes of Iniesta,Silva and others to carry the attack forward. My pick for player of the tournament, surely walks in to the top 11.

Left Midfield - DAVID SILVA : One of the unsung heroes of the Spanish team, and probably unheard of to non La Liga watchers, this Valencia starlet is a beautiful left footed player. All of 23, he has a big future in store for him. Constantly switching flanks, he is elegant with the ball and is a threat to any team with his attacking instincts. He gets the nod ahead of other competitors like Van der waart,Podolski.

Right Midfield - WESLEY SNEIJDER : The centre of all attack for the Oranje, he has been a revelation in this tournament. With powerful long range shots, and quick counter attack movements, this flexible winger/central midfielder is an asset to any team. Schwienstieger although deservant of a pick, misses out because of his silly red card and poor showing in the finals. Altintop also is a name worth mentioning but Sneijder is a bigger and better player.

Centre Midfield - MICHAEL BALLACK : The German captain is the centre of focus in the German team, with a largely young team, he is the father figure of sorts who brings the much needed experience and a player of his stature is surely an asset to any team. With his deft touches and powerful strikes, he is the best central midfielder in the tournament. Xavi deserves a mention here, but Ballack almost single handedly carries the German team and hence gets the nod.

Attacking Midfield/ 'The Hole' - ANDREI ARSHAVIN : Not many had heard of this Zenit St. Petersburg star before the tournament. He missed out on the first two games Russia played due to a suspension. But when he came back, he came back with a bang. Setting the tournament alight with his quick counter attack, classy touches and brilliant passing, he has been the revelation of the tournament. He surely is not a 2 game wonder and we will see much more of him in Europe's big stage, possibly with Barcelona.

Striker - FERNANDO TORRES : You could argue Villa deserves this position. With no disrespect to Villa, he is not in the league of Torres. True he might not have scored that many, but he is a sensation. His pace and strength is unmatched and there is barely anyone better than him when he does what he does best, which is torment the defence. Unselfish, Precise, Classy you almost tend to run out of adjectives to describe this Spanish kid turned hard scouser. El Niño is my forward to round off this team.

Manager - LUIS ARAGONES : This was tough, Hiddink gave me second thoughts when i thought of Aragones, but the wise old man has to get it. I have to admit I didn't want him in charge when he made his spat with Raul public, but he seems to have everything right to give Spain what they truly deserve, a big title. Hats off to the 'grandfather'.

Substitutes - Fabregas,Villa,Schwienstieger,Xavi,Anyukov,Altintop,Casillas : Most of these are justified, with Fabregas deserving a special mention for the tag of super-sub, he has been extremely effective once he has been introduced in the game. The rest of them make up the bench only because they cannot fit into the starting eleven.

This is my pick for the team of the tournament. Everything ranging from comments to slippers are welcome to be thrown.
It has been a great Euro, and we have deserved champions. Viva España.

Double Standards of English Football

What's grabbing the world football headlines these days? Euro ? Nope. Sadly so, it is the Cristiano Ronaldo saga, which has been blown out of proportion. For many weeks we have seen every newspaper, every website and every TV channel that is connected to football talk about the supposed interest from Real Madrid in Manchester United's star midfielder.

First and foremost, there has been NO official approach from Real Madrid at all. A certain Spanish newspaper called Marca which is obsessed with stories that sell and create unnecessary hype is the devil behind this scheme. They have been doing this from when I can remember. Every year they pick one superstar that is apparently bound to arrive at Real Madrid and most often that does not happen. For example, last year the best player was Kaka, and Marca expectedly linked him to Real and all summer long there were stories. What is so different this year then? The mere fact that it is an English team, and more importantly the mother of all such stories, Manchester United. You could alter Shakespeare's saying to suit this context and say "Hype, thy middle name be English football", and perhaps first name Manchester United. Marca sells news like this year after year and they strategically chose England and haven't they been successful.

Another part of this story that not many know the details of is the fact that Manchester United lodged a complaint to FIFA that Real are illegally trying to tap up their player who is currently contracted to them. FIFA of course as expected branded this as rubbish stating that there is no proof that Real have done anything to create this spur. You could argue that FIFA is pro Real, but the truth of the matter is that there has been nothing official and hence Manchester have nothing to work against. Manchester famously declared to the world that they are not the greatest fans of Real's transfer policy, but this where they are at fault. Hypocrisy is one thing that puts off most people. They publicise their ever so famous youth development policy, but the truth is after the so called golden generation of the 99 Champions league winning team, there is nobody that can be called their own. Their moves for Hargreaves,Rooney,Ferdinand etc are all very similar to what they criticize Real for except it was not blown out of proportion like this one. “Do as I say but not as I do” should certainly not be what a club like Manchester United practice if they are going to attack other clubs for being interested in their players. So while Manchester United fans and staff complain about Real’s alleged efforts to sign Ronaldo, Manchester United goes right ahead and does similar types move to what Real is being accused of, and in some cases even worse because they get players with great potential for peanuts. Although the scale is much different between a 15 year old prospect and a 23 year super star (although he is unproven to most of the world as of yet), the principle is still the same.

Similar is the case with other English teams too, Arsenal too buy players at a ridiculously young age, Liverpool raid Spain at every given chance and Chelsea make the most random buys one can. The face of football is changing, loyalty is a thing of the past. Perhaps Spanish teams can be accused of not doing the same but what can be done if English clubs tap up youth prospects at a young age of 15 only because the contract rules are different in Spain,Italy etc than England. They should develop their own players, and maybe some Englishmen, because these days the national team finds it hard even to qualify for big competitions.

¡Viva España!

Spain 4 Russia 1- If you did not catch the game live, somehow find your way to catch it on repeat, or at least the highlights. Last night Spain produced the best performance in the Euro 2008 tournament thus far. The Spanish national team have always boasted of some of the biggest names in world football. Sadly, they have also never won any major international silverware apart from Euro 64. This has earned them the 'underachiever' tag in every tournament. There are several reasons for Spain not to perform at the big stage.

Firstly, it is a country that is plagued by regional rivalry. There are mainly three regions in Spain: Castilla, Catalunya, and Basque among many other subdivisions. These regions do not even identify themselves with the name Spain. They speak different languages, and are even granted autonomy in government. Hence,in the past the team that Spain has put out has never had the national pride that most other teams can associate with. If you notice, even in the present day team, the players born in the Catalan or Basque regions do not wear the Spanish socks, instead they wear their own 'country's'. There are many other political affairs with this country. During the reigns of Franco, Catalan players(including some of the greats like Kubala) were never allowed to play for Spain.Even today a player born in Catalunya cannot become the captain of Spain. This is why Iker Casillas,although has every right to lead the team, is chosen as Captain ahead of the more experienced Carles Puyol. With this sort of regionalism involved, its not hard to see why Spain has never been very successful.

Secondly, Spain just never seem to have the luck. From recent history: In the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan, it wouldn't be wrong to say they were cheated out by Korea. In Euro 2004, they got eliminated through goal difference and some last minute goals. In the 2006 World Cup, they bumped into a very inspired Zidane, just at the wrong time.

But,this may be the year in which history is changed. With a squad boasting of some of the world's top class players, there is every chance for them to fancy their chances at this year's European Championships. At goal, they have one of the best shot stoppers in their captain Iker Casillas. The amount of experience Puyol adds to the defence, that already has some of the young stars of the game in Ramos and Capdevilla makes the defence an all the more tough one to breach. In midfield they have Xavi and Iniesta, who have pushed the likes of a player of Fabregas' calibre to the bench. In Torres and Villa, they possibly have the best striker combination in the World at the moment. We saw last night, what this team can do, how fast they can hit opponents on counters, how sublime their passing can be, and just how determined this team is to finally deliver on such a big stage. Its high time the La Furia Roja deliver and this is that tournament. ¡Viva España!

For love or for money

Inspiration for this post is taken from happenings in the world of sport of late and especially a conversation i had with a friend last night. As the title probably suggests, I have often wondered what is it that drives sportsmen these days. Is it really their love and passion for the game or is it just the monetary benefits that are associated with it. Doing a small financial analysis, I would like to bring to your notice that they amount of money that has been involved in sports these days going up almost exponentially. There was a time in the 90's when a world record football signing would cost say 5 million pounds at the most. There was a time when a cricketer's salary was actually more than his commercial endorsements. There was a time when people had backup jobs whilst simultaneously representing their national team in any particular sport. Think of the situation today. A football signing for 5 million pounds is considered a steal. Commercial endorsements are the primary source of income for cricketers. Thus the motive for sportsmen has changed from playing for love to playing for money. Just the number of business tycoons that have entered the sporting business in the past few years is exhilarating. Most NBA teams are owned by Hollywood big shots, Football clubs are owned by oil tycoons and the likes. Owners of formula one teams are amongst the richest people in the planet. And now even the most patriotic of games, if you could say so, has been invaded by money in the form of the IPL. With the amount of money pouring in, it is expected that the sportsmen live up to it and take it up as something very serious. No longer does it seem possible to play just for the sheer joy of it. I'm beginning to wonder, is it not fair for sportsmen to say they do not play for love of the sport, but for the love of money.