Now Boarding: Uruguayan Transfers

Several members of the Copa America winning Uruguay squad will be backing their bags as the transfer window closes.

Coates will be joining his gun-slinging countryman in the red and white of Liverpool to shore up the back-line.

Coates Accepts the Award for Best Young Player at the 2010 Copa America

In profile: Sebastian Coates

Coates centerback mentor and Uruguay captain, Diego Lugano, jumped from Turkey’s Fenerbahce to France’s Paris St Germain.

Lugano Joins PSG

He looks there a bit like he just got off the plane and isn’t sure which country he’s in. I’m sure he’ll settle in soon though.

Then there’s Diego Forlan, who leaves Atletico Madrid for Inter Milan.

Who the hell saw that coming?

Well, we knew he would be exiting Madrid. But as he pointed out himself, “It’s not everyday you get the change to play for Inter Milan at 32. Let’s hope I can meet expectations.”

I’ve got my fingers crossed for you! Forlan is an amazing talent and, as that quote shows, just a stand up kind of guy. I wish him all kinds of luck.

Forlan Already Signing Autographs for Inter Fans

He’ll join about half the Uruguayan team hanging out in Italy. With Cavani and Gargano camped out in Napoli and several more scattered about. But he will miss out on the chance to score against national keeper Fernando Muslera who went from Lazio to Galatasaray.

Muslera Joins Galatasaray

This time of year is always a bit hard on fans and players alike (I can only imagine what their families go through). You get used to seeing someone week in week out. You have your ups and downs together. You build a strange kind of life together and then one day you wake up and check the news or new team roster and realize they are gone.

You can’t help but feel something. You might be angry. You might be glad. If they’ve moved down the street or suddenly become the opposition in the Champions League you might have to think about your loyalties and how they will be received when next you meet. If they’ve moved half way around the world, into a league you don’t follow. You may feel quite a big sense of loss, not to be able to see them again for a long time.

But while all these emotional responses are understandable, I think preservative is always important. After all of the flack that players like Cesc and Neuer and others have gotten this transfer season the words of Forlan really spoke to me.

“Some moments weren’t great (referring to his time at Atletico) but the majority of years here have been spectacular. But I’m happy with the decisions I’ve taken because life goes on, players come and go and you have to accept that.”

Here! Here! Suck it up people! Wish these outstanding athletes well. Be respectful of them when you meet again. And remember that your life and theirs simply must go on.

So I will end with this. To all you weary travelers that find yourself in new colors, with a new coach and teammates and perhaps speaking a new language:

Good Luck!

Buena Suerte!

Viel Glück!

Leave the Boy Alone (Cesc Scores, Arsenal Bitches)

This was the cheery face who contributed to F.C. Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Villarreal yesterday.

Fabregas Scores on La Liga Debut

How could you not be happy for a Catalan lad who after faithful but fairly fruitless service to Arsenal got to go home. After an endless transfer saga, they have finally relinquished him into the goal-den hall. For four years he was denied the opportunity to lift a trophy of note with Arsenal. After three games with Barca he has lifted three. Cesc has played well. He has been patient. And now, finally, he is getting exactly what his talent deserves, proper support and a chance to shine.

But cretin Arsenal fans are spiteful when it comes to Cesc’s sudden success. While Cesc was off winning everything Arsenal was treading water in an ocean with a tsunami on the way.

They lost the Emirates Cup in preseason to the NY Red Bulls.

Henry lifts Emirates Cup Trophy

This shiny bit of silverware was the last thing Cesc ever lifted there, but Arsenal couldn’t even hold on to that. The Gunners scraped by in qualifying for the Champions League with outstanding dig-deep performances from the kids. But come the Premier League and there’s that tsunami I was referring to. The Gunners were washed away by the holders of Barclay’s Premier League, Manchester United. 8-2 was the final score-line.

Man U Celebrates Dismantling of Arsenal

Poor Arsenal fans and players too. You have to feel bad for those left behind. And those signing up. After this loss the club has no choice but to do some last-minute business before the transfer window closes on Wednesday. They just nabbed German National defender and seemingly ex-Werder Bremen player Per Mertesacker (more info). Good luck boys! It is going to be a long season.

I understand the frustration but the hatred of some Arsenal fans toward Cesc has got to stop.

The very happy bunny posted this on his Facebook:

Good morning everyone. Great start to la liga yesterday. Proud to have scored my 1st la liga goal at the camp nou. Thank u all 4 ur support!

And foolish me, I read through the comments hopping to add my own. But instead I got up on my soap box in my empty apartment and had quite a rant. The reason for this sour start to my day? Well, lets just say that about half the comments included the statement F-you.

Since Real Madrid won 6-0 over Real Zaragoza, I’m guessing they aren’t the culprits. I can only assume then that this abuse stems from the festering hearts of Arsenal fans. Don’t take out the club’s issues out on him. Cesc did what he could while he could. He really did enjoy Arsenal and if their fortunes had been better he would have happily stayed for another round. But considering, you couldn’t really expect him to stay. Could you? Have a little respect for him. Be happy for him, if you dare. What will you do when next he sets foot in the Emirates Stadium?

Wrapping up the 10-11 Season in Quotes and a Look Ahead to 11-12 (Part Four La Liga)

For Spain’s top dogs, the season started like this…

“If I were Barça president Sandro Roselli I’d give him a contract for the next 50 years.”
Aw, that’s so nice of Jose Mourinho to want Pep Guardiola to stay with Barca. Of course, Guardiola prefers to take things poc a poc.

Guardiola Gives a Little Direction from the Touch-line

Not to be out done, here is Guardiola’s retort.

“He is probably the best coach in the world. It is often difficult to decide in these cases who is the best, but his career in several countries is immaculate.”

The footballing world agrees.

Mourinho Wins Coach of the Year

Then all hell broke loose when someone thought it would be a good idea to fill the end of the season with El Clasicos.

Suddenly that wonderful faith in your team and your coach, which looks like this…

“I was clear that I wanted to play for the best, and for me Mourinho is the best. We spoke and he convinced me.”
Mesut Ozil

“Barcelona are not invincible. They have demonstrated in recent years that they have a great team, but we do not feel inferior to them or anyone. We want to win every title possible this season.”
Sergio Ramos

And this…

“It is an honour to play in this team and with players like Messi, the best player in the world. Whoever does not fit in with him, doesn’t deserve to be in this team.”
David Villa

“If Pep told me to throw myself off the third tier of Camp Nou, I’d think, ‘there must be something good down there’.”
Dani Alves

Started to look like this…

Ramos Shoves Puyol

And this…

Villa Snarls at Arbeloa

Thankfully this was all just misunderstandings and heat-of-the-moment responses

“We didn’t make a huge deal out of it. It was a big game with a lot of kicking going on. But once the game’s over, that’s that. We’re all colleagues and if there’s one thing that sums up the Spain team it’s the great atmosphere we’ve got going. I get on well with everyone, no matter which club they’re from. Those are just things that happen out on the pitch.”

Sergio Ramos’ statement in response to his sending off after shoving of Spain team-mates Carles Puyol (pictured above) in Real Madrid’s 5-0 loss to Barcelona

But even putting the violence on the field aside there was plenty to shake your head at off the pitch.

Our two beloved coaches went to war in the press-room.

Mourinho and Guardiola Have Words

And both clubs went to town charging each other with anything they could think of.

There were some bright spots though.

“Congratulations to Real Madrid for paying homage to Abidal of Barcelona. Football is so much more than rivalry.”

Ronaldo, who played for both sides put out this Tweet in response to these shirts…

Real Madrid supports Barca's Abidal in Recovering from Surgery

This weekend Barcelona and Real Madrid are back at it, again. The two-legged Super Copa is upon us, since Barca won the League and Madrid won the Cup. Let’s hope this season doesn’t leave the same after taste last season did.

Real’s found themselves some outstanding transfers. My favorite is Fabio Coentrao (or the Messi-stopper as I like to call him). The pacy, accurate Portuguese winger has already shone in Madrid’s preseason.

Fabio Coentrao Battles Away Against Guadalajara

Of course, Barcelona have a few tricks up their sleeves too. They’ve gone fishing in the endless-pool that is La Masia and turned out some more prize catches.

Take Thiago. Well, don’t take him. He’s ours. You know what I mean. Stop shaking your head at me and look at the lovely picture.

Thiago Tries to Put Another One Over and Manchester United

This Spanish U-21 Euro star was a scouring machine in the preseason. Let’s hope he keeps it up.

So, I have no idea who will take home the scalps this year. If you do, I’d love to hear it.

I’ll leave you with message form a Spanish National Team icon.

Manolo el del Bombo Supporting Good Sporting Values

Wrapping up the 10-11 Season in Quotes and a Look Ahead to 11-12 (Part Three Premier League)

Off to England where many off the usual suspects stumbled.

Sometimes there were mitigating circumstances:

“I am not whining or crying about it. But if you ask questions like ‘Can you cope without him?’, ‘Is it going to be okay?’, ‘Will everything be as good?’ I can only say no it won’t be.”

This was Roy Hodgson’s response to the media when Seven Gerrard  was sidelined with an injury early in the season. Liverpool’s captain and icon wouldn’t see much of the turf in last season’s disappointing run in which the boys in red kept having to pull themselves out of ditches.

Steve G looks a little miffed

But things looked up with the substitution of Hodgson for Kenny Dalglish. The fans were certainly happy at King Kenny’s return.

Fans Support King Kenny's Return

Then the January transfer window opened and all hell broke loose. But I’ll Torres tell you about that:

“I did not want to go to Manchester City or Manchester United. I could never do that out of loyalty to Liverpool. I did not imagine leaving, but then the Chelsea train passed by and I had to catch it because of the dream I have of winning. We have the chance to win the [Premier League] title and the Champions League. Four weeks ago I didn’t have that. I was lucky enough to win the World Cup but as a footballer you want to win with your club, with the players you train alongside every day.”

Yeah, so Fernando Torres was helicoptered to London in the dying hours of the transfer window for a chance to win big. Fat lot of good that did him.

Torres face-palms

Sure he did have a chance to play in the Champions League but Manchester United saw to it that their run was cut short. And yes they did have chance to win the League, but Man-U came through there too.

Man-U wins the PL

As for Torres? Well, his 50 million pound butt sat on the bench for Chelsea. Not the kind of move he was hopping for I’m sure.

Across London another Spanish phenom was wondering what he was doing there.

“We haven’t been successful since 2007, despite playing good football. That’s when you realize that it doesn’t work… We have to make a decision whether we want to develop young players or win trophies.”

Poor Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was coming quickly to the end of his rope as another season of disappointment loomed for the Gunners.

Cesc prays for better days at Arsenal

They lost out to Barcelona in the Champions League, bungled their changes to win the PL, and well, to borrow a line from Schweinsteiger, shot themselves in the foot in losing the Carling Cup final.

The blame for these continual travesties seems to be going all Arsène Wenger way.

“When Arsene first came to England they said that he was like a professor watching the game. All the other nutters were jumping up and down shouting and screaming, hollering and hooting – and this man is not like those idiots. He just sits there and is studying every move that goes on on the pitch like chess… Now he has joined the nutters, you know! In fact, he is one of the key nutters!”

That statement comes from of Harry Redknapp the Tottenham Hotspur manager, who did so well with his boys in both the PL and Champions League last season.

What of this year you might ask? Well, brighter days are coming. Gerrard is fit and Kenny Dalglish is putting together one hell of a team, so we should see improvement from Liverpool. Torres has a new manager, Andre Villas-Boas, who we have our fingers crossed for in the hopes that he can sort out the mess in Chelsea. As for Arsenal, well good luck boys. Cesc seems to have finally reached escape velocity to head home to Barcelona before the season starts, so he should be winning something, even if the rest of you are not so lucky.

Wrapping up the 10-11 Season in Quotes and a Look Ahead to 11-12 (Part Two Serie A)

In Italy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had this to say at the start of last season. “I hope to conquer the Scudetto and the Champions League, and I believe Milan can do it. I am certain, just as I am certain that we are stronger than Inter and that we will finish first. I’m more motivated than I’ve ever been in my career.” He was right, well, about the Scudetto and Inter in the league at least.

AC Milan wins Scudetto

In the Champions League, well, neither can gloat. Inter had a nevery time of it against Bayern. “When I conceded that goal I wanted to walk off the pitch straight away and go back to Milan – on foot, on horseback, anything. But then I recovered. When Pandev scored, I started crying. I thanked God and all my team-mates. I would’ve been far too upset if we had gone out because of my mistakes.” – goalkeeper Julio Cesar on handing Bayern Munich a goal, then watching Goran Pandev grab the victory. Inter died in the next round to Schalke. AC dropped off to Tottenham Hotspur early in the knockout round.

Zlatan and the boys look fighting fit this season and Inter will once again have a hard time keeping pace. That’s my prediction anyway.

Ibrahimovic and Robinoh

Zlatan looks a bit like a samurai these days doesn’t he.

Wrapping up the 10-11 Season in Quotes and a Look Ahead to 11-12 (Part One Bundesliga)

With the 2011-2012 football season knocking at our doors like an old friend, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the gifts and headaches that friend put us through last year and give some thoughts on how he’s likely to appear on our thresholds this time round.

But instead of reading my dribble, let’s have some of the players and managers take us down memory lane with a few quotes.

We’ll start off in Germany.

In the Bayern ranks things didn’t go so well. Schweinsteiger summed things up nicely when he said, “we’ve shot ourselves in the foot again” after 1-1 draw at Leverkusen in November. They would go on to lose everything that produced silverware and hobbled up into the top end of the table after the sacking of Louis van Gaal.

The vultures began to circle around Bayern’s start German players, whose contracts were due to be extended or terminated. Christian Nerlinger (Bayern’s Munich’s general manager) responded to the overtures for Bastian with an absolute no. “Schweinsteiger is not for sale at any price. It doesn’t matter who comes knocking, he is non-transferable.” Luckily for him and the club, Schweinsteiger saw it the same way.

Schweinsteiger kisses Bayern badge after telling home crowd he is renewing his contract

While Christian Nerlinger was proved right another Bayern official got it dead wrong. President Uli Hoeness said, “a clear victory. A draw or a defeat are out of the question. We’re the better team. One on one against us, Dortmund has no chance.” There is a fatal error in this quote. Yes, man-for-man you could argue that Bayern is better. But they couldn’t for the life of them seem to figure out how to play together. And well, you know who won the Bundesliga title.

These boys:

Borussia Dortmund Celebrate

Despite the fact that Nuri Sahin (pictured above jumping into Jürgen Klopp’s arms) has been sold to Real Madrid and several other star players have also gone, it would be a massive mistake to underestimate Dortmund. They are not one trick ponies.

As for Bayern’s chances this season? Well, they got Neuer, who left his beloved Schalke in better shape than he found it. At the start of last season they were handing out on the edge of relegation. They ended up advancing further in the Champions League then ever before knocking out Inter before they fell to Man-U. They also won the DFB-Pokal.

Schalke win DFB-Pokal

Bayern haven’t made his trip down south easy. They’ve fracked up the backline putting Lahm at leftback to favor new signing Rafinha. That combined with the fact that no two centerback pairs are ever on at the same time for long means major defensive errors are leaving Neuer badly exposed. And the superstar strikes aren’t firing on all cylinders either. So sorry boys looks like its going to be another long season.