EPL Talk » real madrid

Proposed Caps to Halt Spending Are Bad for Football

Sebastian Shepard — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:11:35 +0000

The inexplicable is often the standard in football. The £14 million pounds Man City paid for Wayne Bridge is inexplicable. Florent Malouda’s protean hairstyles are inexplicable. Arsene Wenger’s ability to see zero penalties against Arsenal is inexplicable. Yet even bearing this in mind, I could not help but rubbing my eyes to make sure I had read the headline correctly:

Abramovich keen to stop big-spending City

The gist of the article is that Abramovich feels that Manchester City have spent too much and need to be reigned in. Michel Platini agrees and suggests that clubs only should spend what they earn in revenue and failure to break even would result in a banning from European competition.

Yes, the hypocrisy is obvious. Yes, the irony is wonderful. Beyond this, the proposal has some positives, namely that the astronomical fees of this summer might return to earth. Real Madrid has a revenue of about 350 million euro, but even they would not splash out 250 million of it per season like they have most recently, given that operating costs would surely put them in the red.

It’s also not as if this would be disastrous for the Real Madrids of the world, given that large clubs already have large revenues, world-class players, and the ability to attract top talent. It would just promote smart business, in theory. It might even allow a well managed smaller club to break into European football more easily.

Despite these boons, Platini’s idea should not be taken seriously.

Whether one likes it or not, it usually takes money to assemble a side capable of playing attractive football, and almost always takes considerable money to create a side capable of competing for trophies. Even in competitions taken much less seriously than others, such as the Carling Cup, cash seems to be the key to success. In the past 5 years, only large spending teams (Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester United) have won the trophy.

While single-elimination tournaments like the FA Cup can always produce the shock of a Portsmouth, Millwall, or Cardiff in the final, the long term trend is once again teams that spend money win.

Results aside, big money also tends to lead to better football visually. Let us look to the example of Liverpool. Two seasons ago, Torres arrived for £20 million. Gerrard and the Spaniard linked up wonderfully, often with eye-pleasing results. Glen Johnson arrives this season for £18 millon and the added quality on the right is even more entertaining.

While I don’t believe that money always buys attractive football, or that attractive football requires money, there does appear to be some connection between the two. Even if Chelsea are criticized for playing “negative” football, it would be difficult to watch an entire Blues match without some excellent play. The same cannot be said of some lesser spending teams, particularly the recently promoted ones. This is not a criticism, however. I accept they do not have the money to spend on players of that calibre.

When it comes down to it however, I would rather watch FC Barcelona (with the 40 million euro right back Dani Alves and 65 million euro Ibrahimovic) and their fantasy football over a more “fair” version of the sport any day.

So if money is the food of football, spend on.

Arsenal Beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, All But Assure Champions League Qualification

tyduffy — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:03:21 +0000

Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, all but assuring their qualification for the Champions League group stages, with two away goals. It was not the presiding effort of their 6-1 away win at Everton, but the two deflected goals – from Gallas and Gary Caldwell’s foot – fulfilled the requirement in what was arguably the most important match of the season.

Celtic obviously came into match with an inferior squad. The Scottish Premier League nowhere near equates the English one. Celtic’s biggest signing was £4m Scott Brown. As was mentioned in the telecast, new Celtic manager Tony Mowbray did have experience against Arsene Wenger from his time at West Brom. Unfortunately, said experience was losing to Arsenal with an inferior squad.

The tactics came as no shock. Celtic pressed early to disrupt Arsenal’s passing, with moderate success. When the club tired, they kicked Cesc Fabregas constantly, resulting in two yellow cards and accomplishing nothing but placing him at risk for injury. Fabregas is too savvy to be addled by wanton lunges. Even if the tactic had hampered his effectiveness, Arsenal have four or five players who can create adequately with the increased space from diminished attention.

Wenger again opted for the 4-3-3, using the exact lineup that played against Everton. This time, however, players shifted positions more frequently and both Gallas and Vermaelen attempted runs from the back. This suggests we may be seeing some true total football at the Emirates this year.

Arsenal’s back four, fronted by Song were solid again. Though, they benefitted from Arsenal breaking up plays high up the pitch in both matches. The trio of Alumnia, Vermaelen and Gallas appear confident now. Will this change when they face a team that can down the wings and challenge aerially with crosses?

The weak point for Arsenal was Nicklas Bendtner. He shone with the ball at times against Everton, but against Celtic he was woeful. Whether playing down the right or in the middle, his poor off the ball positioning placed him consistently two steps behind his proper place. He has the technical ability, but does he have the football intelligence?

Theo Walcott should take Bendtner’s place when he returns from injury. Though, if Bendtner remains the fall back plan for the slender shouldered one, that should influence Wenger’s to buy. Could Wenger take Rafael Van Der Vaart off their hands for £6m?

For those tracking other transfers as we approach the deadline, Emmanuel Eboue was not in Arsenal’s squad, leaving that reported £9m move to Fiorentina an option.

Stay Fit, Keep Xabi, Masch: Liverpool Can Win… part 1

Ethan Armstrong — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:55:02 +0000

Gutted: n. 1) A feeling of intense desolation, akin to the feeling of having one’s insides ripped out. 2) A sweet colloquialism that should be adopted into American parlance along with the words “wanker”, “bullocks” and “knackered”. Example: Ethan Armstrong will be gutted if Liverpool FC sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

Here it is: if Liverpool stay fit and don’t lose Xabi Alonso, they’ve already got the winning formula.

The recent £17m move might be the key to solving their big problem: Glen Johnson will be instrumental in helping the Reds dissect the ten-man defenses of Stoke, West Ham, Fulham, (and I presume…) Wolves, Birmingham, Burnley, etc. If Liverpool could have figured out how to get through such throngs of penalty area loiterers last season, they would have won the title with room to spare.

Also, from what I’ve seen of summertime Riera, it looks like he’ll come back with the bristling promise he displayed last fall. He looks good. He stalled last winter. But he’s allowed one first season rut. Now it’s time to get to work turning defenders and launching in balls. Get to it, Albert. I know you have it in you.

So, between Johnson and Riera (with help from Insua/Aurelio) Liverpool will have a solid wide game on both sides. Something Zenden and Pennant didn’t bring. Kuyt does a fine job turning people, but doesn’t have the speed of a winger. Sometimes he has a cross. But now, I see the Dirk making sweet interchanges with Johnson who will be charging in from backfield like Napoleon storming across a continent. I’m seriously getting excited about this. Especially Johnson.

Liverpool should go in for one more quality signing (more on this in part 2). But the most important thing is they don’t sell Xabi Alonso. Mascherano either.

At this point, I don’t think either of them will go, but I can’t muster the confidence to believe Florentino Pérez isn’t in his office, right now, watching highlights from May’s 2-6 spanking: when Barça obliterated Real at Real. He hurls the remote through the television. He stands on his desk and, à la Gary Oldman in The Professional, he screams: “Bring me everyone!!!!”

Boom. £100m. Xabi and Javier move to Madrid. (Hey… that’d be a good name for a Spanish-language bromantic comedy…)

Seriously though: please stay, amigos.

These two are the core of this team. With them controlling midfield, Steven Gerrard knows he can burst forth and tear apart defenses. The back four know they’ve got a first wave of defense (largely in Mascherano) to break up attacks before they need to worry. Stick Lucas in for either Alonso or Mascherano, and the captain won’t soar with the same confidence, the centre-backs won’t feel as covered. Mascherano’s a brick wall. Alonso’s a seer. Strength and vision. These two are the Liverpool midfield. Irreplaceable. Unless, of course, Real wants to do a straight swap, one of them for Kaká… What say you, Señor Pérez? No? It was worth a try.

Now, (assuming there’s no coup on Xabi and Javier), if every Liverpool starter can agree not to get injured all season, the Reds can absolutely win the title as they are. But who can depend on that? What happens if Stevie or Torres get laid up for a long stretch? I said if Liverpool stay fit. We can’t bet on that. The Reds need an insurance policy…

Tomorrow: Part 2…

Warning: Harry Kewell will come up in the discussion. No, it’s not what you think. But I’m giving you some advanced notice so we can all stay friends.

Real Madrid Storms Transfer Market – Can English Clubs Cope?

Ethan Armstrong — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:24:29 +0000

Barcelona winning everything last season could have deeper repercussions for the Premier League beyond felling Manchester United in the Champions League. They’ve awoken the sleeping spending giant that is Real Madrid. Desperate to overtake the unstoppable Barça, Real Madrid have obliterated all transfer records and don’t look anywhere near stopping. The super nova has exploded and now every big English transfer prospect looks at risk of sliding into an Iberian black hole before United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, City can grab their targets by the shoestrings and heave them across the channel.

As EPL Talk’s Rory Tevlin reported here, Real have just scooped up Lyon’s Karim Benzema who had been a big transfer target for Manchester United. Real have also been linked with Maicon (wanted by City and Chelsea), Ribery (sought by Arsenal), and David Silva (believed a Liverpool target). Just about all the top talents who have been linked to Premier League clubs seem to be on Real’s radar. Except David Villa. He will supposedly only leave Valencia for Barcelona.

I know, I know… it’s Real Madrid (cue Death Star dirge). They are supposed to buy up all the best world talent. It’s not exactly a brand new modus operandi. Real are going to snatch up your Zizou, your Ruud, your Arjen. It’s what they do. But prior to the Benzema coup, they’ve already outdone themselves beyond belief this summer alone. They spent a reported £56m on Kaká and £80m on Ronaldo. Weeks later, I am still getting over the shock of such numbers.

And this is a club in debt. A reported €500m (£429m) in the red. But the banks won’t say no to the Spanish sporting institution who only had €91m (£78m) to spend on players when Caldéron left. They still bought Kaká and Ronaldo. And, prior to buying Benzema, they said their aim was to pick up about five more players. This mad hatter’s financial tea party sounds familiar doesn’t it? Maybe AIG should get itself on the front of Los Galacticos‘ kits now that it’s been stripped off United’s.

So Benzema’s in. Ribery’s thinking about it. And Real president Florentio Pérez seems unwavering in his determination to lure Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. Liverpool have slapped a £35m price tag on the indispensable midfielder. My concern in Real may offer enough for Liverpool to dispense with him.

The ability to lure a pivotal player away from Merseyside shouldn’t come as a surprise. As we’ve learned from the Kaká and Ronaldo moves, there is a price for everything. But this is part of a deeper, more alarming trend than big Real spending in the past.

The real[sic] problem is Real are willing to spend so much and go after near everybody in their mad scramble to re-establish themselves as Spanish top dog, one fears what big names will be left after Madrid have made their moves. With their complicit lenders behind them, there’s no ceiling in sight for Real Madrid. Even if Madrid don’t win all their targets, they can sparked outrageous bidding wars and see the prices of the best players skyrocket beyond belief. For now £56m and £80m are brief spikes. But if these trends continue, Real may push the market into a new realm of ridiculous heights. The English clubs may wrest some of these targets from Real’s grasp, but at what cost?

This is a scary development in these tough economic times.

Manchester United Must Sign Carlos Tevez

Sebastian Shepard — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:06:04 +0000

Surely Manchester United must sign Carlos Tevez now. With Cristiano Ronaldo off to Madrid, the Red Devils need a replacement that cannot be found in one player. CR7 is a complete footballer, blessed with pace, power, dribbling, shooting, heading, free kicks, etc.

He is one of a kind. If United let Tevez go, they will have an underperforming Berbatov and Wayne Rooney spearheading the attack with no one of real pedigree on the bench in case one gets injured or banned. Manucho looks set to leave for Hull, Macheda is still 17 and Welbeck is just 18.

Tevez brings the class, the important goals, and the energy. He can help reclaim a few of the qualities Manchester United lost with Ronaldo, but not all.

He works well with the team, and up until recently said he wanted to stay if Fergie would sign him. In 2007-08 the Rooney-Tevez-Ronaldo partnership produced what Barcelona did this past season – free flowing, attacking football capable of winning the Champions League.

He has the quality; Manchester United have the money. The reported £80 million gives Manchester United enough money to buy fantastic replacements. Carlos Teves costs £25 million, leaving United £55 million to buy a winger, pay off some debts, and probably buy a small island nation.

Where else will United find a striker like Tevez for £25 million? The mystery man would need to be physically tough, willing to come back and defend, and have a host of other not-so-obvious traits, some of which I mentioned above. Scoring important goals is one. Others include injecting energy into the rest of the team, winning over the fans, as well as complaining very little (up until the end of the season for Tevez) about lack of playing time.

David Villa will be sold by a financially weak Valencia, but he has stated his desire to stay in Spain. Alexandre Pato might leave Milan for the right price and has the pace, but might not be physical enough for the EPL. Eto’o might leave Barcelona, but after this prolific season might cost more than £25 million.

Another option is Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Real Madrid, who probably will see a lot less playing time. The van Nistelrooy-lite had a good opening few months after his winter trade but faded with the rest of Madrid at the end of the season. He might be revitalized in the new Florentino Perez-era, but is he galactico enough for Madrid? I doubt it. Additionally, Madrid now have at least 5 forwards, not including members of the youth team. Clearly someone is leaving, and £25 million might be the right price for Huntelaar.

There are still no guarantees that he would fit with either United or the Prem however, and he certainly doesn’t bring the same qualities that Tevez does and that Ronaldo is taking with him. He does provide a start though, and with the inclusion of a tricky, creative, attacking player such as Ribery, United might go some way to recaputring the glory of 2008.