Madrid's Continued Galactic Spending Shows Blinded Ambition

Off the back of news that Barcelona find themselves in deeper and deeper debt, and that Mallorca will not be allowed to partake in the Europa League due to their financial strains, Madrid continue on splashing cash.

Maicon and Khedira have both been heavily linked with Madrid this past week. According to reports, the only thing to be decided before signing Maicon is his salary. Khedira's contract has been agreed upon but now just needs the decision of the Stuttgart board for a transfer fee. Only thing is, the positions which these players play in are already well covered. Sergio Ramos was arguably the best right back in the World Cup, and Xabi Alonso was one of Spain's most consistent performers throughout the competition. Madrid do in fact play with a double-pivot system, more often then not in a 4-2-2-2, but that still means leaving out three of M. Diarra, L. Diarra, Gago, Alonso, or Khedira. It's not bad to have ample cover to come off the bench or to take over incase of an injury, but having some of the world's best players in the same position at the same club makes little sense. In Madrid's case it's not a matter of over-spending, as with the touch of a button Madrid could have a new loan in place to fund a new transfer.

By sporting logic, this means leaving one of the most talented, best paid players on the bench. Some say that Ramos could slot in as a central defender alongside Albiol giving Maicon a spot in the starting XI, but Ramos is so used to his adventurous runs along the right wing, that I'd find it hard to trust him to stay in the very conservative role of center defender. Now you've got your whole right side of the defense open to a quick counter attack, and that means you're leaving an often shaky Albiol and a left back in the form of Marcelo who is also likely to be found pushing up into an attacking midfielder role with the task of defending against a counter attack with some of the world's most technically gifted players. This is something Madrid can't afford to risk. Likewise if you play Khedira alongside Alonso in the holding role, you've got two deep-lying playmakers without a midfield rock like the Diarras.

Madrid's continued galactic spending is showing a lack of thought, but with the money they have access to, and their debt wiped off the board whenever any questions are asked, you could just call it thinking adventurous.

It's Lonely in the Middle

The English Premier League is dubbed by many as “the greatest league in the world”. It’s highly publicised all over the world. There won’t be many places in the world that haven’t heard of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool. One of the main headlines of last summer was Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80m move from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Similarly, Ancelotti’s move to Chelsea grabbed headlines. On the other end of the table, the unexpected relegation of Newcastle United was big news as well.

Every season is almost the same. Week after week, there are pictures of Sir Alex Ferguson or Rafa Benitez splashed across the back pages of every newspaper. Last season, Hull City’s great start saw them enjoying a few months in the headlines, as a slight change in tradition. The bizarre way how the bottom 12 clubs were separated by a few wins over halfway through the season meant that the other headline grabbers – the underachieving clubs – didn’t challenge for the back page.

If the Premier League was a family, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool would be the overachieving older brothers, admired by outsiders and their parents. Arsenal would be the older sister, whose overachieving ways are halted by maternity leave. The bottom four clubs would be the underachieving younger brothers, collecting the dole every week. Last season’s surprise package, Fulham, would be the slightly dopey one, who defied the odds and managed some decent exam results. The rest of the top 10 would be the loudmouth siblings, who weren’t particularly spectacular, but you always know that they’re there.

The remaining clubs: Wigan, Blackburn, Wolves, Stoke, Sunderland and Bolton; are the middle children of the Premier League family. They’re the kids that get the average grades and don’t get into trouble. Sometimes you even forget that they’re there. I support Bolton Wanderers. Had it not been for my season ticket, I’d be excused to think that we played 2 or 3 minute matches. Or at least, that’s the impression we’d get off the match coverage and highlights. Match of the Day joked about how many Wigan fans had written in, questioning why they were constantly on last, and averaged about one and a half minutes’ coverage.

You’d think that on one of those weekends where the top 4 conveniently play each other on the same day, that these clubs would get more coverage. However, the attention is directed on the mind games that the managers of the top 4 teams play. We have the Sky Sports adverts hyping up the Super Duper Ultra Sundays, advertising the absolute must-see games. Other than the supporters of the top 4 clubs, these matches won’t affect themselves much. I’m just as excited about watching Portsmouth vs Everton, as I am about Manchester United vs Chelsea.

Last season, Bolton had one game televised by Sky, and none by ESPN in the first half of the season. It’s lonely at the middle.

European Football Kicks Off With Celtic Against Braga

Tonight Celtic kick off the new season for British big clubs in the Champions League, against Portuguese opponents Braga. Both clubs finished last season as runners up in their respective league which although may prove as failure to either end of the Old Firm, was considered by many as a huge achievement for Braga as it was the first time they've managed such a feat.

Tonight is Lennon's first game as fully appointed manager of the Bhoys, and should prove a sturdy test, Celtic are rather infamous with their away form in the Champions League, but Lennon was careful not to dwell on it;

"Our home record at Celtic Park is very, very good. So we know that if we can take some sort of result back to Scotland, we'll be pleased with that."

The qualifying round for the illustrious Champions League has proved in recent years a rather nail bighting experience for Celtic fans. Last year saw them battle bravely past Dynamo Moscow only to come undone by the might of the Premier League's Arsenal.

Celtic can take some heart from Braga's play-off round exit from the Europa League last year, when the Portuguese went out to Swedish side Elfsborg.But most fans will be looking back to Strachan's first game on that bitter night, in Artmedia, where they lost the tie before they had a chance to show their stuff in Glasgow, and be nervously comparing Lennon's first game as rather similar.

Some good news is that where Braga have lost their star goalkeeper, Celtic have an almost perfectly healthy squad with only Darren O'Dea unable to fly with the squad.

Celtic will be relying on the regular faces of McGeady, Brown, Hinkel and Loovens to keep the ship steady, as Lennon's new signings - Juarez, Ledley & Mulgrew look to impress with certain first team slots tonight.

Celtic's main weakness is their defence, it seems like an old tail that anybody but the coaching staff at Celtic Park are aware of, but with Loovens and Hinkel being the only regular starters from last year still in the squad, it could be a case of make or break time for Mulgrew, Hoovield or Rogne tonight.

Celtic need a defensive leader, theirs no denying that- its simple to see from last season, and Lennon has mixed and matched his centre backs while flying around North America for their pre-season friendlies, aware that the gap left by the pairing of Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus has not been filled.Not to mention a goalkeeper in Zaluska, who although many consider to be a worthy replacement for Boruc, has only played a hand full of competitive games for the club after joining last year.

It seems a quick fix will have to do tonight if Celtic are to get anything out of this game. After defensive target, Kevin Wilsons, supposed move from Nottingham Forrest hasn't materialised yet, following Sol Campbell's decision to join Newcastle.

But where the defensive reconstruction in the middle has failed, Celtic have managed to add some interesting players to their attacking line up. Mexican internationalist Efrain Juarez looks to offer a very attractive option on the opposite wing from Aiden McGeady, the purchase of Joe Ledley offers some protection in the middle of the field, while Daryl Murphy and Gary Hooper offer some alternatives up front.

Tonights game should do well to offer us a little insight into the squad that Neil Lennon is trying to construct, theirs no denying that its still a work in progress - it always still is at this stage in the season. But lets see what happens and hope that after this tie, were not using that as an excuse.

Henry Scores Against Spurs As MLS Thinks Big (again)

Last night, Thierry Henry scored on his debut for New York Red Bull's against old foes, Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-1 defeat. The recently retired French International scored on the 32nd minute only for Robbie Keane and Gareth Bale to pull two back and claim the game.
Perhaps more importantly though was the potential Henrys influence could have on the league.
Its footballs worst kept secret that Americans are waking up to football, but is it only apparent to us football mad Europeans and not so obvious state side? Im not too sure. There are certainly corners of the country that are doing their best to promote the sport but whether its working or not is another matter.
Looking at certain figures it paints a bleak picture, the MLS figures on the two major TV providers, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel saw average figure's for match day's last season at merely 251,000 and 53,000 respectively - only just 0.2 percent of the market.
But there is good news.
Landon Donovan's appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last month was a milestone moment for football, the sport's leading US player on the nation's biggest show, illustrating that Americans are willing to sit and listen to a soccer player talk about the sport, and not just because hes married to a Spice Girl.
And its not just talk shows that Americans are getting their daily dosage of soccer. A total of 19.4m people watched the USA's loss to Ghana in the second round of the tournament and 24.3m people watched the final between Spain and the Netherlands, which might mean next to nothing until you compare it to the 22.3m people that watched the Baseball World Series and the mere 8.3mil that watched Ice Hockeys Stanley cup.
Attendances are also on the rise, with an average attendance of 16,000 across the league and Seattle Sounders now at an average Attendance of 36,000 and Philadelphia Union's close to 22,000, it shows that in certain parts of the country, the sport is really beginning to take off.
One of the most important factors though, is which kind of signing Thierry Henry is. Many will compare him to Beckhams move to LA Galaxy from Real Madrid a few years ago and think its merely another media stunt to get more people in Manchester, Paris or Hong Kong wearing Red Bull t-shirts.I disagree, i think that stage of the MLS is nearing its end, and this signing was specifically for the sake of the teams progress in the league.
Last year Beckham, the biggest sporting good in the world, was peeked by local boy Landon Donovan for the MVP award. Kevin Baxter puts it perfectly in the Los Angeles Times saying:

''Clearly the league still believes it needs foreign stars to legitimise itself, but I'm not sure I agree. When I was in Durban during the World Cup, I was wearing a Galaxy T-shirt and two employees in the hotel said, 'Oh, LA Galaxy. David Beckham'. That's exactly what the MLS wanted. But Landon Donovan is definitely the face of the league now. He was the MVP [most valuable player] last season and had a good World Cup, so he's the flavour of the month."

The impressive form of Donovan for Everton in the Premier League, the National squad at The World Cup and additionally, the arrival of Thierry Henry, says that foreign stars can move to the MLS for competitive football, and that the league is reaching a level where it simply isnt a retirement home.His move signals a new type of player coming to the league looking for somewhere to apply his trade, rather than a villa in Hollywood and a spot at the MTV awards.

Interview with Andy Booth

Legend is a term used very loosely in football nowadays, but in terms of League One side Huddersfield Town, Andy Booth is just that. Over the course of seventeen years he made 293 appearances for the Terriers and claimed his 150th in his final game to become the clubs third top goalscorer ever. In January he spared a few moments with me to reveal his love of football, life at Huddersfield and his opponents.


As a football fan myself, it was fascinating to get an insight into the life of a footballer, especially who they enjoyed playing against. It makes it a realisation of what goes on in the Sport you love, and Andy had certainly played against some of the best. I decided to get an in-depth look at his career and whom he had enjoyed playing with, and against. He and Ronnie Jepsom struck up a brilliant partnership in the early nineties and it was of no surprise to me that he named Ronnie as the best striker he’d played with, some achievement when you take into account he’s also played with the likes of Paolo Di Canio & Les Ferdinand. The late nineties was his next subject of praise, naming the Arsenal defence of Dixon, Keown, Adams & Winterburn as the toughest defense he’d faced. He went on to talk about their understanding of eachother. “They never spoke, they just knew where to go, what to do and were almost unbeatable.” Communication’s important in any team then yes? He also held Ruud Gullit in high regard, naming him as his overall toughest opponent, in the Dutchman’s days at Chelsea. It’s easy to forget someone who played his late career in the lower tiers also played with some of the best around.



The conversation then moved on to his personal achievements, mainly with Town. We discussed in detail the play-offs that took Huddersfield back to the third tier of English football in 2004. He said playing at the Millenium Stadium, aswell as Wembley, was a dream and to achieve it in such fashion was one of his proudest memories in football. In all fairness, Booth was a team player, no doubt a legend at the Galpharm and his goals that season along with aid of up and coming youngster Jon Stead certainly helped Huddersfield regain some glory after a miserable 2003 campaign. Talking of goals, Boothy revealed it was a great relief to him to secure his 150th Terries goal in his final game in 2009. “I was on 148 with two games left, I managed to score in my last game here against Brighton, and then went to Leyton Orient and scored there too. It was a great feeling, it didn’t change our season but gave me something to walk away with.”



His passion for football was clear, he said he’d never even considered a career outside of football, even through education, so if football hadn’t come off he would really have been stuck for work! His passion for football shared that of former Town manager Neil Warnock, whom he named as the best manager he’d played with, closely followed by Peter Jackson. There aren’t many in the game who rival those two in terms of passion and flair when it comes to management. Andy had previously played for the England-U21 side, scoring 2 goals in just 3 games, but revealed he never harboured thoughts of the England squad, even when he was at Tottenham. “No, not really. I had a lot of injuries at the time and there were many strikers around who were getting more goals, it was just something that didn’t work out really.” That would have been another achievement to the Andy Booth collection.



Nowadays, Booth is an ambassador at Huddersfield Town. A role which covers promoting the club, and the people of Huddersfield. It appears Andy is enjoying his new found role inside the Galpharm, with more time on his hands to enjoy the football, and the arrival of new signings such as Lee Peltier & Jordan Rhodes, who had particularly caught the eye of the former striker. It was a pleasure interviewing such an icon of our local surroundings, especially in Sporting terms, and to get an insight into the life of a modern day footballer.

World Cup Final Review: Football 1 - Thuggery 0

So Spain carry on their consistent domination of World football, while Holland stumble back home wondering if they could do it all again, what would they do differently.

Play football perhaps? I wonder if Sneijders tears after the game where for the lost opportunity to win the greatest sporting event in the world, or because deep down he had a moment of clarity when he was standing beside Van Bommel & De Jong and quickly realised, he was one of the bad guys.

The best team won the game, im not quite sure if i'm comfortable saying the best team won the tournament because I found it hard to look past Brazil's spectacular balance of stubborn defending and pacey counter attacking over Spains conservative, technical football , but the best team won the game.

Spain came out and dominated from the beginning, they finished the match on just under 63% of the possession and with Wesley Sneijder only managing to complete 21 forward passes compared to Xavi's 57 & Iniesta's 35. It was clear to see that Spain had managed to find their comfort in midfield. They did what they always do, flaunting the ball in front of the opposition, teasing them with their ability to make every pass perfect and at the same time, and as usual, show no necessity to bombard forward and cheaply. It frustrated a Holland side that thrived off the mistakes of the opposition. It became apparent to the Dutch that the game plan of ''wait for mistake>give it to Sneijder>Sneijder pass it to Robben> Robben score'' wasn't going to work, and that's when it began to fall apart.

Mark Van Bommel who seemed at utter peace with making enemies, played his usual game of dirty defensive mid/average passer of the ball and Nigel De Jong took up old habits unacceptably later in the first half but escaped with a yellow card after landing his studs in the chest of Xabi Alonso. Proving that the Dutch where here for one thing and that was to sit in deep, and try to chop down Spain's fluent midfield.

The second half was no better, and with Villa struggling to make any impact, the game turned into a Spanish midfield passing the ball around with nowhere to go, and a violent and angry Dutch Defensive formation trying to chase them down. As the game got on, holes began to show. Uncharacteristically, the Spanish paring of Pique and Puyol got caught out twice from the pace of Robben taking a more direct root at goal, via Sneijder passes showing glimpses of his claim to player of the tournament. Only for Casillas to redeem himself from previous games and responded perfectly to put Robben off scoring a late winner.

Other chances where few and far between, with Fabregas also struggling to finish of a spectacular pass from Iniesta and Sergio Ramos missing glorious chance after chance.Spain had moved into the ascendancy as the match wore on, with Xavi increasingly influential.Heitinger became the fifth man to be sent off in a World Cup final when he pulled back Iniesta on the edge of the area, giving Webb little choice but to hand him a second caution. which seemed to spur Spain on for a final effort, and on the 117min, Iniesta volleyed a pass from inside the box past Stekelenburg to final put an end to the struggle. Giving Spain their 5th 1-0 victory of the tournament.

Hollands reluctance to play football was sickeningly apparent, with only 3 of the starting eleven able to walk off the pitch without a cautioning.Van Bronckhorst, the captain, seemed to sum his team up when needing taken off in the fear that he'd get his marching orders.

Spain won the game playing football, not passionate exciting football, but football. I can applaud them for that atleast, and compared to the Dutch approach, I felt the best way to summarize the game was simply with; Football 1, thuggery 0.

by Stefan Bienkowski.