Tag Archives: villareal

transfer madness

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the biggest move of the window involves a soulless traitor and a russian billionaire. i'll let you figure it out from there.

let’s begin this by saying that i will not be making this post an up-to-the-minute, one-stop-shop, complete directory for all of the transfers and rumors that will be spilling out of the media outlets today. this is still a one man show, and i certainly don’t have the patience or the fortitude to undertake that kind of endeavor. we’ll leave that to the big boys. oh yeah, and i’m at work (please don’t tell my boss, ok?!).

but, i figured you might find it entertaining to read my thoughts, and those of some friends, as the news comes across the wire.

  • 6:26pm EST: jozy altidore on the move again (about as shocking as dos santos), this time loaned to levante. maybe this time he’ll get a chance, or not squander one.
  • 5:50pm EST: seeing that giovanni dos santos has been loaned out again by spurs; just another january for the youngster. also, harry has had a second bid for everton’s phil neville rejected and i’m just fine with that from a personal standpoint.
  • 4:14pm EST: laregly dead in the transfer market over the last year, chelsea have certainly sprung to life today! maybe abromovic is feeling fiscally  inadequate after being shown up in the last few transfer windows by man city!  despite already forking out £45+ million for torres, they have also somehow resurrected their move for benfica’s highly rated david luiz. though the £25 million-rated luiz is likely to be used as a centerback, he is more than capable of playing on the left as well. perhaps this is foreshadowing ashley cole’s departure to real madrid in the summer?
  • 3:52pm EST: again, i find myself rooting for bolton. blah. anyway, i’m actually pulling for the wanderers to nab chelsea’s daniel sturridge on loan. the young striker has huuuuge upside, and i think he’d flourish in bolton’s quasi-free flowing attack under owen coy’s tutelage.
  • 3:29pm EST: remember the nigerian midget that scored all of those goals for newcastle a few years ago? he’s coming back to england, as birmingham have opted against a pricy robbie kean and have instead picked up obafemi martins on a 6 month loan from rubin kazan. my guess is the nigerian is really looking forward to england’s comparably “tropical climate” after spending the last year and a half in russia.
  • 3:08pm EST: just noticed that stoke have sold tuncay to wolfsburg. 1) i thought that guy was like 40 years old, and feel dumb realizing he’s only 29. 2) i didn’t realize anyone was still interested in signing players that everyone thinks are 40… oh wait, it’s steve mcclaren. now i get it.
  • 2:15pm EST: another USMNT member’s move to england has been been finalized, with former real salt lake striker robbie findley finally receiving his work permit to join nottingham forest. i actually really like this move for findley, as the championship contenders are on the rise and will provide him with a great environment to test himself as the club push for promotion to the promised land.
  • 2:02pm EST: allow me to clarify my statement about hating torres. he’s played nearly this whole season completely indifferent, after the kop stood behind him when he obviously fake-pledged his commitment to the club after the world cup. then he puts in a transfer request 3 days before the end of the window. if it weren’t for the fact that liverpool will never get more for him now than they ever would again, i’d say let him rot in the reserves before selling him the summer. i like the guy before all of this, and honestly felt bad for him while he suffered through liverpool’s downward spiral. now i hope he blows his groin up again on his debut at stamford bridge.
  • 2:01pm EST: shit has hit the fan, as liverpool have accepted a bid from chelsea for torres. i now hate him.
  • 12:35pm EST: my buddy milky just skyped me from china, basically trumpeting that liverpool are on their way back to being title challengers thanks to the carroll signing. as he put it, “we’ve got the meanest strike partnership in england now: suarez bites people, and carroll beats women. with king kenny leading the way, we’ll be unstoppable!”
  • 12:31pm EST: well, the andy carroll saga has come to an end, and sadly (i think!?) it’s not going to end in north london. newcastle’s shrewd business mentality has won them an extra £5 million from liverpool, who must be looking for a replacement for a “possibly” departing striker.
  • 9:38am EST: michael bradley is definitely heading to england, and not turkey. after apparently almost boarding a plane to sign with galatasary, it appears that son of i-robot will be plying his trade with darren bent at aston villa. with fellow yanks friedel and lichaj in the ranks, hopefully he’ll adjust to life quickly. whether or not he can find a spot in the squad, i have my concerns.
  • 9:19am EST: charlie adam would be a great signing for liverpool, as it would finally give them someone to replace xabi alonso with. whether or not the red’s fork out enough to convince holloway to let his most vital cog go, that’s another question all together. two bids already rejected make me think no.
  • 9:13am EST: tottenham have been linked with every striker in europe today, at least that’s what it feels like. in order, here’s how i rank all of the prospects, in order. take this all with a grain of salt though: i’m definitely expecting the same three strikers to be at the club tomorrow that are here today.
    • luis fabiano: speed, strength, and creative. dynamic finisher. i want him most of all of them.
    • diego forlán: my second choice by a narrow margin, but behind fabiano due to his old age (31) and poor strike rate while at manchester united a few years back. however, his goal tallies at the world cup and in spain the last few years make him an ideal spot.
    • fernando llorente: strength and size, with the ability to play some tiki taka. would be ideal for bale crosses, but would require lennon to learn how to do that. too bad athletic bilbao won’t sell until the summer, when madrid will likely snatch him up.
    • andy carroll: a sllightly more brute and less skilled version of llorente, but with premier league experience. i’m also concerned he could be a flash in the pan.
    • giuseppe rossi: a younger, more creative defoe. though i don’t think he gives us another dimension.
    • sergio agüero: i think he’s overrated, and his height is concerning. i feel like he doesn’t bring enough to the table for a team that likes to play down the flanks. plus he signed a new contract with atlético today.
  • 8:51am EST: in my opinion, newcastle are playing an interesting game with andy carroll. they saw how much dzeko went for (£32 million at age of 24), and they saw how much bent went for (£22 million at age of 26), so the precedent has already been set for strikers this window. carroll is 22, a physical freak, and has some experience plundering goals in the premier league… so his upside is pretty big. now, are any of these players really worth this much money… no. but i think the geordies are being fairly shrewd businessmen. whether or not he goes to liverpool is another issue altogether.
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ghosts of players past

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Ask any Yiddo you come across what they think Spurs are lacking most this season, and I’d be willing to wager that more than three quarters would reply that a No.9 would be at the top of their priority list.

spurs need a striker of the same quality as this potent midfield trio. if only the last world class striker at the club hadn't been sold off.

Sure, a quick look at the squad list shows four international strikers in Defoe, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko and Keane… but isn’t it worrisome that none could be classed as “elite” players?

Defoe could occasionally be labeled as such, but he’s too streaky and injury prone of late. Crouch is largely ineffective domestically since everyone has pretty much figured out how to neutralize his height in England (Europe is another story, however). Pav is extremely inconsistent and moody, largely remaining just as much of an enigma as he was upon his arrival at the Lane. Keane is past his prime after never fully recovering from his bad stint at Liverpool, and is clearly sitting in the shop window.

With a corps of extremely talented midfielders perfectly capable of providing excellent service and balls to the apex of the attack, finding a player that provides a similar level of quality has proven quite the task.

Luckily, a myriad of players have been linked to Tottenham in recent weeks that are of the quality needed to make the club a true challenger. However, none seem likely join at this point. Harry Redknapp really needs to channel his wheelin’-and-dealin’ talents for there to be a realistic chance of landing a Diego Forlán, Giuseppe Rossi, Luis Fabiano, or Luis Suarez. And let’s be honeset, there’s not much time left to act.

Daydreaming of potential transfers to fill this hole at Tottenham has been a daily occurrence for me since at least early December. I’m sure my wife and friends have tired of my constant speculation on targets and rumors. Just the other day, I was pondering this very subject yet again during a boring mid-morning meeting and — BOOM — I had an epiphany.

The best possible fit for Spurs is someone that’s already donned the lillywhite strip, but moved on to greener pastures. A former No.9 hero, who’s reputation isn’t the greatest with the club’s faithful following.

Dimitar Berbatov.

Now, let’s ignore for a second that Berba’s £30 million departure to Manchester United likely funded the purchases of players like Luka Modrić, Rafael van der Vaart and Peter Crouch. I’m fully aware that his sale was crucial to the building of the current squad (and maybe buying out the rest of Juande Ramos’s contract… d’oh). Without that massive cash injection, I probably wouldn’t have this exciting of a Spurs squad to regularly froth about.

But honestly, think about it for a minute. Berbatov is without a doubt the most in-form striker in the premier league at the moment (or so EPL fantasy tells me). He’s already acclimated to it’s style of play, which none of the players Spurs have been linked to can boast. He knows the club, he knows White Hart Lane, he knows the fans, he knows everything about Spurs… except their new found ambition.

i'm making the assumption that we wouldn't see this sulky berbatov in the current, ambitious tottenham side.

Dimi would be the perfect target man in Tottenham’s newfangled attack. Envision the quick and crafty 1-2 passes he could exchange with Modrić. Visualize his ability to be in just the right place for a Bale service. Imagine how well he would link up with van der Vaart! Just as was the case when he was with the club a few seasons ago, he would be able to hold the ball up when needed, or lead the side on the break without limiting Spurs’ lightning quick counters.

Admittedly, there a couple of other assumptions that I’m making in this epiphany of mine.

Many of you will remember well the sulky shadow that Berbatov cast during his last months in North London, trying to force a move to his dream destination of dreary Manchester. He was clearly a cancer in the side, and his crap attitude and eventual departure likely contributed to the side’s horrid form in the opening part of the 2008 season.

So I’m assuming if he was in an extremely competitive squad such as the current one, he would have been more satisfied with the club. And then he wouldn’t have demanded a transfer, angered the Yid Army by stabbing them in the back, and we’d have a happy striker on our hands.

In this example, I’m simply postering that he would have never left the club, and therefore he wouldn’t have to bought back in the first place. Even if Tottenham did have to buy him back, wouldn’t it be a huge assumption that United would even want to sell. Prior to his current goal scoring streak, there were some minor rumors of a return to the Lane for the Bulgarian. But it would be absurd for the Red Devils to have given up on such a hefty investment so quickly.

And lastly, isn’t it a bit presumptuous to think he would even want to come back? His league winner’s medal and the ability to be a regular, serious contender in every competition would make choosing to come back to Tottenham a largely risky move. Hell, even if he wanted  to, there’s no guarantee that the fans would even let him come back. Of course, he’d also have to roll back his wages considerably to fit in Spurs rigid pay structure.

Alas, all of these assumptions aren’t worth anything. Berbatov won’t be returning to Spurs anytime soon… if ever. And sadly, that’s the problem with wishing Tottenham had never sold him off in the first place. There’s no sense in crying over spilled milk. It’s stupid to fantisize about “what if” scenarios that will never happen.

…………..

…but that won’t stop me from imagining what would if he did come back!

karma is a bitch

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i have to admit that i have been overly focused on the USMNT in the last few weeks. it’s not like i don’t have my reasons though. i mean i am american, and i do support my own national team first and foremost. and for a change, the national team is relevant in the national sports landscape, so i’m getting way more news about the team than i had in years past.

selling your soul to the devil isn't exactly worth it now... right gio?

but there is so much else going on with the upcoming world cup, let alone the rest of the world of football, that i’m beginning to feel a little one dimensional at the moment. so let’s change it up a little.

the story of this world cup (so far) can be easily summed up with one word: snubs.

there are some ridiculously major names that have been snubbed off their world cup rosters. i wrote a piece a while back that outlined the best players that wouldn’t be going to the world cup, but that was mostly about players whose teams didn’t qualify.

well we could easily construct another list just as long with even more great players who were simply cut from their country’s world cup squad. these are players like theo walcott and adam johnson from england (i’m still raging that capello didn’t take johnson, and i think he’ll regret it when he finally puts shaun wright-phillips in), pato and ronaldinho from brazil (not surprising though), zanetti and cambiasso from argentina (this is further proof of maradona’s lack of brain), benni mccarthy for south africa, and totti and giuseppe rossi for italy.

maybe we could get an “alterna-cup” with a team of these guys playing against my original column’s roster? i would definitely watch that game.

but what really interests me about this new list is the very last name i mentioned. the exclusion of villareal striker giuseppe rossi wasn’t a huge shock, but at the same time he performed really well for italy in the confederations cup last summer. remember his goals against the USMNT? i certainly do, and also certainly remember him celebrating like a 12-year-old little girl and rubbing it in our faces.

if you were wondering if i sounded bitter in that last sentence, you’re right. but why?

well just in case you didn’t know, rossi was born in new jersey to italian parents. after being snubbed by the US olympic development program at the state level (take this time to un-swallow your tongue), gio used his dual citizenship with italy to represent italians at the u-16 through u-21 levels. he’s also one of the hottest properties in europe right now, and i would be shocked if the yellow submarines don’t cash in on him this summer.

his desire to play for the full azzuri team was so strong that he turned down a chance to play with the USMNT at the 2006 world cup. needless to say, we seriously dropped the ball at the beginning of his career.

but his decision to turn down his birth nation left me hating him just a little bit… at least as a person. on the pitch, i think he’s a fantastic footballer and the most talented player our country has ever produced (sorry landon and clint… perform like he does at the level he does, and i’ll reconsider).

and that’s what really chaps my ass about the entire situation. you see, rossi is currently a fringe player for the italians. he’s still young (only 23) and has a fantastic opportunity to advance his game and make it into the 2014 tournament and beyond. but that’s assuming that another young player doesn’t crop up between now and then and steal his place, which is a very real possibility.

had he played for the US, he would be a guaranteed starter and one of the biggest stars of the show. we wouldn’t have to be freaking out about charlie davies not making the squad if that were the case. he would have gotten to play in probably three world cups, maybe even four. and if playing in the world cup is the ultimate goal, then his ship could possibly have sailed.

i do get why he did it, though. and i doubt that playing in a world cup is his primary motivation. if i could, i would rather play for a world class national side that has a chance to win world cups. the US is still years away from being considered that class of a team.

but i can still feel bitter, because he turned us down like a jerk.

so that’s why when i saw that rossi didn’t make italy’s final 23-man squad, i couldn’t help but smile. i know i should probably feel a little bad for him, as i would certainly feel crushed if i were in his position. but turning your back on my national team is something that i can’t exactly forget.

karma is a bitch sometimes, and i’m sure rossi is feeling the burn right now.

enjoy your couch like the rest of us, gio. and when you watch the USMNT play, i hope that you have a tiny voice in the back of your head saying, “what if… what if…”

revisiting “boarding passes, please”

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way back in january, i wrote the longest blog post i’ve ever written outlining who i thought bob bradley would be taking to south africa this summer. i’ve been anxiously awaiting the day bob would finally announce his 23-man roster, just to see how well i would do predicting bob’s simple mind.

the USMNT arrived in south africa on memorial day. it's time to see how accurate i was at picking the 23 guys who would get a ticket back in january.

that day has come and passed.

and guess what? i didn’t do too bad.

though there were some shock exclusions/inclusions, most of which i like much better than i had predicted bob capable of selecting. though i don’t want to go on giving him too much credit at this point. let’s revisit that subject after the world cup.

so let’s get on to evaluating how well i did picking who i thought bob would be giving his boarding passes to. and we may as well re-evaluate the players he chose while we’re at it.

for sure on the plane (8 out of 8 correct)
these were the guys i knew would be in south africa. i would have wagered anything on it… but i didn’t, because i’m an idiot (not that there really are any places to bet on “what eight guys will definitely make the US world cup roster,” are there?). either way, i killed it on this round.

1. CORRECT – landon donovan (f – l.a. galaxy): landycakes has certainly set the stage for himself going into the summer. his loan to everton turned out to be a fantastic move, finally proving himself at the highest level consistently. if he has a good world cup, his price tag will skyrocket and MLS will surely cash in on bidding war that will ensue for his signature in august. so, it’s easy to say that donovan has some lofty expectations to meet. will he be able to handle the pressure? here’s hoping he does.

2. CORRECT - tim howard (gk – everton): having a world class keeper is the best remedy for having a suspect backline. good thing that’s not a problem for the USMNT, right? … RIGHT?!?!

3. CORRECT - jozy altidore (f – villareal): my worries persist about altidore. he didn’t get any regular time at with one of the worst premier league teams this season. though he showed some flashes of brilliance, they were very quick flashes and few and far between. i still doubt he’ll ever be able to play a full 90, and he can’t be in that great a form if he wasn’t breaking into relegated hull city’s line-up. he’ll be a starter on june 12th, but will he do anything productive. probably not (yes, that is a challenge jozy. prove. me. wrong.)

4. CORRECT - carlos bocanegra (d – rennes): chuck. what an enigma. captain of the USMNT, regular in europe. but we just can’t ever seem to play him in his best position: left back. if they would play him there instead of the center, then we wouldn’t have to freak out anymore about whose playing on the left flank. we have plenty of quality center backs bobby; please play bocanegra where he belongs. oh, and let’s hope he is fully fit come the england game.

5. CORRECT - michael bradley (m – borussia mönchengladbach): the coach is bringing his kid along, and just like every national pool players’ parents’ worst nightmare, i’m sure they’re all thinking that the coaches kid will get the favoritism. while a case could be argued for this when mike was brought into the national team fold a few years ago, it definitely isn’t the case any longer. bradley deserves to be here. let’s just hope he can keep a level head for the next few weeks.

6. CORRECT - jay demerit (d – watford): if he can shake the injury bug that he’s had over the last year, i want to see jay starting at centerback next to onyewu. that way we can play bocanegra at his natural left back.

7. CORRECT - jonathan spector (d – west ham): pencil him in as the starting right back (though he could face some competition from steve cherundulo), but it’s possible we could see him on the left too. let’s hope he remembers to bring his consistency boots too.

8. CORRECT - brad guzan (gk – aston villa): back up (to another retired american) at aston villa, back up for the national team. poor guy will probably never get to play.

don’t have my pass yet, but pretty sure i’m getting one (8 out of 8 correct)
i must have been taking my genius pills still at this point, because i nailed this round too. don’t worry, this won’t become a trend.

9. CORRECT - oguchi onyewu (d – a.c. milan): gooch proved his fitness  after the horrific torn patellar tendon that he suffered in the USMNT’s last world cup qualifier. the question that remains though is whether or not he can play at the same level he played at in last summer’s confederations cup. if not, the yanks are in trouble.

10. CORRECT - clint dempsey (m – fulham): deuce came back earlier than anticipated from his partially torn knee ligament, even contributing in fulham’s late season run to the europa league final (including this STUNNING goal against  juventus at craven cottage). promising news for a team that needs good injury news.

11. CORRECT - ricardo clark (m – eintracht frankfurt): finding regular time at the end of the bundesliga season was key to clark making the final 23, and he’ll be in tight competition with michael bradley for the starting defensive midfield slot on june 12th.

12. CORRECT - stuart holden (m – bolton): i’m glad stu made the team, especially after he cracked into bolton’s squad towards the end of the english season. i was worried he wouldn’t see the minutes after his leg break a few months back. his creativity and consistency are in demand with this roster, and i’d love to see him make the starting 11 against england.

13. CORRECT - jonathan bornstein (d – chivas usa): just as i predicted, the mexijew made the squad simply because we had to bring in another true left back. and hopefully he’ll only play because we’ve gotten to plan C, D or E due to injuries. or if we’re up by two goals against england and we bring him on for a forward… but hopefully not even then.

14. CORRECT - steve cherundulo (d – hannover 96): he’s healthy, and has loads of experience in europe and internationally, but he still can’t get in front of spector. but if spector catches one of his patented cold-streaks, expect steve to steal back the spot.

15. CORRECT - benny feilhaber (m – agf aarhus): not the danish-based player i would have liked to see make the final roster (cough, rolfe), and not exactly the beset player the USMNT have at their disposal. but he’s got the experience and bob’s confidence. let’s just hope he ends up keeping bornstein company on the bench.

16. CORRECT - maurice edu (m – rangers): edu played great for rangers down the stretch this season, and his reward was earning back the national team spot he hadn’t occupied in nearly 9 months due to a knee injury. should be a starter, but that’s only if bob can see beyond benny.

yeah, i think so, but… (4 out of 7)
here’s where it fell apart for me. but that’s to be expected, as these guys are pretty much the fringe players in the squad. like i said earlier though, bob surprised me with some of his picks in this space, in a good way (for now at least).

17. WRONG – connor casey (f – colorado rapids) edson buddle (f – l.a. galaxy): saying that i am stoked that casey didn’t make the roster is an understatement. but there is no way that i could have predicted that buddle would have made this team. who would have known that he would have caught fire this MLS season? certainly not me, and certainly not anyone else back in january. i hope he can keep up the good form, because we certainly don’t have many other forwards with impressive goal scoring credentials lately.

18. CORRECT - jose francisco torres (m – pachuca): miracles do happen, and torres is proof of that. i didn’t think that there was a chance in hell that bob would pick him. now that he’s made the team, my thought process is, “i doubt bob will use him.” if he does though, i would not be surprised to see torres involved in something awesome.

19. CORRECT - demarcus beasley (m – unattached): despite rangers not extending his deal, lazarus has risen from the dead and has reclaimed his national team spot. after last summer’s performance in south africa, i thought for sure he was done. i still think that bob doesn’t quite trust him anymore though, and would be surprised to see him get tons of time in june. and if we play him on the flank in the back again, i might actually fly to south africa to and beat bob silly.

20. CORRECT - marcus hahnemann (gk – wolverhampton wanderers): edged out troy perkins, as he should have. not much to say here, other than it will take a weird sequence of events to actually get to see the wolves shot blocker get the nod in south africa.

21. CORRECT - clarence goodson (d – start): i felt like i was going out on a limb to call this one back in january, and my how well that worked out for me. he’ll provide solid cover in the center of defense in the event that we have any major injury problems.

i certainly wasn't expecting a former MLS journeyman to make the final 23. gomez's good form has made me look silly.

22. WRONG - edgar castillo (m – tigres) herculez gomez (f – pachuca): looks like i picked the wrong mexican player for this spot, and i’m not surprised i didn’t see this one coming either. gomez has been in stellar form in mexico this season, and we needed to bring another forward in good form if charlie davies wasn’t passed fit.

23. WRONG – charlie davies (f – sochaux) robbie findlay (f – real salt lake): i don’t need to reiterate why i wasn’t surprised to see charlie not make the squad, but i’m still upset that he won’t be in south africa. will findlay and castillo be able to fill davies’ growing empty shoes? i don’t know. but they need to, because jozy doesn’t look to be prolific at anything aside from headbutting people.

final tally: 20 out of 23 players picked correctly.
so overall, i was pretty pleased with myself on picking this roster. do i like all of the picks? no, not really. but could they really have brought in anyone else (aside from davies or rolfe… both of whom are hurt) that would have been major improvements? no, not really.

no sense in getting all worked up either way, at this point at least. let’s see how bob uses the 23 guys at his disposal, then we can start kicking and screaming. until  then, let’s support out boys and hope that my hired snipers can pick bob off before the 12th.