To Sneijder or not to Sneijder.

Ever since the transfer window has been introduced in Football, and the option of signing a player as and when you would need them throughout the length of the season, was scrapped, long running sagas have been played out over the years, Ronaldo, Fabregas to name but a few of the most obvious ones. This summer, there was another epic episode of a tale to add onto the list, with the Holland and Inter Milan player Wesley Sneijder, fulfilling this role this time about.

The continuing saga of will He, wont He sign for Manchester United, being even more dramatic by the retirement of United midfield legend Paul Scholes, which meant that a direct replacement in the Scholes mold needed to be found by Ferguson so as to ease the costly loss of what would be a highly missed player.

In the end the saga ended with Sneijder staying with Inter and Manchester United without a player to step into the Scholes role for the forthcoming season, but, was this the case that they missed out on their man or was Ferguson always the cunning fox that He has always been and knew exactly that his team were always well equipped in this area and that finally maybe it was just gossip from the chatterboxes in the English press?

For me Sneijder was always the perfect replacement for Scholes. As a massive United fan, Scholes was my favorite player and for me one of the most technically gifted players to ever play football, anyone who saw his first touch and his technical ability to hit a ball will be able to testify to this. To receive compliments from players like Henry, Xavi and Zidane, that He was the best player they have ever played against, considering the career these players had in the game, and the amount of high profile professionals they come up against throughout their illustrious careers, means that there is no need to give any more glowing reports and words in relation to Scholes, only in being that he was world class.

It is always going to be a difficult task trying to replace a player of Scholes quality, and if this is to be taken into account, Ferguson himself said that "Only Xavi and Iniesta are comparable to Scholes" and giving that these two were voted among the three best players of the world this year, then it seems even more of a daunting task.

There was though undoubted interest in Sneijder from United, and there is no doubt that He would have been a great acquisition to their squad, as the need for a playmaker in the Premier League seems like the quintessential part of any team, or indeed in any league in the world, so as to vary from the English style of crossing balls into the box and the high intensity game that United plays. He would have given this option, of threading passes through defense’s and creating shooting opportunities, but Ferguson deemed it to be that in the end He was not needed and clarified this by saying " He's a fantastic player but he was not who we were looking for to replace Scholes". Who is to argue with someone who has the track record of Ferguson and who obviously knows the club and football inside out, and therefore knows what United needed this season.

So, the thing that I always thought, and have always said, that Sneijder was the perfect replacement for Scholes, seems now to be extinguished and been laid to rest, with my attention now turned to what United now have. A central midfield of players who can be drawn upon such as Anderson, Carrick, Cleverly, Fletcher with Giggsy able to play in there too, might not have the same ring to it, if Sneijder was there for example, but there is no doubt that from United´s more than impressive start to the season, Ferguson has to be handed it again, as someone who knows more about football than most, and who sticks to his philosophy of bringing young players through and giving them chances and more importantly doing the job they are expected to do at Manchester United. This is to live up to the increasingly high standards that the club demands. You could say then that Mr. Ferguson was the cunning fox that He has always been!

Published in http://www.90soccer.com/international/to-sneijder-or-not-to-sneijder/ the 15th September, 2011

Sevilla appoint new manager

After an eventful season, full of ups and downs over the year, which finally culminated in what some will say, was a somewhat lucky outcome, achieving a Europa league spot for next season, Sevilla, have stated their intentions for next year with the installation of Marcelino García Toral as manager, taking over from Gregorio Manzano. There has been no doubt that the club, as of late has been going through the transitional stage, with ins and outs, as previously explained in some of my previous articles, and that their was an obvious apprehension about, if Manzano was the man to lead Sevilla in the future, with names such as Luis Enrique and Puel being those mentioned to replace him. They have chosen however to name someone who was never mentioned on that list, and what will therefore come to those who speculated on those names of replacements, among myself included, a surprising selection, but who is this new manager and what can we expect him to provide Sevilla next season.

Times have changed at Sevilla, the club, through their recent successful and prosperous recent history, have become more demanding and have started to want the bigger things in football, one of the things that comes hand in hand with being successful. Since Juande Ramos, the team have been trying to get the right mix together, but have so far up until now not achieved that. Something that Toral will be hoping to instill as soon as possible, with clubs in Spain, and the continent not well known for their patience. A good start will be imperative, and the goal for the season has to be a finish in the top four of the league which will bring with it, a place in the champions league. Apart from this, good performances in the cup competitions will be demanded, with Sevilla being famous for being a cup team more than a league team. So does the credetials of Taron match up to those of what Sevilla needs in this moment in time and will he be able to meet those high standards?

Toral carved out a less than spectacular carear as a footballer, playing for teams such as Real sporting de Gijon, Real Racing Club de Santander, Levante UD and Elche from the period of 1985 – 1994. He played in centre midfield and reprecented Spain as a youth international and won the World Youth Cup in 1985 which took place in the Soviet Union.

It had been as a mangager where he has had more success and recognition, but has not been tested before at a club of the size and stature of Sevilla. He has had success in helping teams ascend divisions, for example, taking up, CD Lealtad, RC Recreativo de Huelva and Real Zaragosa in the past from the respective divisions that they were in.

It was with Real Racing Club de Santander where he has had the most significant success, over two spells at the club where in his first he helped the team classify for the UEFA Cup and reach the semi final of the Copa del Rey (both for the first time in their history) and then in his second spell with the club he was granted with the task to keep them in the first division for another year in 2012, something that he achieved.

So is He what Sevilla need? for me, I thought Luis Enrique was the perfect choice, because he has experience in Spanish football and is used to high pressure situations, having played for Barcelona and Madrid, but he has decided that Italy was the perfect place for him to continue his development. If you are looking along the terms of knowledgement of Spanish football then I think they have made a good appointment, but maybe a bigger name would have been better, although, another team, Porto of Portugal took the decision one year ago to appoint an unknown called Andre Villas Boas, and they ended up having their most successful season in their history, winning everything they entered. So with that in my mind, appointing a soemwhat unknown can work well, or have the complete opposite effect, Sevilla will be hoping that they can get back to where they were a few years ago, top four football and winning cups, time will tell!

Whats been happening at Valencia this summer?

Valencia have been stating there intentions this summer, and to move forward from their good performance of last season where Los Ches finished third in La Liga and performed to a high level in the Champions League.  As documented in previous article’s from myself, the previous two seasons the manager, Urai Emery, has been trying to form a new team by letting those players that have been deemed over aged and underperformers go, as well as those that could bring in some much needed revenue to the club, by bringing in a new mix, which will be a team for the future and hopefully with a little bit of luck be able to perform to a high standard as of now.

Last season was a good demonstrative of how the plan which was put into action was beginning to work, with as said before, a good performance throughout the season which culminated in a good result and somewhat better than what those involved with the club were expecting.  This summer, the club have been sticking to their philosophy, with Cesar, Vicente, Joaquin and Del Horno, being some of the old guard who have been let go, to leave space for those who will replace them and bring some new blood to the club with new desires and motivation.  There is no doubt that these group of players have been outstanding performers for Valencia in the past, but the decline in the amount of appearances which they have been making over the last few seasons, and the standard of these, have been few and far between, so the correct decision has been taken which will allow the club to move on, and keep improving as well as to look towards the future.

One of the new players that has come in, all be it on a one season loan from Madrid, is Sergio Canales, a very accomplished young footballer, who after one year in Madrid, in what proved to be somewhat of a disappointment, and underachievement for the player, will be looking to make an impression and show what he is capable off.  Emery should be looking to team him up with Mata for the forthcoming season, but with Arsenal from England pressurizing, it remains to be seen if Valencia will buckle and sell on their prize asset, something which I hope doesn’t happen as I would love to see these two team up next season, along with the other young talent they have at their disposal.

Apart from adding Canales, to an already impressive midfield, they have added other players who have La Liga experience, something very important as the player will need no time to adjust to the style of a different league, and will already know what to expect.  Some of the players they have added have been Parejo (Getafe), an impressive midfielder who will add even more to that area, as already mentioned, also with the loss of Cesar, the club were lacking some cover in the goalkeeping department, and Emery has been shrewd, as always, and added Diego Alves (Almeria) and Pereira (Sporting Braga, Portugal).  The defense has also been shored up, with the addition of the impressive defender Rami from Lille in France.  These players have added a youthful aspect to the squad, and those that have been there for a few years now, such as the old head Albelda, the impressive central midfielder Ever and Pablo Hernandez, a tricky winger in the now departed Joaquin mold will be looked upon, to take over the responsibility of helping these new recruits to settle quickly in, and help the team to click from the off.

This year, things will not be so easy in the Spanish league.  The big two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, have strengthened further, and as has been the case the last few years, it seems the rest will be chasing these two, so with reason all the others will be looking at third spot and the automatic Champions league place which comes along with it.  Apart from the usual suspects who will be looking to grasp this spot, Sevilla, Villareal and Athletico Madrid etc, who have all seen big changes in the summer, there should be a new challenger, in the form of Malaga, who with the help of their super rich owner, have been the most busiest team in the transfer market not only in Spain but the rest of Europe.  If Pelligrini gets this good group of individuals to play like a team, I would expect them to make a more than serious push towards the third spot in the league.  Nonetheless, I think, Valencia look the most exciting team, with a better squad than the others, and I would expect them to achieve this position, as well as a run to the quarter finals of the Champions League,  although, anything more, would be most unexpected.

Published August 11, 2011 in 90Soccer - http://www.90soccer.com/international/whats-been-happening-at-valencia-this-summer/

Saldado, the new Villa!!!!!!!

Trying to replace a striker such as David Villa, sounds like a daunting task, and one that’s not going to be too easy to accomplish, for after five years playing for Valencia from 2005 – 2010, it was deemed necessary for a few reasons to get rid of their prize asset. One determining influence was the fact that the club has a crippling debt problem and needed to solve it, so money had to be found from somewhere. Taking this into account Villa was sold for a nice sum of 40 million Euros, and thus brought to an end, a successful time at the club, where he scored 108 goals in a total of 166 appearances, was top scorer for the club in the five seasons he played for them, and won the Copa del Rey in 2008.

It was now up to the club to replace a striker who was not only an integral player for them but also the Spanish national team, where he has won the European championship, World cup and is also the countries leading scorer, with someone who was up for the task, and who could try to emulate Villa, in all ways, but of course without the hefty price tag that comes with buying a player to match these characteristics. So if the funds don’t allow thirty or forty million euro players to be signed, its up to those involved, to scale down their efforts and look in and around the bargain buys, who normally play for the smaller clubs.

The one they went for, was one called Roberto Saldado, who although was born in Valencia, played his youth and early career football with Real Madrid, where he had an impressive goal every two games ratio for the B side. There he stayed for four seasons, and made the progression to the first team, where things were to prove a little bit more difficult for him, and after just sixteen appearances and two goals over a period of three seasons, he was loaned to Osasuna, and then subsequently sold after one season to Getafe for a price of four million Euros, after impressing highly during the one season in Osasuna where he scored eleven goals in thirty appearances.

His time at Getafe would prove fruitful, and although in what was a Getafe team that would constantly be fighting against relegation during his time there, he still managed to bang in twenty nine goals in sixty appearances. This type of constant scoring, brought about the attention of the so called big boys, and it would be one of those, who was looking to replace a striker who had been hitting the target for them on a constant basis before with one who they thought would do an equally as good job or if not better. This club, being of course Valencia, as already has been mentioned, spent in the region of ten million Euros to take him to the Mestalla.

As it is only the first season, and as is normal in football, its difficult to judge on this, with the usual clichés popping up, new club, transition period etc, but Saldado, has definitely had his moments, with his record in the Champions league being impressive, and some good performances as well in the league, most notably against his old team Getafe, where he scored all Valencia’s goals in a 4 – 2 away win. The problem seems to be consistency, but there is no doubt that he has talent and if this can be nurtured and improved upon, as he is only twenty five years old, then he could turn out to be a great signing. Time will tell, but to give an accolade such as the new David Villa, I think it is a bit too premature for that. If Valencia can keep their manager Urai Emery for a few more seasons, and the team continues to improve, as has been the case under this manager then big things could be on the way for Saldado and Valencia. Let’s see what happens!

Published 13th April, 2011 in 90Soccer http://www.90soccer.com/international/saldado-the-new-villa/

A week to forget for Valencia

Every team has them, at some stage of the season, some for a few games, some for a month, others longer, but it’s not good to have one when you are in the Champion’s League and being intent on opening a gap between those teams pushing you in the on going battle for a place in next season Champion’s League. What you can probably tell, from the various clues, would be in relation to a ´bad patch´. Valencia last week had one, but one which was no doubt emphatic and one which if not dealt with, could disrupt what had looked like being a successful season.

First of all they were dumped out of the Champion’s League, 4 – 2 on aggregate, against what looked like a very average side in Shalke 04 of Germany, who are struggling domestically and have just recently got rid of their manager Felix McGath. They needed a good performance away from home after drawing the home leg in the Mestalla in Valencia 1 – 1 (with the away goal in Europe being of the upmost importance). Things seemed to be going well, when an early goal from the Portuguese central defender Costa in the seventeenth minute give them the lead in the tie, and an important away goal. Then just before half time Farfán scored a nice curling free kick to level the tie score wise and cancel out the away goal from Valencia. Everything was to play for, and both sides were well matched in a fairly even tie. What was needed was for Valencia to demonstrate the stylish but effective football that has served them well so far this season. This however was lacking, with the Germans producing a strong second half, typical performance and scoring two more goals in the form of another from Farfán and one from Gavronovic and put them into the next round.

Manager Urai Emery voiced his disappointment after the game, by saying "We've been knocked out unjustly, we've missed an opportunity with everything in our favour. It was a game where we had more chances and we lost. I went back into the dressing room so disappointed that I couldn't say anything to the players, but I have nothing to blame them for." This statement was maybe in some opinions not a fair reflection on the game, although it is easy to say that scoring in the first half give them the benchmark to move on and score a few more and advance to the next round. An opportunity they seized to take and are thus paying the price.

After the disappointment of the knock out from the Champions League it was up to Valencia to lift themselves and get back into the bread and butter, as they say, of the league. They were given a fixture which looked in hindsight, a good way to recuperate from the disappointment of midweek, against a team that has been hovering around the basement and relegation places all season. An away tie against a Zaragoza side, seemed perfect, but turned out to be a nightmare. Valencia went down 4 – 0, in what was a disastrous performance, which was culminated by a sending off as well. This in turn lead to the club captain, David Navarro, giving a public apology to fans after the game, something which in football is pretty much unheard off.

The pressure is on the manager Urai Emery and his players now to step up after a disappointing week and move forward and secure their objective of a champion’s league place for next season. Their will be no more distractions now, as they are already out of the Spanish Cup and as has been mentioned, the Champions League and will therefore maybe take this as a positive, in the fact that there are no more distractions from now until the end of the future.

First up, is Sevilla, another massive game, and against one of the those that are after the coveted Champions League places, although it has to be said, that Valencia are in a far better position in regards to this. Any game for any team though against Sevilla is always difficult, but no doubt a win will help Valencia and maybe they can extend their gap between the chasing teams. The season will not end on this game though, with as well as Real Madrid to play, they have games against other teams in and around them, so after a disastrous week, its time to lift those heads again, and move forward, and get back to how they have been playing so far this season, impressively.

Published in http://www.90soccer.com/imported/a-week-to-forget-for-valencia/

Adios to a legend

The evolution of Sevilla has already started, with the club looking to start again, after a period of years that has reaped great rewards for the team on the pitch in the shape of cups, top four placed finishes in the league and their subsequent appearances in Europe’s top competition the Champions League (for the first time in their history). Things though, like in life and football, cannot and don’t go on forever, with football always being about cycles. It’s difficult for a team to reach a good level, but it is even harder for them to stay there, and then do it consistently for years to come after that. This inevitably leads to many of the players that were key in a period of success for a club, to have to move on, to pastures anew and for the club to replace these, with ones that will take over, and hopefully be better than those who they replaced.


One player key to Sevilla´s recent successful past, has been Luis Fabiano, the Brazilian played instrumental parts in the re-establishment of Sevilla as a major force in Spain and in Europe. Fabiano up until he joined Sevilla, had enjoyed very limited success in Europe with spells in the French league with Rennes and in the Portuguese with Porto. Both were only to be for a period of one season each, as he found goals very hard to come by, so much so that he only scored three goals, with these coming for Porto, and managing none with Rennes. The spell with Rennes was sandwiched between the other club where he enjoyed success, that being Sao Paulo of Brazil and whom he has recently rejoined again after six and a half seasons playing in Europe. Porto decided to sell on the player to Sevilla where his first season would be much more significantly successful than his previous campaigns in European leagues.

In his first season, Fabiano finished second to David Guiza (then of Getafe) in the top goal scorer ranks with a total of 24 goals and more importantly scoring in the final of the UEFA cup in the 4 – 0 hammering of English side, Middlesborough and was also pivotal in his sides successful defense of the same cup the season after as well as their great league performance, which meant they qualified for Europe’s main competition the Champions league.

He would go on to score a total of 72 goals in 147 appearances for Sevilla, which was nearly a goal every other game, an achievement not so easy to accomplish in a league as tough as the Spanish, placing him as one of the most successful foreign imports to play there in the history of the league.

Fabiano continued to impress in the following seasons at Sevilla, and as is always the case with players performing at high levels consistently well, was linked regularly with moves abroad to big clubs playing in the other main competitions in Europe. The most serious bidders were that of Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League and also AC Milan of Serie A, where it was reported the striker pleaded with the club to let him go, but as history states, this request was rejected by Sevilla and thus Fabiano continued plying his trade in Spain, and even signed a new contract until 2013 and stating his willingness to stay "This is my home, I've been here six seasons and I will try to continue scoring goals and continue making history for Sevilla". In the end though Sevilla and Fabiano give into their thoughts and Fabiano returned to Brazil and the club received a nice sum of money in the form of 7.6 million Euros, a good bit of business for a player who is now thirty years of age, and who had served them for many years.

So what now for Fabiano? First of all he will be looking to make a big impression in the Brazilian league, which will be difficult, giving the amount of big names that have recently returned to their homeland to play again. Also on the horizon is the World Cup which will be held in Brazil in 2014, something which maybe coincides with the arrival of those returning from Europe, and with Brazilian coach Menezes liking a target man up front, this could be a good opportunity to press his claim for a tournament in which every Brazilian player will want to play in, and with Brazil short in this area, and the only obvious other, being that of Adriano, who also will return to Brazil, most probably with Corinthians, being in what seems a nightmare moment of his career, then the scene seems to be set for Fabiano to shine. He will be greatly missed by Sevilla, that’s for sure.

Published in 90 Soccer.com