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Category: Soccer-Football

  • Transfer rater: Pellegrini, Spinazzola, Suarez, Manolas

    Transfer rater: Pellegrini, Spinazzola, Suarez, Manolas

    Konstantinos Manolas is off to Napoli

    It is July 1st 2019 and the European transfer window is open. As usual lot of changes will happen and unimaginable money will be spent for the upcoming season.

    Teams like Real Madrid are on a spending spree, Barcelona making changes after a disappointing European season. Others like Arsenal and Milan will need to find creative ways to improve. Liverpool get ready to take a shot at overcoming Manchester City in the premier league. PSG continue the search for European glory.

    Two related but officially separate transfers that have been confirmed are the swap of left backs between Roma and Juventus. Twenty year old Luca Pellegrini was sold by Roma to the Turin team for €22 million and at the same time 26 year old Leonardo Spinazzola went the other way €29.5 million. The latter has seven Italian caps and didn’t play much for Juventus, spending many seasons away on loan. The former is more of a prospect. The deal being concluded separately makes a big difference in the teams’ finances as they can both claim a majority of the amount received as profits for UEFA’s Financial Fair Play purposes. Both players had been on the books of their now former teams for a long time and a big portion of their transfer fees count as gains. A very good deal for both sides. One gets an experienced full back and the other gets a prospect to play behind Alex Sandro on the pecking order.

    Denis Suarez, 25, spent the second half of the 2018-2019 season on loan at Arsenal. The Barcelona midfielder failed to get much playing time due to not being 100% fit. His stock has fallen and now Barcelona in the midst of a mini rebuild have sold him to Celta Vigo for less than €13 million. The deal will have a relatively small net gain on Barcelona’s finances but if Suarez regains some of his promise he will be a good player for Vigo’s midfield for many years to come.

    Roma’s decision to sell 28 year old Konstantinos Manolas to Napoli is a bit strange, even though the Naples team had triggered his release clause so Roma found themselves handcuffed. The €36 million received is a very good amount but that strengthens a direct rival and leaves Roma’s defensive line weaker too. Roma are now surely buyers as only having Juan Jesus and Federico Fazio is a weakness. Ivan Marcano is there as well but likely to exit as well. To sort of make up for it Roma have bought 21 year old defensive midfielder Amadou Diawara from Napoli for €21 million.

    It is very early in the window and late August is weeks away. A few teams like Real Madrid have jumped quickly and fast but others will need to be more careful and need time to find realistic deals.

  • Copa America 2019

    Copa America 2019

    Copa America’s group stage has now concluded and the 12 teams are down to eight. The three groups of four tournament has featured two invitees in Japan and Qatar. Both invitees got eliminated in the group stage. The so called controversial decision to have 2 invited teams, to make the tournament an imperfect 12 teams, is bound to be questioned again.

    Qatar have the stable coaching of Felix Sanchez but failed to improve on their surprise Asian Cup winning form of early 2019. The former Barcelona youth coach may be retained as the build up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar ramps up.

    Japan are in transition and with a new post 2018 World Cup coach in Hajime Moriyasu brought a team with only three players above 25!

    Bolivia’s decline continues and with few players on the horizon it may not be improving in the short or medium term. They all lost three games and scored only twice against Brazil, Venezuela and Peru.

    Ecuador are not in much better shape and the somewhat older team coached for the second time by Hernan Dario Gomez will likely continue its decline for a while.

    The first quarter final features Brazil, the hosts, vs Paraguay. The latter finished third in group after unimpressive ties vs Qatar and a poor Argentina. They lost their other game 1-0 to Colombia. Brazilians didn’t impress at all in their first two games and the likes of David Neres and Richarlison lost their starting spots for the third game which the hosts won 5-0 (vs Peru)

    Venezuela’s slow climb continues. The South American none football country has managed two quarter finals and a fourth place in the last four copas. Prior to 2007 the Rafael Dudamel coached team never managed to get out of a group stage. They now meet Argentina in the quarter finals. The Argentinians have mostly struggled in the Messi era and coaches have failed to get the best out of the talent of the Barcelona star and others like Kun Aguero and many others, not to mention even failing to find a proper, workable and stable formation to fit all the big names. Lionel Scaloni’s men lost the opener to Colombia and tied Paraguay 1-1, they needed to beat Qatar in their last match to progress.

    Colombia have so far impressed the most, being the only team with nine points in the group stage. Carlos Queiroz is their somewhat surprising new coach and three wins without conceding has the set them up as favorites vs the aging Chileans. Chile finished second behind Uruguay in group C. Alexis Sanchez’s team features only one outfield player under 25.

    Uruguay have a mix of aging but still capable stars with the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. A younger group all over the pitch bodes well for the future of Oscar Tabarez’s team. Maxi Gomez up front, Lucas Torreira, Rodrigo Bentancur and Matias Vecino in the middle form a good core with Jose Gimenez at the back.

    Brazil play Paraguay on June 27th. Argentina play Venezuela on the 28th. The winners meet in the semi finals on July 2nd.

    On the other side of the bracket Colombia meet Chile on the 28th and Uruguay play against Peru on the 29th with the semis being on July 3rd.

    The final is set for Rio’s Maracana on July 7th.



  • Top 10 Most Expensive Transfers, Rated

    Top 10 Most Expensive Transfers, Rated

    Joao Felix is on the verge of making a €120 million transfer from Benfica to Atletico Madrid. The Madrid team triggered the 19 year old second striker’s recently signed release clause. Antoine Griezmann could also enter the record books this summer. The Frenchman’s move from Atletico to Barcelona provides the cash to Diego Simeone and Atletico to spend on the aforementioned Portuguese. It is a good time to take a look at the current top 10 most expensive transfers.

    Neymar tops the list as the then 25 year old moved from Barcelona to PSG for €222 million. The forward has had a somewhat injury riddled two seasons but has scored 51 goals in 58 games, in all competitions. The French team haven’t gotten much closer to their aim of winning the Champions League. The transfer is probably a B- at best.

    Kylian Mbappe had everybody reaching for the Financial Fair Play rule book when he made a €180 million move to PSG, in 2017 and initially on loan. Once again PSG haven’t won more with the French international but he has provided the goals and plenty of them. His transfer is a B+.

    Philippe Coutinho made a move to Barcelona from Liverpool for around €118 million. The perception of the transfer and it usefulness to the Catalans has been questionable at best. He could be on the move again this summer having been expected to provide more. Few would be willing to give this transfer anything above C.

    Ousmane Dembele falls into the same category as Coutinho. His €105 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona was initially injury interrupted. He has scored 18 times in 65 games since 2017. Another C for this transfer.

    Manchester United spent a lot to get Paul Pogba back from Juventus, years after he left to Italy for free. The €105 million was a record in 2016. United have won little since and have not adjusted to the post Alex Ferguson era. The player himself has not had a constant place in any given formation the team has played since his arrival. The expense and the return make this a poor transfer. A D is not too harsh.

    Eden Hazard spent seven years at Chelsea helping the team win two Premier League titles and two Europa league titles. Often the star with a few dips in form he nevertheless was the creator and the star of the London team. His €105 million move to Real Madrid this summer is a success for both the player and his now former team. This gets an A for now because Real are getting an under 30 player with more years in him.

    Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus for €100 million in 2018, nine years after he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid for €94. The earlier transfer has of course been a big success and put the player fully on the map. Two La Liga titles are less than the impression one has of the recent Real Madrid. Four Champions League titles however are Ronaldo and Real Madrid’s to brag about. He moved to Juventus in 2018 hoping to replicate the Champions League success in Turin. The failure to do so can still be rectified. The transfers both get an A grade.

    Gareth Bale moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for €100 million. In his six years there he has sometimes fallen out of favour with coaches but has scored 102 goals in a total of 231 appearances. The player was not a major influence in the 2016-2017 La Liga winning season as he spent months out with an ankle injury. The Welshman provided decent returns in the four Champions League titles while at Real but he won’t be remembered as much due to Ronaldo’s contributions in the same competition and period. This transfer gets a C.

    Gonzalo Higuain spent two full seasons at Juventus after moving from Napoli for €94 million. The season before moving, 2015-2016, he had been Serie A’s top scorer (aka capocannoniere) with 36 goals. He scored 24 and 16 goals in the two subsequent seasons where Juventus won the title. The transfer gets another C.

  • 2019 Gold Cup

    2019 Gold Cup

    The Gold Cup is the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football national team championship. The 2019 edition is the 15th edition and takes place in United States, Costa Rica and Jamaica. The latter two will host two games to open their respective groups, B and C. The Gold Cup features 16 teams for the first time and runs from June 15 to July 7. The Gold Cup has shifted between odd and even years and is held every two years.

    The 16 qualifiers (out of 41 total members) are those who finished in the top 6 of 2018 World Cup qualification, the so called hexagonal plus the top 10 in the newly created CONCACAF Nations League. It is the first time that the Gold Cup is contested with 16 teams. It began as an eight team tournament in 1991.

    A big total of 17 venues will be used with the smallest being Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park with a capacity of just under 19,000, the home of MLS’ Sporting Kansas City. The largest will be Pasadena’s Rose bowl with a 90,888 capacity.

    Four groups of four were drawn and they are as follows

    Mexico
    Canada
    Martinique
    Cuba    		Costa Rica
    Haiti
    Nicaragua
    Bermuda
    Honduras
    Jamaica
    El Salvador
    Curacao    		USA
    Panama
    Trinidad and Tobago
    Guyana

    Mexico have won the Gold Cup seven times, USA six times and the only other winners were Canada in 2000. USA are the defending champions.

  • Nations League Final

    Nations League Final

    Portugal won the first UEFA Nations League by beating Holland 1-0 at home, at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao.

    The Dutch had failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia and were in decline until a new batch of Ajax bred youngsters and other rising or in form players were blended together by new national coach Ronald Koeman. Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Daley Blind formed the core of Ajax’s surprise Champions League semi final team. They are joined by in form players like Memphis Depay (Lyon), Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).

    Portugal came off a disappointing World Cup that followed their Euro 2016 win in France. With Ronaldo still pulling the strings and rescuing the team but joined by new and risings in Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes.

    The game start well for the Dutch but soon became one mostly controlled by the Portuguese. The hosts managed to gain control of the midfield with Danilo adding extra midfield spine and mostly handcuffing the likes of de Jong. The Dutch were forced to use the wings but were unable to penetrate for much of the game.
    Quincy Promes for Ryan Babel at half time didn’t help or threaten much more on the left wing side and soon after the second half started Portugal gained more control of the game.

    In the 60th minute a Bernardo Silva pass had Goncalo Guedes cutting inside. The winger took a long range shot and just beat Jasper Cillessen who got a hand on it but was unable to divert the ball to safety. Rui Patricio and Ruben Dias did well when the Dutch tried to threaten via crosses. Portugal claimed the inaugural trophy.

    Earlier in the day England finished third by beating the Swiss. The third place match finished 0-0 and 6-5 after penalties, one of which was converted by Jordan Pickford, England’s goalkeeper.


  • 2018-2019 Team of the Season

    2018-2019 Team of the Season

    Alisson is the Brazilian national team starter and ex-Roma goalkeeper. He had a big hand in Liverpool finishing second in the EPL and winning the Champions League.

    Ferland Mendy is a soon to be 23 year old left back. Another Lyon prospect but not from Lyon’s own academy. Mendy grew up at Le Havre’s famous production line which has included the likes of Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet in the past. He is rumoured to be the subject of €50+ million bids by Real Madrid and Manchester City.

    Milan Skriniar is the consistent central defender at Inter Milan. He has been there since 2017. The Slovakian international is one of the reasons Inter finished with a Serie A second best 33 goals allowed.

    Virgil van Dijk was another reason for Liverpool’s success and his pace and solidity have impressed since a very expensive
    € 85 million transfer from Southampton. The central defender has boasted excellent stats with attackers finding it near impossible to dribble past him.

    Joshua Kimmich struggled, like most of his team mates, at the 2018 World Cup but is nevertheless solid and very important on the right hand side for Bayern Munich and his country. Still only 24.

    Dusan Tadic had a rebirth of sorts at Ajax after being mostly underused in the English Premier League. Multiple impressive performances in the Champions League where Ajax reached the semis and in the Eredivisie where Ajax overtook PSV and won the title.

    Frenkie de Jong (22), much like his Ajax team mate, impressed and earned an expensive transfer to Barcelona. The midfielder controlled games from the middle of the pitch and provided the focal point for much of Ajax’s excellent 2018-2019.

    Eden Hazard spent his last season at Chelsea helping the team win the Europa League and be a vital component in unlocking league opposition. He will now do it again elsewhere, Real Madrid will likely be the destination with a massive €100+ million transfer fee going the other way.

    Lionel Messi is Lionel Messi and with him at the helm Barcelona won another La Liga title. Despite the Champions League disappointment where Liverpool produced a historic come from behind win the Argentinian scored another 51 goals (in all competitions).

    Kylian Mbappe led PSG to another Ligue 1 title. Still only 20 he scored 33 league goals, 11 more than Lille’s Nicolas Pepe in second place. His goal tally was over 30% of his team’s goals.

    Raheem Sterling scored important goals for Manchester City, both in the Champions League and the premiership. He grew as a team leader and his play earned him spots on many end of season awards.

  • Champions League Final

    Champions League Final

    The 2018-2019 Champions League final will take place in Madrid’s 67,000 capacity Metropolitano Stadium, the home of Atletico Madrid, on June 1, 2019. Tottenham and Liverpool will complete the all English final – he Europa league featured Chelsea beating Arsenal 4-1 in Azerbaijan.

    Tottenham finished fourth in the 2018-2019 premiership a big 26 points behind Liverpool who finished second. Liverpool were last year’s Champions League finalists losing 3-1 to Real Madrid. Tottenham have been under achievers both in domestic and European competition with last winning a major trophy in the 90s – a FA Cup in 1991. Under Mauricio Pochettino, if he stays, and a with a new stadium more is likely to come from the North London team. Jurgen Klopp has many second place finishes on his resume and hopes to change it this time.

    Naby Keita is the only expected injury concern for Liverpool. Harry Kane, Tottenham’s star, is recovering but should be available. Therefore both teams are relatively healthy.

    This is a meeting of two coaches who believe in pressing and moving up and pressuring opponents, this final could be chaotic and entertaining.

    The winner of this games gets €19 million and the loser €15 million. This is only for being at the final, the money accumulated getting here can earn the winning team upwards of €80 million. The reason why the Champions League is so important to teams is very clear.

  • Europa League Final

    Europa League Final

    The 2018-2019 Europa League final takes place between Chelsea and Arsenal on May 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Not without controversy.

    The distance and the scarcity of direct flights will mean less fans in the stadium. Also, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian and it has been decided that he will stay home fearing for his safety in the neighbouring rival country.

    The all English final has two teams that finished third and fifth in the English premiership. The winner will get a spot in the 2019-2020 Champions League so this may provide an extra incentive for Arsenal as their fifth place league position rewards them with only a Europa League spot next season.

    It could be the last game in a Chelsea shirt for Eden Hazard as he is likely to make a big money move to Real Madrid or elsewhere. Maurizio Sarri, the Chelsea manager, could be on his way back to Italy after the game.

    On the other side Aaron Ramsey was to play his final Arsenal game, as he has signed to play for Juventus, but he is out injured. Petr Cech will retire after this this game. In other injury news N’Golo Kante is likely going to miss this game, as will Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Antonio Rudiger, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

  • European Leagues: Gap Between Top Two

    European Leagues: Gap Between Top Two

    One of the effects of money in football has been the gap between the rich and the poor. As in society there is some evidence that the gap keeps increasing. Several factors including how TV rights money is distributed contributes to this gap.

    Somewhat unrelated to the aforementioned gap is the gap between first and second placed teams. This gap contributes to the excitement in the latter weeks of the season. Below are some numbers for the past three seasons.

    In England the 2018-2019 season was historic in that the top two were very close and accumulated plenty of points. In the end Manchester City won the league by one point over Liverpool. The two teams collected 98 and 97 points respectively. The 2017-2018 season finished with Manchester City 19 points ahead of Manchester United (100 and 81). The season before it Chelsea won the league with 93 points and Tottenham 7 points behind finished second.

    In Italy Juventus is ahead of Napoli by 11 points with one week to go. Last season the same top two finished with a four point difference (95 and 91). In 2016-2017 Juventus finished with 91 and Roma 87.

    In Spain the 2018-2019 La Liga ended with Barcelona ahead of Atletico Madrid with a 11 point gap. 2017-2018 had the same two teams but with a 14 point gap. La Liga’s 2016-2017 season featured Real Madrid besting Barcelona’s 90 points with their 93.

    In France PSG are ahead of surprising Lille by 16 points with a week to go. Last season PSG won the league with 13 points more than second placed Monaco and the year before Monaco had 95 points at the end of the season compared to PSG’s 87.

    In Germany‘s Bundesliga Bayern Munich came back from behind to beat the perennial ‘capitulators’ (aka Dortmund) by two points (78 to 76). The season before Bayern finished ahead of Schalke with a massive 21 point gap. Schalke finished this current season in 14th place! The 2016-2017 season had Bayern first with 82 and RB Leipzig second with 67 points.

    In Portugal‘s Primeira Liga high scoring Benfica won the 2018-2019 season having two more points than Porto’s 85. Last season Porto had 88 and Benfica in second place had 81. The 2016-2017 season finished with Benfica on top with 82 and Porto second with 76.

    In Holland‘s Eredivisie Ajax stormed back and won the title over PSV’s 83 points. Three points separated the two. In 2017-2018 PSV had held on and won the league with 83 compared to Ajax’s 79 points. Feyenoord’s 82 was one better than Ajax’s point tally for the 2016-2017 season.

  • Second Division Leaders

    Second Division Leaders

    Portugal’s Gil Vicente take the court case route to the Primeira Liga

    As the 2018-2019 season comes to a close the picture is almost clear as to which teams will join the top division in Europe’s major leagues. A few new names and a few more bigger names are headed to the top for 2019-2020.

    Starting in England‘s Championship Norwich and Sheffield United won the automatic promotion spots. The latter were last in the top level in 2007. The playoff featured a faltering Leed United. The Marcelo Bielsa team led the league for a long while but collapsed late in the season and now have been eliminated in the promotion playoffs by Derby County. The finalists in the promotion playoffs are the aforementioned Derby and Aston Villa.

    Italy‘s Serie B is volatile and irregular. Brescia and Lecce are promoted but the playoff places were thrown into turmoil after Palermo were demoted due to financial issues. Palermo were third at season’s end but now 9th placed Perugia climb to eighth and join the six teams vying for the third promotion spot. Benevento, Pescara, Verona, Spezia, Cittadella are the other teams fighting for that final spot.

    In Spain Osasuna and Granada lead the second division with four games to go. Albacete, once wealthy Malaga, once mighty Deportivo La Coruna, Mallorca and Cadiz are not far behind in the top two and promotion playoff races.

    Germany‘s 2nd Bundesliga is led by FC Koln with one game remaining. Paderborn, Union Berlin and Hamburg will know their fate for the second automatic spot and playoffs on May 19th.

    France‘s Ligue 2 also has one game remaining but the top two spots are set and occupied by Metz and Brest. Troyes, Paris FC, once mighty Lens and Lorient will battle it out for the third promotion spot this month.

    Holland‘s Eerste Divisie has had a runaway leader, Twente have won the division somewhat easily. PSV second team, Jong PSV is in third place but can not be promoted. De Graafschap and Excelsior from the top league are locked in the playoffs with second division’s Sparta Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Go Ahead Eagles and TOP Oss. The latter have never played in the top league.

    Portugal‘s Segunda Liga is a curious case this season. Normally two teams are relegated and two are promoted. This year three are relegated while the top two from the second division win promotion. The third team is already decided to be Gil Vicente. The Northern Braga district based team won a court case against their forced relegation…in 2006! In that season they were accused of fielding an eligible players, Mateus Galiano da Costa. An obviously lengthy court battle has won them promotion alongside Pacos de Ferreira and Famalicao. Feirense and Nacional are heading down alongside one of Tondela and Chaves (to be determined on the final weekend of the season).