Short Thought: Everton... Yikes...

Everton is typically a team that finishes the season in a good enough table position to secure a UEFA Cup, the new Europa Cup, spot. However, today they got off to a rough start against Arsenal. The Gunners are the Big Four team in question if any but they put on a display that sent some Everton supporters home as early as the 50th minute. It's not good to lose your first match of the season. It's worse to lose it in front of your own fans but an abomination to lose 6-1 at home.

I only caught the second half of the game but I saw all of the goals through highlights. Tim Howard was rocked in the Everton goal mouth. He had no help from his defenders who were dreadful defending set pieces. Both Gallas, and Vermaelen scored from headers, virtually unmarked. However, it wasn't the two Arsenal defenders that opened the floodgates. It was little Denilson who curled a beauty into the top corner. The woes continued for the Toffees in the second half. It just seemed like the Arsenal players were to quick and fast for Everton. I felt like Everton was playing without a midfield. It was evident on the 4th goal. A quick counter attack broke down the Everton defense without a problem leading to a clear shot for Fabregas. It was right at Howard who was nutmegged. The match was all but over at this point. On the second Fabregas goal, which was dedicated to Dani Jarque by a jersey with his name and number brought off the bench for Cesc to hold up, the Spaniard brought the ball from inside his half to the edge of the area before scoring. He was unchallenged the entire way. It wasn't like he skipped by a couple defenders. The last goal was just a sad sight for not only Everton players, and fans but for everyone. Arshavin toe poked a ball lightly from the penalty spot in a scramble that beat Tim Howard, rebounding off the post and cleaned up by Eduardo. Everton salvaged a goal late on via Saha off a rebound. A 6-1 disaster for the men in blue.

David Moyes has a lot of work to do if Everton want to challenge for anything this season. This is the worst possibly start they could have asked for. Morale is surely down. Toffee supporters will hope this doesn't lead to a string of bad results.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobinho

The Hughes Selection Headache

Manchester City have had their moment in the sun this summer. They actually look to be a contender on paper for the Premier League crown. Their rich ownership has been pumping heavy amounts of funds into the club. The club has made lucrative offers in the past year to some of the best players in the world, failing on most attempts to scrape up megastars like Eto'o, Kaka, and Messi (who they still seem to think they have a chance with for some odd reason) but successfully reeling in many unsettled but quality players looking for a new challenge or a change of scenery. These players include Tevez, Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Roque Santa Cruz, and England midfielder Garreth Barry. It's a good mix of players to bring into a club that already has the likes of Brazilian trickster, Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stephen Ireland, Nigel De Jong, Vincent Kompany, Craig Bellamy, Benjani, and Micah Richards. Now all these names put together looks like an appetizing footballing feast. The only problem is Mark Hughes can't put all these names together can he?

In order to win and win with style, you need team chemistry. It is awfully difficult to build this when you have 6 or 7 potentially starting strikers. Who is going to fall out of favor? Mark Hughes and City alone brought in three front men this summer (Tevez, Santa Cruz, and Adebayor) and only rid themselves of young Sturridge who went to Chelsea and Caicedo to Sporting Lisbon. Will City find a way to crush all their attacking talent into one starting XI? Hughes must have a plan or so you'd think. I don't think we'll see Robinho playing some sort of attacking right back because he is good on the flanks. Manchester City have not had the prettiest of preseasons but they have been missing key personnel as well. Robinho had been away a chunk of the summer months on Confederations Cup duty and Tevez only just played his first preseason against Celtic in a 2-1 win. The late signings from Arsenal, such as Toure and Adebayor, haven't allowed them many minutes either. Manchester City does not want to make the mistake of having the same kinds of players on the field. So those who can't play together, will be who is challenging each other for a starting spot. Bellamy and and Tevez are both bullish hard working stout players and will most likely be duking it out in training as will Adebayor against Benjani. One player Mark Hughes won't have to worry about trying to get on to the pitch this season is Elano. He was already unsettled at the club and shipped himself off to Turkey to play for Galatasaray, perhaps to keep his Brazil spot for the World Cup this upcoming summer. Perhaps this will help open up a spot for those incoming. Since, the blue of Manchester haven't been up to full strength in the majority of the preseason, Hughes will have to try and figure out a line up during the season. This isn't good. The only way to find the right system is an educated trial and system. It could lead to a series of bad results. That's not what you want to be doing with the season set to kick off this weekend. Especially when you have Arsenal and Manchester United on the 5th and 6th match day. I've been doing some toying with City's line up and came up with some formations that may work. But like I said, it's trial and error. Unlike Mark Hughes, I don't have the players to even have trials. So my guess is as good as the next persons. Keep in mind I haven't added Lescott yet, though the deal does look close.

------------------------Given----------------------------
Bridge-----------Toure-------Dunne--Zabaleta/Richards
------------------Barry------Ireland---------------------
SWP---------------------------------------------Robinho
---------------------Tevez-------------------------------
--------------------------Adebayor----------------------

It's your pretty standard 4-4-2. So many people believe because it is simple, it's not going to be affective. I believe that's not the case. If done correctly, it can be just as useful as some modern, experimental, unbalanced formations. What you see above is very basic. Your classic flat back four. You have Barry and Ireland. We all know how good Ireland is at going forward. I think he is extremely underrated. Barry is his partner and helps design and create the forward movement, switching the point of attack often. Two nifty wingers, with pace and tricks that can beat their defenders when isolated 1v1. Adebayor leads the attack with Tevez just off him. As seen at Arsenal, Adebayor would be the target man that holds up the ball with Tevez as his strike partner, dropping a little deeper.

------------------------Given----------------------------
Bridge-----------Toure-------Dunne--Zabaleta/Richards
------Ireland----------Barry------------De Jong--------
Bellamy/Tevez--Adebayor/Santa Cruz---Robinho/SWP-

This is my second option here. I kind of stole this 4-3-3 from a mixture of what Barcelona did last season and what Real Madrid are starting to do this preseason. Madrid and City have both used their funds to bring in a load of new players. Madrid has a selection headache of their own but recent preseason form (which doesn't mean much) has showed a system that is proving to be working. Barcelona's 4-3-3 started the trend. The players last season were free flowing. They are marked down in a fixed formation but free to wander and develop an attack in a creative, quick, and intricate passing way, causing defenders to run around from attacker to attacker. Real Madrid has adopted a resemballing style over the summer that sports similar movement with no fixed location for any one player to be on the field. It's just what good players can create together, really. Some managers prefer a system, like Sir Alex, or Rafa Benitez. However, I think with the talent brought into City, it's worth a try. If it doesn't work out, well that's just what simply separates Manchester City from the likes of teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. Which may be why Madrid got Kaka, and Barca can hold on to Messi.

Now yes there are other options that the Citizens could see their team sporting this season. I was even thinking somewhere along the lines of a 4-2-3-1 with a big striker ( Adebayor, Benjani), three more attacking players with speed on the outsides , two solid center mids, and your back four once again. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has thoughts on this. If anyone else would like to shed light on the situation and what they think City will look like once they design a system to be put into stone, please feel free to speak.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

Mexico vs United States: 2-1

Being an American, I am proud of the Red, White, and Blue. The last result between Sam's Army and El Tri hurt me as much as the last time Barcelona played Real Madrid. We were crushed in the Gold Cup final 5-0 by our southern neighbors. The United States has surely had the edge over Mexico in the recent years but the thrashing USA recieved at home a couple weeks back has boosted the confidence of Mexican supporters and reignited the heritage of Mexican Americans that choose red, white, and green over red, white, and blue. That Gold Cup hammering was the first loss on home soil in around 10 years when it comes to CONCACAF matches of all sorts. That U.S. team that fell so hard to Mexico in the Gold Cup was considered a "B Team" because the "A Team" was on holiday after performing remarkably in the Confederations Cup, falling to Brazil 3-2 in the final and scalping the number 1 ranked team in the world at the time, Spain 2-0, in the semi final. Today the U.S. took on Mexico again in the infamous Estadio Azteca located in the heart of Mexico City and the "A Team" had returned. This rivalry heated up once more. The atmosphere itself was in a league of it's own. The stadium seats 105,000 and the altitude takes it's toll on any well tuned athlete. The entire stands were painted with green shirts. It was a critical game for El Tri, who going into this match were sitting 4/6 in the qualifying group, one spot away from direct qualification. Ever since Mexico had seen the reintroduction of Coach Aguirre, they have been rejuvenated from their early qualifying woes. Going into this World Cup Qualifier, the U.S. was 0-22-1 against Mexico at the Azteca. Let's take a look at what happened.

U.S.A. fell to their arch rivals 2-1 in a heart breaker this afternoon. It all started well for the not so welcomed guests in white. In about the 8th minute Charlie Davies was played through by a cutting ball from Landon Donovan. Davies, using his pace, separated himself and the Mexican defenders at his heels and curled the ball around an away from Mexican goalkeeper, Ochoa. From then on out the United States was abysmal. The Mexicans dominated the possession practically the entire match. Of course, U.S. supporters could argue about the heat in Mexico and that the Mexican National Team had trained in the altitude all week but excuses don't excuse scorelines. Mexico has to come play in the snow when they come up to see the U.S at times. Eleven minutes after the United States opening goal, the failure to close down the Mexican attack began to show when Israel Castro on the date of his 20th cap for his country rifled a shot from almost 30 yards that rang the cross bar before crossing over into the goal. The stadium erupted and if the United States' post goal poor play wasn't enough, this Mexico goal threw the momentum to El Tri. The red, white, and blue were lucky to escape the first half with a 1-1 scoreline to catch their breath. The U.S. team looked slow and just simply could not compete against the pace and craftiness of their opponents. Spurs' Dos Santos was instrumental and easily the Man of the Match for me. He was dangerous every time he received the ball. I've only seen him play lately in the last two matches against the U.S. but he once again is starting to look like a promising player. He would slither by United States defenders drawing fouls left and right. He was great. Even from an American's perspective, he was a stand out. The Mexican attack continued to pour on the U.S. whose game plan turned into almost 0% passing and 100% reckless clearances. It was hard for me to watch. Eventually the speed broke down the U.S. players and Mexico found their second goal in the 81st minute through substitute and Gold Cup hero, Miguel Sabah, who pounced on a lose ball in the area that sprung from a challenge on a Mexican player who made Landon Donovan look slow after dusting him on the flank.

Key players for Sam's Army were a major contributor to the downfall of the United States in Mexico this afternoon. Landon Donovan was invisible most of the time. Michael Bradley faded out the match quickly. Many fans believed the likes of young Altidore, who just completed a loan to Hull City this week, would start but Brian Ching got the nod (probably because he is in mid season with the Huston Dynamo). Altidore was eventually introduced into the match after Davies went down with cramps. I'm usually not one to bash officiating because I believe that the referees don't decide matches, players do. However, there are exceptions. Today, I didn't think the officiating crew did a fair job but they weren't to blame for the defeat clearly, but consistency seemed like a major issue. I'll stop myself there when it comes to that. Overall it was a plain bad performance by USA. It's a shame that it will seem as if more people in the United States will be celebrating the Mexican victory than mourning the U.S. loss. On the channel I watched the game on, it showed U.S. Military troops tuning into watch match all the way from Iraq in the wee hours of the night, sadly they were sporting Mexican flags and colors.

Viva el futbol y hala Madrid

Bobby

Not a Fabulous Idea for Barca

Over the last couple days, I find a new facisnating artical on Barcelona's pursuit for Arsenal skipper, Cesc Fabregas. He was developed in La Masia and was snatched up by Arsene Wenger when he was still just a boy. It's extremely difficult to doubt the Cesc is an outstanding player, but why do Barcelona need him or want him?

Barcelona prides themselves on being a home grown club like I mentioned in the youth academy article. A lot of their line up today has been groomed right outside the walls of the Nou Camp. You can look at the names for proof, Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Sergi Busquets, Xavi, Bojan, Iniesta, Messi and even players like Liverpool's Pepe Reina and as we know Mr. Fabregas. Any club in the world would love to sign Cesc in my opinion except Barcelona. It would be great to bring in another home town hero but it is evident that Cesc is a creating and attacking midfielder. Now you tell me. Where would you put him in your starting Barcelona 4-3-3 that ran like clockwork last season? Well he is obviously a midfielder so the midfield seems like a more than logical place to start. Most of the attention focused on Barca's treble last year was directed toward the goal scoring trio up top. Henry, Eto'o, and Messi. However the glue that held that team together are the unsung heroes that are Iniesta, Xavi, and Yaya Toure, the magic triangle. The three were clearly the back bone of Barcelona and their key to success. So of these players, who do you replace with Cesc Fabregas? Well it obviously can't be Yaya. He's the most holding of the three and is just a monster winning arial challenges and halting the attacks of the opposition. That isn't a Cesc job at all. So that leaves Iniesta and Xavi. There isn't a better center midfield team in the entire world. They both are first team regulars for Spain (over Cesc) and can find each other on the pitch wearing blindfolds with the stadium lights off. I bet they could possibly alter their formation to fit Cesc, Xavi, and Iniesta all in to the same line-up but that just puts to many of the same kind of players on the field. There simply isn't any room for the gunners' star except for a tiny piece of pine located to the right of Pep Guardiola. Okay, so maybe he could be surplus and increase team depth. That's just a bad career choice though. Going from a captain of a Big Four club in what people say is the best league in the world to the bench back home in Catalonia. It's a World Cup year. If Fabregas wants to break into the Spanish National Team's XI, its by playing games as a captain at Arsenal and not sitting in the shadow of the two guys currently playing over him. The most outrageous part of the entire idea of the transfer is that Arsenal want €45 million for their captain. First of all even with the deal going through, Wenger is so afraid of the transfer window, he has drawn the drapes. The cash would sit idle. Secondly, that's an absurd amount of money for a player that would not play €45 mil worth of minutes.

The whole idea seems great if you are any other club but Barcelona. Imagine if Arsenal lost their last leader and one of their last top notch players? They would be in for a real scare. The transfer just doesn't seem to make sense on any level. I wouldn't doubt that the two clubs have some sort of scheme cooked up that I don't know about, but I'm confused on why this is becoming such a dragged out transfer saga over the past couple days.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

Short Thought: Unnecessary International Friendlies

Everybody knows the Premier League starts this weekend except for maybe FIFA. It's obvious that none of the EPL bosses are pleased with the International Friendly dates in the midweek before the season kicks off. It's a vital time for team preparation and it's usually the best of the best players of a country that represent their patriotic colors. Therefore they are almost sure to be vital and important players to there club as well. Obviously everyone needs to train, but as a coach you would have to feel pretty ridiculous training players that you know won't even make the squad list for the opening match.

It's a risk of injury for the players as well. Liverpool should consider themselves lucky because skipper, Stevie Gerrard pulled out of the England squad because he believed there was a light tug on his groin that he did not want to risk. He was replaced by Aston Villa's Ashley Young. Gerrard is still expected to play the opener at White Hart Lane against Spurs at the weekend. The German Bundesliga started this past week where heavily sought after transfer target Franck Ribery was unable to play because of an injury he sustained in preseason, yet he was still called up for the French National Team. Real Madrid put their foot down an did not release Portugal star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is said to have the flu (normal strand, not swine flu.) The former Real Madrid manager and current Portuguese National Team boss Carlos Queiroz was less than pleased as his team are struggling to be a shoe in for their World Cup 2010 qualification quest. Real Madrid did however release Pepe to go. The World Cup is in the back of everyone's mind this season, as John Terry said this week, but this friendly session seems to be unneeded and unnecessary. The EPL is the best league in the world at the current moment and an international friendly date in the week before opening day is ludicrous. Players will definitely return fatigued and jet lagged and may even need a break from training before they can get down to work again. And when they do get back to business with their clubs, I doubt there will be enough time to rehearse everything in training. What really can you do though? I think the managers need to speak up up and band together. Of course friendlies for national teams are essential but on a date like this one? There has to be somewhere else to fit it in.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

English Premier League, Less Than a Week

The readers of FDLI seem to know what they are talking about when it comes to the up coming Premier League season. It was voted that Chelsea F.C. would be the ones lifting the League trophy at the end of May 2010. Well a week before the season they lifted the FA
Community Shield out of the reach Manchester United, edging them in penalties after the two sides were even at 2-2 after 90 minutes. This game means nothing to the EPL table but it shows how the Blues are stacking up to "Ronaldoless" United.

Chelsea have enjoyed a great preseason. They've come away with wins with friendly results against teams such as Interazionale, AC Milan, and Club America in the World Football challenge held in the United States. If anyone looks to be preseason favorites for the Premier Leage (and that doesn't mean a whole lot), it's them. The have all the qualities to bring the title back to West London. I would have to say the depth on Chelsea is greater than any other team in the world right now. It's a bold statement to make, but I feel like it is one I can confidently make. What has hurt Chelsea in the past couple of seasons is consistency. Perhaps, Carlo Ancelotti has the cure. Manchester United on the other hand have bigger things to worry about. I for one, back Sir Alex to find a way to replace Ronaldo but it really didn't show against Chelsea yesterday. I thought Nani was active until his injury but Valencia didn't do a great deal except foul a few times after he came on. Chelsea should have won the match in 90 minutes. Rooney was a hair offside on his second goal. United just lacked creativity, especially in the second half. Performances like the one against Chelsea will not win them a 4th title in a row. You have to feel sorry for the Red Devils (or maybe you don't depending who you are). They've gone down twice in penalties this preseason. This time around they shockingly only converted 1 to Chelsea's 4. Evra's was just simply awful. Cech could have spit at it and made the save.

But enough about the Community shield. It's a fun match, but nothing important. What is important is the first game of the season. Who'dya got? Home or away? Ready or not? Here it comes. Liverpool are looking to come off a preseason failure against Atletico Madrid 2-1. The Reds start with Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Harry Redknapp will looking to get underway with new signings such as Peter Crouch, while Liverpool go into battle without Xabi Alonso or replacement Aquilani. However when Liverpool misses key players, they are subject to underperform. But those players are Gerrard and Torres, not Alonso or Aquilani. So I would expect a win from the Merseyside outfit but not a blow out. Something along the lines of 2-1. The match I'm the most interested in on the first weekend in England's top flight is Everton at home against the Gunners. Everyone has been talking about Manchester City breaking into the top four now that Arsenal has the potential of dropping out, but traditionally Everton finish very close to the top of the pack. Wouldn't it be interesting if they got the North London side off to a rocky start while they try to keep their place in the Champions League against Celtic in the midweek fallowing the match? A bit cynical to think like that, but I seem to enjoy it.

Sunderland finally completed the Bent deal in time for the Black Cats to take on Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok. Coach Steve Bruce says "He's everything I want" when referring to Bent who, through Twitter, expressed his frusteration and impatience with Tottenham to let him join Sunderland. Blackburn Rovers will be eagerly awaiting their opening match against Manchester City to put a quick halt to former manager, Mark Hughes and the City spending that has taken place this summer. Franco Di Santo is anxious to be star for Rovers, despite being loaned out by Chelsea. He scored his first Chelsea goal and had the assist on the other goal when Chelsea triumphed over Mexican outfit, Club America, earlier in the summer. Now that we are talking about Chelsea again. They begin the season with Hull City who had fun making life hard for Big Four sides last season, especially Arsenal. But can the Tigers come into Stamford Bridge and get a shock result on opening day, unlikely. But anything can happen. Fulham will be eager to get another season underway after the run they had last year. They start with Pompey at Fratton Park. Pompey have been selling this summer in the midst of a takeover deal. Their agenda for the season will be stay afloat in the Premiership so next year the cash flow from the new Arab owner can be put to good use.

Newcomers Burnly will set sail on their EPL journey against last year's newcomers, Stoke who have taken Dean Whitehead from Sunderland in late July. Burnley to have some key signings though. They picked up a 19 year old Ecuadorian winger by the name of Fernando Guerrero on loan from Independiente de Valle as well as Steven Fletcher from Hiberian £ 3 million. They'll be one of the many clubs fighting for their spot in the top flight. Aston Villa will be looking to crack the Big Four this year, starting against EPL scrappers Wigan at the JJB. Villa conquered Juventus in the preseason Peace Cup tournament on penalties and will be looking to swing their momentum directly into Wigan on opening day with the key signing of England Under 21, Fabian Delph from Leeds. Birmingham have also returned to the Prem this season. They get the Manchester United welcoming comitee to escort them back to the big leagues. To their luck, they will at least get to play against the threepeat EPL winners at home. Home advantage is usually a key factor, but less relative when United comes to town. They will be looking to bounce right back up after their loss to Chelsea yesterday. Finally Wolves, last year's Championship winners will be taking on the Hammers. They too will be starting their campaign at home. West Ham boss, former Chelsea great, Gianfranco Zola is still looking to grab the signature of Barcelona's out of place Gudjohnsen. If it does happen, I doubt it would be in time for the match against the hungry Wolves.

There's a quick overview for Week 1 of the EPL. I wanted to to start the season off with an over view like this so we have a basic understanding of where everyone in the league is. For me, the more shock results the better. It makes it so much more interesting. For others, they just want to see their team do well. Nonetheless, everyone can't be smiling when the season is said and done!

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

Real Madrid vs DC United: 3-0

Another convincing Madrid win if you just look at the scoreline, but there is so much more to the match than that and I'm here to discuss it all. I believe this is one of the best tests for Real Madrid for many reasons. It was hot. The pace of the game was great. But most of all, the match was just enjoyable, for me especially as a Madridista and being an American, seeing how the club football in my home country stacks up against one of the best teams in the world. Let's get started, shall we?

First, I want to clear things up for some people that seem to think that just because Real Madrid has Ronaldo and Kaka and a plethora of other stars, the squad should easily smash everyone 6 and 7 to nil. This is not the case. All the preseason hype is great but we have to keep things in perspective here. Real's players are the best of the best, but they are going to be playing against other professional footballers. Manchester United was a great team last year, but they didn't humiliate teams every week. Other teams will have chances. That's football. So just because Real Madrid gives up a corner on a quick break from the opposition doesn't always mean the defending on the team needs work. It means the offense on the other team did well to play some quality football. I think this was a great test for Real Madrid because they were constantly under pressure. I can totally applaud D.C. for the way they went about the match. When Real Madrid C.F. comes to town, it's intimidating. Player are a little hesitant to take on monsters like Pepe and company. Maybe the team wants to focus their strategy on defending for obvious reason. To my delight, that was not the case today! D.C. was very active and fun to watch play. They were not hesitant or shy by any means. One thing I was interested in seeing was how Madrid would cope with was high pressure from an opponent who likes to push on high and try to creative turn over in advanced positions. There were points where the team looked to react to it very nicely, stringing quick moving passes and evading danger by keeping the ball and play moving. That's the best way to beat that sort of system. Keep it simple until holes begin to breach. That wasn't always the case though. Some times, the pressure got to the team in the center of midfield and bogged down ability to hold possession, keeping the ball in Madrid's own half. It was a great test because if anyone has been tuning into the Barcelona preseason, they have been working on pressuring high up in every match. Barca is a far better side than D.C. United (with all respect to them), so you can see what los blancos are up against. Normally, this wouldn't worry me because there are times where the opposition will have spells in your own half. But when that happened, los blancos got away from the sweet and creative play we saw early in the first half and resorted to long balls over the top. I understand that we have the speed to do that. However, that's not the football we want to play. The type of game we want to play showed it's self in segments, especially in the first half. There were lots of great opportunities that came from possession spells with intricate passing. Higuain, Ronaldo, Granero, Kaka, and Sneijder all had chances in the first half. The D.C. United starting goalkeeper is my man of that match. He was wonderful with the save on Higuain's header and Granero's bullet. Brilliant display by him. Lot's of folks have doubted that all the new signings at Real Madrid would not be able to work together. Recent play has proved this to be very wrong. The quality of each individual is to account for the team's success. Players like Ronaldo know they don't have to take on the single superstar role because the faith in teammates as talented as Raul, Kaka, Benzema, Granero (this could take all day), ect. is evident. The team knows in order to be successful, they need each other.

What are all Madrid supporters talking about now? Pipita off the mark with not one but two goals! It was about time. Up until now, I was a bit worried about his preseason form but I never doubted him. This delights me. You could see how ecstatic he was to have scored on both occasions. The first goal was one for the highlight reels. He must have carried it 40 yards before slotting it past the goalkeeper. However, if you watch the goal, Robben was smart and dragged is defender right out of Higuain's path, smart. The second goal was scored on a break, and instrumental ball was played through to Robben from the "Pirate" Granero. Robben did the hard work and slid it across to an unmarked Higuain who danced past the keeper and rolled the ball into the back of the net. The third goal came from Robben himself. He deserved one after the performance he put on today. He came on as a halftime sub and really provided his own spark, as he usually does. Some believed the Dutchman to be on his way out of the club but he insists that he is staying. I'm sure glad he is after the goal he scored today. I just sat back and smiled. Pepe, with a rare, assist played a long ball in to Robben who sneaked in behind the defense from the right flank. He took three touches. One to trap, one juggle, and one looping volley chip that passed the goal line before the substitute D.C. keeper could pluck it away. Simply sublime. It's comforting to be surrounded by so much depth in the attack especially. You wouldn't even realize that Benzema and Lass were on French National Team duty (even though the FSC announcer seemed to be convinced we would be seeing them coming on. They need to step up their coverage if they are planning on doing the champions league seriously). With Lass away, Xabi Alonso was the one chosen to be the holding of the midfielders. I didn't notice him a whole lot during the match but when I began to look closer, he was doing a brilliant job of just doing a classic defensive center mid's job. He just help rotate and change the point of play. A few times Pepe ventured into the attack I peeked at the back line, and Alonso looked to be covering nicely as if he was a center back all along. He did well under the pressure of the D.C. United midfield. Many may have noticed at times we looked out numbered in midfield. That's because we played the same 4-3-3 as last match (3 midfielders) and D.C. played a 3-5-2 (5 midfielders). Drenthe's confidence rises another level in every game. You have to be impressed with his fitness and just pure athleticism. With the absence of Marcelo due to a sprained ankle, Drenthe played two 90 minute matches in 3 days after a transatlantic flight. He was as lively as ever. He worked up and down the left flank all match. You can tell the confidence is coming back to him. For example, the line drives he was hitting across the pitch to Arbeloa and the 4 or more scissors when he took on that defender in the first half. Many people thought he was going to be a flop, but has been quick to silence the hater's tongue in preseason. I know it's a little bit of a stretch but he reminds me of Roberto Carlos a little. The only thing that worried me with him today, is the majority of the D.C. attack came from long balls through in behind Drenthe or over the top of him. He just needs to keep a little better eye on that winger when the ball is on the opposite side of the pitch.

It was another positive Real Madrid result in the capital city of the United States on a summer scorcher. Shout out to my man Dave, (zidanechamp10) who survived the heat, got handshakes from majority of los blancos and got his picture taken with the engineer himself, Pellegrini. Anyone else catch the FA Community Shield today? You, the readers did pick Chelsea to win the Premiership this season in the last poll. You must know your stuff.

Viva el futbol y HALA MADRID!

Bobby

Exclusive: The "What If" Theory

Could this be a start of a revolution in English football this year? Many people believe that the EPL is the strongest league in the world. There have been monumental changes in the big four clubs this summer and the said to be new title contender Manchester City. But where will it all lead? There are so many possibilities, some of them scare me and others intrigue me. Today I'm going to give you a totally hypothetical situation. However, just because it is hypothetical, doesn't mean there isn't a chance of this actually happening in the new campaign.

Let's first start with some background information. We all know the Manchester Derby is unpredictable and a great match to watch. Manchester City over the past handful of years have found positive results despite being eternal underdogs in the tie. A lot of people come together to watch the Red and Blue side of Manchester clash. Over recent years it's been a rivalry that stays relatively to the match. What I mean is, other than playing each other twice a season, though the results may very, it's not really anything significantly more than who beats who in that specific game. It's not like they are contending like Real Madrid and Barcelona at each other's throat to claim the best in Spain because we all know who the better club is in this case, Manchester United. However this season looks to be cooking up a potential recipe for a more heated encounter between the two teams.

You'd have to be living in a nutshell to not know the spending Manchester City has done this summer to totally bolster their squad into a Big Four challenging outfit. We also know there have been changes to the Red Devils as well. Star, Cristiano Ronaldo has left for Madrid and the (former) Old Trafford favorite Tevez, though finally welcomed to stay with the supporters who loved him so, after months of whining about not being asked to remain at Manchester United, dared to turn his cheek and trade in his allegiances by turning in his United uniform for the light blue of Manchester City. There has been a war of words going on all summer about the transfer. Sir Alex has spoken out many times about the Tevez transfer, claiming the Argentine hit man was not worth the money City bought him for. Tevez has hit back at United and Sir Alex on several occasions, directly or indirectly. Manchester City decided to make huge posters of the Argentine that read "Welcome to Manchester." Sir Alex called the attempt arrogant and an attempt to get a rise out of the United fans. "I think it's daft." he said.

So this is where my "What If" comes in. Pay attention closely. If you had read my article Derby Day (and if you haven't, it's not to late), extreme derbies such as the Milan derby of El Clasico are started over a series of events that aren't exactly football related. It's something more that tips tempers other than location in the same city as the two Manchester clubs are (although Manchester United are actually outside the city). El Clasico had the Spanish Civil War behind it. The Milan derby had the exclusion of anyone not English in AC Milan at the routes of that. Could these war of words, massive spendings by Man City, the controversial Tevez transfer, and City's legitimate push for the Premier League title be the reasons that start an English version of a megaderby? One of the same caliber of El Clasico? Perhaps, translated into English, "The Classic?" "The Manchester Classic?" All the ingredients are there. They would just need to be put in to the pot in the right order to boil up this mouthwatering possibility. So let's get hypothetical. Let's say the Manchester spending is beginning to pay off. They are experiencing a series of good results in the early season. Let's say they go on to win their first five matches of the new campaign. Which are Blackburn, Everton, Wolves, Pompey, and then Arsenal. If City can roll 4 games in a row, they will be on a high to face Arsenal. Arsenal is said to be the team, if any, that would drop out of the Big Four this season. It's not like City will be the less favored side here either. After all they've snatched up the Gunner's Adebayor and Kolo Toure who have yet to be replaced. City also beat Arsenal in the first half of last season 3-0. So what if the Gunners fall to City again? What does that mean? City's dreams of cracking the top four are beginning to come true, at least in their own eyes. The Arsenal result doesn't really mean too much this early in the season to experts but the fact the they just scalped a Big Four team, will make the players of City believe even more in the project they are part of and confidence will sky rocket for the next match. Who's next on the transfer list? Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams. Maybe this where City's "dreams" may actually be realized. This stage of the "What If" theory is the most vital to the outcome we've dared to predict here. It also just hypothetical remember. So bare with me. What if Man City goes guns-a-blazin' into Old Trafford and comes away with a win. Let's say the scoreline is 2-1 to the Citizens. What if Tevez has both? Or even one? Perhaps even just a major part to play in the match? This is where the meltdown begins. Sir Alex begins to further criticize City's spending and the performance by his own players, attempting to take the glory out of the City showing, frantically trying to calm the hype that City is the better team in Manchester. However, he's just stirring things up because Mark Hughes will encourage the public that his side were capable all along. Tevez will have his own bit to say. I can already hear the striker: "I made the right choice to leave United. I must be worth the money now" he says jokingly at a press conference. The war of words is never ending. United have lost to Manchester City before but now it means something much more, especially to the supporters. If the light blue had confidence before, what do you think they're feeling like now? In ecstasy. Could this be happening? Two big four victories in as many weeks! This will surely continue for matches to come as their new found confidence pushes aside challenging teams and securing a spot in the top four by Christmas. Now it is Manchester United an the unfamiliar shadow of their rivals. Maybe even below a confident City in the table. The pressure is on them. They will have to wait all the way until April 17th of 2010 to get their revenge (grant it they don't meet in a domestic cup along the way). And on that date, they will have to travel into the heart of the lion's den also known as "The City of Manchester Stadium." Walking into a harsh atmosphere full of passionate City supporters who all of a sudden have a new found sense of pride and glory exercising all the rights the results and confidence has brought them. Baby blue banners and flags that read arrogant and confident messages, kids' with the Tevez kit number painted on their face and jerseys that read "Revenge" in place of a name on the back over the number "10" that signifies the year to date. Picture the images and sounds in your head. City supporters singing cheerfully and jeering just as much as the desperate Red Devils warming up. If United manages to overcome and win here, "The Manchester Classic" is on. They will most certainly use the win to shove back crap back into the faces of the Citizens. If United lose at the hands of City "The Manchester Classic" is even more on! Of course the outspoken Robinho will be throwing his two sense (or more) into the public readings. The papers and other press will have been analysing this phenomenon for weeks previous and even more so in weeks to come. The footballing world will have been turned upside-down in England and the Manchester United bandwagon across the world will begin to deteriorate violently as Manchester City are Champions League material.

Now would be a good time to snap back into reality. There you have it. It almost seems like a doomsday prediction doesn't it? Kind of scary. I'm not saying this is what I believe is going to occur. I most certainly would not put a dime on this theory coming true. For all I know City could lose to Wolves, then crushed by the Gunners, and finally put to rest by United the fallowing week, sending them back to the mid table they are so very used to. However, the elements for United disaster are there. This is football, anything can happen.

R.I.P. Dani Jarque

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid,

Bobby

Real Madrid vs Toronto FC: 5-1

The people of Toronto were not let down by los blancos display tonight. Unless they were die hard T.F.C. supporters. It's hard to be disappointed when Real Madrid wins and scores 5 goals in a single match. Those aren't the only reasons to be pleased though. There are plenty of positives to take out of today's Canadian match up. Not to mention, after Barcelona's North America act was looking to be a tough one to fallow, the other Spanish giant didn't let anyone down.

I'd like to start with the few negatives. From a Real Madrid stand point it's hard to pick out negatives unless you're looking under a microscope like me. I tend to be a bit picky. Okay so it's not like Real was playing a real quality side, but I'm not going to bash a good result and a good performance. I'm actually not disappointed about the goal at all. It was a low hard shot that rebounded to another red shirt. It happens, unlucky. I think it was great for that T.F.C kid to score against a big club like Real Madrid. I believe the announcer on ESPN said he hadn't played a regular season game at all this year. So good for him. He is just a boy. I'd be just as ecstatic as he was. The one thing that made me cringe early was when Casillas, showing he is the best keeper in world (maybe a biased opinion), came out and saved the 1v1 opportunity early in the first half. A chipped ball over the top was played to a Toronto striker who was obviously in an offsides position. However, he let it go and the back line froze as second Toronto player went darting through only to be denied by Iker from close range. Those are the little things that we can't fall asleep on, especially against good sides. He was totally unmarked and 7 out of 10 times will score a golden opportunity like that. At times the Albiol/Metzelder partnership was a little shifty. But for the first time playing together, good. Pepe will miss the first couple games of the season due to a suspension he received at the end of last season. So the German and the new Spanish signing will see a lot of time together right away when the season gets started in a short couple weeks now. I too noticed that the play dropped a little at the beginning of the second half. We need to play a complete 90 minutes or it will comeback to haunt us. For example, Real Madrid vs Juve last week. Other than that it's very hard to pull mistakes from the match. Like I said, I'm a nit-picker and that's all I've got for you.

Let's discuss the formation. It's not what a lot of people expected. I have been all over websites and discussions about what we were going to be looking at tonight and the most common ideas, from what I could see were 4-4-2 with a staggered or altered midfield or 4-2-1-2-1. That wasn't the case. Pellegrini went with a very Barcelona like 4-3-3. Here was the team to start:

------------------Casillas------------------
Arbeloa----R. Albiol--Metzelder --Drenthe
------Lass--------Kaka-------Guti--------
---Ronaldo------Benzema-----Raul-------

That's what the formation looked like, but that is most certainly not how it stayed. The play from Real Madrid was very inventive and creative. This is the kind of football we have all been expecting. Ronaldo looks like a right forward but was often found in the center or left. Kaka was up top next to Benzema who seemed to drift to the left a bit. Raul, as you may have guessed by now, was seen high and even to the right at times. The midfield was having a bit of fun by tangling defenders because they were so hard to mark as they too frequently switched places, making it extremely hard for Toronto to pick up. I don't want to concentrate too much on individual performances because it was a team effort but there are certain things that must be addressed. Real Madrid supporters on forums in recent days have been saying that Raul should step aside and give someone younger a shot. Someone even said he should work to get out of his contract (What a ridiculous comment!). I've argued that he is still valuable and he didn't do me wrong tonight. Two goals of two very different nature. Who says he doesn't still got it? He chopped a defender who is probably 7-10 years younger than he is and roofed it off the cross bar into the back of the net. The years may be beginning to wear on him, but he still has a lot to offer. Good performance by him tonight. It was evident how excited Ronaldo was to score his first goal from open play. Scoring from the penalty spot twice is rewarding but your not truly off the mark until you get one from the run of play. The goal was well worked. I clapped to it in my own living room. A chipped ball into Ronaldo, who headed it on to Benzema. The French international took a touch or so forward and then cut it back for C. Ronaldo, who continued his run and met it in stride. One touch. Bang. Beautiful. Benzema played a major role tonight. Higuain will need to step up his stuff to find game time, but I'm sure at this stage in his career Raul, sadly, cannot play every match. Back to Benzema. He had a part to play in the 4th and 5th goal. He scored from close range after Negredo worked hard to reach the end line and poked a nifty through ball in from Robben who beat the goal keeper and slid the ball home. Well done. It was a luxury to have the Confederations Cup players back in action even though Pellegrini only gave them the first half. Kaka looks awfully promising as always. I feel like he will be an extremely influential part in the upcoming season after seeing him work well with the rest of the Real players today. Arbeloa was very active, filling in for Sergio Ramos who stayed in Spain to nurse an Achilles injury. He gave the ball away a few times, but you can't have a stunning performance every game. I have yet to be disappointed by Granero. He came on as a sub and was just as composed and solid as always. I'd really like to know his pass completion percentage. It's got to be up there. Long balls, through balls, short passes. He can do it all. Xabi Alonso did just the job I thought he would. I didn't expect any less but I'm beginning to get used to something that seems rather unfamiliar as a Madridista. Depth. The healthy competition for places will do the team good. There are so many options. I feel if one player is goofing up, Madrid has another player just as willing and talented to pick up the slack. I want to give an online applause to Drenthe. He has recovered from his confidence scare last year and is as lively and athletic as always. Him and Marcelo, as I have said before, will be truly duking it out for left back all season. Heinze got out at the right time. No real smack on Gago, but Lass looks a lot more comfortable and affective without the Argentine next to him. The last thing I want to briefly touch on is defending set plays. I can actually say something positive about it this time. Madrid's set play defending was much (much, much, much) better than matches previous. The team may have been scored against, but this time not from a free kick or corner, or a header for that matter. Finally.

In the end it is a performance I, as well as many other Madridistas should be excited about. Hopefully that is just a preview for what is to come in the new campaign. I'm looking forward to watching what should be a similar performance against a significantly better D.C. United in a few days time. Just remember, this is preseason, not La Liga, the Copa del Rey, or the Champions League.

Viva el futbol y HALA MADRID!

Bobby

Short Thought: Preseason Form

Preseason is always an interesting time for every club. Teams participate in friendlies, exotic tours of foriegn lands, and mini tournaments to tune up their squad for the season ahead of them. I've been noticing the amount of people who seem to think that what happens in preseason is what the season, which starts in a couple weeks now, will mirror. This is not at all the case. You must be mad to think these games are an accurate portrayal of what your team's chances are come time for the leagues to start.

I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to being disappointed or pointing out when things that look wrong when watching the preseason matches this summer but I know the difference between preseason flaws and why they are happening. First of all, especially this year, players have been on the move. What does that mean? Well all the players that are just transferred into clubs have a lot on their agenda. They have to get to know their new teammates' playing style and personality. The players already at the club have to do the same for those incoming or else the team won't gel. That's why it looks like some players don't look on the same page. Perhaps the new player is learning a new language to communicate on the pitch. They may be playing a different formation from what they are used to at their old club. There is also a possibility that with new personnel, the manager will switch up the team's formation from the previous season which mean's everyone has to learn and adapt to a new system. This is a time for experimentation, trial and error. Which could lead to poor results. There is a good chance your favorite team may have a new coach who everyone has to get used to. The new coach will probably have his own ideas and own transfer targets. Footballer that were popular under the last boss may fall out of favor with the new one. So the team will learn to play without that player. Secondly, not everyone is in mid season form when returning and most certainly isn't as fit as when the last season ended. That's why a lot of footballers don't go the 90 minutes are a subbed at half, which leads to academy of reserve players getting time. We all know they aren't first team stars so it's natural for the level of play to drop and for the temper of the die hard fan to increase when it does so. My advice, stay calm. Those reserves are just learning to play at the top level. The players you have a problem with, you will most likely not see in the season, and the ones that stand out will most likely only be substitutes, if that. Now, every team has their own preseason schedule. Chelsea, Internazionale, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Everton all went transcontinental. The time zones are off and the jet lag can really take a toll on the performance of a team. Manchester United, Tottenham, and Liverpool took off in a different direction to the Middle and Far East to play team from that region of the world. Some teams have more to be worried about preseason however. There are exceptions. Take Celtic for example. They've been busy in qualifying for the Champions League. So they probably started preseason a little earlier than the rest and their preseason fixtures may mean a little more than your average team who has no competition that starts in late July.

What I'm trying to say is, if your team hasn't performed well in preseason against teams you should easily handle. Don't sweat it. Why? One, the reasons I just gave above. And two, it doesn't count for anything. If anything, your team is learning from the poor results and making rectifying changes. So don't be so hard on your favorite club (Milan supporters).

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

Short Thought: On the Move

This summer's transfer market has been all the talk. It quickly over shadowed the international tournament, the Confederations Cup. Little names to megastars have all been on the move but why? What's wrong with the club they're at? I can think of three reasons and I'm willing to share them with the you the readers. We'll take a look at while suite cases are full and every dressing room has a different look and how it might affect the future.

1. Reason 1: It's a World Cup year. It's every player's dream to lift the golden trophy and South Africa is all the hype being the first African nation to host. So why does this affect club transfers? Well players need to impress their national team coaches. Some times the teams they currently play for aren't significant enough to catch the coaches' eyes. Let's look at a prime example. David Beckham had to extend his stay at Milan before returning to LA to play with the Galaxy to impress Fabio Capello, England National Team coach, because playing in the MLS will not boost your credentials to be on the Three Lions next summer. When the MLS season ends this autumn, he will most likely return to a European based outfit to continue his pursuit of World Cup glory. Also some national team players are looked upon as surplus at the club they currently play for. In order to be noticed or considered, a footballer needs to be a regular team player to be on form and it doesn't look good if you wan't to make a difference for the national team and you don't even smell the grass at you're club. Take the dutch players at Real Madrid. Now Robben looks to be safe. However, dutch star midfielder Sneijder, Dutch Euro 2008 captain Van der Vaart, and striker Huntelaar are having trouble establishing themselves amongst the galacticos Real Madrid have brought in this summer. Sneijder has been linked with a loan move to Internazionale. Van der Vaart has already established he will leave the Bernabeu to a destination unknown and Huntelaar looks close to completing a move to AC Milan as of today.
   


2. Reason 2: Deep pockets. The world of football is growing ever more financial. With big money owners taking over clubs, the cash is being spilt out on new prospects. The likes of wealthy owners and lucrative deals from prosperous clubs have the money to to throw out deals other clubs have a hard time denying. Perhaps this is why so many big players have been on the move. Manchester City, a club of no great prestige but with the deepest of pockets, was able to bring in players like Tevez, Adebayor, Barry, Toure, and look to be close to a Lescott transfer after he asked for one recently. Chelsea owner Roman Abromavich hasn't spent his never-ending money supply yet but talks this week suggest Chelsea are planning to make the move for three big stars. Real Madrid have spent around a quarter of a billion dollars bringing in players this summer with signings of footballing super stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to name a few. A lot of people do not think this kind of cash is good for the game. However, people like FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, believes it shows an even higher interest in the sport. It's been a very controversial topic this summer but it doesn't seem to be coming to an end any time soon because more tycoons, those of Arab dissent in particular, and interested in buying EPL clubs. Portsmouth was bought out in recent weeks by a wealthy Dubai based business man. Are they the next City?
   


3. Reason 3: Some clubs are on the up and some clubs are on the down. The main reason for joining a team is success. If you want to be successful, you have to join a good squad. It makes perfect sense. Ibrahimovic joins Barcelona. Why? Well, why not? The team just came off it's greatest season in the history of the club and they don't plan to stop there. Real Madrid came off a terrible season last year. However, everyone knows there is time for change so a combination of deep pockets and the clubs willingness to succeed brought in a second era of galacticos. Micheal Owen, a (former) Liverpool favorite joined arch rivals Manchester United this summer after a spell at a few other clubs. Now that seems awfully odd doesn't it? Nonetheless let's look at the direction of the club he was leaving and the club he is joining. Newcastle United was his outfit last year. Where are they now? Relegated to the championship. Who did he join? The EPL champions for the last three years. It makes a lot of sense for a play no matter where your allegiances are tied too.
   

From what I can see, and that's a lot folks, these are the reason that so many players on the move this year. There are little other reasons, of course, but these are the main ones. There are definately going to be more transfers this summer. Take a step back and see if you can tie them to the reasons I have provided here.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby

Best Footballing Academies.

The game of football is filled with young whippersnappers. Every now and then we hear of the next protegy player coming up through the ranks somewhere or another. I mean that usually isn't the case when they grow older, for instance Freddy Adu. Jack Wilshire at Arsenal, though young is proving he can compete at a high level and is bursting with confidence. New exciting players are being bread everyday in all different parts of the world. The lucky ones, however, are developed in the finest footballing academies available. All the big stars had to start somewhere. Where is the player development capital of the world? Is it North London? What about Catalonia or Turin? Manchester United is a great club, how about them? Let's find out.

FC Barcelona are said to have the greatest academy in the world by many people who take time to study the game of football. How can these people be sure? What evidence do they have? All you have to do is look at some of the players that have come out of the infamous La Masia. The names such as Victor Valdez, Puyol, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Sergi Busquets, Pique, and FCB's burrent boss and former player, Pep Guardiola. They've also developed big names that are at other clubs. Liverpool goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, Everton favorite, Mikel Arteta, and Arsenal playmaker, Cesc Fabregas. La Masia is not hard to find. It's simply right next to the the Nou Camp. The historic building was built in 1702. The academy was started in 1979 It is made up of 90% Spanish players, and 50% are Catalonians. The 10% are foreign such as Messi. So it's not to far off to say that the Barcelona area could produce some of the best talent in the world. Barcelona are active in the transfer market as much as anyone but it is a priority for them to breed players into their first team. The more number of La Masia players in the squad the more Catalonia is represented, which allows the club motto to stay true. Mes que un club. More than a club. Perhaps that is the reason the academy is so successful. We are beginning to see the next generation of La Masia products poke their head above the surface in Barcelona's preseason campaign while former academy players such as Puyol, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and Valdez already have taken the reigns to lead the club, where they did so successfully last year being the first Spanish club to win the treble. Bojan Krkic has been the hype of the last few years as the future of Barcelona but new names are beginning to appear. Pedrito and Jeffran netted against Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy just a couple days ago. Dos Santos, former Barcelona youth product, helped Mexico steamrole the United States 5-0 in the gold cup final.

So if Barcelona has a great youth academy, than you would surely think their arch rivals Real Madrid would have one pretty close to being just as good. Sadly that is not the case recently. Real Madrid have developed plays and then are quick to ship them off because they have trouble breaking into a well established first team. For example, Javi Garcia to Benfica and Dani Parejo to Getafe just this summer. Perhaps it is because the academy isn't as strong, but the la madridista nation expects quality performances on every outing. That's a lot of pressure for youngster to handle. It's hard for the first teamers to handle at times. There are some faces on the Real Madrid side that are home bread though. Raul, Madrid's golden boy has been at the club since he was a boy. Iker Casillas the goalkeeper who has played in the youth ranks since age 9. Guti has also been brought up through Castilla. Madrid have been fortunate to reobtain some of their losses bringing back Granero from Getafe and Arbeloa from Liverpool, both of which were part of Madrid's system. It remains pretty obvious that Castilla does not campare well to La Masia in Barcelona. However in this summers U-18 World Club Championships it was Real Madrid who triumphed over Barcelona 2-1 in the final. That will leave a bitter taste in the mouthes of La Masia and continue to fuel the rivalry when these players reach first team action in years to come.

Let's get out of Spain for right now and travel north to the UK. One of the best academies in England you can go to is not, Man. Utd., Chelsea no, Liverpool nope, then surely Aresnal, wrong again. West Ham's The Academy of Football. Some of the greatest English players in the game today and off the past have trained there! Where do I even begin? Okay so West Ham isn't exactly a top notch club in the Prem but it certainly is a top notch place to develop players. In 1998-1999 the FA Youth Cup was won by a scoreline of 9-0 by this lot and featured players such as Chelsea's Joe Cole and Manchester United's Micheal Carrick. The likes of Harry Redknapp, England's 1966 World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore (I rather like that name), Paul Ince, Glen Johnson who just arrived at Liverpool after a spell with Pompey, Chelsea's Frank Lampard, Rio and Anton Ferdinand, and Jermaine Defoe have all come out of the Hammer's system. Oh wait I forgot to mention John Terry, Sol Campbell, Alan Curbishley, Kieran Richardson, Mark Noble and Jimmy Bullard also spent time there. And I know I must be forgetting some. That's an unbeleivable amount of talent coming out of one place. The Academy of Football takes the prize for developing the most prestigous players.

As of lately, Arsenal, mainly because the ideals of coach Arsene Wenger have heavily relied on their youth system, even more than Barca does. Some say it's an attribute to the club and what kind of players they develop. I'm going to poke my nose in on this business because not a lot of people will. Does Arsenal develop great youngsters? Absolutely. However, I think the opportunities at which they are sometimes exposed to the harsh world of top class footballing is are mistimed. Throwing young Gibbs into the mix against Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final? That just isn't a smart move. What does Arsene Wenger think he will do? I mean if he has a great match, its a boost of confidence that will carry a player for miles but Gibbs experience level is not ready to take on that challenge. I do think playing some young players in the Carling Cup is a good idea because you are putting aside a competitive torunament to expose them little by little. And in the Carling Cup the young players look great. They play the quick moving interplay combination football we know from Arsenal, but often times it's against a League 1 or 2 side. With Adebayor and Toure out the door this summer, Arsenal hasn't looked to sign anyone of any signifigance. Wenger once again believes that his young boys can do the job. It doesn't seem to be the season to be toying around with Manchester City buying players like they've come from a vending machine. I think the Arsenal youngers are way above par footballers but they need leaders to help them grow. Arsenal have an unstable Gallas, and a young Febregas leading the team. If they fail to impress this year or even drop out of the big four, I think we will see the end of Wenger and the youth will sink back into the woodwork with a new coach except for a very select few like Jack Wilshire.

Where does one create a player like Cristiano Ronaldo? Well you simply can't. You just develop the potential he has been given by the good Lord. Well where did they do that? The Sporting/Puma Academy in Lisbon, Portugal. That is where Sir Alex picked him up from after he had made a couple appearences for their first team. Many people believe that United develop the greatest home grown players. This is a common misconception. The United youth is very good, however they aren't from Manchester. Sir Alex and his scouts often pick up players like Ronaldo and mold them into high class footballing machines. Prime examples are Ronaldo himself, Fabio and Rafael da Silva, and a soon to be breakout star Marcheda, who was controversially moved from Lazio's Academy to United's.

I hope I have enlightend some on where the best academies are incase anyone out there has amamzing tallent and might be accepted, or you were just curious. There are other programs I failed to mention such as Inter Milan, Bayern Munchen, Juventus and PSG as well as others. However, I also didn't want to leave you material-less for today.

Viva el futbol y Hala Madrid

Bobby