Summer Activity - Football, F1, Cricket!
Football - Liverpool has been the most active team in the transfer window. Rafa adds to the Spanish influence in his team by bringing in Jose Reina from Villareal. He has also added Zenden from Boro on a free transfer and 3 other players. They are also trying to sign Louis Figo and Saints striker Peter Crouch. In my opinion, now that Gerrard is staying at the club, a good defender is all they need. I look at their squad and see a lot of left wingers - Kewell, Garcia, Riise, Warnock, Zenden (although, he can play anywhere in the mid-field), Gonzales and there is dearth of wingers on the right-side, Nunez all set to leave for Celta Vigo.
Surprisingly, Chelsea has made just one high-profile signing, bringing left-back Del Horno from Spain. Mourinho was left fuming when Gerrard decided to stay in Liverpool after Cheleas's 32 million pound offer was rejected by Liverpool. Chelsea are also looking to add Man City winger Shaun-Wright Philips (when they already have 2 world-class wingers in Duff and Robben) and Michael Essien from Lyon, a defensive mid-fielder when there is Makelele playing superbly in that position!
ManUtd has made just 2 signings - goalkeeper Van der Saar and mid-fielder Ji sung-Park. With lots of recent signings flopping, I sincerely hope these 2 well! A defensive mid-fielder (a cover for Roy Keane) would just be the best way to complete their summer signings. A few options for them - Essien, Ballack, Gattuso, Mascherano, Baptista...
Arsenal has made one major signing in Hleb, a mid-fielder for 10 million pounds. Whew! That's a lot of money Wenger has spent on a single player considering the fact that he usually prefers the French & Spanish U-21 and U-18 internationals!
Tottenham seems to be associated with almost any player these days. They have already made a few signings - Routeledge, Davies, and a few others. Even though their squad looks good, I am not sure they will pose a serious threat to the top teams.
A perplexing transfer was that of Vieri moving from Inter to city rivals AC Milan. AC already have strikers like Sheva, Filipo and Tomasson and are linked to young Parma striker Gilardino too. Vieri, already 31, is way past is best and doesn't deserve to be in AC.
Barcelona has made just 2 signings - Van Bommel and Ezquerro and with the squad they have, they are a strong favourite for the league and European titles.
Real Madrid, usually makes some of the worst signings - Woodgate, Samuel last years are some examples. This year, they have bought Pablo Garcia and have set their sights again on a striker (Robinho) when they already have many! Real and Juventus are set to fight it out for Arsenal captain Viera!
Surprisingly, Chelsea has made just one high-profile signing, bringing left-back Del Horno from Spain. Mourinho was left fuming when Gerrard decided to stay in Liverpool after Cheleas's 32 million pound offer was rejected by Liverpool. Chelsea are also looking to add Man City winger Shaun-Wright Philips (when they already have 2 world-class wingers in Duff and Robben) and Michael Essien from Lyon, a defensive mid-fielder when there is Makelele playing superbly in that position!
ManUtd has made just 2 signings - goalkeeper Van der Saar and mid-fielder Ji sung-Park. With lots of recent signings flopping, I sincerely hope these 2 well! A defensive mid-fielder (a cover for Roy Keane) would just be the best way to complete their summer signings. A few options for them - Essien, Ballack, Gattuso, Mascherano, Baptista...
Arsenal has made one major signing in Hleb, a mid-fielder for 10 million pounds. Whew! That's a lot of money Wenger has spent on a single player considering the fact that he usually prefers the French & Spanish U-21 and U-18 internationals!
Tottenham seems to be associated with almost any player these days. They have already made a few signings - Routeledge, Davies, and a few others. Even though their squad looks good, I am not sure they will pose a serious threat to the top teams.
A perplexing transfer was that of Vieri moving from Inter to city rivals AC Milan. AC already have strikers like Sheva, Filipo and Tomasson and are linked to young Parma striker Gilardino too. Vieri, already 31, is way past is best and doesn't deserve to be in AC.
Barcelona has made just 2 signings - Van Bommel and Ezquerro and with the squad they have, they are a strong favourite for the league and European titles.
Real Madrid, usually makes some of the worst signings - Woodgate, Samuel last years are some examples. This year, they have bought Pablo Garcia and have set their sights again on a striker (Robinho) when they already have many! Real and Juventus are set to fight it out for Arsenal captain Viera!
F1 - Mclaren close in on RenaultOne more terrible week for Ferrari as Mclaren's Montoya and Raikkonen finished first and third respectively abd Alonso in second. Karthikeyan was the only driver who retired! It just doesn't feel like F1 without Ferrari on the podium :(
Cricket - Aussies fight back to level seriesAfter losing the first match, the Aussies proved yet again they are the team to beat after winning the second match of the Natwest series to take it to the decider. Brett Lee took 5 wickets and Ponting has struck form with a century! The Aussies then won the next game thanks to a scintillating century from Gilchrist to bag the series. The Ashes which starts within 2 weeks should be really interesting!
Cricket - Aussies fight back to level seriesAfter losing the first match, the Aussies proved yet again they are the team to beat after winning the second match of the Natwest series to take it to the decider. Brett Lee took 5 wickets and Ponting has struck form with a century! The Aussies then won the next game thanks to a scintillating century from Gilchrist to bag the series. The Ashes which starts within 2 weeks should be really interesting!
posted by Lucas @ 2:20 PM
1 Comments:
Last year, at this time, many clubs were jostling for Samuel, including Chelsea. I have not seen many Italian club players,especially hard tackling centerbacks at La Liga. And even if there were one or two I am not sure if they had a successful stint of spain.Moreover, I guess Samuel was undone by the paparazzi of the fans.He is a good defender,and will improve gradually.
Real has been different from other clubs. The Real I knew were relentless in attack,never minded conceding goals,attacking to the core.They tried to deviate from the doctrine by signing defenders who block people rather than surge forward. It has miserable backfired.And Sacchi is an important member now. This is a transition period when Real try to become like other normal clubs.I don't want them to change. But if they do, then they have best people ate the top to make that happen.Sacchi and Vanderlei.On these lines of change only, men like Pablo Garcia have been signed.Except for Owen, no mega galactico was signed by Real in the past two years. Just shows they are doing a major revamp in their system.Barcelona and Valencia had amazing seasons for two years. There is no reason why Real cannot mount a serious challenge this time around.
Woodgate was not worth the money. when you have lumps of money burning a hole in your pocket,you obviously end up signing someone for too many. Real Madrid is no exception. Hope he plays atleast one or two matches.Perez is mad.Hope he changes atleast for this great team's good.
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