Money-City

For a few weeks now I was convinced "MercenaryCity" was going to be the de facto moniker for Manchester's other team, but after seeing Toure's press conference, I am not so sure. He accidentally called his new club "Money City" twice and didn't even really seem too bummed out, he just corrected himself and said Man City. He also said some interesting and/or odd stuff about how signing there is like making love to a woman and having her love you back. Strange.

And/but/so anyway this team is slowly going from billionaires' pet project destined to languish in mediocrity to possibly being a legitimate contender. With this signing City's defense looks pretty solid. He is a great defender and can also get forward from the centerback position which complements Zabaleta's ability to attack from the rightback spot. They are playing in front of a very capable goalkeeper in Given and a sturdy ball winner in Gareth Barry. It looks to me like MoneyCity have gone a long way to limiting their goals against.

Add to that the stable of lethal strikers they have assembled and the creativity of Stephen Ireland and the thought of seeing them in the Champs League is not so silly. It is still a believe it when I see it thing, but they are taking the right steps. The fact that an obscenely wealthy ownership committed to winning kept Hughes as manager after a less than stellar season and gave him this cash to spend says they believe in him and there is some kind of project they have agreed upon.

In other MoneyCity news Elano is off to Turkey which might be a bad move. There really isn't' room for him but I have thought Elano a very under appreciated player for years now. Watching him closely it is amazing how many little things he does well.

Ricardo Clark at Livorno

I like this move for Clark and the US program in general. He is going to play out the rest of the season in Houston, which is a plus given they may make a run for the trophy then rest a few weeks and jump into Serie A midseason. Livorno is returning to first division after a season in Serie B and most likely will be in a relegation fight. This will give Clark an opportunity to learn a lot, with so much riding on every single game. His position and style of play I think match up well with the team and league he is going to. If he can make it as a ball-winning midfielder in a workman-like Serie A team, the future for him and the national team is bright.

Back and Stuff

Hello everyone, been a while between posts again. Busy, busy over here. A lot of friendlies on American television last week which was cool. Pitch Itchy also made it to the Gold Cup final at the Meadowlands on Sunday which was.... well... not so awesome. Had a great time though and the vibe was surprisingly good between both sides of fans. Everything about that game has already been said so I am just going to hope for a better showing in Mexico City next month and leave it at that.

What has really been on my mind is the Inter-Barca deal which was finalized with presentations in both cities earlier this week. I am curious to see how Mourinho stands up the team next season. My guess is a 4-3-1-2 with Milito and Eto'o up top and Stankovic behind them. That puts Balotelli on the bench which is fine with me.

The European season is right around the corner... getting pretty excited. Be posting more this week and next.

Et Tu, Eto'o?

The Samuel Eto'o saga drags on and gets a little weirder. After the deal with Inter stalled there appears to be an attempt by AC Milan to lure Eto'o to the other side of the San Siro. I am not at all surprised that Eto'o has made exorbitant demands, reportedly 10 million a season plus a 15 million dollar commission on the transfer, because I have a distinct feeling he has no interest in playing in Italy. That is probably more than Inter thinks he is worth and I imagine enough to negate the Ibra swap. It is very likely not worth it for AC Milan either but having lost Kaka and being a squad with a debilitating high average age they may be in a position where they feel they have to do something. I still think he is unlikely to be in Serie A but AC makes slightly more sense than Inter.

And how weird were Pep's comments about the whole thing? That Eto'o needs to leave but not for footballing reasons... way to burn a bridge. How awkward will it be if he is in the Barca squad to start the season?

On the other side of the equation I can not imagine Inter let Ibrahimovic play the second half of their friendly vs Club America yesterday if a deal with Barcelona really was wrapped up. For a guy with a prickly nature like Ibra he seemed incredibly happy to be out on the field and looked very comfortable. Maybe it was a last hurrah type thing, who knows. Despite what he said about it being time to move on his inclusion in the squad shores up my belief the Inter-Barcelona deal will not happen.

Adebayor Too

After a few days of indecision Emmanuel Adebayor has signed on with Manchester City. Since the take over of the club made them a player in every big bidding war in Europe I have been a bit skeptical about them challenging for the big time but this might change things. Of course tactics and formation remain to be seen but a team that features a front three of Robinho, Adebayor, and Tevez will be lethal. Add to that a midfield with Ireland and Gareth Barry to win balls and create movement and Manchester City might finally be ready to push the big boys. There are still some questions in defense but this squad is much better today than at the end of last season. With Aston Villa unable to deepen their squad I think City and Everton are the most likely to crack the big 4 in the coming season.

Mega Deal Looming

Swap of Champions

It looks like Inter Milan and Barcelona are on the verge of a major blockbuster deal that will significantly reshape the champions of Italy and Spain. The proposed framework appears to be Samuel Eto'o, Aleksandr Hleb, and 45 million Euros going to Inter in return for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

According to the Spanish press both clubs have signed off on the deal and are just waiting for the players to agree.

This is a fascinating deal with many angles to consider. For me personally as an Inter supporter I am a little torn. Obviously there is some nostalgia that would come with seeing Ibra leave, but in a way it seems inevitable and it is hard to conceive of a better offer than this. They would be selling extremely, extremely high. 45 million is a lot of cash and add to that two very good players and it seems like Inter are getting the better of the deal.

This is what concerns me: Eto'o is equally as temperamental as Ibra, perhaps even more so, and Milan will not be a calm situation for him. He will be under a constant media spotlight and playing for a demanding coach. He is coming into a team that has been together for years and done very well, he can not expect special treatment. And then there is the thing that really worries me- Eto'o has proven thin skinned (and with legitimate grievances with the way he has been treated by opposing fans at times) and for an African player in Italy that could be a real weakness. Inter are going to be playing road games at what are not exactly the most politically correct grounds in Europe. Given some of the things he has said about these kind of things I think there is a chance he torpedoes the deal.

As far as Hleb goes he is still a very good very talented player who just didn't find his groove at Barca and might benefit from a change of scenery. He can complement Stankovic in creating chances from midfield. Although I admit at first glance Hleb doesn't strike me as a Serie A player or a natural fit for a Mourinho team I think if he is given a chance he can contribute to this Inter squad.

From the Barcelona perspective you can not escape the sense that Laporta felt his hand forced by the series of mega deals Real Madrid made earlier in the summer. Ibrahimovic is a great player and an improvement over Eto'o but he would be paying the equivalent of 87.5 million euros to upgrade a squad that has already won all three competitions it entered. That money may have been better spent elsewhere. And despite the improvement on the field and the dressing room the fact remains that Ibrahimovic has a horrendous legacy of never showing up in big games.

Related note: Barcelona shrewdly picked up leftback Maxwell from Inter earlier in the week. Not a huge name and for a very reasonable fee, this move shores up their backline and improves Barcelona in one of the few areas they needed it.

In my heart I think this deal probably doesn't happen, but now that it seems to be so close I am going to be as conflicted about failing as I would be if it happened.

Estudiantes Campeon

I have been away for a while and haven't blogged in almost two weeks. A lot has happened since then, too much to go back and opine on. Last night's Copa Libertadores final was the first game I watched in what felt like an eternity (but was really more like ten days), and it was awesome. After a nil draw in the first leg Estudiantes went to Belo Horizonte and turned a 1-0 deficit around to claim their fourth Copa Lib. It was a good game to watch. Kind of choppy in the first half but the football in the second was worthy of a big tournament's final. I think Estudiantes were a just winner but Cruzeiro made it tough. Ultimately I think some lapses of discipline did in the Brazilians. For a team that values efficiency, marking, and tactics more than we are used to seeing from Brazilians any loss of concentration is lethal. There were some heat of the moment fouls, some capricious strayings out of position, and one glaring missed assignment that resulted in the first Estudiantes goal.

I was happy for JS Veron who was voted MotM and really symbolizes what Estudiantes is. For a guy who spent a decade in Europe he has really made the most of this latest stage in his career. He is not the same player he was at the beginning of the decade but he still brings a lot to any team he plays on and that put Estudiantes over the top.

It is tough to know for sure but it seems likely that the Estudiantes team that faces Barcelona in the Club World Cup in the Gulf this December will be significantly different from the squad that raised the trophy last night. Workhorse Rodrigo Brana appears set for a move to Mexican football, Leandro Benitez has a lot of intereset from Dubai, Gaston Fernandez is at the mercy of the shadowy forces that plague Argentine football as his rights are owned not by the club but a third party, tournament golden boot Mauro Boselli is rumored to be on his way to Italy, and goalkeeper Mariano Andujar is also linked to Serie A. It is a shame because although Barcelona will be the undisputed favorites no matter what, the team that won last night would get up and give them a run for their money in a one-off.

Changing of the Gaurd at Porto

There are big changes going on at Porto, the four time defending Portugese champions. Over the last few season the club has dominated and it looks like some of the key pieces to their reign are moving on. Lucho Gonzalez, the architect in Porto's midfield, was sold to Marseille. He was the conductor of the team and they will struggle to replace him. Lisandro Lopez also appears headed to France as a replacement for Karim Benzema at Lyon after he was sold to Real Madrid. Lopez is one of the more under appreciated strikers in Europe. He was footballer of the year in Portugal 2 seasons ago scoring an amazing 24 goals in 27 league games. And then there are the rumors that won't die linking defender Bruno Alves to Barcelona. Of all the Barca rumors these I think have a little more credibility because it is undeniable that they need to reinforce the back line.

Porto still have a decent base of players and are sure to add to them but I think we might see a changing of the gaurd next season. Perhaps Sporting or Benfica knock Porto off the top?

Another Slur Incident in Brazil

In the Copa de Brasil final last night there was another incident between an Argentine and a Brazilian with racial overtones. This comes about a week after the Maxi Lopez thing I posted about. Argentine Andres D'Alessandro, who plays for Internacional, was the victim of xenophobic slurs from Corinthians' captain William. He was pretty pissed and a fracas ensued. It was a pretty hesh few minutes on the pitch. In the end D'Alessandro was sent off for his part and William was substituted immediately but not punished.

So that is how things work in Brazil. A black Brazilian (Elicarlos) accuses a white Argentine (Maxi Lopez) of calling him a monkey and the Argentine has police remove him from the team bus, detain him, and is subject to thousands in fines and a criminal investigation. A black brazilian (William) slurs a white Argentine (D'Alessandro) and gets away without punishment while the player he insulted is sent off. The system in place is absurd and the way it is interpreted by officials is a joke.

And for the record when D'Alessandro (all 5'4 of him) went after William and challenged him the 6'2 central defender ran away like a little girl. There are two good bits of it in the clip linked above. William is number 4 in the dark kit. You can see it at 1:35 and then again at 2:50 of the video. Lame.

Maxi Lopez as George Allen...

Remember like four years ago when everybody was all "George Allen is probably the next president, he is like awesome and his dad was a football coach and maybe because of that he has this undying reservoir of football metaphors for politics and life and most of them don't make sense but who cares he is from Virginia and a regular guy and that is good enough for us"? And then of course a bunch of stuff happened in American politics and that didn't work out. And/but/so also remember when he was running for reelection to his senate seat and called one of his opponent's (now-senator jim webb, by all accounts a man of the not-to-be-F'd-with sort) staffers "macaca" and thereby doomed his reelection bid, lost his seat, and forfeited any real consideration as a presidential nominee?

Ex River Plate/Ex Barcelona/Ex perennial loan boy/Ex next-big-thing Maxi Lopez just did the same thing! Sort of! The Argentine striker has fallen off most people's radar by now but after flopping at a few European clubs he went back to South America. Not even Argentina, but across the border to Brazilian club Gremio. During last week's Copa Libertadores semi-final first leg against Cruzeiro he is accused of calling a black opponent "macaca". With the George Allen fiasco the media spent weeks and weeks trying to determine if he meant it in that way, if it was really that offensive, if Jim Webb ever picked on black people, if it mattered that George Allen was maybe an ethnic minority himself in some distant way. In this instance things were much different. After police boarded the Gremio team bus and Maxi Lopez was detained for several hours. He was released after giving a statement and will be the subject of an investigation with possible repercussions. There is a clip of the incident here. It is tough to tell what he said but the Cruzeiro players around him react in a very different way than players usually do to standard trash talk. Who knows?

Race-based taunting is a crime in Brazil and there is precedent for this kind of thing. Grafite, the top scorer in Germany last season accused another Argentine player of the same thing back in 2005 in a Copa Lib match. He too was detained and forced to pay a 5,000 dollar fine. Then Grafite withdrew the accusation. Sorry dude, my bad, didn't mean it. With that in mind I think we should be skeptical about the veracity of Elicarlos' claim. Although if proven Lopez should be punished, I think it is easy and convenient to make that kind of charge in the first leg of a two legged semi-final. We will see.

But seriously, what happened to Maxi Lopez?