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Frank de Boer wasn’t fuming, despite his Ajax side turning in one of the worst defensive performances during his tenure.  In a similar situation, he once bluntly stated that school children would have been embarrassed with his side’s performance. The same description perfectly summed up Ajax’s afternoon in Utrecht.

It was a game that had just about everything, except the points which would keep the Amsterdammers from falling further behind Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar. It was a ten goal thriller, won 6-4 by FC Utrecht; a hockey score, if you’re José Mourinho.

“It was a crazy game.  It’s a shame that we have lost.  The last three games we had an upturn in our football; today we were bad defensively. We were dominated by opportunistic football. We defended poorly, we were not attentive to the danger and [Kenneth] Vermeer didn’t have his best game.”  De Boer didn’t sugarcoat the result.

There are turning points in every team’s fortunes. De Boer himself was present at the Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps in March 1993 when Stanley Menzo gave a less than convincing performance. The keeper was subsequently axed by Louis van Gaal in favour of the twenty-three year old Edwin van der Sar. ‘Het Ijskonijn’ (Ice Rabbit) as he’s affectionately known, had already made sporadic appearances, but never had a run in the side until then. A similar decision might befall the former left-back now manning the sticks.

So far this season, Ajax have one clean sheet in twelve league games, a poor return for a side favoured to retain their crown. Now eleven points behind leaders AZ, their crown looks like slipping away despite it only being early November.

The loss of Maarten Stekelenburg was always going to hit hard.  His replacement, Vermeer — never really been a number one — has been far from convincing. It would be harsh to levy the blame solely on him, but Ajax is a club whose philosophy dictates the integral importance of the keeper; to organise his defence, take responsibilities and be the eleventh man.

It should not come as a surprise if he is replaced after the international break by Jasper Cillessen, although De Boer, when asked, reassured that Vermeer will keep goal against NAC Breda. One of the promising young keepers in Dutch football, Cillessen’s style has been compared to Van der Sar’s. the problem is that he’s only twenty-two, young for a keeper, and with a struggling squad in front of him, throwing him at the deep end might turn out to be detrimental. Yet, his style perfectly fits the football De Boer wants to play. Cillessen has the traits to master the role of sweeper-keeper, an attribute the Ajax manager commented on during his quest to sign him.

The match began well for Ajax, but the loss of Siem de Jong – with the game barely five minutes old – put a spanner in the works. It almost seemed immaterial, when his replacement, Dmitri Bulykin, gave the Amsterdammers the lead, finishing off a neat build up.

Then, as Jan Vertonghen would later comment, “setback after setback” put the match in FC Utrecht’s hands.  The hosts, who won 3-0 in the previous encounter between the two at the Stadion Galgenwaard, asserted themselves through a familiar face.  Rodney Sneijder, on loan from Ajax, equalised through Nana Akwasi Asare and then Edouard Duplan turned the game on its head.

Undeterred, the champions regrouped, equalising when André Ooijer – on for the dazed Toby Alderweireld – used his stomach to direct the ball into goal. Bulykin would then get his second, a bullet header, from a neat outside-of-the-foot cross by Miralem Sulejmani. The impressive turnaround should have taken the wind out of Utrecht’s sail, especially considering that they hadn’t won since October 1st. But it didn’t

The manager, Jan Wouters’, instructions couldn’t have been clearer at the start of the second half. He sensed a weakness in the Ajax defence and his side exposed it, capitalising in the space of eight minutes. The visitor’s failed to adapt and Wouters’squad would hit for three more, only conceding one in return.

The incredibly woeful defending consigned De Boer’s side to their second defeat of the season. Incredibly the Amsterdam club have won just once from their nine lunchtime games since December 2010.

Even though Ajax continues to push forward, their attacking game chugging along, it’s at the back which De Boer has a headache. The loss of Nicolai Boilesen, against PSV, has deprived him of a recognised left-back. He did play youngster Dico Koppers against Feyenoord, but his main second choice has been the auxiliary player Vurnon Anita.  Regardless, the side has struggled to close out games, AZ’s lead in double digits as a result of too many draws for the Amsterdammers.

Last season, Ajax had the best defence in the league. Coming into this campaign, there was no visible reason to expect anything but a watertight unit.   Instead, the back line has been as leaky as a submarine with screen doors.  The troubles have confounded the boss, whose own reputation as a player, was nothing short of superlative. Some have attributed it to an overly cavalier approach. The club’s initial struggles were put down to problems in the midfield, which left the defence unprotected.  That has since been addressed, for the most part, but the rearguard is still gun-shy.

More often than not sides have pressured and counterattacked to great benefit against Ajax. That coupled with individual mistakes, a keeper lacking consistency and you have a recipe for disaster. One solution might be turning to the 3-3-1-3 formation de Boer played against Roda JC.  It won’t shore up the defence, but it will for greater ball possession, especially in midfield, and as a result limit the opposition’s opportunities.

In the aftermath, there was no knee-jerk reaction from De Boer, although the gaffer is not the type to brush such a result off easily or label it as a one-off match.  In the past few weeks, Ajax have approached the level where their manager wants to be.

A wise man once said that every disadvantage has its advantage. This could be the penny that drops. The defeat away to Den Haag last season saw Ajax go on an eight game winning run top overtake PSV and Twente to claim their thirtieth championship With thirty-one still a distance away, De Boer will not panic.  As a player, he rose to the challenge adversity presented time and again and it will surely be the same as manager.

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As Fred Rutten took his seat, memories of his last visit to De Grolsch Veste reverberated. It was here that PSV’s title charge came to an end last season. For more than twenty years, he had called Enschede home.  Yet, on that evening it was anything but.

This time around, the result brought mixed emotions.  In a game his side should have won, they didn’t and it was clear to him who was responsible.

Rutten’s finger was squarely pointed at Kevin Blom, a name Scottish football fans won’t forget in a hurry.  Blom was the offending figure in the recent international at Hampden Park between the Scots and the Czech Republic, wherein he gifted the Czechs an added time penalty and then denied one to the home side.

His decision to show Kevin Strootman a straight red left the midfielder, his teammates and Rutten incensed, with the manager refusing to shake hands after the game.

“I think the referee got it catastrophically wrong when he sent him off.  I respect colleagues, referees and I feel that everyone is allowed to make a mistake. But this is the kind of mistake he should never have made.” – Rutten offers to make a donation to the Eredivisie Respect campaign.

The gaffer just might have a point. PSV was, to Rutten’s surprise, in control for large parts of the match against one of their strongest title rivals. The only times they weren’t were the first ten minutes and the final twenty, after Strootman was sent off. The midfielder was his usual metronomic self, collecting the ball and circulating it with impeccable timing and rhythm.  Moreover, when he changed pace and made the odd deep run, he forced Twente onto their back foot.

His rapid assimilation has greatly benefited PSV, who for much of last year were criticised for being too passive. Cautiousness was formerly the mantra in Eindhoven. These days, the byword is attack. After their damp squib ending to the ’10-11 campaign, the prevailing opinion was that Rutten’s reign was up but he was given a reprieve by the PSV board; one more season to get things right. After a financial crisis was averted in the summer, things went smoothly, and the manager largely has Strootman to thank for the upswing.

During their hour of dominance, PSV played as they have done all season:  with verve and control, often relying on the counterattack, which they’ve used to devastating effect. Conversely, Twente were the architects of their own problems.  Co Adriaanse, known for his attacking mentality, indirectly allowed his side to concede possession and, as a result, further galvanised Rutten’s men.

Adriaanse began with an attacking line-up which included Nacer Chadli, the winger recently returning from a spell on the sidelines.  This was his first league start of the season. Even if he was off the pace, it wouldn’t trouble his manager greatly, as the boss had announced that he wished to build his new Twente side around the Belgian and the since departed Bryan Ruiz. There were moments last season when Chadli demonstrated his full capability, with football that made many sit up and take notice.  In this match, Adriaanse was just glad to see him back in a red shirt and getting his feet wet.

Both sides went into the game with identical records including one defeat; PSV on the opening day at AZ and FC Twente, surprisingly, away to Roda JC. Psychologically, Twente held the upper hand, unbeaten in the pair’s previous seven meetings and not having lost at home since October, 2005.

Preservation of that record couldn’t have begun any better, when Brazilian-born Douglas – who recently acquired Dutch citizenship – gave FC Twente the lead ten minutes in on a fortunate goal; the defender’s shin managing to connect with the ball as he was falling down after attacking a corner.  On the balance of play to that point, though, it was a deserved marker, with it evident that Adriaanse’s plan was to get out of the traps quickly.  The manager, looking at his watch as the goal went in, might have tipped his opposite number as to his future intent, however.

Another winger in the headlines immediately equalised for De Boeren.  The 18-year-old, Zakaria Labyad, latched onto a Georginio Wijnaldum pass and finished perfectly, continuing on from his imperious performance in the Cup midweek.  Labyad, who has been linked with Sevilla, might be better advised to commit his foreseeable future with PSV. While he’s often compared with his idol and former club captain Ibrahim Afellay, he’s till too green to be wandering far from home. Like the Barcelona player he possesses great pace, agility and dribbling technique all in abundance, and, utilising them all, he proved a constant thorn in the Twente full-backs’sides.  Rutten has gushed that the youngster is a “few levels above his peers” and it wasn’t difficult to see why on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Strootman is not the only summer signing paying early dividends for PSV.  His former FC Utrecht teammate Dries Mertens has also settled in superbly. One of the early candidates for the player of the season, he’s chipped in with thirteen goals from midfield — ten in his last eleven games — and countless assists. His latest helper restored PSV’s lead.  Following up on his own corner, Mertens floated in a sumptuous ball that Marcelo, the Brazilian defender, headed past Nikolay Mihaylov. It was the first time PSV had managed to score twice at De Grolsch Veste since April 2005, and they looked on course for their first victory at the stadium in six years.

The other shoe dropped minutes after taking the lead.  Strootman engaged in a 50-50 challenge with national teammate Luuk de Jong, and was adjudged to have gone over the top. On second viewing, a yellow might have been best and that was what Strootman was expecting. However, the referee only gets one look and it appeared to be a much more dangerous play in his eyes.

Once the red was shown, Rutten’s expression revealed his fear that the game might just have slipped through their hands. And, as though to prove him right, the newly inserted Leroy Fer quickly scored his second goal for The Tukkers in as many games.

The source of many a ruffled feather, Referee Blom flew the coop via a side exit, attempting to avoid the waiting press.   Yet, with some journalists camped by his car, he did offer his perspective.  While conceding the right for all concerned to debate the colour of the card, as far as he was concerned it was the right decision, as Strootman’s challenge endangered De Jong. A despondent Rutten went home ruing the result; his side having played the better football and deserving of all three points.   Before departing Enschede, he attempted to put a positive spin on the outcome.

 “The season is still long; we can repair this error made by the referee.”

The last and only time AZ Alkmaar won in Amsterdam, the Police topped the charts with ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’. Gertjan Verbeek himself, in eleven years as manager of any Dutch club, has never tasted victory over Ajax in the capital.  Heading into Saturday’s game, he made it clear that his side wouldn’t change their game to counter Ajax.  Why should they?  Their run of five consecutive league victories had prompted Frank de Boer to label them genuine title challengers, and the Ajax boss wasn’t blowing smoke.

An AZ side not fancied before the start of the season, mainly due an inconsistent 2010-11 campaign, has been on top of their game from day one. In contrast, Ajax have stuttered, with only win in their last six played and that to amateur side V.V. Noordwijk. The defeat to FC Groningen before the international break was De Boer’s third in the league.

During the last few weeks, conversation in Amsterdam has revolved around Theo Janssen. In truth, the debate is actually about the manager, as it concentrates on whether the 2010-11 Eredivisie Player of the Year is being used correctly and whether he should be allowed to play in the same role that made him so effective for FC Twente last season. De Boer has often utilised him as a screening midfielder, encouraging him to take on the role of a playmaker.  This has led to a disjointed midfield; the required tempo to carry out the brand of football De Boer wishes to play being nonexistent.

In an Algemeen Dagblad column written prior to Ajax’s trip to Madrid,, Willem van Hanegem questioned whether the club needs a playmaker, especially one playing deep? When the point was put to him, De Boer brushed it off, the blueprint for how his team will play already etched in the stone of his mind.  Stubbornness is a common trait among Dutch coaches, and a volatile one.  It can be channelled positively but it can also be an Achilles heel.  Just ask Louis van Gaal about his final months at Bayern.

Janssen, never shy of speaking his mind — albeit careful to not cross the line — has shown his frustration. The substitution against Real Madrid saw the two men exchange a few words.  It was nothing so serious as to cause a crack in their relationship, but it was clear that neither man was happy.  So, against AZ, Janssen got his wish, playing further forward and solely as a controlling playmaker, with Eyong Enoh returning to the side to take over holding midfielder duties.

One of the reasons AZ have left Amsterdam empty-handed or sharing the points has been, in the words of Verbeek, a case of “showing Ajax too much respect.” For the gaffer, there was no better time than the present to show that things have changed, and he made a special point of declaring AZ the better team, in the build-up to the match.

Twenty minutes into the match, any raised eyebrows from that assertion were lowered. In what has been a rough few weeks for Ajax, with the loss of Gregory van der Wiel to suspension and Nicolai Boilesen and Kolbein Sigþórsson to injury, the host eleven were a makeshift unit.  No surprise then, that the run of thirteen league games without a clean sheet became fourteen when Brett Holman’s deflected shot found the back of the net.  Minutes later, a spectacularly bad piece of defending left Roy Beerens free to lift the ball over the rooted Kenneth Vermeer.

The aforementioned master of obstinacy, Louis van Gaal, having previously managed both clubs, watched from the stands, surely wondering how De Boer, his one-time student at Barcelona, would react. At half-time Ajax were staring at their first home defeat in fourteen games, AZ was forty-five minutes away from shaking a three-ton gorilla off their back.

But gorillas can grip with both their hands and feet, and this simian, after all, was Ajax.  Minutes after the restart, Miralem Sulejmani pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, after a call which infuriated Verbeek.

“Ajax were helped by a decision of the referee. The question is whether it was violation, but in any case the offence happened outside the box.”

Looking at the replays, the aggrieved manager may have a point, but if that decision aided Ajax, the next benefitted AZ.  The returning Enoh was shown a second yellow, a judgment that “made no sense” to De Boer.

Yet being down to ten men didn’t mean the game was over. In the second frame, Ajax was a different outfit, playing the better football regardless of their disadvantage. Jan Vertonghen, in particular, was everywhere.  Producing a man of the match performance reminiscent of Rudi Krol, he occupied at least three different positions, including his usual place in the heart of the defence.

It’s a phenomenon which has confounded players, managers, fans and pundits alike, over the years; playing against ten men can be harder than coping with eleven.  Johan Cruijff, who once put six past AZ, long ago stated the obvious.

“The team with eleven will think ‘Okay, we can take it easy now’, while the team with ten will think ‘we really have to work hard’.”

It’s true and we all know it.  The frustrating part is why no one learns from those who have taken their foot off the throttle.  Cruijff, ever the maverick, has wondered how best to get the message across.

“I have seriously considered playing with nine players instead of eleven in some cases. Just to keep them all awake. I’m certain we would have had the same or even better results.”

De Boer might be ready to listen.  In back-to-back games, his side has ended with ten men and, in both cases, played their best football shorthanded.

Ajax took the initiative.  At times actually outnumbering AZ in the final third, they finally forced the equaliser. it didn’t occur before AZ had the opportunity to put the game away, however.  Yet, with the match on the line,Toby Alderweireld produced a brilliant clearance in the goal mouth to deny Charlison Benschop, who had  twenty-two year old Jasper Cillessen beaten in goal, the youngster having come on for the injured Vermeer.

Then, as every sentence needs punctuation and every debate a resolution, there was only one fitting goal scorer. The match was rescued when Theo Janssen’s drive found the low corner.  Unsurprisingly the midfielder was content with his performance afterwards.

“I think it’s nice to be involved in the game.  Today I had a lot on the ball and it felt good.” 

A point gained or two dropped?  Both managers are likely to consider it the latter. For Ajax, it was yet another inconsistent performance. For AZ, who remain top, albeit by two points after FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven won their games, it represents a lost opportunity eliminate one title contender and maintain their distance from the rest.  Even more irritating, it was their best chance to win in Amsterdam since 1980. At least they depart knowing that they are right in the mix for the championship; something that Frank de Boer’s squad, who stayed six points behind the pace, cannot claim at the moment.

The Good

Doni is well and truly goni.  The flashy thirty-eight year old forward was caught out in a match-fixing scandal last season and handed a three and a half year ban.  The club for which he played, Atalanta, was levied a six point penalty in this season’s race for the Scudetto.  Thomas Manfredi, a solid defender with an eye for goal was also implicated in the cheating, but was acquitted.

Yet, the Nerazzurri, aka Regina delle Provinciale (Queen of the Provincials), due to their standing as the most successful Italian side from outside the big cities, are nonetheless ahead of the more famous black and blue club, Inter, in the table and, despite beginning in a very deep hole, have already cleared the drop zone, penalty or not.

The club has won half of its first six matches and drawn two others, including holding off the ever-dangerous Udinese in a goalless draw at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Sunday afternoon.  In most cases, Stefano Colantuono would be mildly praised for getting his side off to an excellent start, but given the demoralising summer, when the club endured the wrath of the league governors and Italian courts, instilling such confidence in a largely anonymous squad is almost miraculous.

Thus far, the attack has been powered by German Denis’four goals, another two from Maximiliano Moralez and one from Matias Schelotto.  Giacomo Bonaventura has yet to find the mark but he too has looked dangerous for the Bergamo side.

Under normal circumstances, Atalanta’s record would put them in fourth place, out of the Champions League frame only on goal difference.  Of course, it is early, and their form may not continue, with any slip presenting the very real threat of relegation.  Still, the fact that you have to scroll far down the table to find la Dea should not fool you into thinking that theirs is not one of the best sides in the opening months of the campaign.

The Bad

In 2010-11, there were nine hundred fifty-five goals scored in three hundred eighty Serie A matches.  By comparison, La Liga registered one thousand forty-two and the Premier League one thousand sixty-three.  That works out to four goals more per Spanish club and five for the English.

On the face of things, it seemed like there was a glut of goals in Lega Calcio last season, with the 4-4 shootout between AC Milan and Udinese and the Bianconeri’s subsequent dismantling of Palermo 7-0 among the most memorable encounters of the year.

It wasn’t just Udinese testing the resilience of Italian twine, however.  Antonio di Natale was joined by Napoli’s Edinson Cavani in an ultimately vain chase for an elusive thirty goal season.  In Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s thunderous early season form was subdued by injury and suspension but Pato, Robinho and Antonio Cassano picked up the slack.  Mauro Zarate had an excellent season for Lazio and, after a dismal start under Rafa Benitez, Inter picked up steam with Leonardo at the helm and Giampaolo Pazzini teaming well with Samuel Eto’o, a healthy Wesley Sneijder and Diego Milito.  It also seemed that week in and week out, one of the Serie A understudies, be it Bologna, Cagliari, or Parma would burst onto the stage with a stellar performance.

The numbers say that those bright moments were just window dressing, however.  There has been a downward trend offensively in Serie A over the last three seasons, with the one thousand four goals scored in 2008-9 decreasing to nine hundred ninety-five in 2009-10, followed by another forty goal dip in 2010-11.  At the writing, this season is lagging even further behind, with a sluggish pace of eight hundred ninety-nine goals being set.

The half-dozen matches on Sunday afternoon did nothing to help matters, as eleven of the twelve clubs involved failed to find the target.  Only Bologna managed to get on the scoreboard, courtesy of Gaston Ramirez and Robert Acquafresca, in a 2-0 away win a newly promoted Novara.

With collective performances such as that, it’s little wonder that the Bundesliga has surpassed Serie A in UEFA’s co-efficient rankings.  Worse, should the anemic trend continue, Ligue 1 and the Portuguese Super Liga will be knocking on the door, as well, with the Dutch not far behind.  Defensive football is one thing; impotence another.

The Ugly

The mighty haven’t fallen.  They’ve plummeted like Wile E Coyote clinging to the broken precipice of a desert cliff.  An Inter squad not far changed from the group that won a Scudetto, Coppa d’Italia and Champions League under Jose Mourinho is on the edge of a drop of a different kind.  Nerazzurri chairman Massimo Moratti has gone back to his impatient ways, sacking Gian Piero Gasperini after a horrible start.  Such a knee-jerk reaction is easily understood, though, after the club’s experience in ’10-11 with Rafa Benitez in charge.

Unfortunately, Inter continues to struggle with Claudio Ranieri now at the helm.  A convincing 3-1 victory over lowly Bologna in the erstwhile Roma boss’first match has been erased from memory by successive defeats, 0-3 to Napoli before the international break and 2-1 on Saturday at Catania.  With the talent on hand at the Giuseppe Meazza, one has to believe that the results are just the effects of a club attempting to acclimate to its fourth coach in just over one season.  While the same could have been said for Gasperini, Ranieri is far more deeply steeped in pedigree than his predecessor.

Yet, it may still be very difficult for the Roman to win over this largely veteran line-up.  It’s not so much that he was a hated enemy when guiding the Giallorossi through three contentious matches during Mourinho’s final season and engaging in a war of words with the Special One in the press. Players are sufficiently professional to put such matters aside.  However, his other battle against Lupi captain Francesco Totti will be harder to ignore for aging players still eager to play a prominent role and only a year removed from European glory.  How can they be sure that the new gaffer won’t place them on the bench as he attempted to do with Totti?

Unless Ranieri can successfully address the concerns of leaders such as Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Maicon and Julio Cesar, this season threatens to be much like his final, aborted campaign in the (not so) Eternal City.

What Would Clint Do? 

To put it mildly, Sunday was not a good day for Mr Eastwood.  The gravel-voiced actor/director isn’t happy with nil-nil draws.  He wants to see scoring or he gets upset.

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It’s All Down in Red and White

It was a game PSV could ill afford to lose.  Kevin Strootman said as much in the build-up.

“The gap with Ajax will grow to six points if that happens.”

One game, especially this early in the season, won’t decide the outcome of the championship, but victory could send a signal, not to the reigning champions, but the rest of the league.

Historically, the Philips Stadion hasn’t been the best hunting ground for the Godenzonen.  Since 1989, they have won just twice and drawn six.  It’s understating matters to say that points come at a premium in Eindhoven.

Although he wasn’t likely to call it to the attention of his squad, that record must have preyed on Frank de Boer, who played in some of the early ’90s confrontations. His side came into the game on the back of a disappointing goalless draw against Lyon in the Champions League, which was the first challenge in a gauntlet that includes PSV, FC Twente and Real Madrid.

As well as having Lorenzo Ebecilio suspended, the loss of Miralem Sulejmani to injury presented De Boer with his most strenuous test of the early season. The possibility of Jody Lukoki starting his first league game for the club was touted, but given the enormity of the match it was shelved. Thulani Serero, who has greatly impressed in his short time in Amsterdam, was suggested as a deputy for the injured Serbian, the South African himself just returning from a layoff. In the end, De Boer chose tried and true, deploying Siem de Jong as a makeshift false nine — a tactic he’s previously employed — and moving Kolbeinn Sigþórsson to the right wing.

As for De Boer’s opposite, Fred Rutten, the front six, which started PSV’s midweek Europa League tie against Legia Warszawa was maintained. So far, Rutten has answered every question posed with flying colours. His passive approach still seeps from time to time, but that’s only natural. However, eighteen goals since the scoreless away draw to Austrian side SV Ried has revealed a mean streak below the seemingly placid surface.

Much of the club’s success has been down to the immediate assimilation of summer signings Strootman, Georginio Wijnaldum and, especially, Dries Mertens.  The Belgian winger has taken to his new club like a duck to water; eight goals in seven games tells you that, but it’s his selfishness that has greatly benefited his team.

The loss of Balázs Dzsudzsák was always going to have an impact, and Mertens is not a like for like replacement.  He’s yet to assume the mantle of go-to-guy that the Hungarian wore, but everything he touches, at the moment, turns to magic.

In Eindhoven it was yet another early kick-off, with Ajax a club that last year seemingly preferred to sleep in.  In the third minute, Tim Matavž broke free to score his first goal for De Boren, and De Boer could be forgiven for thinking that his club was still tucked under the covers. It’s now ten league games since Ajax have kept a clean sheet, a stat that must be hurting the coach, given his illustrious career in the art of defending.

The loss of Nicolai Boilesen, to a hamstring injury, and Vurnon Anita, bruised ankle, will now test the depth of his squad. Yet, the gaffer can’t complain, as, prior to the season, he reiterated that only a large squad with great strength would allow Ajax to realise their ambitions.

On the half-hour, there was a sombre moment, when PSV goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tytoń, only playing his third game for the side, left the pitch on a stretcher, with concussion, after a collision with teammate Timothy Derijck. A similar incident befell Maarten Stekelenburg the night before, in AS Roma’s away game at Internazionale, knocked cold after clashing with Inter defender Lúcio.  Thankfully the Dutch number one regained consciousness. Tytoń’s replacement, Khalid Sinouh, has rarely manned the sticks in the past three years, and the first thing he did was pick the ball out of the goal, after Sigþórsson equalised early into the fifteen minutes of stoppage time.

De Boer attempted to make light of the situation.

“We started the second half well. We even had good opportunities to take the lead, but after ten minutes we had a ‘blackout’.”

That blackout may also have indicated the moment when Gregory van der Wiel tripped Mertens inside the penalty box. Wijnaldum calmly restored the lead, but Rutten’s men couldn’t hold on, as, eleven minutes from time, Dmitri Bulykin salvaged a point with his first goal for the Amsterdammers.

At the end of an entertaining affair, there were varying perspectives on the outcome.

“2-2 is always a good result in Eindhoven. After a tough week I just think that we should now play football with more conviction and to preserve our own identity.” – De Boer

“It was a beautiful game but it feels a bit like a loss”. — Mertens

“You play at home, so you go for the three points, our start was nice. Then my team lost the courage to play football, there were definitely possibilities to win. 2-2 didn’t feel like a point but more like two points lost.” — Rutten

However, it was clear that the result was far from theirs and many others’minds, as thoughts turned to the wellbeing of Tytoń, who thankfully did not suffer a fractured neck or skull, despite the severe concussion.  While that was good news, he would stay for further tests in hospital.

The draw, along with FC Twente’s 5-2 win over ADO Den Haag and AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 away win at RKC Waalwijk, means that Ajax are a point behind the two winners, level with Feyenoord, who comfortably beat De Graafschap 4-0 at De Kuip. PSV remain a further three points behind.

As fate would have it, Ajax entertain FC Twente while Feyenoord travel to AZ, next weekend. Business is about to pick up.

Eredivisie Round-up

After crushing back-to-back defeats and an extra training session, Vitesse were back to winning ways, turning the tables on Roda JC, 5-0.

Coach John van den Brom struck a far more enthusiastic tone in his post match press conference.

“In the second half I was on the edge of my seat. I was really enjoying the football. The most fun, beautiful and attractive I’ve seen.” 

Heerenveen, winless in their first four, winless, have now taken maximum points in consecutive games, with another 3-0 victory, this time against VVV.  Bas Dost and the impressive Oussama Assaidi were again on the score sheet, as well as Luciano Narsingh, a name for the future. Dost was singled out for special praise from coach Ron Jans for his industrious performance leading the line, but also faultless in his defensive responsibilities. A while ago, Dost was tipped for a regular berth with l’Oranje.  Maybe it will happen, now that he’s doing everything right to catch the eye of Bert van Marwijk.

FC Utrecht have gone about their business under the radar, despite murmurings from disgruntled fans. Their 2-2 draw at home to Heracles should be seen as a step in the right direction, after the typically difficult bedding in period for their summer signings.

Also: NEC 1-2 NAC Breda; FC Groningen 2-0 Excelsior

Oranje on the Ranje

You know a major summer tournament is on the horizon when players on the periphery of the national team start upping their game. Ryan Babel and Ricky van Wolfswinkel are currently hot on the goal trail, for Hoffenheim and Sporting CP respectively. Also Royston Drenthe, who scored his first goal for Everton, may be eager to add to his lone Oranje cap.

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With two matches remaining in their qualifying campaign, l’Oranje have essentially progressed to Euro 2012.  It isn’t quite official, yet, but everything would have to go horribly wrong in their final two matches against Moldova, at De Kuip in Rotterdam, and away to Sweden. Not only would they have to lose both matches, they’d have to do so in spectacular fashion, as they have built an eleven goal difference over the Swedes and twenty-one over Hungary.

Of their just concluded weekend matches, the first, at home to San Marino, was a record-breaking affair, which would suggest that a monumental collapse is nigh impossible. The 11-0 score line, rarely seen in international matches anymore, would have been difficult to replicate even on FIFA ’11.

Robin van Persie – who began the onslaught – helped himself to four of the goals and, in the process, surpassed Marco van Basten to move onto the top ten list of all-time Dutch goalscorers. It was also a productive night for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar; his brace moving him within a dozen of Patrick Kluivert’s record of forty strikes.

Wesley Sneijder contributed an epic goal and Georginio Wijnaldum claimed his first for his country on his international début.  Reaction after the game was split.  On one hand, some were carried away in their superlatives, while others were more pragmatic regarding the quality of opposition.  San Marino were, truthfully, abject.  De Telegraaf simply stated that the game was nothing but a ‘glorified exhibition’.

Despite grabbing six between them in the walk over, neither Huntelaar nor Van Persie had the best of nights in Helsinki as Holland ran out ‘mere’2-0 winners. It was the midfield trio of Kevin Strootman, Mark van Bommel and Wesley Sneijder who shone in the Finnish capital. The combination of passing and movement between the three allowed the Dutch to control the tempo and speed of the match.

Strootman, who was only earning his fifth cap, scored a picturesque goal in the Land of the Midnight Sun, courtesy of a brilliant Sneijder pass.  The effort came just minutes after coming back onto the pitch, having required treatment for a broken nose, courtesy of an inadvertent blow from Mark van Bommel.

In the aftermath, with qualification for next summer’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine virtually secured Bert van Marwijk could be forgiven for already planning his squad and first eleven.

Van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart, van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Nigel de Jong, who all featured prominently at last summer’s World Cup, have been absent at different stages but the Dutch machine has continued like clockwork.  Much has been said regarding the strength in depth of the Spanish over the past four years being one of the keys to their unparalleled success.  If a first team player is absent, then the void is filled by an equally suited teammate.  It’s been the same with the Dutch over the course of this qualification period.

Since assuming the managerial position in August 2008 Van Marwijk had experimented with different midfield combinations but his wariness of the soft underbelly of his defence had led him to always select two defensive-minded midfielders to shield the vulnerable back four.   It’s short-sighted, though, to suggest that they are good for nothing else.

Van Bommel has always been an exemplary passer of the ball and De Jong’s ability to read the game often goes unnoticed or underappreciated.  Their tenacity and dedication to tactics so at odds with the aesthetics of the Dutch game.  Still, Nigel de Jong’s suspension by the KNVB after his unsavoury altercation with Newcastle’s Hatem ben Arfa in Premier League play, last year, temporarily left Mark van Bommel without a central midfield partner.

In De Jong’s absence Van Marwijk opted for Van der Vaart to play alongside Van Bommel, but more as a deep-lying playmaker, or regista, than a second enforcer.  To everyone’s surprise, it worked.  Van der Vaart continued in that role when De Jong returned, but, at that time, there was no Van Bommel, the erstwhile Bayern captain absent through injury.

In an away game against Hungary, the Dutch played some of the best football under Van Marwijk, with Sneijder pulling the strings as a floating trequartista and Van der Vaart playing like a seasoned regista.  Thus, the new formation also settled the long-ranging debate as to whether Van der Vaart and Sneijder could co-exist in the same eleven.  Holland were looking fluid again; their passing and movement — with and without the ball — was suddenly reminiscent of bygone Dutch sides.  But, before the recent games against San Marino and Finland, an injury to Van der Vaart saw him join De Jong in the treatment room.

Happily, the near impeccable strength of the side at Van Marwijk’s disposal meant there were no worried noises coming from the press or fans.  In came Kevin Strootman for his fourth cap and first competitive start. An elegant deep-lying playmaker, converted from his trequartista origins, Strootman slotted in well with the now recovered van Bommel, although San Marino wasn’t a true test.   Still, aside from two brilliant assists, it was a routine performance.

Against Finland, he rose to the occasion, playing as though it was his fiftieth game, not his fifth. What impressed Van Marwijk, one of his biggest fans, was how he combined well with Van Bommel and Sneijder, who often dropped deep, allowing Strootman to move forward. One passage of play resulted in a picturesque goal, the PSV forward’s first for Holland, after a well delivered ball from Sneijder.

Not forgetting that a year ago he was playing in the second tier of Dutch football with Sparta Rotterdam, it’s impressive that Strootman has moved ahead of the likes of Theo Janssen — the reigning Dutch footballer of the year — Stijn Schaars and Demy de Zeeuw.  With the onus on all four to perform to the best of their abilities and De Jong and Van der Vaart on the road to recovery, the manager has a pleasant selection headache.

Arjen Robben and Ibrahim Afellay were also absent from the last squad, through injuries.  The former has hardly played for l’Oranje over the last few months, while Afellay greatly impressed in his past few outings.  On form alone, he might just be ahead of Robben in the pecking order.

When it comes to the forwards, it’s a case of past, present and future. Ruud van Nistelrooy is still eligible for call-up; coming off the bench to score in the 5-3 victory over Hungary, in fact.  The European Championships, if he goes, will surely be his last major tournament.

The man once dubbed as his successor, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, hasn’t done badly for himself with 14 goals in his last 16 appearances, while the man who has stepped to the fore, Robin van Persie, is still expected to lead the line, given his mobile advantage.  Considering his recent form with Arsenal, though, that’s no longer a guarantee.

Waiting in the wings are Luuk de Jong – scoring his first senior international goal in the 2-0 win over Finland – Jeremain Lens and Luc Castaignos, although the latter, at just nineteen, must first prove himself at  Internazionale.

In the defence, there’s a may be an emerging central pairing.  Jeffrey Bruma and Stefan de Vrij, both nineteen, are knocking on the door.  Johnny Heitinga and Joris Mathijsen, with 146 caps between them, will still be expected to be the first choice, come next summer, but with intriguing options beyond two holding midfielders having been discovered, Van Marwijk will be demanding more from the veterans than they have shown in the past.

At either full-back, there’s no one yet to challenge Gregory van der Wiel or Erik Pieters, although Urby Emmanuelson may get a look at AC Milan, this season. In goal, Tim Krul and Michel Vorm are breathing down Maarten Stekelenburg’s neck, although the new Roma man is far from ready to hand over the number one jersey.

A strong squad doesn’t necessarily equate championship potential — just ask England —  but in recent years the Dutch have been found wanting when the cupboard was bare. Thus, rather than a warm, cozy nest, Van Marwijk is pleased to have players contending for their place, keeping l’Oranje at the top of the FIFA Rankings and in the conversation for both the Euros and the World Cup.

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Mertens Lays a Hurtin’on Excelsior

“It was a goal that would be seen right around the world,” coach Fred Rutten enthused after PSV sealed their progression to the Europa League group stage. It was a goal that would be viewed over and over on television and the internet, with the goal scorer himself brazenly saying that he’s seen countless golazos on television, lately, but none were as sweet as his.  Brazen assuredly, but he could be right.

When the moment arrived, the score line read 1-0 to PSV, over Austrian side SV Ried.  Much sought after captain Ola Toivonen, still in Eindhoven with the calendar tearing away the final days of the transfer window, had put the home side in front.  Then, on sixty-seven minutes, Jeremain Lens found himself in full flight, tracking a long ball down the right flank.

Focused on the ball, Lens was caught unawares by the headlong challenge of goalkeeper Thomas Gebauer.  The collision was fierce but Lens rode it out, managing to find his balance and control of the ball in the corner.  Coupling ingenuity with sheer audacity, Lens chipped the ball, over a defender and towards the far post, with the outside of his boot.  Gebauer, desperately racing back to his line, couldn’t stop himself from bundling the ball in after it caromed off the woodwork.

The Philips Stadion was in raptures; the thousands in attendance had witnessed a goal for the ages. Even better, it was the spark that set PSV blazing to a 5-0 victory. Best of all, the fire stayed lit through the weekend, when Excelsior came to town. All the external wrangling which had engulfed the club over the past few months was swept away as the PSV squad began firing on all cylinders.

A 3-0 win over Den Haag on the previous weekend, although well disguised, apparently signaled PSV’s sudden flare of form.  The new summer signings have assimilated well, some especially so. Six goals in one’s first four games for a new club is something to shout about.  Primal screams are in order when you managed just ten in the previous season.  Dries Mertens voice will probably recover in a week or so.

An opening day goal, albeit in defeat, eased any doubts over a difficult transition.  Then an all-important goal at home saved PSV’s blushes against newly promoted RKC, when the atmosphere could have easily become poisonous.  But his continued contributions in the routs against Den Haag Excelsior (6-1) has seen him become part of the furniture. In the pre-season, the Red White Army were concerned about Balázs Dzsudzsák’s departure.  For much of last season, Dzsudzsák was the club’s fulcrum.  Now, the Belgian has them asking Balázs who?

A hat-trick in front of the home crowd is always joyful and Mertens certainly felt so, as PSV kept pace with Twente and Ajax, while improving their goal-difference. More familiar faces Lens and Toivonen were also on the score sheet, and the assist for Merten’s third came from Erik Pieters, who may not be heading to Newcastle to replace Jose Enrique, after all.   Regardless of the backroom difficulties at PSV, Merten’s performance, and his mates’appreciation thereof, revealed that there is a measure of harmony on the pitch, in any case. Toivonen, who, early in the season, voiced the need for more purchases, may happily be eating his words.

Mertens ’10-11 season with FC Utrecht never went unnoticed. During the winter transfer window, he was mooted for a move to Ajax, but the potential signing broke down over his valuation.  Both Ajax and the player had hoped that the deal would be revived in the summer but that never came to fruition, whereupon PSV stepped in.  Mertens’joint signing, in tandem with Kevin Strootman for a combined €13 million, could go down as the best piece of summer business by any club across Europe.

At the international level Merten’s has been flatteringly but reluctantly been caught up in the recent falling out between Georges Leekens and Eden Hazard.  Leekens has loudly proclaimed that the PSV midfielder is more than capable of filling in for Hazard. When asked what he made of the comments, Mertens diplomatically replied Belgium still needs Hazard, especially if they want to reach their fullest potential. With an international break upon him, Mertens has every chance to add to his two caps and show the natives what the fuss is all about in Holland.

Eredivisie Round-Up

The feel good story on Saturday was undoubtedly Evander Sno scoring his first goal for RKC, as the newcomers continued their bright start to the season. Last October, whilst at Ajax, Sno suffered a heart-attack during a reserve game.  He’s since recovered but a move to Genoa this summer broke down due to a failed medical. Yet, that disappointment didn’t last long, as he soon signed a one-year deal with the newly promoted Dutch side.

Frank de Boer improved his imperious home record as Ajax boss.  It now reads ten won from ten played, with thirty goals scored and just four conceded. His side has now gone thirteen league games in a row scoring at least two goals; the club record, set in the ’81-82 season, stands at fifteen.

Vitesse, who, like Ajax, had the opportunity to move top with victory in Friday night’s Amsterdam ArenA clash, didn’t have an answer for the champion’s second half onslaught.  Christian Eriksen’s goal was overshadowed by the performance of Derk Boerrigter, who’s settled back into the club, where he was a youth team player, but then again, Eriksen’s panna on Davy Pröpper in the first half might have been the brightest moment of the match.

FC Twente maintained their perfect start to the season, leaving behind their disappointing exit from the Champions League midweek against Benfica. Will this hex against Portuguese clubs never end for Dutch sides?

A 4-1 home win over VVV was a soothing elixir, however.  Luuk de Jong saw to it that VVV didn’t repeat their performance against Ajax.

AZ continue to chug along, advancing in the Europa League alongside PSV and Twente and rolling to an impressive 3-0 away win at FC Groningen.  Coach Gertjan Verbeek goes into the international break with a smile on his face.

Den Haag finally won their first game of the season, away to De Graafschap. The start of the season was dominated by the will he/won’t he saga involving Wesley Verhoek.  His move to Nottingham Forest broke down much to the relief of Den Haag fans, and, so, it was no surprise that he found himself amongst the goals in their 3-0 win.

L’Oranje

Holland begin their latest round of Euro qualifiers as the newly crowned world number one — by default but number one nonetheless.   What should be a formality against San Marino will take place in Eindhoven before the squad head to Helsinki to face Finland.   Six points will all but seal L’Oranje’s qualification for next summer’s tournament, but Bert Van Marwijk will be without Rafael van der Vaart, Nigel de Jong and Ibrahim Afellay.  On the other hand, Arjen Robben returns.

Oranje on the Range

It wasn’t the best of Sundays for Dutch contingents in London and Malaga. Both Van der Vaart and Robin van Persie were on the wrong end of thrashings in Engand, whilst Martin Jol still can’t buy himself a league win with Fulham. Over in Spain, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Joris Mathijsen marked their league debuts with newly rich Malaga CF with a frustrating 2-1 away loss to Sevilla.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, on the other hand, is in supreme form, with eight goals in five games. It would hardly be a surprise if he assumes the number nine shirt for Holland over the next two games, although Arsene Wenger would dearly love to see Robin van Persie get in a couple of easy, prolific matches to restore his confidence.

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On Saturday, John van den Brom’s young Vitesse side caused a great deal of confusion for FC Utrecht and escaped the Gelredome with a 2-1 win.  Wilfred Bony scored both goals for the Vitas, the first on a penalty six minutes into the match.

After some neat dribbling along the touch line, Julian Jenner threaded a cheeky pass through the wickets of Marco van der Maarel to Alexander Büttner.  The forward gathered in the ball and made a beeline for the box, darting between Alexander Gerndt and Adam Sarota.  Just as Büttner reached the area, Sarota stuck out a leg for him to stumble over and referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot.   Bony duly dispatched the kick and then, after Jacob Mulenga had equalised and the game had settled into an apparent stalemate, struck again with a minute remaining on the clock, darting between defenders himself, and beating Utrecht ‘keeper Marko Meerits for the second time.

The crossed signals between the defenders was a minor issue for new coach Erwin Koeman, however.  It was the lack of communication from the board, who, during the contest, had agreed to take a player on loan from Ajax with the intent of signing him permanently — but without consulting Koeman before proceeding — that was of greater concern to the new boss.

When questioned on his plans for the new player, at his post-match press conference, Koeman revealed that he hadn’t been informed of the deal and would be seeking clarification from the board on how they go about business.

On Monday, Koeman received an apology, after lengthy and lively discussions, from FC Utrecht for their failure to keep him in the loop.  Chairman Jan Willem van Dop admitted the mistake, saying that because the signing occurred on a match day, it had been difficult to relay the message. Apparently, even people in the business can’t resist playing Football Manager.  Still, Van Dop held up his hands and admitted responsibility.

“It’s our fault and it should not have happened. Fortunately, Erwin is a true professional and he wants to put this issue behind him and continue with the club.”

So, who was the player at the center of the controversy?  Well, it was one whose name is familiar to most fans of the European game, although they may not have realised that his more famous brother had a sibling, two actually, let alone that they were also footballers.  Utrecht fans will have known, as Wesley Sneijder and his brothers Jeffrey and Rodney were born in the city, although the trio went on to learn their trade in the Ajax academy.  The eldest, Jeffrey, saw his career cut short due to injury but now the youngest Sneijder has come home, in a bid to — if you’ll pardon the pun — make a name for himself.

In the early stages of his career, Rodney has had to deal with comparisons to his more illustrious older brother, something which he accepts as “logical” but also believes to be unfair.

“We all know that Wesley is a world class player, but I have to see how my career pans out. I hope people judge Wesley on his own qualities and me on mine.  I have no control [over those who make the comparisons]. I am proud of my brother but I will concentrate more on my career.”

From first viewing, the comparison’s are understandable.  Rodney was similar in size and stature to a teenaged Wesley, although he’s since experienced a growth spurt, as Jeffrey did.   Like Wesley, in his developmental phase, he’s more comfortable in a central midfield position, quick footed and very combative; Rodney will be the first to admit that they both have a temper.  They are both ambidextrous, although Wesley was — and still is — more comfortable in his duality, whereas Rodney tends to place more trust in his left foot.

Sneijder the youngest also strikes a dead ball with ferocity, especially when taking free-kicks.  One can almost imagine the two, and Jeffrey, on a patch of ground in Utrecht, after school, taking turns trying to hit targets, with lunch money or some other such prize at stake in the sibling rivalry.

The close relationship of the brothers is something Rodney cites as a positive influence, even going as far to label Wesley as a second father.

“If something is bothering me, Wesley is the first one I call. His advice is very important to me. We have daily contact.”

Technically, it’s difficult to gauge where Rodney is, in relation to Wesley’s progress at nineteen.  Many coaches at Ajax believe he’s on level terms and could become the better of the brothers, although Wesley was commanding a regular place in the Ajax team by his early 20s.

Frank De Boer, who first worked with Rodney at youth level and, having developed a fine working relationship with his own brother, Ronald, understands the pressure Rodney is under.  Despite allowing him to move on, he has reiterated that the door is still open, but the most important thing is that the teenager gets regular football.  Thus, Rodney finds himself at Utrecht, with another coach, in Erwin Koeman, who can empathise with the challenges of sibling rivalry — his more renowned brother Ronald has managed Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Valencia and is currently in charge of Feyenoord.

The game also marked the debut of another Ajax youth product experiencing the difficulty of living up to an established name.  Jan-Arie van der Heijden, who spent last season at ill-fated Willem II, debuted for Vitesse after signing  a two-year deal with the Arnhem side with an option for two additional seasons.   The youngster was once (unfairly perhaps) labeled as the ‘new Willem van Hanegem’.  With tough competition for a place in the first team in Amsterdam, the move suits all parties.   Vitesse attains a real talent and Van der Heijden, like Sneijder will be given regular football and a fresh chance to start again.

What’s important for both players is not to live up to the standards set by those with whom they are compared, but to discover their own game and forge their own path.

In the animal kingdom, the colours black and yellow signal danger; a sign to ward off any would be predator. More contemporarily, it’s a well known song by rap artist Wiz Khalifa, in reference to the professional teams of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. Closer to home, the same colours seem to be everywhere you look in the Eredivisie, and, this weekend, there were contrasting fortunes for the likes of Vitesse, Roda JC and VVV Venlo.

Roda JC’s opening day victory over FC Groningen, on the back of last season’s emotional high, is fast becoming a distant memory.  Back-to-back defeats to Feyenoord and, on Friday, newly promoted RKC Waalwijk – Ard-van Peppen and Geoffrey Castillion with the goals in a 0-2 win – have left a bitter taste. A home defeat to a side still acclimating to the league has brought coach Harm van Veldhoven his first real pressure since taking charge.   The season is young, however, and there’s every chance that a good run of form is around the corner.

It’s the opposite for Vitesse.  Their season couldn’t have started any better, compared to the turbulent beginning to ’10-11.  Manager Theo Bos lost his job when Merab Jordania completed his takeover, making the club the first to fall into foreign hands. His successor Albert Ferrer – one of the finest right backs of the 1990s – was thrust into a relegation battle, which he thought he had survived, until Jordania relieved him of his duties when the season concluded.

Ferrer’s confrontational approach had lost him the dressing room, and Jordania acted quickly to bring in a new man.  Outlining his short and long-term goals at the club (including Champions League football), the chairman appointed ex-Vitesse player John van den Brom, from ADO Den Haag. Taking Den Haag from the bottom end of the table to Europa League football had made Den Brom the manager of the year, and it was his work with a youthful squad at Den Haag which most likely grabbed Jordania’s attention.

The eleven who took to the field in the 2-1 victory over FC Utrecht on Saturday averaged twenty-two years of age. There were more teenagers in the side than over-25s (Nicky Hofs, Julian Jenner and Frank van der Struijk).  Vitesse also possess two of the brightest talents in Dutch football:  Marco van Ginkel and Davy Pröpper, eighteen and nineteen respectively.  However it was two of the more ‘average’players who caused the damage to FC Utrecht. Côte d’Ivoire forward Wilfried Bony scored a brace, on both occasions assisted by midfielder Alexander Büttner.  Both are, you guessed it, twenty-two.

The win maintained Vitesse’s unbeaten start to the season, leaving them on seven points — a far cry from last season, which ironically began with a 3-1 win over Van den Brom’s Den Haag, but quickly cascaded into two defeats, at the hands of Ajax and FC Twente.  The club never recovered, winning only win once in their next eleven games.

However, despite the positives, Van den Brom was cautious in his post game remarks, noting how a lack of experience permitted his side to become sloppy after the hour mark, allowing FC Utrecht back into the game.

On Sunday, VVV Venlo balanced the win and loss of their fellow yellow and black sides by claiming a 2-2 draw against Ajax, ending the champion’s eight match winning streak in the process.  Frank De Boer’s post-match interview was reminiscent of Groundhog’s Day.  The coach has lived out this type of match several times in his brief tenure in charge: Ajax failing to win due to a slow start and casual play.  He will spend the week searching for a way to convince his side to take every match seriously.

The return of Jan Vertonghen to the Ajax defence marked his debut as club captain (the third in the last twelve months), but Vertonghen couldn’t prevent VVV taking a surprise 2-0 lead in the second half.   Ahmed Musa, who had just returned from the U20 World Cup, made up for his absence by punishing lackadaisical defending.   Daley Blind, covering at left-back, was the Nigerian’s main victim, although De Boer was quick to defend him, given that the position is not his strongest, and recent performances at centre-back prove his worth to the squad.

Down two goals, De Boer was staring at his third defeat in the league and the fourth such match in which his charges had conceded more than once.  However new signings Theo Janssen and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson bailed Ajax out, salvaging a point.  It was the first time Ajax had failed to beat VVV since 2007, coincidentally, another 2-2 draw in Venlo.  You have to go all the way back to 1987 to relive the last time VVV were victorious over the Amsterdammers, a 3-1 home win.

De Boer’s opposite number, Glen De Boeck — himself a former defender, most notably with Anderlecht –  saw the outcome as a fair result, and an improvement on their 4-0 defeat to Vitesse the previous weekend.

“With a 2-0 lead you hope that you can hold for the three points, but you play against a strong team, and then 2-2 certainly is no disgrace.”

Other Results

Heerenveen 1-5 FC Twente, Excelsior 1-1 De Graafschap, NAC Breda 2-2 FC Groningen, Heracles 1-1 Feyenoord, AZ 4-0 NEC, ADO Den Haag 0-3 PSV.

Oranje on the Range

There’s nothing more enjoyable than a well executed free-kick and we got that courtesy of the evergreen Clarence Seedorf, in AC Milan’s 2-1 victory over Juventus, helping the Rossoneri regain the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi.  He’s still eligible for the national team, (Seedorf, not the Milan chairman’s late father) although a call-up seems unlikely.  But, with plays like that, you never know.

One present Dutch international that’s making up for lost time is Arjen Robben.  Returning to the Bayern Munich eleven in time for their first leg Champions League playoff against FC Zurich, he produced a beautiful cross for Bastian Schweinsteiger to head home, before adding a sweet strike that all but saw Bayern through (they cruised to a 1-0 victory in the second leg to ensure their progression).

Robben was at it again when Hamburg came to town; a mazy run, followed by the juiciest of dinks over the rooted goalkeeper, Jaroslav Drobný, lit up the Allianz Arena crowd. Robben, in this kind of form, is a force to be reckoned with and Bayern fans, Jupp Heynckes and Bert van Marwijk will all hope that he remains in tip-top shape for the season.

From Robben’s pleasure to Robin van Persie’s pain.  His first game as the newly appointed Arsenal skipper ended in defeat, at home to Liverpool, pouring more misery on his club’s recent plight. The decision to appoint him, in Arsène Wenger’s words, was because van Persie is “more vocal” than his predecessor Cesc Fàbregas.  Well, he’ll need to really shout, if Arsenal are to curb their recent slide, especially with Samir Nasri now on his way to Man City.

Another number nine enjoying better fortune is Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.  Schalke was trailing 2-0, at half-time away to Mainz, but, twelve minutes after the restart, De Hunter potted a goal, sparking  remarkable comeback, with Schalke ultimately winning 4-2.

Finally, last season’s Bundesliga runners-up, Bayer Leverkusen, enjoyed a 1-0 win at ten-man Stuttgart.  Khalid Boulahrouz — aka Khalid the Cannibal — was the missing eleventh man, sent off for insulting referee Peter Gagelmann after Boulahrouz was adjudged to have handled the ball.  Fredi Bobic (Stuttgart Director of Football) wasn’t too happy.

“Khalid’s action harms the team. With his experience he should be able to control himself.”

What did Boulahrouz do to upset the official?  Well, in keeping with my opening remarks on dangerous wildlife, Khalid flipped him the bird.   Word is that he can expect a €3,000 fine.

Red Storm Rising

There’s a banner in the Amsterdam ArenA which reads ‘Can’t Be Stopped’, and after viewing Ajax’s first home game of the new league season it just about proves to be correct. Last season, lunchtime kickoffs were the bane of Frank de Boer’s existence, the new boss once quipping, after his side had slipped again, “Maybe they’re usually asleep at this time.”  The morning hangovers seem to be a thing of the past, though, as this Sunday, early risers saw Ajax romp to a 5-1 victory over Heerenveen.  As well, it was the perfect way for the ArenA to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

The stadium took its bow, all those years ago, with a 1-0 win over NAC Breda.  Ajax took the pitch then, like now, as defending champions, and, ironically, with far more swagger.  That season, the club managed to hit the quinella only once, in week twenty-eight.  This year, they are out of the gates much quicker.

“This is how Ajax is supposed to play. This is the norm, ninety minutes dominate, that’s what we want in the ArenA.” — Frank de Boer continues to re-instill the Ajax way in his new charges.

New signings Theo Janssen (controlling playmaker), Derk Boerrigter (on the wing) and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (out-and-out striker) have settled into the system quickly and well, with the fluency that characterised De Boer’s brand of football towards the end of last season unabated.

The only worry for De Boer has been in defence.  Maarten Stekelenburg’s departure has given Kenneth Vermeer a new lease on life, with the opportunity to be the Oranje number one’s full time successor, although Jasper Cillessen (NEC) has been sounded out as a possible rival for the job. Newly appointed captain Jan Vertonghen needed another week to recover from injury but hopes to be back for the away trip to VVV Venlo next Sunday.  Nicolai Boilesen was rested.

After much prodding and probing Sigþórsson broke the deadlock in true poacher’s finish. Former number nine Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was in attendance, after his hat trick for Schalke the day before, and surely approved. Sigþórsson had said before the game that he expected his first goal would come naturally and felt no reason to be anxious. Obviously, it wasn’t a boast, as the Golden Boot favourite is now up and running.

One of Ajax’s better performances under Martin Jol last season came in this fixture, wherein Mounir El Hamdaoui announced himself and drew premature comparisons to Dennis Bergkamp. In that game Bas Dost – linked with the Amsterdam club in the past – got his name on the scoresheet and, mere minutes after Sigþórsson’s opener, he did the same again.  It was a goal which may have seen De Boer rip his hair out, had he enough to get a grip.  The Ajax defence was cut open by a simple through ball for Viktor Elm to slide over to Dost; a routine tap in.

After scoring, Dost revealed a picture of a friend who recently lost his battle against cancer and was, of course, shown a yellow card, but will face no punishment by his club according to coach Ron Jans.

The punishment came anyway, in the form of a barrage of answering strikes from the home side.  Ajax retook the lead from an unlikely but spectacular source.  Toby Alderweireld, cannoned a shot from 20 metres.   Yet another golazo, which, if too slowly for ravenous fans, is starting to become a trademark of the Belgian centre-back.  He has now struck four such blasts, adding the latest to howitzers against Feyenoord, Twente and AC Milan.

All of the goals have come during De Boer’s tenure.  Lest we forget, the coach was one of the best ball-strikers, as a defender during his own time as an Ajax player. Alderweireld no doubt has benefited playing under him and training must be fun. After the game, Ron Jans praised Alderweireld, calling his strike “terrific” and the only way he could see his side conceding.  Unfortunately for Heerenveen, however, three more possibilities were to arise.

Boerrigter, Miralem Sulejmani and Gregory van der Wiel made sure it was an emphatic win and one that sent them back to the top of the table. In what was Frank de Boer’s ninth home league game in charge, his record stands: played nine, won nine, scored twenty-six and conceded only three.  With such a start, Jose Mourinho’s record of one hundred and fifty, seems a reachable target.

Eredivisie Roundup

There’s a familiar look to the top of the Eredivisie.  Ajax, Feyenoord and FC Twente are the only sides with maximum points. Wait a minute, Feyenoord?! Yes, Feyenoord.

Ronald Koeman couldn’t have wished for a better start.  First, a 2-0 away win at Excelsior, followed up by a resounding 3-0 victory in front of the De Kuip faithful (aside from the minority who boycotted the match, protesting against the board) against Roda JC.   Jerson Cabral (brace) and Leroy Fer, both touted to leave the club in the summer for different reasons, wrote their names on the score sheet, and it’s looking likely – pecluding a dramatic turn of events – that both will be Feyenoord players this season.

Meanwhile, the natives are getting restless in Eindhoven. Despite grabbing their first three points of the season, under pressure coach Fred Rutten and his side were greeted with boos at the full-time whistle.  A slim 1-0 victory over newcomers RKC at the Philips Stadion, courtesy of Dries Martins’second of the season,  could easily have been a 1-1 draw.  Before the game left-back Erik Pieters, who was dropped to the bench last week, returned to the starting line-up.  It might have been his last game for the club, though, as Newcastle United is rumoured to be eager to replace new Liverpool man Jose Enrique.   Still, for obvious reasons, Rutten and director of football Marcel Brands are hopeful that Pieters spurns the Geordies advances and remains in Holland.

FC Twente prepared for their Champions League playoff clash with Benfica, claiming a 2-0 home win against AZ. The game was the first played at De Grolsch Veste since one of the roofs collapsed in late July.  After investigating the tragedy, UEFA have given permission for the Tukkers to play the Benfica game there.

Like Koeman at Feyenoord, Co Adriaanse’s life with his new club has been smooth sailing, and victory over his former side, which included a beauty from Bryan Ruiz (also rumoured to be linked with a move to the Premier League, with Spurs), sees confidence high in anticipation of the visit from one of Portugal’s finest.

A name to remember is Marco van Ginkel.  The eighteen year old was among the goalscorers in Vitesse’s 4-0 win over VVV, John van den Brom’s first win for his new club.  The very youthful squad could have no better leader than Den Brom, the former Ajax academy director.  Already, his impact is evident, with the youngsters playing the same style of football his Den Haag side were thrilling us with last season.

After the game, there was a slight dig towards his predecessor, from club technical director Ted van Leeuwen.

“We played Barça football without Albert Ferrer.” 

Den Brom will hope to stay on Van Leeuwen’s good side during his tenure.

What more can you say about Tim Matavž?  The FC Groningen striker – linked with an array of clubs in Italy and Germany this summer – grabbed his second hat-trick for the club, in a 4-2 home triumph over an ADO Den Haag side dearly missing Wesley Verhoek.  With his talisman in fine early form, coach Pieter Huistra would love nothing more than the transfer window to shut now.

Other Results

Heracles 2-1 NAC Breda, FC Utrecht 2-2 De Graafschap, NEC 2-0 Excelsior.

Oranje on the Range

A special mention to two Dutch number nines.

Robin van Persie is now Arsenal’s newly appointed club captain, making the Gunners Premier League opener memorable, even if RVP wasn’t able to extend his mark of nine consecutive games scored on the road, as he and his side drew blanks in a 0-0 draw at Newcastle.

And as I’ve mentioned earlier, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is back amongst the goals for Schalke, Ralf Rangnick’s new system is designed to get the best out of De Hunter, and on Saturday at least, it paid dividends.

The opening weekend of the new Eredivisie season unfolded as though there had never been a break. As with the closing weeks of the 2010-11 campaign, the first round of 2011-12 saw plenty of goals – twenty-three to be exact – late comebacks, shock wins and plenty of talking points. The showpiece game was on Sunday lunchtime, in Alkmaar, when last season’s fourth place side AZ met PSV Eindhoven, who had slipped late on to finish just above them.

PSV, who many, including yours truly, have earmarked as a credible title challenger, left the AFAS Stadion with nothing, as the hosts ran out 3-1 winners. It was their first opening day defeat since 2000: when they travelled to De Graafschap and lost 2-0. As omens go, however, that turned out to be a red, black and white herring, as PSV went on to comfortably win the league.

This year’s kickoff saw the bow of three major summer signings:  Dries Mertens, Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum all started. However, the only selection decision by coach Fred Rutten that was scrutinised, before and after, was the omission of Dutch international left-back Erik Pieters in favour of the inexperienced Abel Tamata.  The decision backfired somewhat; with Eindhoven trailing 2-1 at the half, Rutten was compelled to call on Pieters to rescue the jaded Tamata.  Both Pieters and similarly positioned Wilfred Bouma have made noises about moving on, feeling unwanted by the coach.  Nonetheless, Rutten stuck to his guns in the post-match press conference, insisting that he would make the same choice if given the opportunity again.

The match was typical of PSV’s defeats from last season.  Much of the possession was theirs and it never looked like the opposition would get a goal.  Yet, if you do nothing when in the ascendency, then you are inviting disaster. AZ was clinical – which pleased boss Gertjan Verbeek more than anything afterwards – and it showed in their two first half goals.

The first a brilliantly worked move down the right.  Ex-PSV right-back — and isn’t that always the way of it? — Dirk Marcellis sent in a splendid ball, met in acrobatic fashion by Belgian midfielder Maarten Martens — so good they named him twice.  Andreas Isaksson, in the PSV goal, could only watch in dismay, rooted to the spot.

AZ’s second shifted from the sublime to the beautiful.   It was a golazo of the highest order, courtesy of defender Nick Viergever from just over twenty yards out.  His rocket flew straight into the top right hand corner, and, again, there was nothing Isaksson could have done.

PSV managed to pull a goal back; a well worked one it must be said, from new boy Mertens on the stroke of half-time.  But that would prove to be the only comfort for Rutten’s side.

“We want to win the title but demonstrated a lack of ambition on the pitch.  To cut a long story short: I had not expected my team to put in such a poor first-half display. We were really slow to get started, which I had not anticipated at all.”

Rutten raises a fair point, but what let his side down more than anything was a lack of sustained pressure on the AZ goal.  Esteban Alvarado – who was filling in for the soon to depart Sergio Romero – was hardly called into action bar the Mertens goal.

PSV in truth are still a work in progress.  A lack of cohesion was to be expected, given the new signings, but their resources still outweigh most clubs in Holland, meaning that they should be there or thereabouts come May.  But this also depends on who comes and goes before the transfer window shuts, Orlando Engelaar looks set to depart and Ola Toivonen – who was appointed club captain – remains a doubt. Rutten, who knows this season could be his last, will be hoping that his captain stays, the team responds and the first week is soon forgotten.

AZ on the other hand will use this game as a sign of progress under Verbeek.  Summer departures may ultimately cost them a top three position, but it was a summer signing who put the icing on the cake.

Second half substitute Jozy Altidore announced himself to the Alkmaar faithful with a well taken header, from an Adam Maher cross, after timing his run into the box well. Verbeek, who admitted that he had not seen much of the American prior to his signing, will be thrilled if the hitherto struggling youngster continues his goal scoring, a trait that hasn’t been associated with Altidore in his European adventures.

After the game, there was a refreshing twist.  Referee Eric Braamhaar – no stranger to controversy – admitted after watching replays that he should have given PSV a penalty when Wijnaldum was fouled in the second half.  Thankfully for Braamhaar, Altidor’s Eredivisie icebreaker made the point moot.

Eredivisie Roundup

PSV lose. FC Twente wins. Co Adriaanse’s life as boss of FC Twente could not have gone any better and his first Eredivisie game in six years was marked with a victory over NAC Breda, courtesy of Marc Janko, who played under Co at Red Bull Salzburg.  Earlier in the week,  FC Twente also made it through to the Champions League play-off qualification round, where they will have a tricky tie against Benfica.

Before the weekend Ajax and De Graafschap had met thirty-six times, with Ajax winning twenty-six, losing just the two, and scoring a hundred and five while conceding just twenty. To begin the season, the trend continued.

In the buildup, Frank de Boer spoke of wanting his team to reach a new level of maturity.  Ajax is, after all, generally a young squad, the starting XI last season, under the new boss, averaging only twenty-two years of age.  In the match, his youngsters displayed composure, leveling, and then going on a romp after falling behind early.  Post-match, De Boer spoke of sending a signal of intent, and Ajax have certainly started as though they mean to go on,  with a 4-1 victory at De Vijverberg.

Saturday was a night of the comebacks. Both RKC Waalwijk and NEC were trailing 2-0 with five minutes to go in their respective games against Heracles and Heerenveen, but there was something in the air, as both sides pulled a goal back, roughly in the same minute courtesy of Robert Braber (RKC) and Ben Nuytinck (NEC).  Nor was either side finished, in what turned out to be a dramatic night.

Stefan Nijland equalised for NEC just before the clock reached ninety. A minute later, at the Mandemakers Stadion in Waalwijk, Rick ten Voorde – on loan from NEC – did exactly the same for RKC, sending the newly promoted side’s support into rapture.

On Friday, Feyenoord began the Eredivisie season and the Ronald Koeman era with a convincing 2-0 victory away to relegation candidates Excelsior.  One skirmish doesn’t win the war but the beginning bodes well for the Rotterdam giants to work their way back into the championship picture.

Wesley Verhoek’s move to Nottingham Forest has broken down, with the twenty-four year old ADO Den Haag winger reportedly uncomfortable with leaving the comfort of home behind for the unfamiliar surroundings of England.

Other results:  Roda JC 2-1 Groningen, VVV 0-0 FC Utrecht, ADO Den Haag 0-0 Vitesse

Oranje on the Range

Midweek internationals before the second game week are something club coaches aren’t particularly happy about.  So, while sympathetic to the troubles in London, gaffers on both sides of the English Channel will be happy to see their players return from international duty early, with the England v Netherlands friendly scheduled for Wednesday evening at Wembley canceled, as Metropolitan London police, stretched to the limit, announced that they could not provide security at the matches, or effectively protect supporters traveling to and fro.

Several Carling Cup matches have also been postponed and, if the unrest doesn’t subside quickly, the opening week of the Premier League may be threatened.

Meanwhile, Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder has turned the switch back on in the on again – off again saga of his potential transfer to Man United.  Sneijder confirmed that he would be willing to move if a deal was arranged in the near future but that he would be just as happy to stay in Milan.  The British media, however, have jumped all over Sneijder’s remark that, although he was unaware one way or the other, unofficial talks may have taken place.  Well then, there you have it; straight from the horse’s mouth.

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A new season means a new chapter, but a similar story will be written in the Eredivisie. Like most, if not all,  of the major leagues in Europe, the eventual winners will come from a select group.

In Holland’s case, that will be one of the top three finishers from last season, each with a credible claim and expectation.

Ajax, as they do virtually every season, go in as favourites and, once again, defending champions.  The club will hope to continue the feel-good factor engendered by manager Frank de Boer’s permanent appointment six months ago, which led them to – as it seemed at the time, due to the disastrous start under Martin Jol – an unlikely championship win.

Notable transfers so far have seen captain and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg swapping Amsterdam for Rome and Demy de Zeeuw leaving for Spartak Moscow. Recruits include Theo Janssen from title rivals FC Twente and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson from AZ.

Deposed champion FC Twente’s haven’t been active in the player market yet, as their biggest off-season move occurred when coach Michel Preud’homme left to coach Al-Shabab Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.  Co Adriaanse has come in to replace the departed boss.  Much of the squad from last season remains (with the obvious omission of Janssen) and Adriaanse, who has never tasted Eredivisie glory, is confident that Twente can take the final step this season.

PSV, of the top three, faces the most pressure coming in to 2011-12.  Currently enduring their longest drought without the championship since the early ’90s, the club came very close to liquidation at season’s end.  At the last minute, the Eindhoven city council approved a €49 million loan to keep the side afloat.   New signings Dries Mertens, Kevin Strootman (both from FC Utrecht) and Georginio Wijnaldum (Feyenoord) have already eaten up €18 million and will be relied upon to reinvigorate a side which lost the talismanic Balázs Dzsudzsák to new money Russians Anzhi Makhachkala, early in the summer.

The pressure will be squarely on Fred Rutten’s shoulders and the easy money says that he may not last the season.  Jonathan Reis’form upon returning from injury and Ola Toivonen’s decision on whether or not to stay will play a big part in the manager’s future.

Elsewhere,  the race to finish at the top of the chasing pack should be as frantic as last season. AZ will be the most confident, seeing as that is where they finished last year.   They’ll need more than bravado, however, as Héctor Moreno and Stijn Schaars have left for Espanyol and Sporting CP respectively. Meanwhile, Sigþórsson’s replacement is US international Jozy Altidore.  Coach Gertjan Verbeek will challenged to coax more out of him than the blank the youngster has provided for his previous sides.

Feyenoord will kick off the season in a local derby against Excelsior — who along with VVV remained in the league through the relegation play-offs — will hope last season’s traumatic experience was a blip.  Mario Been brought the club back from near relegation in the spring but resigned after losing a vote of confidence from the players.  Ronald Koeman has arrived to drag the club back to respectability, but even he is not a miracle worker.

Koeman also becomes the first man to play for and coach each of the traditional Big Three in Holland; a record that is unlikely to be broken.  Only Ruud Geels also played for Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV, but has never managed.

If one Koeman wasn’t enough for Dutch fans, then older brother Erwin – the last Koeman to coach Feyenoord – takes charge at FC Utrecht.  His pre-season has been blighted by the departures of Strootman, Mertens and Ricky van Wolfswinkel to Sporting CP.

The biggest managerial change over the pre-season, however, was John van den Brom leaving ADO Den Haag to assume command at Vitesse, the club that gave him his first chance as a player in Eredivisie. In another case of ‘the football gods must be crazy’, both clubs meet on the opening weekend.   Vitesse is at exactly the same depth in the table as ADO was when van den Brom took over there.  Can the hard-as-nails manager accomplish the same feat twice?

The first clue will come this weekend, in the first round of the 2011-12 Eredivisie campaign.

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After a turbulent season 2010-11 season, Club Brugge has a point to prove to the rest of the Jupiler League. All hopes of making the play-offs turned out to be a major disappointment for Blauw-Zwart fans.  An anti-climactic beginning to the season’s final episode, two losses, two draws and only one victory, were a crushing blow for Brugge’s title aspirations. But Club is back and, after a busy transfer summer, they are eager to wash away last year’s humiliations.

September’s expectations, when Club was named as one of the main contenders for the title, were never fulfilled.  The side treaded water, never climbing higher than fourth, until their late-season spiral finally pulled them under.  As is usual in football, poor performance on the pitch was mirrored by problems in the boardroom. Since January, 2010, the organisation has been under revision. In early 2011, the ongoing changes made chairman Pol Jonckheere their main victim.

Despite the office politics, the technical management remained the same.  Dutch trainer Adrie Koster has held the most important position for two years now. Having survived the regime change and last year’s criticism, the upcoming season must be a success for him.

To this end, some changes in his squad were made. Ronald Vargas (Anderlecht) and Ivan Perisic (Borussia Dortmund) left the club for a grand total of €8 million.

However, the Clubzotten have no need to worry about their squad’s strength.  All but €250,000 was re-invested, resulting in the transfers of no less than ten new players. Most notable: Bjorn Vleminckx, Lior Rafaelov and Victor Vazquez.

Vleminckx was Club’s most expensive summer transfer, at €3.3 million. The Belgian striker was a huge hit in the Eredivisie, surprisingly claiming the top scorer’s title, with twenty-three goals. The headstrong forward has a physical style of play, somewhat similar to another snow-maned attacker, Dirk Kuyt. Previously, there had been some concerns regarding his finishing, but his final Dutch campaign silenced the critics.

For Victor Vazquez, Barcelona to Club Brugge might seem a strange move, but all parties concerned hope it will reboot his career. At Camp Nou, Vazquez couldn’t escape the B-squad and the time has come for him to try his luck elsewhere. Brugge were quick enough to pick up this talented attacking midfielder on a free transfer.

Thanks to such a cheap buy, there was still cash to be spent at Jan Breydelstadium. So Club signed Lior Rafaelov from Maccabi Haifa for €2.5 million. Last year’s Israeli Footballer of the Year has been signed to fill in the void Roland Vargas left behind upon signing for Anderlecht.  Rafaelov is considered one of Israel’s greater talents.

Club also improved their defence with a ‘Scandinavian Connection’. Frederik Stenman and Michael Almeback, both Swedes, Niki Zimling of Denmark and Tom Hogli of Norway were hired to fortify Adrie Koster’s defensive ranks.

Nor did Club ignore their own back yard, landing two of Belgium’s more promising teenaged talents:  Thomas Meunier (19) and Pietro Perdichizzi (17).

The new recruits also have a stable core on which to rely as they settle.  Dutchman Ryan Donk, arguably one of the league’s better defenders, along with Belgian veterans Carl Hoefkens and Jonathan Blondel should provide strong leadership.

The big question regarding returning players is will Nabil Dirar continue to be the club’s problem child, or will he finally live up to the high expectations?  Brugge, after all, are not Manchester City, Chelsea or Real Madrid.  There is no room for a Mario Balotelli or Neymar in the cost-conscious side, even at a hundredth the price.

It is up to coach Adrie Koster to harness the proud Moroccan, blend the newcomers into the squad and improve on last season’s disappointing finish.  Known for his attacking style and adaptive attitude towards youngsters, Koster seems like the man for the job.

However, the transfer period is still young. While Club may have completed their shopping early, their rivals are still splashing the cash.

Long standing enemy Standard Liege had hoped to return dream couple Milan Jovanovic and Dieumerci Mbokani. Jovanovic has publicly stated a desire to leave Liverpool but no concrete offers have been fielded, as yet.  Mbokani was unhappy at now relegated AS Monaco and was eventually loaned out to Vfl Wolfsburg for the remainder of the season.  Happily for Club Brugge, the Ligue 1 side has sent the unsettled Congolese to PAOK Salonica in Greece for the coming season.

Standard isn’t sitting still, however.  They have moved to replace Axel Witsel, bound for Benfica, with promising Dutch youngster Geert-Arend Roorda.

Club Brugge may have reloaded and taken aim at the Jupiler League but it’s not going to be easy to hit moving targets.  One thing is certain, it’s going to be a bang-up season in the Belgian top flight!

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Whenever a great side comes along, people always react in the same manner.  The general consensus immediately becomes that they are unbeatable.  Yet, Uruguay have not won every World Cup and Preston North End have long since failed to hold onto their First Division title.  Even the current Barcelona dynasty suffered a hiccup in between their dismissals of Manchester United.

Spain are the current holders of both the European Championship and World Cup, with bookmakers, pundits and punters alike finding it difficult to conceive that they will not dissect the opposition in the same surgical fashion next summer in the Ukraine and Poland.  And, so they might.

On the other hand, they just might not.  Throughout the World Cup, La Furia dominated possession and looked good doing it.  Yet, to their own frustration, they continually failed to administer the killing stroke.  Consequently, Switzerland were able to win ugly in the opening match of the group stage and every match but one in their tournament ended by either a 1-0 or 2-1 score. Rather than grabbing the world by the throat to win their first World Cup, Vicente del Bosque’s side managed it by the skin of their teeth.

When you leave the door open so many times, sooner or later, someone is going to walk through it.  Heading into next summer’s tournament, the champions will be largely unchanged from the current version.  Barring injury, Iker Casillas will be between the sticks, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique will guard his doorstep, flanked by Joan Capdevilla and Sergio Ramos, the midfield will be led by Xavi and Andres Iniesta and anchored by Sergio Busquets, and David Villa will be up front.  The only changes might be Cesc Fabregas stepping into Xabi Alonso’s place or Pedro replacing Fernando Torres.  Essentially, they’ll be standing pat.  Meanwhile, many of their opponents will be featuring new, improved squads.

So, our cracked staff has gotten together one last time, this summer, to run the rule over the competition and offer their opinions on who will walk away as the next European champion.

Spain (Sean O’Brien) – After last year’s World Cup final, I predicted that Germany would win Euro 2012. I ‘m sticking with that prediction,for now, but the question for the moment is which team is most likely to win the tournament?  To me, ‘most likely’means favoured and Spain is obviously that.

Initially, my argument was going to be that this tournament would be this squad’s last hurrah, but, after doing some research, I was surprised by how young this Golden Generation is. At tournament kickoff next summer, only eight players will have reached thirty years of age. Of those, four are either goalies or sporadic starters. The others are Xabi Alonso , David Villa, Xavi and Carles Puyol.  Xavi, Villa and Alonso are all playing better than ever, with only Puyol showing the effects of his advancing years. It’s a medical fact that smaller people tend to age better and durability is just another advantage that this immensely talented squad enjoys.

Speaking of advantages, La Furia Roja has the best goalkeeping corps in the world, a backline with a fantastic mixture of experience and youth, a midfield deeper than the Pacific Ocean and scoring options more potent than ever, with Torres having had time to regain his form, Pedro developing further and Alvaro Negredo coming up. Imagine facing a team that could bring David Silva, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas off the bench? That’s just frightening.

Tactically, everyone knows that ball possession and midfield control give you a fantastic chance to win and they also know that no one on the planet maintains possession and wins it back better than the Spaniards.   Their players know each other so well that they are rarely, if ever, out of sync.

The only question mark hanging above this team is whether another season of Clasico matches will break the hard-earned trust in what has traditionally been a fractious team.  Regional politics had long been a detriment to the national team but, under del Bosque, Castilians, Catalans, Andalusians and Basques all came together.  Yet, smoldering embers between Real Madrid and Barcelona blazed out of control this season and, although the players claim that those emotions are set aside during international duty, another contentious season in La Liga will test that discipline, possibly exposing the ugly side of the beautiful game.

Germany (Gareth McKnight) – The Germans are starting to look ominous. Joachim Löw has been in charge of the side since taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann in July, 2006, stamping his style and authority over a talented group of players. Die Mannschaft alway seem to be there or thereabouts and the side has been on the verge of success in their last three major tournament outings, finishing third in the last two World Cups and runners-up to the superb Spaniards in Euro 2008.

The squad has a youthful exuberance and the old guard are finally comfortable in handing the reins over to the new generation; it was announced on Thursday that Michael ‘Kaiser’Ballack will no longer be considered for international duty. With Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller and Mario Gomez, the side has world-class players, all 25 or under, ready to take the country to the pinnacle of football once again.  Despite having only two thirty-something players in their current squad, Germany does not lack experience, with seasoned campaigners Philipp Lahm, Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose all having over 80 caps apiece.  It’s a perfect blend of old and new.

With the Euros a year away, mercurial talents such as Marko Marin, Marco Reus and Mario Götze have another season of club football to mature and possibly add their considerable abilities to the combined German effort.

Germany is undefeated in an admittedly average qualification group but – platitude alert!  platitude alert! – you can only play what is put in front of you. Löw’s team have won seven games out of seven, scoring twenty-two goals and conceding only three. With the big game mentality and nerves of steel the German side always bring to international tournaments, don’t be surprised if they finally oust holders Spain and lift the European trophy in the Ukraine.

The French Foreign Legion (Tapesh Patel) – With Spain so dominant at international level, it’s a tough ask for any side to topple them. But there is, I would say, a ‘second tier’of countries waiting to pounce if they do slip up, of which France is a member.

In little less than a season, Laurent Blanc has transformed the bunch of misfits that emerged from the World Cup without suspension into a cohesive, and above all winning outfit. The latter should be emphasised – as triumphs over England and Brazil, albeit in friendlies, testify to this France team’s ability to duke it out with the heavyweights.

The qualifying campaign has been unremarkable but there is little doubt that France will go through. If and When they do, the side at Euro 2012 will be an impressive one. Rami and Mexes have formed an impressive little-and-large partnership in defence. Yann M’Vila has the potential to last a decade as midfield enforcer. Samir Nasri sparkles as the side’s attacking fulcrum, even more so than for Arsenal. And Karim Benzema, after a long spell in the wilderness, is back.

Add the formerly suspended Franck Ribery and Patrice Evra into this equation, and it becomes the sum of old and new, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The big-club experience the pair will bring could be exactly what a potential winner of the tournament will need.

Les Bleus (Andrew Gibney) – Now that the quota scandal is behind Laurent Blanc – touch wood – he can get back to the wonderful job he has been doing with the National team. There is so much talent in this side and with another domestic campaign successfully in the books for all, I can only see good things happening.

The partnership of Rami and Mexes is getting better every game and, with the man mountain Mamadou Sakho waiting eagerly in the wings, the defence looks promising for years to come. There is no question that Yann M’Vila is going to be a star and 2012, culminating in the Euros, could be his breakout year.

Upfront there are just too many threats to write about.  Just trust me; take all your money and throw it on France..Allez Les Bleus, Allez!  – Andrew Gibney

Paris in Spring (Jude Ellery) – La Francais. Mes oui!  Sorry Tapesh, I’ll be treading on your toes a bit here but you don’t have the market cornered on Gallic appreciation.

Laurent Blanc is a stylish manager but, more importantly, the FFF have found the new secret formula for winning international tournaments: a lush away kit. Sure, Spain have nice home shirts, but France’s secret weapon is a classically designed second strip, inspired by the marinière: the black and white stripey number that French sailors (and afterwards, burglars) used to wear.

I predict that this outfit will inspire Les Sacrebleus to raise their performance by at least 3%, and, seeing as a prerequisite for winning any international competition is beating Italy in extra time in the semi-final, this little slice of haute couture will be just what Karim Benzema and co. need to bring the trophy back to l’Hexagone.

The Rejects (Martin Palazzotto) – Well, the consensus seems to be with Les Bleus in our little corner of the cyber-verse.  Personally, I’m with Gareth – great minds and all that – in the belief that Germany is going to claim its fourth European crown.  

He’s touched on all the right points.  As well as possessing the requisite talent to get the job done, die Mannschaft are trending in the proper direction after losing to Spain in the last tournament and the World Cup semi-finals.  They’ve transitioned quickly from an old squad to a young, eager side with big game experience.  They’ve learned to lose to Spain; now its time that they beat them.

Still it’s been left to me, the responsible one, to let everyone else down easy and explain why your favourite didn’t rate with WFC.  I’m always stuck being the bad parent.  So, here’s the cold, hard truth:

The Dutch — Mohamed Moallim has been hampered by the poorest of excuses – a paying job – from defending the honour of his beloved l’Oranje in person.  Unfortunately, were he here, he’d find it difficult to rationalise precisely how Bert van Marwijk’s side could overcome what was already an aging defence in South Africa to hold off the potent attacks of France Germany and Spain.  Worse, two of their best young players, Ibrahim Afellay and Urby Emmanuelson may have hampered their own development by signing with clubs, Barcelona and AC Milan, which will likely not offer them consistent first team starts.

Then, there is the question of nerve.  Having given as good as they got in attack against Brazil, van Marwijk’s side crept into a defensive shell, one that an elephant wielding a sledgehammer would find impossible to crack, when they went up against the struggling offence of Spain.  In America, we have a saying:  you dance with the one who brought you.  If the Netherlands reach the final in Kiev, however, it wouldn’t surprise me if, one more time, the artistry of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin Van Persie gives way to the brute force of Mark van Bommel and Nigel ‘The Legbreaker’de Jong.

Portugal –  Believe it or not, this is not a one-man team.  There is no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo, for better or worse, is the Seleccao leader but Eduardo, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Raul Mereiles, Nani and Hugo Almeida are hardly make-weight components.  They may not have the depth of the favourites but that doesn’t stop them from being a very real threat as long as they can avoid injury and suspensions.

 What’s the problem, then?  Well, when you have a coach, in Carlos Queiroz, who has unified a group of technically gifted, attack-minded players and sold them on playing as a defensive unit, sacrificing themselves for each other, you don’t sack him when he oversteps his bounds in protecting them.  When he leaves, the belief in a shared goal goes with him and you’re stuck with a ragged passel of disillusioned individuals.

The Azzurri – Under Cesare Prandelli, Generation Next in Italy is coming together.  His hardline on disciplinary matters has been accepted by all, after both Daniele de Rossi and Mario Balotelli were banned for incidents while on club duty.  Prandelli has also had a narrow focus in selection, with Serie A Golden Boot winner for two season’s running, Antonio di Natale frozen out and Villareal star Giuseppe Rossi on the fringe.  In the long term, that vision is likely to bear fruit and Italy should be a factor at the World Cup in Brazil.  It would truly be a shock if this young, untested side went the distance in 2012, however.

Greece —  The Greeks are unbeaten in their qualifying group, with four wins and two draws, holding off Croatia and Israel, and they did win it all in Portugal 2004, proving that anything can happen in a short tournament such as this.  Still, with key veterans such as Theofanis Gekas and Sotirios Kyrgiakos retiring after the departure of coach Otto Rehhagel, reportedly due to differences with new man Fernando Santos, they simply do not have the solidarity of that championship side.  Without chemistry or a prolific attack, all they can do is adopt a siege mentality and wait for the walls to come crumbling down.

Turkey –  The Turks combine the stalwart resistance of their long-time enemies, the Greeks, with a skill and flair that is just a step below that of more traditional artistes, Spain and the Netherlands.  Under the tutelage of Guus Hiddink, those qualities may have come together and resulted in a surprising run of victories on the neutral battlefield of Eastern Europe.  He’s done it before with Russia in the Euros and South Korea in the World Cup. but with the charismatic, if flighty, genius almost surely headed for Stamford Bridge, Turkey will be lucky just to qualify.

The Hosts —  Poland?  Umm, sorry but no.  The Ukrainians do have some strong players and will likely make it into the latter stages on pride alone but their success in club competition has largely been down to a healthy dose of Brazilian style.  That is an illegal supplement in this competition and the withdrawal pains will be fatal to their hopes.  At thirty-four, Andriy Shevchenko is going to give it one last shot for the ages but the days of Pele and Maradona, where one player could win an entire tournament on his own, are long gone.

England – Okay, let me get behind this industrial strength barricade before I lob my opinion into this minefield.  Alright then, here goes.  Basically, England is a mess.  The squad faces psychological, chronological and sociological impediments that only grow larger and more deadly to their chances as major tournaments approach.

Psychologically, it’s simple.  So much has happened to them over the years, that, deep down, in their heart of hearts, the players don’t believe they can overcome it.  Being an England player is similar to being a recovering heroin addict.  You may tell yourself that you can slay the beast, you may have every intention of following through and you may have the best treatment and support that’s available but when you step back out on the street, your resolve crumbles every time.

Chronologically, it just isn’t their moment.  The heart of the team, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are all in the custody of Old Man Time.  Another club season may see Jack Wilshere ready to step in for Lampard but Fabio Capello is not likely to dare the media’s wrath and trust the youngster to supplant the terminally slow Chelsea midfielder.  Instead, they’ll play alongside each other, with their contrasting styles not the best fit.   At the back, Phil Jones is also on the verge of stepping into a key role but Chris Smalling isn’t.  Until Andy Carroll settles at Liverpool and stops incurring niggling injuries, his potential will remain his most valuable asset.   Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, needs a strong partner and, thanks to the obsession with foreign talent in the Premier League, Darren Bent is his only reliable and experienced option.  Scott Parker’s leadership would ease the transition from veteran squad to young team but Capello is too reliant on the old guard, regardless of the lessons of South Africa.  Overall, England’s selection problem is similar to Italy’s - ironic when you consider their manager’s nationality – in that they have stuck with their veterans too long, thus failing to develop, again with the help of a more globally minded Premier League, an entire generation of players.

Sociologically, there’s one obstacle that they just can’t overcome.   Even if Rio, Terry, Lamps and Stevie G. were in the peak of health, even if Scott Parker anchored the midfield instead of Gareth ‘How Did He Get Past Me?’Barry, even if Jack Wilshere became the heart of the engine, even if Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll formed a deadly partnership and even if Fabio Capello had the squad perfectly tuned and pulling in the same direction, the media would find a way to tear it all to bits.  They’ve done it every time the Three Lions have begun to look like being kings of the jungle and they will do it again.  Why?  Because they are the pusher and it’s the England fans, not the squad, who are the addicts.  The NOTW and the Sunday Mirror put their product out there and the masses buy it, even when they know it for the deadly poison it is.  Their eyes dilate, their heads loll and drool runs down their chin as they read about what moral miscreants their heroes allegedly are.

If England fans want their squad to win, they need to stop mainlining the tawdry gossip and judge their team by its play on the pitch, rather than by its all too human frailties.

…..

Yeah, I think I may need a bigger barricade. – Martin Palazzotto 

That’s it for our review of the 2010-11 UEFA season.  It’s been real and it’s been long but most of all, it’s been really long,  Still, if you’re a glutton for punishment and have missed any portion of the ten-part series, links to each article are below.  As well, look on our home page to find the personal blogs of the many writers who contributed to the series!

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window
7. Manager Most Likely To Accept A High Profile Position
8. Young Player Most Likely To Impress At A Big Club
9. High-Profile Manager Most Likely To Remain Unemployed

Enjoy, and we’ll see you in 2011-12!

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The transfer window is well and truly open for business.  Liverpool have swooped for Jordan Henderson, Manchester United have beaten them to Phil Jones and apparently have Ashley Young in the queue.  Chelsea are trying to pry Luka Modric from Spurs.  As well, bidding wars have erupted over both Sergio Kun Aguero and Alexis Sánchez, with Inter striker Samuel Eto’o tempted by a possible move to England.

On the managerial front, many clubs have moved quickly to fill their vacancies, so that he might identify and secure prospects in the market.

Fulham quickly signed on their first choice to replace Roy Hodgson, Martin Jol, now that he was available after second choice Mark Hughes had inexplicably jumped ship in the middle of the ocean.   Aston Villa, who didn’t want the London club’s deserter, are risking the anger of their fans by negotiating with one from crosstown rivals, Birmingham.  More impressed by a League Cup triumph than a relegation failure, Chairman Randy Lerner is on the verge of announcing Alex McLeish as the new Villa boss.  With all the time he’ll have to spend converting skeptical Villans, the Scot will never find a decent barber.  I guess we all have to make sacrifices.

Speaking of sacrifices, Championship side Nottingham Forest acted quickly when they discovered that Steve McLaren was interested in their  club, sacking Billie Davies before he could say WT… The former England boss’first home match of consequence will be a baptism of fire, as Forest face derby foes Notts County in the first round of the Carling Cup.

Meanwhile, in Spain, Atletico Madrid have settled on Gregorio Manzano as coach.  His pragmatic assessment that it would be better to sell Kun Aguero to hated rivals Real Madrid for €45 million than Juventus for almost half that may rankle some passionate supporters but it will allow him to rebuild what is a rapidly disintegrating squad.  Having led Real Mallorca and Sevilla to fifth place finishes in the last two La Liga campaigns, the same will be the bare minimum expected at the Vicente Calderon.

In Italy, Massimo Moratti has shown his class.  Knowing that his manager, Leonardo, was considering the Sporting Director’s post at Paris Saint-Germain, the chairman kept the information to himself and publicly backed the less-than-popular coach.  When it came out that he was in talks with Marcelo ‘Loco’Bielsa, he denied the truth rather than fuel the rumours that Leonardo was unwanted.  As his replacement, the man who took Chile deep into the World Cup and is sometimes referred to as the ‘Mad Scientist’brings to the Inter job an interesting blend of Rafa Benitez’confident arrogance and Jose Mourinho’s tactical nous.  Look out, Massimiliano Allegri.

Finally, in the Russian Premier League, Chechen side Terek Grozny have sacked new boss Ruud Gullit for allegedly being more concerned about the local night life than improving the club.  At least, the outspoken Nederlander has ESPN to catch his fall.

Ironically, the most challenging post of all remains empty.  Chelsea have yet to announce a replacement for the departed Carlo Ancelotti.  Like Crystal Harris, who has ditched octogenarian Playboy founder Hugh Hefner days before their highly promoted nuptials, Guus Hiddink seems to have a serious case of cold feet regarding the Stamford Bridge hot seat.

If the Dutchman ultimately refuses to say ‘I do’, a jilted Roman Abramovich is expected to turn to Porto boss Andres Villas-Boas to take over what is expected to be a younger, leaner version of the Blues.

Of course, that leaves a bevy of big name managers in the line at the Employment Center.  With the amount of opportunities numbering either one or none, this group will be waiting for the phone to ring in autumn as some bosses inevitably fail to meet their chairman’s expectations.  A good many of the idle hands, however, have burned bridges in such spectacular fashion that the more interesting question is not which ones will finally find work but who won’t?  As ever, the cracked WFC staff is here to nominate the most likely permanent wallflowers in the high-profile managerial ranks.

Mark Hughes, Late of Fulham – Of all the currently available coaches, the one most likely to be unattached come the start of the season, in my opinion, is Mark Hughes. The former Man City boss led the Cottagers to their second highest Premier League finish, eighth, in 2010/11 and the club will compete in the Europa League next season; so why did he leave?

Well, according to the horse’s mouth…

“I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club. I hope the supporters and all those connected to the club will understand that as a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences.” 

With Aston Villa apparently not interested in the forty-seven-year-old, their brain trust inexplicably desiring Alex McLeish in his stead, and Chelsea sure to sign someone with a more impressive track record, just who does Sparky think he will be furthering his experiences with?

Any ideas?

It beats me, and, for that reason, I expect he will be watching the first day of the season unemployed, and will more than likely have to return to football, tail between legs, at a club in a much worse position than that in which he left Fulham. – Gareth McKnight

Avram Grant, Closet Bungee Jumper– Okay, so earlier in the week, I wrote that some poor sap of a chairman was going to call Grant, hoping for the ‘John Terry Cost Me A Trophy’ Chelsea version of the Israeli manager, rather than the ‘Delegate?  I Thought You Said Relegate!” Pompey and West Ham archetype.

I’m not backing off from that prediction; it just isn’t going to happen while chairman are enjoying the bright summer days and remain full of hope.  When Autumn casts a chill and winter’s cold darkens their days, however, desperate clubs will be picking up the phone to call on the vampiric Count Avram.   After all, despair has become his specialty – Andrew Gibney

Claude Puel, Lyon’s Sack Waiting To Happen – Claude Puel isn’t unemployed yet, but is apparently on the lookout for his next big role. The thing is, after a pretty poor showing as Lyon manager, he may not get that big break before the axe falls. His continued selection of centre-half Pape Diakhate has been detrimental, as has his favouring of experience over youth. Players such as young stopper Dejan Lovren and midfielder Miralem Pjanic haven’t been given sufficient sunshine to blossom into leading talents. Instead, Puel’s ‘win now’approach has had ironic results. – Tapesh Patel

The Italian Jobs — As I noted on Sunday, Italian clubs are trending towards new managers with new ideas.  Luis Enrique has been installed in Rome and Antonio Conte at Juventus.  As well, Stefano Pioli has taken over at Palermo and Inter are in talks with Marcelo Bielsa.  Beyond those four clubs, Chievo have hired Domenico di Carlo to replace Pioli and Roberto Donadoni will have to establish some consistency at Cagliari if he expects to remain in Sardinia for a full season. The likes of Delio Rossi, Claudio Ranieri and Carlo Ancelotti are being held like aces in the hole, should the new blood fail to impress.

If an opening appears, Rossi would be a candidate to step into any of those positions, except perhaps for Inter, where Massimo Moratti has a more cosmopolitan taste in coaches.  Ranieri and Ancelotti would appeal to the Nerazzurri owner, though, but so would Louis van Gaal.  Luigi del Neri also shouldn’t be idle for too long either, despite his ambivalent campaign at Juve.

Lega Calcio is, after all, much like a regular Tuesday night poker game.  It’s full of cigar chomping, lascivious old men who have been trying to get the better of each other for decades.  The game is lively and, every once in a while, a ringer is introduced.  Cheating is not unheard of and the deck is shuffled regularly.

Every manager comes to the table knowing that with characters like Moratti, Maurizio Zamparini and Silvio Berlusconi, jokers are wild and it’s win or go bust every hand.  The game is so exhilarating, though, that even when they get knocked out, Serie A managers are always ready to buy back in. – Martin Palazzotto 

Martin O’Neill, Single White Manager Looking For Attractive Club, Swingers Need Not Apply– I’d pick Avram Grant, too, but it’s not like he’s ever been a high-profile manager. And we all know Chris Hughton is destined for the West Ham job –  what? I’m in the middle of something here, don’t interrupt – that one was like sooo obvious a few months back. In fact, I think that Goldbert and Sullivan got the club relegated deliberately to tempt him. Doesn’t everyone say he’s a great Championship manager?  Besides, Big Sam looks like he’s enjoying his new TV gig.

So, my nomination goes to Martin O’Neill. Before Mark Hughes came and went, O’Neill stunned Aston Villa by walking away just as the season was getting underway.  Given his inactivity over the past year, Sparky should have probably paid heed.  Getting sacked is part and parcel of the job but when you walk away from a club with no good reason, good luck finding another job, unless you’re willing to accept payment in fetish fashions and accessories. – Jude Ellery

Rafa Benitez, Pariah non grata – It’s fair to say that Rafa Benitez’personality clashes with my idea of the ideal manager.  There’s no question that he’s accomplished some great things with both Valencia and Liverpool and I’d never intimate that he doesn’t have skills.  Things start to go south, however, when his ego comes to the fore.  If anyone ever exemplified the proverb that pride comes before the fall, it’s Rafa Benitez.

While he was winning at Anfield, the little fits of piqué, mostly directed at outsiders such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, were harmless entertainment.  When the mounting debt from Hicks & Gillet’s leveraged buy-out began to tell on the club, though, the sniping began to be directed inwards.  When he and Rick Parry disagreed on the club’s direction, it became a public power struggle.  You won’t get an argument from me that Parry’s signing of Robbie Keane was a poor investment but Alberto Aquilani’s recruitment smacked of pot, kettle, black.  As well, Rafa’s treatment of out of favour players, most notably Xabi Alonso, until he realised how much he needed the midfielder, was unnecessarily arrogant and soon came back to bite him.

Once Parry was gone, the new refrain was that more investment was needed.  That was the case, true enough, but Benitez’haughty approach to the owner’s intransigence was off-putting.  That he used the same tactic at Inter with a well-stocked clubhouse and a far more accommodating and knowledgeable Massimo Moratti proved that the entire blame didn’t lay with the Americans.  To reduce a treble winning squad to a mid-table side and then demand funds for new players, rather than humbly ask, showed that the Spaniard was incapable of turning his gaze inward.

He has since announced that he is ready to return to the Premier League.  However, when a big club such as Aston Villa prefers a relegated League Cup winning coach to a Champions League, FA Cup and La Liga feted manager, the writing is on the wall.  That Atletico Madrid also went for a less flammable option, in Gregorio Manzano, adds an exclamation mark to the message.  If Rafa Benitez wants to return to the top he’s going to have to convince the world that his next job is not about him. – Martin Palazzotto

If my arm was twisted, I’d put a few bob on Avram Grant to be the last of the managers we’ve listed to return to the dugout.  That’s only just ahead of Rafa, who, while he’s earned a reputation similar to a temperamental movie star with whom no one can work, has at least won an Oscar or two.   I could be wrong, though.  What do you think?

On Saturday, keep an eye out for the final installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Country Most Likely To Win The 2012 Euros

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window
7. Manager Most Likely To Accept A High Profile Position
8. Young Player Most Likely To Impress At A Big Club

Enjoy!

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This is the Yearbook section where we will likely be accused of being Man United fans.  For Dale OD, who won’t appear in this chapter, and Jude Ellery, who will, that is unashamedly the case.  As for the rest of us, not so much.

The truth behind the façade is simply that United have a history of either developing their own or raiding other clubs for young talent and developing them into, except when it comes to Barcelona, world beaters.  The recent list of such players is headed by Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham but also includes Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, the Neville Brothers (Gary & Phil, not Aaron et al) from Carrington and Nani, Antonio Valencia, Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique from elsewhere.

The next class is already beginning to reach full enrollment.  Chris Smalling and Phil Jones now look set to inherit the center back pairing from Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.  That won’t  happen for another season or two, so they won’t earn more than passing mention here.  Still, there are one or two notables who are being touted to turn heads at Old Trafford in the coming year.  Those we will run the rule over, although we promise to add a few players from other clubs, just to keep up appearances.

Enjoy.

David de Gea @ Manchester United — We might as well delve into all the Man United speculation right off the bat, as there has been plenty of it since the Champions League defeat.  Ryan Giggs, exposed for tired legs in that game, his alleged philandering, rather than mere age, a possible explanation, has gone into hiding.  Paul Scholes has retired.  Darren Fletcher has a mysterious virus.  Michael Carrick and Anderson haven’t stepped into the void with any authority and Park Ji-Sung doesn’t have the necessary communications skills to lead by anything other than example, at which, to be fair, he has excelled.  Yet, the need for some fresh blood in the middle of the pitch remains a secondary concern for Sir Alex Ferguson until he secures the successor to Edwin van der Sar between the sticks.

The allegedly £20 million purchase of Phil Jones from Blackburn will yield no fruit if the right man is not behind the nineteen-year-old when he takes his first turn in a red strip.  As well, while Jones and Smalling continue to develop their skills, Ferdinand and, to a lesser degree, Vidic’s will erode.  It’s crucial to United’s continued dominance in the Premier League that someone is there to bar the door when the inevitable slip-ups occur.

The deal hasn’t been finalised as yet but, by all accounts, de Gea is Fergie’s preferred choice.   He, too, is young, at just twenty, but the Atletico Madrid keeper is already a medalist, with his Europa League title of two seasons ago.  It can also be argued that, in a horrible season for the Rojiblancos, his play at the back was as important, if not more-so, to the success they did have than the contributions at the opposite end from Sergio Kun Aguero.  De Gea has continued to impress, with a stellar performance against England in the ongoing U21 Euros, robbed of victory with two minutes remaining by a Danny Welbeck desperation goal.

Welbeck is, like Jones and Smalling, another whose time to make an impact has not yet come, although he will likely be the second option off the bench if he is not loaned out for another season, to reap the benefits of steady playing time.

De Gea, however, once signed will be thrown into the deep end and, as ends go, the Stretford is nearly bottomless.  The young Spaniard will have to prove that he can take charge immediately and marshal a title defence in the toughest league there is. If de Gea cannot stay afloat from the outset, it could very well sink a promising career.  So then, the question is, will the impact of David de Gea’s signing by Man United be felt more acutely by the fans or by the man himself?

Pedro @ Barcelona — With Lionel Messi and David Villa ahead of him in the Blaugrana pecking order, just how is young Pedro supposed to make an impact at the Nou Camp?  Well, he’s not going to supplant Little Leo, that’s for certain.  Villa might be another matter, though.  The World Cup hero did put in eighteen goals as Lego-Man’s new sidekick last season.  Yet in even more of a supporting role, Pedro added thirteen and made his intent for 2011-12 clear by opening the scoring in the Champions League final at Wembley.

Another telling factor is that when Messi took a few knocks in the spring, Villa’s form dried up.  He was making a living from the freedom created by Messi’s distracting presence.  When Villa became the focal point for defences, it suddenly wasn’t so easy to find the target.  Much the same occurred in the World Cup, where Fernando Torres’reputation afforded the ex-Valencia threat some extra time and space.

If you think I’m disparaging Villa’s talent, I’m not.  He is a very capable striker and fits into Pep Guardiola’s scheme better than his predecessor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. You have to ask why, though, is Pep so keen on signing Giuseppe Rossi, who won’t be happy on the bench, if Villa is all he’s cracked up to be?

Should Rossi arrive, it will put a dent in Pedro’s hopes for more playing time; yet, it’s far from a done deal.  On the other hand, if Rossi does sign and manages to supplant Villa in the first half of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising, with the imminent onset of Financial Fair play, to see Villa moved in the winter window, perhaps even re-uniting with former Valencia partner David Silva at Man City.

After all, at Barcelona, mercenaries are welcomed, typically for short visits, but loyalty and accommodation is reserved for La Masia graduates.  After six years of toiling in the reserves, Pedro’s contributions in 2010-11 should have him next in line for a permanent place in the world’s best starting eleven.

Steven Defour @ Man United (Jude Ellery) – Steven Defour to United, for £22m. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  If you’re a United supporter or secretly wish you were, you’ve heard the tale of how Fergie sent Defour get well wishes when he broke his foot in 2009.  The foot has healed and the twenty-three-year-old has continued on as captain of Standard Liege.   Now, with rumours of him coming to Old Trafford having been replaced by blockbuster innuendo regarding Wesley Sneijder, it is time for Sir Alex to consummate the courtship.

Defour is younger than the Dutchman, less expensive and well-known but is every bit his match as a leader.  Fergie is not looking for short-term fixes.  He is building the next great Manchester dynasty and the Belgian, à la Eric Cantona, will be at the heart of it.

I think I might have even spied an ‘AF 4 SD’ mural chalked on the sidewalk outside Old Trafford yesterday.  yesterday. What’s that?  No, it wasn‘t AF has STDs’.  Haters!

Jamie Ness @ Rangers (Scott Johnston) — The coming SPL season could be a really big one for Jamie Ness at Rangers. At twenty, he has been unlucky with injuries, true, but with a full pre-season under his belt, he could be ready to become a first team regular at Ibrox.

Ness made his debut last season, displaying composure beyond his years.  He keeps the ball in a way that reminds me of a young Barry Ferguson. As well, he can close opponents down and play the holding role to great effect, putting Maurice Edu’s position in the Gers squad under threat. Even better, he has a cannon for a left foot, a rarity in any league. If you have any doubts regarding his ability, I refer you to his wonderful goal against Celtic in the Scottish Cup on the 6th of February!

If Ness can escape from the looming injury cloud which has darkened his early career, there is no reason he cannot also become a first choice Scottish International. He recently made his under-21 debut and will only develop a better chemistry, with some familiar faces in the new Ibrox senior dressing room, namely Kyle Hutton, Gregg Wylde and John Fleck, also ready to cement their places in the top team.

New Rangers boss Ally McCoist has already identified Jamie’s potential and, hoping to transform the youngster into an integral member of his squad, he rewarded the midfielder a new two year contract extension, keeping the Ayrshire lad at Ibrox until 2015. There will be many new faces wearing blue this season but the young Jamie Ness will hope to stay fit and remain in the fore of his new boss’first team plans.

Romelu Lukaku @ Chelsea (Tapesh Patel – At Anderlecht, Lukaku has developed a healthy rivalry with Standard Liege and Steven Defour.  While the midfielder has quietly slipped off the continental radar, the big striker has emerged as a rising stock in a class of talented Belgian international players.  He has been linked with just about every club conceivable and dubbed as the second coming of Didier Drogba.  Over time, the 6′ 3″ teenager will only flesh out his long frame which, with his already dangerous movement and pace, doesn’t bode well for Premier League defenders.

Although he has played down the gossip without exactly quashing it altogether, by announcing that his current priorities are his final exams and getting back to training with Anderlecht, his most likely move is to Stamford Bridge, where Drogba himself might offer a few pointers on how to properly dismantle defenders.  But who would he replace? Drogba? Torres? Anelka? All of them? This is the conundrum facing the incoming Chelsea manager.

Having now dominated the Belgian league with 31 goals in two seasons, Blues fans are hoping that he has set his sights on a move to England. His stats suggest that he would make an excellent partner for Daniel Sturridge, with the young pair hastening the departure of the expensive, aging stars blocking their way.

Whether it’s Guus Hiddink, Andres Villas-Boas or a complete dark horse who assumes the reins at Chelsea, they’d be a fool not to want this young talent in their squad.

Libor Kozak @ Lazio ( Shaun Best) – No-one will argue that Lazio have managed to pull off a coup with the signing of 33-year-old front man Miroslav Klose.  It’s the kind of high-profile signing that Eagles fans were used to seeing in the ’90s, during the Sergio Cragnotti era.  With Klose now added to a frontline that includes Mauro Zarate, Giuseppe Sculli, Sergio Floccari and Tommaso Rocchi, what will become of young Czech prodigy Libor Kozak?

The 22 year-old, 6”4 inch target man was signed in 2008 from minnows SFC Opava and, after a failed loan spell at Brescia, his Serie A future looked bleak.

However, while Zarate was having his latest temper tantrum at the turn of the year, sitting out three matches for an end-of-game tirade against Bologna which concluded with the diminutive Argentine hurling the ball at an opponent, Kozak took his chance and enjoyed a purple patch.

A fortnight after contributing the winning goal against Sampdoria, Kozak bagged a brace to defeat Fiorentina. Coincidentally, the Viola just happened to be the club against which Kozak opened his Lazio account back in September.  Despite contributing just two more goals, Kozak has still shown enough to prove he belongs on the big stage. While Eagles coach Edy Reja adopted the “Chicharito” approach, calling on the big man from the bench, Czech Republic manager Michal Bilek was impressed enough to make a personal scouting trip, which in turn led to a maiden international call-up.

Due to his build and aerial threat, comparisons have already been made with former Czech legends Jan Koller and Tomas Skuhravy, along with Tottenham’s Peter Crouch. Spurs coach Harry Redknapp has reportedly has already sent scouts to watch Kozak.

While Kozak has some large shoes to fill, the bigger question now remains whether he is happy to remain a bit part player?  If his ambitions can match his size, then the sky could be the limit for Libor Kozak.

Raphael Varane @ Man United (Andrew Gibney) – The 18-year-old defender, who spent the season with now relegated French club RC Lens, will likely move to Manchester United, followed by a possible loan deal to a Ligue 1 side.  He’s another strapping lad, also 6′ 3″, and of Martiniquais descent.

While he isn’t prepared to break into United’s senior squad quite yet, write down his name on a bit a paper.  By the time he’s 20, everyone will know who he is. If you can’t wait a couple of years, here is something I wrote on the Gib Football Show back in April.

You might wonder why we haven’t nominated your favourite young star, be it Aaron Ramsey, who might be ready to tread the path blazed by Gareth Bale – and wouldn’t that be something:  a Gunner following the lead of a Tottenham man? – Michael Mancienne, starting anew again at Hamburg with the full confidence of former Chelsea youth supervisor Frank Arnesen, yet another United prospect in Tom Cleverly or someone else entirely.  The simple answer is that this post is already long enough to be nominated for a Nibbie.  The truth is that we probably never considered them.

Then again, that’s what the comments section is for!

On Thursday, keep an eye out for the ninth installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  High-Profile Boss Most Likely To Remain Unemployed At Season’s Start.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window
7. Manager Most Likely To Accept A High Profile Position

Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________

2010-11

Last season, there were some fairly obvious selections from which to choose in this category. In fact, their stories formed an interesting exercise in six degrees of separation.

First and foremost, there was Jose Mourinho taking over at Real Madrid.  While the Copa del Rey is not a massive achievement by the Special One’s standards, it’s difficult to argue that he didn’t make more of an impact on Europe than any other manager at a new club.  At the beginning of the season, Los Blancos took it on the chin in a 5-0 defeat against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.  After a quick start, coupled with the Catalan’s loss to lowly Hercules, the humiliating defeat burst the Madridista’s bubble and taught them exactly how much work had to be done.  To Mourinho’s credit – and discredit - the four-game series towards season’s end proved that they might still be second best but had made up significant ground.

Mourinho, of course, had left Internazionale after making them five-time defending Serie A champions, Coppa d’Italia winners and Champions League holders in his second season with the Nerazzurri.  When he left for Madrid, his old Premier League nemesis, Rafa Benitez, came along and changed all that.  Famously announcing that he would teach the treble holders to play football, he proceeded to mire them in mid-table and see them humiliated by Gareth Bale and Spurs.  During his short reign, the club was unable to either score or defend.  When he finally won the Club World Cup over African champions TP Mazembe and haughtily demanded money to spend on players to improve the club, Massimo Moratti decided that enough was enough and brought in former AC Milan boss Leonardo.

At Liverpool, Benitez was replaced by the humble and gentlemanly Roy Hodgson.  The former Fulham boss was unable to cope with the expectations of the Kop, who wanted an aggressive, entertaining squad.  Hodgson had led the Cottagers to the Europa League final by playing a cautious, reserved style, which he tried to implement at Anfield.  It didn’t suit the players, the fans or the media and soon enough – well, not for some – Woy was out and Kenny Dalglish in.  Dalglish led the club back to the threshold of Europe, making him perhaps the most successful manager of a new club in the Premier League for 2010-11.  Ironically, Hodgson would likely finish runner-up for that honour, as he was picked up by West Brom, finding a club more receptive to his philosophy.  Under him, the Baggies surged up from the drop zone to finish in eleventh, best of the three newly promoted clubs.

Outside of that daisy chain were one or two other success stories.  Massimiliano Allegri made the leap from Cagliari to AC Milan and promptly delivered the club its first Scudetto in seven years.  In Amsterdam, Frank de Boer took over for Martin Jol and led Ajax, who also hadn’t won their league since 2003-04, to the Eredivisie crown.  Then, of course, there was the comprehensive dominance of Porto, who won the Portuguese league by twenty-one points under Andres Villas-Boas.  Like his former boss, Jose Mourinho, to which he is too-often compared, Villas-Boas converted league dominance into a treble haul, by claiming the Portuguese Cup and winning the Europa League.

So, whoever steps up in the coming season will have some ways to go to match the best performances of 2010-11.  The questions are, who is the most likely to actually do it and where?

2011-12

Sam Allardyce — Okay, it’s stretching it to call a relegated side which will be competing in the Championship next season and is owned by a pair of porn merchants and their corporate dominatrix a high-profile side.  West Ham are, however, a big club.  Had they put as much effort into team building as they did securing the Olympic Stadium as the Iron’s new home, the Davids Sullivan and Gold, along with Karren Brady might still be in the Premier League as we speak.  Yet, the very spectre of the Olympic venue becoming home to a second tier side heaps added pressure on the club to return to the top flight immediately.

Enter Big Sam.  It’s fair to say that the former Blackburn boss was handed a raw deal by the Venky’s chicken purveyors who took over the Lancashire squad.  He had Rovers comfortably in the middle of the table and looking like they might push a little higher.  Instead, the new owners opted for attractive football and Steve Kean, who dragged the side into the thick of the Premier League’s most heated relegation battle ever and – just barely - back.

Under Allardyce, the Hammers will have to be refitted.  With four England Internationals, in Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Carlton Cole and especially Scott Parker, all likely to protect their Three Lions places by transferring to top flight clubs, it will be an entirely new-look squad which will be expected to dominate the Championship.  That will be a tough ask for any side, considering that Alex McLeish and Ian Holloway will be looking to pull off the same feat with Birmingham and Blackpool, respectively, and clubs such as the ever-present Cardiff and resurgent Leeds will also have something to say in the matter.

Luis Enrique — Okay, so you’re the Barcelona B coach and you’ve got players like Bojan Krkic, Jeffren Suarez, Maxwell, Adriano and Jonathan Soriano all aching to play for the first team.  When you move on to Roma, rather than waiting for Pep Guardiola not to roll over another one-year contract, it would seem that you have a convenient pipeline to bring along some decent talent with you.  Bojan and Soriano, at least, have indicated that they would like to follow their coach across the Med to the Eternal City.

With a new American owner, Lega Calcio’s first foreign top flight chairman, eager to impress in his debut season and a brashly confident young manager making some impressive boasts regarding his intent to bring tick-a-tack to offensively starved catenaccio fans, the potential is there for either spectacular success or epic failure.  Which it will be remains to be seen.

Jupp Heynckes –  Red-faced Osram, as Heynckes has been dubbed by Bundesliga fans, has been around the block several times.  He has brought lowly Tenerife into the UEFA cup, accomplished what Jose Mourinho is still attempting, by ending a thirty-two year European Cup drought for Real Madrid, and won the Intertoto Cup with Schalke.  As well, he is not the type to burn bridges, having returned for second spells at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Athletic Bilbao, with this stint as Bayern coach his third, including the caretaker shift in the wake of Juergen Klinsmann’s sacking.

Heynckes will be expected to immediately add to his two Bundesliga crowns with the Rekordmeister and why not?  Bayern have an embarrassment of riches and are adding to them, signing Energie Cottbus’ twenty-five-goal man Nils Petersen, Genoa midfielder Rafinha and Germany number one Manuel Neuer.

If Osram can’t manage the task it will be Club President Uli Hoeness who is red-faced, after repeatedly stating his regrets for sacking Heynckes in the ugly aftermath of the club offloading its expensive talent in the last season of the diminutive coach’s first term.

The Chelsea Hot Seat

Andres Villas-Boas (by Jude Ellery) – How do you say it? Voller? Villa? Viagra? However, it’s pronounced, like everyone else in Europe, Roman Abramovich will see him as the new Jose Mourinho, and, having bitched off the old one like an excess call girl at a yacht party, he’ll sign him up to take over from Carlo Ancelotti.   And, worse than Mourinho, he’ll saddle him with not one but two injury prone superstars, in Fernando Torres and my pick from Sunday’s mega-transfer edition, Kaka.  The question is can a young manager come in and teach a bunch of spoilt veterans to dance to a new tune?  If not then look for …

Guus Hiddink — Whenever a Chelsea manager is sacked or it seems imminent, which pretty much means first thing every morning, Guus Hiddink is the man pipped to take over.  The only problem is that the Dutchman is as reluctant to take the post as you or I would be to be shot out of a cannon – put your hand down, I’m not talking to you, Jude.  It’s no wonder, either, when you look at the experiences of Avram Grant, Phil Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti.  Cannon fodder, indeed.

Once again, the Dutchman’s ‘friend’, Roman Abramovich, is wheedling him into taking the job and, as always, Guus is trying to find a way to turn him down gently, which, while difficult to do, is the only way to say no to Russian billionaires with shady pasts.

Yet, if Hiddink is finally made an offer that he can’t refuse, he’ll at least have a loaded deck, Kaka or no Kaka.  His first challenge will be to restore Fernando Torres’passion for the game, and if he does, find playing time for Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge.  Beyond that, he’ll have to consider that both John Terry and Frank Lampard are slowing down and their leadership, more importantly than their talent, will need to be replaced.  Finally, he’ll need to keep in contact with the fringe teams who qualify for the Euros as, if things don’t go exactly to plan, he may have plenty of time on his hands come spring.

Avram Grant (Andrew Gibney) – There will be at least one established Premier League team which will have a slow start to the season.   They will go five or six games without a win and sack their manager. Coming in his place will be the relegation specialist himself – Avram Grant. Of course his record will be scrutinised but it will be the Chelsea success which will lure another hopeful fool.  And, of course, the team he manages will go down and again everyone will question why on earth anyone ever employs him? It happened in 2009 with Pompey and in 2010 with West Ham.  Whoever it is in 2012 doesn’t matter, it will be a case of rinse, lather, repeat.

The Usual Suspects —  As well as Grant, there are a handful of other names which will be circulated for vacancies in both the Premier League and the Championship.  Chris Hughton did unexpectedly well in bringing Newcastle back up with ease and was continuing his good work before he was unceremoniously dumped.  He remains my nomination to step in for Davey Jones at Cardiff.

Roy Keane is also looking for work, after the highlight of his turn with Ipswich Town was persuading FIFA to ban the snood.  Another Irishman, Martin O’Neill, is being a good little girl and saving himself for just the right job.  Gordon Strachan, Roberto di Matteo and even David O’Leary are also still available, plus there is the inevitable Sven watch, even though the former England boss seems fully committed to Leicester.

Who will assume the reins at Aston Villa remains a mystery, though.  Thus far, CEO Paul Faulkner and Chairman Randy Lerner have been unimpressed by the likes of Mark Hughes and Steve McLaren.  On the other hand big names from abroad, such as Louis van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti haven’t even been mooted.  It would seem that Lerner wants someone on the cheap.

With that in mind, there is one unusual suspect who may have just entered the frame…

Bryan Robson – Could the former United captain be up for the Villa post after his self-imposed exile in Thailand ended badly?

Like Avram Grant at Chelsea, Robson had a great start to his managerial career, winning Middlesbrough the then Division One title and promotion into the Premier League.  Also like the Israeli, every job since has been a disaster.  With Grant, there was no money at Pompey and very little at West Ham but the manager was at least lauded for his pragmatism, acceptance of responsibility and innate class.  Robson, on the other hand called out both his players and the fans repeatedly in the media, burning bridges with frustrated chairmen at every stop.

Robson’s record as a player for both club and country make him a household name, however.  Thus, desperate clubs will always consider him, gaining some publicity from his notoriety and hoping that he can rediscover the formula which worked so well at Boro.  The timing of his resignation from Thailand may be, like Mark Hughes, ‘coincidental’but don’t be surprised if he pops up in Claret and Blue this summer.

The Cavalry — Both Italy and Spain are famous for being impatient with their managers.  Palermo’s Maurizio Zamparini even fired and rehired Delio Rossi during the just completed campaign, that despite the club maintaining a firm position in the top half of the table.  Yet, with idealistic young managers installed at Roma (Luis Enrique) and Juventus (Antonio Conte), both subject to high expectations and Michael Laudrup at Real Mallorca needing to improve on his seventeenth-place freshman season, there will be several of the old guard ready to step in to pick up the pieces in mid-season, should the need arise.

In Italy, those names include Delio Rossi and former Roma and Juve bosses Claudio Ranieri and Luigi del Neri.  As well, if Leonardo gets off to a poor start in his first full season, Massimo Moratti may pick up the phone and beg either Louis van Gaal or Carlo Ancelotti to cut their sabbatical short.

In Spain, Gregorio Manzano keeps qualifying clubs for the Europa League and getting sacked for his efforts.  Sooner or later, he’s bound to find a grateful club, one would hope.  Another name that might turn up, if the club in question has any potential, is Rafa Benitez.   The combustible Spaniard has had enough time to realise that he needs to start all over to restore any major club’s interest in him.

It could be worse, though.  Rafa could be exiled to the managerial desert, coaching in the Emirates against the likes of Tony Adams and Diego Maradona.

On Tuesday, keep an eye out for the eighth installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Young Player Most Likely To Impress At A Big Club.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window

Enjoy!

__________________________________________________________________

The summer transfer window is already open for business and some clubs, most notably Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Liverpool, have already accomplished quite a bit of business.  In the cases of Bayern and Real, much of the business was done before the window opened and only needed formalising once it was.

Jose Mourinho went back to the Bundesliga for the second season running, plucking gritty but dangerous attacking midfielder Nuri Saheen from champions Borussia Dortmund and veteran holding midfielder Hamit Altintop from Bayern.  Mourinho is also rumoured to be searching for a high-profile striker but such a move will depend upon whether he decides against making Emmanuel Adebayor’s loan from Manchester City permanent and whether Karim Benzema is sold on.

Bayern spent most of the spring wooing Germany number one Manuel Neuer away from Schalke 04.  Whether the Rekordmeister were a bit overconfident or Schalke merely holding out for every last Deutschmark they could squeeze out of the Munich giants’purse, the deal was announced more than once before it was eventually finalised.  The signing of Energie Cottbus striker Nils Petersen went much smoother, being completed in mid-May, with the twenty-five goal scorer expected to immediately fill the shoes of the departing Miroslav Klose and form a strong partnership with Bundesliga golden boot winner Mario Gomez.

The Bavarians also signed, from Genoa, a former teammate of Neuer, Brazilian midfielder Rafinha.  The twenty-five-year-old left the Gelsenkirchen side after they refused to permit him to play in the 2008 Olympics.  FIFA ruled in the players favour, along with two other footballers on separate teams, but the clubs appealed successfully to the Court for Arbitration in Sport.  Rafinha, though, defied the CAS verdict and played for Brazil in China, winning a bronze medal.  Subsequently, he was fined €750,000 and moved on to the Rossoblu.  Given that the Olympics are limited to professionals under the age of twenty-three, making it a once in a lifetime experience, it’s understandable and perhaps even commendable that Rafinha gave up so much for his opportunity.

Of the three early risers, however, Liverpool are the ones who will likely stay active throughout the summer.  Looking to rebuild after a disastrous end to the Hicks and Gillet era, which saw the Merseysiders fall out of European contention, the side has already begun to add to the winter signings of Luis Suarez and Andrew Carroll.  Moreover, the club is looking, whenever possible, to sign young players of English or UK origin.

The first prize won by Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish has been Sunderland attacking mid and England U21 Jordan Henderson.  The club isn’t wholly forsaking internationals, as they are rumoured to be close to signing Catania defender and club captain Matias Silvestre, an Argentine.  As well, they are also rumoured to be negotiating for Roma’s Brazilian number two keeper, Alexander Doni, to back up Pepe Reina.  Yet, they are also in the mix for Ipswich Town striker Conor Wickham and Blackpool captain Charlie Adam.

Liverpool have already faced some stiff competition from rivals Manchester United.  The Red Devils are trying to iron out a deal for Balckburn’s Phil Jones, who was on the Anfield club’s radar and are said to be on the verge of signing Aston Villa’s Ashley Young.

Yet, Neuer, who in turn escaped United’s clutches, has been the only major signing to date in Europe.  Where and when are the truly blockbuster moves going to occur?  Once again, WFC’s cracked staff is here to offer their predictions.

Liverpool will have to raise the ante considerably to convince the African to forego Europe for another year.

Gervinho

As just mentioned, Liverpool intend to be very busy this summer.  Yet, while they are happy to have already landed Henderson and have also begun negotiations for a handful of other targets, the club has painted its biggest bulls-eye on Lille OSC forward Gervinho.  The Ivory Coast International was almost as crucial to his club’s French League and Cup double as young mid-fielder Eden Hazard, with his fourteen goals second best on the Ligue 1 champions, behind Moussa Sow.

Two obstacles stand in Liverpool’s way, however.

First, there are several top sides, especially Arsenal, also tracking the Ivorian, Lille has already lost Yoann Cabaye to Newcastle and Adil Rami to Valencia and Sow is rumoured to be moving on, as well.  If the club hopes to defend its championship, they are going to need to keep some of their squad and will, therefore, not be letting the African leave on the cheap.

Second is their own inability to provide the youngster with the challenge of European football, something that Gervinho can experience simply by staying at Lille.  The player himself has announced that he has decided his future but will not make any announcements until later in the month.  One codicil he has included is his desire to play in the Champions League, “at Lille or elsewhere, it’s no problem.”  Liverpool will certainly have to up the ante significantly to persuade Gervinho that he can wait one more year to tread on Europe’s biggest stage. – Martin Palazzotto

For the pious Kaka, the most challenging aspect of moving to London will be finding a church capable of accommodating the paparazzi.

Kaka

Okay, okay.  So, I just got through saying that Chelsea wouldn’t make a big move until they had completely used up Fernando Torres.  That’s the trouble with reliving your teenage years to make this whole yearbook thing as authentic as possible.  The raging hormones have me hopping all over the place like a kangaroo on ecstasy.  I can’t make up my mind about anything and all I can do is be dragged along by whatever impulse grabs me next.

The entire experience has me completely sympathetic to Giggs, Crouchy and John Terry.  Never in a million years did I think that would happen.

My first impulse on which player is going to be the signing of the summer, though, is the much more wholesome and respectable – read boring – Kaka, who’ll move from Real Madrid to Chelsea for something in the neighbourhood of £25 million.  His mother has already tweeted that he’s going to come to London and he is a mama’s boy, so it’s a done deal, no?

What’s more, Jose Mourinho doesn’t want him; he’s got Mesut Ozil and now Nuri Saheen, plus he wants to add a proper striker and needs the money from somewhere.  From the Chelsea side, even though Carlo Ancelotti is gone, the Brazilian is the one idea he had that Roman Abramovich actually agreed with, hot as the Russian is to turn Chelsea into a fancy football team.  So, whether it’s Guus Hiddink who takes over, or someone else, they can expect, as is Chelsea tradition, to be saddled with a player they never requested.

As such, though, Kaka is definitely an improvement on Nando and Andriy Shevchenko. — Jude Ellery

Carlos Tevez

While he was keeping West Ham in the Premier League for just a little while longer, the tabloids were reporting that Carlos Tevez was unhappy and wished to move to a bigger club.   When he was at Man United, they began to write that he was unhappy that Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t play him sufficiently or value him as highly as believed he deserved.  At Man City, he has been unhappy with his treatment from club executives, Roberto Mancini’s excessive training regimen and the intrusion upon his territory of another high-priced striker.  Throughout his entire time in England, he and his family have also been so unhappy with the weather that his wife bundled up the kids ages ago and headed back for the more friendly climes of their native Argentina.  Simply put Carlos Tevez is unhappy.

It will therefore be no surprise when the City captain moves on at some point this summer.  Given his intolerance for cold weather, desire for trophies and European football and his wage demands, the likely destinations touted have been Madrid, Barcelona and Milan.  Yet, Barcelona already have a more composed and talented Argentine goalscorer, in Lionel Messi, and they seem more interested in Giuseppe Rossi and Alexis Sánchez.  Jose Mourinho already has his own massive ego, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s to deal with.  Three prima donnas would truly be a crowd at the Bernabeu.  Not to mention that Tevez’lack of height would cede one of the few advantages the Meringues enjoy over Barça.  Both Milan sides already have strong attack pairings, with the Rossoneri also likely to be wary of adding another fiery temper to their already volatile mix.  As well, Milan can get a bit nippy in the winter months, something that may cause the now snoodless Tevez to reconsider Northern italy as a potential destination.

This is pure speculation on my part but there is one club that can offer him a legitimate shot at both domestic and European glory, has a strong squad already, reasonable weather conditions, a rich, ambitious chairman and, as an added bonus, an affinity for testy little Argentine goal scorers.  Napoli is struggling to hold onto its triumvirate of attacking options, Edinson Cavani, Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi, in the closed season.  As well, their late collapse suggests they need a galvanising presence in the squad.  When you consider that the club’s last successful stretch was with Diego Maradona leading the line, not to mention how adored El Pibe still is by the Neapolitan faithful, it seems only natural that Aurelio de Laurentiis should make inquiries at Eastlands as to Tevez’availability.

If this one came about, it surely would be a blockbuster deal! – Martin Palazzotto 

Rumours that Vertonghen wants to come to England to gain revenge after Luis Suarez sadistically kneed him in the groin are completely false.

Jan Vertonghen —  Every summer there seems to be a big transfer heading out of Holland.  This year, though, Liverpool beat everyone to the punch by snagging Luis Suarez in the winter window.  One name linked feverishly to a move, however, is that of Jan Vertonghen, the Ajax/Belgian International defender who also acts as vice-captain at the club. His preferred destination is FC Barcelona – whose isn’t? – and Pep Guardiola is apparently a fan.  Still, the Catalans priorities lay elsewhere, making it unlikely they’d move for him this summer.

The Premier League is another potential destination, though not his preferred choice, with Man City and Arsenal seemingly interested.  Coincidentally, two of his Belgian back-line partners, Vincent Kompany and Vertonghen’s close friend, Thomas Vermaelen, are each ready to welcome him should he choose one of the two.

AC Milan have also been mooted  but having promised Frank de Boer that he would remain in Amsterdam for another season, it would take truly serious money, the kind that Sheikh Mansour likes to toss about,  to pry him loose from the Eredivisie champions. – Mohamed Moallim

"Why would I got to Spain? Because no one there is interested in Fernando Torres anymore."

Didier Drogba

Jose,  you remember Didier, don’t you?  Mr. Drogba, here’s your old friend Mourinho.  Madristas meet the solution to your lack of consistency in front of goal.  “The Drog” is big, he’s powerful and, except for every other January, when he’ll be toiling in the African Cup of Nations, he’ll be happy to beat up on Puyol and Pique as often as you like.

Drogba has long been rumoured to be heading out of Stamford Bridge.  Many thought he’d follow Mourinho to Inter.  Others expected him to take the money dangled by Man City.  Now, though, Roman Abramovich has gone and spent £50 million on Fernando “What Is It You Want Me To Do, Again?” Torres.  Add to that the managerial merry-go-round which makes every season just like starting over, and the Ivorian is probably eager to pack his bags.

After once again attempting to secure Fernando Llorente for a few weeks, Madrid will give up and Jose will turn his attention to Drogba.  He’ll cheerfully pay whatever it takes to watch as he and Cristiano Ronaldo win awards for Synchronised Diving. — Andrew Gibney

On Sunday, keep an eye out for the seventh installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Manager Most Likely To Make An Impact At A New Club.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer

Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________

Big Ro and Manny may be the last of the Big Time Spenders, when it comes to player transfers.  That’s because Mickey Blue Eyes has laid down the law.  Okay, okay, so Michel Platini has brown eyes. Geez, you can’t get away with anything, anymore.

That is the point behind this chapter of the UEFA Yearbook, however.  UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules will likely kill off the mega-transfer deal and this is the last window where teams will be able to spend big.  So, expect the summer to be full of big name transfers.

At the writing, Liverpool had already coughed up £20 million plus David Ngog for Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson, Manchester United were strongly linked to Blackburn’s Phil Jones, allegedly for £16 million and Bayern Munich spent most of the spring negotiating an €18 million deal with Schalke for Manuel Neuer.  As well, Miroslav Klose has moved to Lazio on a free transfer and Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler will be heading from Udinese to Napoli, after a €20 million fee was agreed by the clubs.

Why will this be the last free-spending window?  After all, UEFA has no say in the business of individual leagues.  Technically, teams can invest as they see fit.

The catch is that, beginning in the 2013-14 season, a club’s balance sheet will have to virtually free of loss in order to receive a license to play in Europe.  In 2018, no team with a negative profit will be permitted to play in the Champions or Europa Leagues.  Up until now, as Real Mallorca discovered to their regret, administration was the only thing that could keep you out of Europe.  Eligibility for 2013-14, though, will be determined by a club’s 2011-12 and 2012-13 balance sheets and a losing record won’t do.  So, if any manager is desperate for a player, this is the last chance to get him before the long arm of the law bars the way.

Extravagant Chairmen are going to have to find something else to throw at their problems.

The idea behind the initiative is not only to promote fiscal responsibility but to close the gap between big and small clubs, making the continental competitions all the more difficult and unpredictable.  If a Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour want a marquee player in the future, they’ll have to carefully consider how much they’re willing to spend.  If they bid too high, they might not earn the revenues to cover the cost and, thus, would be denied a license to compete in the Champions or Europa League for the coming season.  Meanwhile, if a smaller club, such as Palermo, would like to hold on to an eagerly sought after player, say Javier Pastore, they can set a price which will truly discourage any interested buyers.   Of course, Maurizio Zamparini has been doing that, loudly, every week for the entire 2010-11 season, so maybe the Rosanero were a poor example.

Critics of Platini’s legislation complain that the big clubs, with larger stadiums and far more lucrative sponsorships will still be able to outspend their lesser cousins and subsequently be permanently locked into the top spots.  As well, there is the Bosman rule to consider.  If a player wants to move, he can refuse to play and the club may be forced to accept the best offer they can get.   The rich will get richer and the poor will rue the day they supported Mickey Brown Eyes’candidacy.

So, which clubs will be getting in their last licks this summer?  The cracked WFC staff is here with a short list of the most likely suspects.

Internazionale

Simply put, Massimo Moratti will not be happy with finishing eight points behind his noisy neighbours AC Milan.  After struggling for decades to get the upper hand on the Rossoneri and Juventus, a five-year run at the top of Serie A, replete with a Champions League title, actually seems too short a time to the proud Inter President.

I predict millions of Euros being handed to the manager, who it appears will be Leonardo – the Coppa d’Italia seemingly enough to warrant his being given a full season in charge.   Nothing less than a Scudetto will be acceptable in 2011-12, however.

As with Chelsea, Inter’s Mourinho leftovers are getting older, especially on the back line, although thirty-seven-year-old Javier Zanetti looks fit enough to outlast Ryan Giggs.  Maicon, while just 29, was badly exposed by Gareth Bale, and then Robinho and Antonio Cassano in the past campaign.  The health of Lucio and Walter Samuel, both thirty-three, are question marks and Marco Materazzi, thirty-seven, will surely not be sitting at the end of the bench, dreaming up new pranks, for yet another season.

There is also the question of whether they’ll be able to keep mid-field wizard Wesley Sneijder from Manchester United’s clutches.  If they don’t, the attack-minded Leonardo will be desperate to fill the gap immediately.

Knowing the shenanigans that go on in Italy, Inter will find a way around the Fair Play rules, but to be ‘fair’does anyone actually understand them? That will be Moratti’s excuse anyway. – Andrew Gibney

Olympique Lyonnais

Looking at the Ligue 1 table, Lyon haven’t had that bad a season. However, another campaign devoid of trophies has definitely annoyed chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, even if he won’t openly admit it.  If you think Massimo Moratti is greedy for not being satisfied by a five-year run, Les Gones’seven-year French dynasty positively spoilt their chairman.  This means that departures (and arrivals) this summer are all but certain.

Manager Claude Puel, who has already stated that he may move, could be the first to go, after a poor three-year record with the former champions. If he is sacked, he may be followed through the exit door by some of his unhappy stars, such as Michel Bastos, who is linked with a move to Serie A.

This may add to the existing holes in the squad but, luckily for OL supporters, Aulas’deep pockets don’t seem to have any. Lisandro Lopez, Yoann Gourcuff and Bastos himself have all commanded sizeable fees in recent years, so I’d back a similar, likely more intense, raid of opposing Ligue 1 clubs by Aulas in the coming weeks. – Tapesh Patel

I’ll start by admitting I don’t really know what the FIFA Fair Play Initiative is, or whether that’s even its proper title. Nor do I have any desire to find out. As me mum’s Labi Siffre record bleats out, ‘The more you take our spending rights away/ the more loopholes we shall seek’. Or something along those lines.

What I can do is list the clubs who definitely won’t break the rules:

Manchester United – Whether they are £700m in debt and still scraping by with the Ronaldo money, let’s call them ‘Cristieuros’, is a moot point.  What’s clearer, and less controversial, is that they don’t need to spend big, with Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling, Anderson, the da Silva boys and Jonny Evans (yes, Jonny Evans) all still getting better.  Although Evans may have some competition from Phil Jones, this summer.

So, expect only two important purchases from Sir Alex Ferguson this summer.  One will be a keeper, probably David de Gea, although he seems to have a bug up his arse about coming to Old Trafford.  Then, in spite of all the hullabaloo surrounding Wesley Sneijder as a replacement for the dinosaurs currently roaming the center of the Old Trafford pitch, Fergie will continue to think young and sign Steven Defour, from Standard Liege.  I know, I know.  A twenty-three-year-old from the Belgian League hardly seems the player to be found at the heart of the United attack but Defour is capable; he has been the captain of Les Rouches since he was nineteen.  Trust me on this.  I’m only pretending to be adolescent.

Manchester City – Am I the only one smart enough to realise the blue half of Manchester only need a couple of new faces? Apparently not: I just logged into Twitter to check out what Rio’s having for supper and to indulge in some of the Neville brothers’ brilliant banter, and there’s some poncy journalist out there, by the name of Iain Macintosh, and he’s spouting out something about City having ‘holstered their scattergun’. Fancy way of copying my thoughts, although how he knew what I was thinking escapes me.  Have to pay more attention to who’s on the stool next to me, I suppose.  Anyway, like United, City have improving youngsters in Adam Johnson, Mario Balotelli, Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards.  Roberto Mancini will make one or two signings at most, Carlos Tevez or no Carlos Tevez.

Chelsea – Like Jermaine and Bret from Flight of the Conchords – sick show, that – Chelsea have parted with all their pocket-money in one go and on an ill-fitting purchase. There will be no more spending until they’ve worn out Nando completely (about another six months, then). That is, unless they can find a bargain down the local Christian Aid charity shop. [Hint, hint.]

Liverpool – Sure, they’ve reinvested Torres’ money on two, younger, better models. Wise move. Their new owners seem too boring sensible to keep spending like this, but with Damien Comolli in charge of transfers I think they’ll be OK.  I’ll stick my neck out and wager that they’ll manage to finish ahead of the Frenchman’s old team next year.  What’s that?  Comolli splurged on Jordan Henderson to the tune of twenty mil?  Oh.  Never mind, then.

Arsenal – Despite having more leeway now that his hands are no longer tied by the costly construction of the Emirates, Arsene Wenger won’t splurge this year. Because he’s une tête de mule.

So who will spend big? Well, it looks like Liverpool, doesn’t it?  But, since I followed Alan Shearer’s example and refused to do any proper research, I say we’ll just have to wait and see.  I learnt this laissez-faire, plans are for pussies approach from watching The Apprentice’s Edward Hunter. Missed the end, anyone know how he’s getting on? — Jude Ellery

Barcelona – What?  Am I crazy?  Barcelona is perfect.  They’d never overspend or stretch the rules.  Not even an inch.  Not with that UNICEF brand across their chests.  Oh, wait.  They’re moving on from that, aren’t they? In 2011-12, they’ll happily to accept €150 million from the Qatari Foundation to push the children to the side.

What’s more, they’ll need the money if they keep agreeing €40+ million deals for players that they only keep for a season, mostly on the bench yet, while throwing strikers who have notched Champions League winning goals into the bargain.  According to published reports, the club has lost €83 and €21 million, respectively, in the last two seasons.

To be fair, that shows that Barça is moving towards compliance with Financial Fair Play but not exactly at a hurried pace.  The Catalans have just announced a €45 million transfer budget for the summer.  As well, they have been strongly linked to both Alexis Sánchez and Giuseppe Rossi, after also adding Ibrahim Afellay in the January window.  All of this despite the incredible success of their academy, La Masia, and the fact that, other than captain Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez, none of their key starters is even thirty years of age.

So, why are they spending at all?  If any club should be doing an Arsene Wenger and sitting on their cash, it’s the European champions.  It would seem that the pressure of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid coming up fast in the rear-view may be causing a bit of a panic. – Martin Palazzotto

On Saturday, keep an eye out for the sixth instalment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Transfer Window.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League

Enjoy!

The Champions League Final was played just a fortnight ago.  In its wake, it is difficult to criticise the popular opinion that Barcelona are going to become the first club to defend that title since AC Milan did the deed at the end of the ’80s, with a squad that included a young Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, on the cusp of thirty, at the back, future managers Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Donadoni in the midfield and, providing the flair, the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten.  That no one has repeated the feat in over two decades indicates just how great that squad was and how competitive UEFA has since become.

So can Barcelona manage the near impossible?

Well, unlike previous champions, Inter, Barça’s coach is going nowhere.  Pep Guardiola may feel the need to prove that he can build another dynasty from something other than the Blaugrana blueprint.  That is why he insists on rolling one-year contract extensions.  Yet, at every season’s end, he rediscovers that there is no other place he’d rather be. Pep came up through La Masia.  He knows the strength of that academy, none better.  He matured on Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team and could step into the current line-up and distribute the ball blindfolded.  Camp Nou, simply put, is home and for Guardiola, ruby slippers or not, there is no place like home.

Nor should there be any important departures from within the squad.  In fact, there might be a couple of significant additions, if the rumours regarding Alexis Sánchez and Giuseppe Rossi hold any water. If the Catalans actually improve, it might actually be impossible for any club to catch them.

However, our cracked staff of WFC bloggers have identified three clubs who have the potential to trip up the world’s undisputed heavyweight – figuratively, not literally – side.  Want to know who they are and how they might manage it?  Read on, MacDuff…

Manchester United

Truthfully, I can’t see beyond Barcelona.  However, if Sir Alex Ferguson can identify and recruit the proper reinforcements this summer, Manchester United may go one better than the past season. Rightfully, they are currently the second best side in Europe, although Real Madrid may want to say something about that.

But as the Scot has pointed out, his side has, in recent years, worked out the right formula to compete in Europe. In this just finished campaign, they won all their away games without conceding. In fact only Barcelona and Bayern Munich can say they have beaten the English side in Europe over the past two campaigns.

The one conundrum Sir Alex must solve is how to beat Barcelona when they’re in at their irresistible best. In a game that matters, notably in the knockout rounds, luck can be a factor but one that is minute.  What Fergie needs is the talent to compete with Barça in midfield, presuming the sides do meet again.  With Paul Scholes retiring and one and two other question marks – Ryan Giggs, anyone? – This may be the summer in which United finally address their weakest area, central midfield. – Tapesh Patel

- Editor’s note – Well, that was logical, considered and well thought out.  Here’s Jude Ellery, still in character, to present the same argument without all that unnecessary stuff. - 

Come on, give me something difficult! Manchester United is going to blow the field away.  Why?  Because I support them and can’t imagine anyone else winning anything.  Ever. It’s that simple.  We dominate football and we will do forever, because that’s how it works.

Huh? What do you mean, Fergie will retire soon and then where will we be?  Who said that?  Whoever you are, you don’t know anything!  Fergie is going to live forever, if only to stop Arsene Wenger from ever winning another trophy.  You probably like some French team that thinks it’s actually Spanish, like Valenciennes or somebody. What do they ever do in Europe?

Look, it’s really simple, so I’ll spell it out for you.  The better your club, the more you know about football and the more obnoxious you can be. It’s kind of like Rule One of being a casual fan.  And, if I’m anything, I’m a casual fan! – Jude Ellery

Chelsea 

There is every chance that this summer could see a bit of a rebuilding process at Stamford Bridge. Of course without knowing who they will or won’t sign makes it difficult to predict but I can’t imagine Guus Hiddink, or whoever the new manager turns out to be, not demanding funds to build a team in their own image.

And, if Roman Abramovich gets the ideal man, I can’t see him refusing.  Frank Lampard is slowing down, John Terry is becoming all bark and no bite and Fernando Torres is becoming quite the embarrassment.  It’s time for the next generation.   Bring on Daniel Sturridge.  Bring on Neymar.  Bring on a winning side.

Especially if the man in charge is Hiddink, a busy summer of buying and selling will likely be in the offing.   Don’t be surprised if Chelsea come out smelling of roses come September the 1st and go on to finally lift the Champions League Trophy.
 — Andrew Gibney

Real Madrid 

There is a reason that Barcelona are going after more than one big name this summer.  It’s not that they’re weak in any area or getting old.  Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and the rest are all still in their mid-to-late twenties.  The problem is Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid.

Xavi, who rarely makes any public criticism, recently came out and said that he much preferred Man United’s approach to the Meringues’.   He said, as most proponents of tick-a-tack do, that the English side “played” football.  Read into that  the insinuation that the Special One’s charges don’t.  Negative tactics, to the positive mind, do not belong.  It’s almost as if they cannot comprehend anything beyond their own existence.  That is understandable but it is also blinding oneself to reality.

Ultimately, we live in a binary world.  For every positive, there is a negative.  Up down, in, out, man, woman - I won’t say which is which on that count! – winners, losers, Barcelona, Real Madrid.  The aspect of proper negative tactics which particularly perturbs Xavi is that they naturally cancel out the positive variety, creating a neutrality.  Nobody likes to be neutered.  Just ask Fido.

And the Prince of Darkness shall walk the touch line again!

This season under Mourinho, Los Blancos went from being blanked 5-0 at the Nou Camp, to drawing 1-1 in the return match.  Then they actually won the Copa del Rey.  They had also effectively neutralised the Catalans for much of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, at the Santiago Bernabeu, until the entire match disintegrated and Pepe was sent off.  An argument can be made that the Nou Camp reprise might have gone very differently, had certain calls gone the other way.

This is not to say that Madrid are already better than their rivals.  I’m very fond of quoting the famous wrestler Nature Boy Rick Flair, who, when he wasn’t tilting his head back to let out a big “Wooooo!”, was fond of saying that “To be the man, you have to beat the man!”  For Real, the Copa del Rey victory is nullified by a 1-2-2 record and 3-9 aggregate score on the year against their Clasico sparring partners.  They aren’t the man, yet, but they’re getting there.

The additions of Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop add players to the squad who have flair in possession and grit and determination out of it.  Add to that the anticipated arrival of left back Fabio Coentrao and a yet-to-be-named front man and you can expect Real to not only ask questions of the Blaugrana but to give them the fifth degree.  Mourinho is perfecting his anti-football but also adding some punch to an already dangerous line-up.  Close examination says that it is inevitable that the Portuguese’s third Champions League title and the Madridista’s tenth is not far off.

No wonder, Barcelona is stockpiling talent. – Martin Palazzotto

On Thursday, keep an eye out for the fifth instalment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Club Most Likely To Spend Big & Run Afoul Of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Rules.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or

Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________

Okay, so maybe this is stretching it, a bit.  Cristiano Ronaldo did hit the forty mark for goals in La Liga, setting a new single season record along the way and Lionel Messi, who admittedly tailed off late in the season, after some rough tackles finally kept him down, stepped up to draw first blood against both Real Madrid and Manchester United in the final two rounds of Barcelona’s Champions League victory parade.  In all competitions, each managed to reach the half-century plateau.

One of them is going to win the Ballon d’Or.  We’re not so naïve as to doubt that.  But there were so many other stirring performances all across the continent, also deserving of a moment in the sun, and we at WFC do like to think of ourselves as big balls of gas, so it’s a perfect match!

Slip on your shades, then, and we’ll dazzle you with tales of the best of the rest in UEFA…

Will the toothy Suarez take a bite out of the Prem?

Everyone will be waiting for me to say Eden Hazard of Lille, as I’m a huge fan, but he is a few years away from true greatness, just yet.

So who, then?

Well, I have never been a massive fan of Liverpool – wait a moment before sending abuse, Scouse fans – but, under Kenny Dalglish, they have become watchable again and one player behind this resurgence is former Ajax captain Luis Suarez.

Already fantastic for Uruguay and Ajax, his movement while at Liverpool has been seamless and his performance tremendous. The goals may not have come during his first half-season but the entire club is in a state of transition, with no one, let alone the Uruguayan, truly settled.  I can only see him improving next year.

Further, if King Kenny can complement his current squad with two or three really good signings, I can also see Liverpool pushing for a Champions League place and Luis Suarez becoming the darling of the EPL. — Andrew Gibney

Okay, okay, got to get into character again.  What’s my motivation?  Right, snotty sixteen-year-old wants to hang with the cool kids, can’t seem to get laid.  I can relate to that.  I should probably go a little hip-hop, ya know, like crank up the shiznit, bust a little Les Grossman on everybody’s arse.  Okay let’s do this Ballon d’Or thing…

Daz Bent. Got to be!  Boy’s got mad skills! He has, I’ve seen it on YouTube!

Unlike Ronaldhino, Bent does his club-hopping on the pitch.

He just doesn’t show them on the pitch because it’s against his religion or some shite. Come on!  Dazza deserves recognition. If he had some exotic name like Luis Fabiano, he’d be heralded throughout Europe as a world-class striker. Alright, maybe that’s not the best analogy; the Brazilian never did receive the plaudits he deserved for his spell at Seville and then he went all Michael Owen, coming up lame every other match.

Still, like Benty, he knocked in ball after ball, like some kind of footballing Stephen Hendry. Just because they don’t do keep-ups in the centre circle, or dribble all over the pitch while their mates wait in the open for passes that never come, nobody rates them.

Here are three reasons Bent Boy doesn’t do keep-ups in the centre circle:

1. He thinks football is like netball, and the goal scorer isn’t allowed outside the area.
2. Keep-ups in the centre circle don’t win matches, goals do. Viva la poacha!
3. It’s against his religion. He’s a hardcore Christian – just check out some of those tats. Probably why he didn’t fit in at Spurs.  [Looks like his prayers for a move to a big club haven’t been answered yet though] – Jude ‘My Surname Should Be Law’Ellery

Editor’s Note:  It’s my fault, actually, since it was my idea to call the season review a yearbook.  Now, Jude’s going to stay ‘in character’throughout the series and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.  There just aren’t enough bicycle chains for this job.  

In the first two segments of the UEFA Yearbook, WFC hasn’t exactly been kind to Scottish football and I’m afraid it’s my turn to offer a backhanded compliment to the SPL’s best player in 2010 – 11.

In the first half of the season, one Scottish footballer stood head and shoulders above the rest.  His stunning run of form went well beyond expectations, given his history.  He was a veteran, over thirty-years-old, in his second stint with Rangers, with a cup of coffee at Celtic Park in-between, as well as having featured with Wolves and Derby in England.  Wherever he had been, he had produced a reliable but not exactly head-turning ratio of one goal for every three or four matches.  Yet, when the Holidays rolled around, and all that snow with it, Kenny Miller had already past the twenty-goal mark.

No surprise then, that half the clubs in England were planning to bid for his services when UEFA opened the transfer window in January.  Miller, however, stated his preference to play for a European side rather than move down south.

Fair enough.

What could possibly be so wrong with the SPL that a player would want to move all the way to Turkey to get away from it?

It might have been interesting to see what he could accomplish in the Bundesliga. Miller may have even fit well at a Spanish club like Malaga or Getafe, whose rich new Arab owners were looking to build a Man City style project from the ground up. If he could have kept his current run of form going, he might have been just the thing for an Italian club in need of a goal scorer – Juventus perhaps?

Now, Scottish football and its players have long been known for their independent streak.  They are firm in their own minds and will go their own way, opinion be damned.  The beaten path is not for them.  Yet Miller took it a step beyond, daring to tread a path never trodden as he approved a deal with Turkish side Bursaspor.

Like a surfer daring to ride a tsunami, Miller was the player everyone was talking about, atop the world for one moment and then, in the next, sucked into the vast sea of footballers, never to surface again.  Even though no SPL player was able to match his total in the second half of the season, Kenny Miller was completely forgotten.  Rangers went on to win the championship without even signing a replacement and, in fifteen matches for the Green Crocodiles, the beanpole journeyman was his more pedestrian self, hitting just five strikes.

Just when he had a good thing going, Miller let it all go to crap.  If that doesn’t describe the current state of Scottish football, I don’t know what does. – Martin Palazzotto 

My first reaction, in nominating a Bundesliga player for the mock Ballon d’Or, was to go for Mario Gomez.  The Bayern striker, after a slow start, which had a bit to do with him not being rated by Louis van Gaal, cranked it up in October and went on to notch twenty-eight Bundesliga goals.

Then there was Papa Demba Cisse.  The Eintracht forward was the only other player in Germany to surpass the twenty-goal plateau, with twenty-two.

Yet, Frankfurt barely survived relegation and, despite Gomez’s best efforts, Bayern underachieved in settling for third place.  If you look at new champions Borussia Dortmund, it was a community effort, with no one player truly standing out from his mates.  Don’t you just hate that?

Another goal bites the dust.

It was time to dig deep, then, to find a suitable nominee and, when I thought back on the season, the one German player whose name kept popping up more than any other was Manuel Neuer.  Like Demba Cisse, Neuer was stuck on struggling Schalke.  Unlike Demba Cisse, though, his side made a tremendous Champions League run, culminating when the Germany number one seemingly held off Man United singlehandedly for over an hour in the first leg of the semi-final.  One man against eleven, going down with gloves blazing.  It’s the stuff of legend.

But he’s a goaltender, you say.  Who nominates goaltenders for the Ballon d’Or?!

Apparently, me.  So what if Neuer gets to use his hands and dresses differently from the rest of the team? I thought that society had moved past these stereotypes.   Aren’t we all touchy-feely and inclusive regarding minorities?  Don’t we preach against discrimination and believe in human rights?  I mean, if a murderer has the right to father a child through artificial insemination while incarcerated – and, for those of you who stick to the back pages, I’m not making that up – doesn’t a goalkeeper deserve to be considered the best player on the pitch even if he is constrained to the eighteen yard box?

Get with it, people.  If you’re truly going to support the rights of the downtrodden, you have to put aside conventional thinking and make some sacrifices. – Martin Palazzotto

Bjorn Vleminckx and Dmitry Bulykin, the two leading goal-scorers in the Eredivisie during the just completed season may both be leaving the Netherlands behind but Dutch football’s best player will be sticking around.

Immediately after the season ending match, Janssen was switching shirts.

Theo Janssen hit for thirteen goals from midfield in the Eredivisie, making him second highest scorer in the league for FC Twente, behind Marc Janko’s fourteen. It seemed that every one of Janssen’s efforts came just when needed and his brilliant strike against PSV may have been the goal of the season.  He’s also provided plenty of match winning assists; everything positive and great from FC Twente this season has gone through him.

It all ended in a losing cause, as Twente failed to defend their title on the last day of the campaign.   Theo did manage to give Twente a glimmer of hope in that match against Ajax, where they were only a draw away from retaining the Championship.

No doubt, that final performance convinced Frank de Boer and Ajax write the cheque to bring him to the Amsterdam ArenA and in turn strengthen Ajax for the new season, one they go into as champions.  In agreeing to move from the old champions to the new, Janssen paid heed to the old proverb, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. – Mohamed Moallim

No matter what Andrew might think, at the tender age of 21, midfielder Eden Hazard has already established himself as the biggest attacking threat for Lille, who this year completed a long-awaited Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double.

Hazard's best quality also worries Lille; the Belgian is always on the move.

On paper, his statistics – 7 goals and 9 assists – aren’t anywhere near those of Ronaldo or Messi, but that neglects what Hazard brings to the team, as well as his ability. If Ronaldo and Messi are the greatest two dribblers in the game, Hazard isn’t far behind. He is often the focal point for Lille’s attacks, and whilst not a spectacular scorer of goals – yet – he is certainly a scorer of spectacular goals.

As such, he has been a key part in the Lille’s stylish attacking system this season. That said, it might well be that the Belgian needs to make an impact on the biggest stages to be seriously considered as the best in the world. With his club future up in the air, and his national side’s stock of young talent, Hazard’s breakthrough could well come very soon. And with the midfielder rumoured to favour a move to Spain, he could go into direct competition with the two big guns. — Tapesh Patel

Portugal has long been isolated from the rest of Europe, surrounded as it is by Spain on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  A long spell under dictatorial rule didn’t help matters, either.  Yet, Portugal has long contributed players to the game and, every now and then, has moved abruptly from the fringe of the continent to dominate its footballing heart.

This season, Porto, who claimed the Champions League almost a decade ago under Jose Mourinho, stepped to the fore again, running away with the Liga Sagres and ripping through Sevilla, CSKA and Spartak Moscow, Villareal and finally fellow Portuguese side Braga to win the Europa League.

In May, Falcao was undeniably king of the world.

The continental triumph drew favourable comparisons with Jose Mourinho for current boss Andres Villas-Boas but Colombian striker Falcao completely eclipsed the dominant performance of last year’s Atleti hero, Diego Forlan.

Porto’s incredible dominance of the domestic league, a thirty round competition which they won by twenty-one points, allowed them to focus fully on the Europa League.  Well rested and directing all his energies into the continental battles, Falcao not only set a record haul for a UEFA tournament, his seventeen overtaking Juergen Klinsmann’s previous mark of fifteen, he surpassed his own tally of sixteen league goals, as well.

With such big game numbers, it’s little wonder that the former River Plate star will be hotly pursued this summer, with Arsenal and Tottenham already rumoured to be willing to meet his €30 million buy-out clause.  Understandably, Porto want to keep the nucleus of Villas-Boas, Falcao and Hulk together for a run in the Champions League but there is no question that an attractive amount of zeroes are going to be dangled under their noses between now and September.  – Martin Palazzotto

Believe it or not, there are other outstanding players in La Liga, ones who do not play for either Barcelona or Real Madrid.  The truth of that has been a constant thorn in the side of the two giants, as no matter how many of the up-and-comers they recruit to their own cause, others keep cropping up to take their place.

It’s also been a bother to the lesser Spanish clubs, who repeatedly find themselves having to replace a budding young star who has packed his bags for the bright lights of the big city club.  Real’s crosstown rival Atletico Madrid have adopted extreme measures, placing a codicil in Sergio Kun-Aguero’s contract preventing him from transferring directly from the Vicente Calderon to the Santiago Bernabeu.

They call me mellow yellow.

Barcelona, however, have continued to rape and pillage the local peasants.  Last year, they snapped up David Vila from a cash-strapped Valencia and this summer, they’re rumoured to be moving for the player who might have been the darling of the Spanish league in a world without Messi and Ronaldo.

Villareal’s American-born Azzurri international, Giuseppe Rossi, formed a clinical partnership with Nilmar and struck for thirty-two goals in all competitions for the Yellow Submarine.  Depending upon your perspective, he has either not been trusted by Marcelo Lippi and Cesare Prandelli or has simply failed to impress on the international stage.

Yet, Villareal boss Juan Carlos Garrido has had absolutely nothing to complain about.  When Nilmar suffered a leg injury in January, Rossi stepped up his game, even with opposing defenders free to focus more on him.  As a result, the side finished a comfortable fourth, eligible for the Champions League qualifiers and also made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they ran into the torrent form of Falcao and eventual champions Porto. – Martin Palazzotto

Messi mania is taking the footballing world by storm, it’s true – that is everywhere except Madrid and Parma.

I’ll let coach Franco Colomba explain regarding the latter:

“Would I like to train Messi? Of course. Although, to tell the truth, we’ve already got someone who really reminds me of him. It’s Giovinco.”

Sebastian Giovinco has, without the appropriate fanfare which would accompany a player at a larger club, taken Serie A by storm. The pint-sized playmaker, cast aside by one of those larger clubs, Juventus, has proved a revelation since being snapped up by the Gialloblu on a co-ownership deal.

Following the Messi template, Giovinco is small in stature but his contributions have had a big effect in keeping Parma in Serie A. Excelling in a struggling side is difficult to do; just ask erstwhile Hammer Scott Parker.

This diminutive starlet is ready for the big time!

Regardless the 24-year-old Crusader has been the driving force in midfield, speeding Parma away from relegation in the final weeks to finish a respectably in twelfth place, ten points clear of the drop zone.

Ironically, three of Giovinco’s seven goals in the campaign came against his parent club. Two came in a 4-1 drubbing back in January, while a free-kick settled the return game 1-0. Add in a flurry of man-of-the-match awards and Juventus have been left kicking their heels in disgust at their own foolishness.  It might be them, instead of Rome or Lazio playing in the Europa league next season, had they shown a little faith.

With little Sebbe outshining seasoned veterans such as Hernan Crespo and Amauri, fans are now clamouring for the return of their new terrace hero next season. So far the signs are encouraging as Giovinco has gone on-record to state that he’s “ninety-nine percent sure” of returning next season.

Giovinco’s form hasn’t gone unnoticed on the international stage either. Having already starred at the Under-21 level, he made his Azzurri bow in a friendly with Germany in February, then came off the bench a month later to set up an assist with a creative backheel. – Shaun Best

Hopefully, we’ve opened your eyes to some unnoticed players deserving of a little attention.  That’s, of course, only after you’ve caught up on which Lego Super-set Little Leo is currently constructing, and which photo shoot was the latest to feature Ronaldo.

On Tuesday, keep an eye out for the fourth instalment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Club Most Likely To Win The 2012 Champions League Final

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments

Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________

There were many wonderful moments in Europe over the course of the 2010-11 season, as we noted in the opening segment of the Yearbook.  But for every sweet moment, such as Eric Abidal hoisting the Champions League Trophy, Manchester United winning its nineteenth league title and Borussia Dortmund running away with the Bundesliga, there were a handful of incidents which left a sour taste in the mouth.

It’s our sad duty to sift through those now and bring you the most shocking, annoying and ridiculous events which occurred across the continent, as the campaign progressed.  Brace yourselves, it isn’t pretty!

The Premier League offers any number of incidents that interested parties might wish had never occurred.  It’s not just the level of play on the pitch which makes it the top competition in the world; the drama in the English top flight is second to none!

There were the Karl Henry and Nigel de Jong horror tackles, the latter of which saw the Dutch midfielder left out of the l’Oranje squad for an extended period, Peter Crouch’s exposure as a womaniser and Harry Redknapp’s continued issues with her Majesty’s Revenues marred Tottenham’s early season, Arsene Wenger would live to regret butting in on the question of hard tackles when Jack Wilshere laid into Nicola Zigic, the Davids, Gold and Sullivan, were rather embarrassed when they had to retain the services of Avram Grant after scaring off Martin O’Neill and, of course, the entire Wayne Rooney hold out, with Roy Keane accusing clubs of butchering players, Ian Holloway ranting on the Bosman Rule and houses running off in the night, and fans masked by baklava unfurling a death threat banner outside Rooney’s Manchester residence.

The winning nominee for the 2010-11 EPL Hall of Shame has to go to the first half of the Liverpool season, however.  The saga had legs like no other scandal.

The Kop had seen enough of Tom Hicks and George Gillet and were working an internet terrorist game against any company rumoured to be interested in helping the duo satisfy the massive interest accruing on loans held by the Royal Bank of Scotland.  Worse, Rafa Benitez had left, replaced by an ineffective and unassertive Roy Hodgson.  Players were becoming unsettled and the club was struggling at the bottom of the table.

Good news came when Martin Broughton announced that a new buyer had been found for the club.  Fan’s suspicions, based upon the fact that it was another American investor, were soon alleviated by tales of John Henry’s success with and respect for the traditions of the Boston Red Sox.  Plus, he had a pretty hot fiance.

Tom Hicks opposed the sale, though, as it left him with no return on his investment.  When the board voted against him, approving the transaction, he attempted to have the opposing members, including Broughton, removed.  A British court ruled in favour of the sale, which led to Hicks obtaining an injunction from a Texas judge, flouting any common sense definition of jurisdiction.  When the British court rejected the Longhorn magistrate’s butting-in, there was dancing in the streets of Liverpool.

Evil chinstroke aside, the gentlemanly Woy was unused to being cast as the villain.

Things didn’t settle down completely, though.  There was still the matter of Roy Hodgson.  The new owners voiced their preference to give him an opportunity to prove what he could do with their full support, which turned out to be not much other than to get into spitting matches with the fans and Rafa Benitez, who seemed unable to focus on his own troubles at Inter.  Finally, in the first week of the new year, Hodgson was shown the door, with Kenny Dalglish installed as caretaker and, eventually, permanent boss.

For most that would have been enough controversy for one season but Fernando Torres had other thoughts.  The struggling Spaniard forced a sale to Chelsea, where he would have the opportunity to win trophies, for a whopping £50 million.  John Henry, intent on building a winner, quickly reinvested the money in the purchases of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.

Dalglish and newly hired assistant Steve Clarke turned the squad around, slowly developed momentum and brought Liverpool to the threshold of Europe, before the season concluded with a late slide.  The club is well positioned to challenge for a return to the top four, however, and this is one sad tale that ended happily.  Not that all of the ones to follow will do the same. – Martin Palazzotto

The Championship acted as an almost perfect counterweight to the Premier League, this season.  While the top flight was raging with controversy and drama, the second tier, for the most part, just went about the business of playing football.  There was even an invitation to the England squad for Cardiff’s Jay Bothroyd.  The placid calm was marred on two occasions, however.

Over the Holidays, a struggling Preston sacked Darren Ferguson.  Phil ‘Coppertone’Brown came in but wasn’t able to save the club.   However, it was Darren’s dad, Sir Alex, who may have had more to do with that than anyone.  Incensed at his progeny’s ‘mistreatment’ the temperamental Scot recalled loanees Joshua King, Matty James and Ritchie de Laet from Deepdale with immediate effect.   Never mind that three United players, at a crucial stage in their development, were suddenly left without a place to play. Family comes first.

Warnock, a villain ready made, left the FA to their devices and celebrated his achievements with the club. Yes, that's his happy face.

Worse than that, however, and certainly less understandable was the FA’s handling of the Alejandro Faurlin case at QPR.  The forward was signed in 2009, with a £500,000 fee paid to Internazionale, who had rights of first refusal with Faurlin’s Argentine club, Instituto de Cordoba, for his services.  In 2011, it came out that the fee was forwarded to a third party, against FA regulations, under what is known as the ‘Carlos Tevez Rule’.

The FA had half the season to investigate whether QPR was aware of the arrangement and, had they significant evidence of that, should have immediately suspended Faurlin.  Instead, the Argentine made forty appearances, scoring three goals and the FA let matters drag on until the final day of the season.  With a ten point penalty looming over Neil Warnock’s side, no one was sure who would be champion, earn automatic promotion or be in the playoffs, which complicated several clubs’travel arrangements and gave them false hopes at a critical juncture in their season.

The indecision actually led to second-placed Norwich City assuring their progression to the Premier League ahead of first-placed QPR.  Finally, after more than one delay, the FA announced on the final Saturday of the regular season that QPR would not face a points deduction and would be affirmed champions.  The entire process tainted what was an excellent campaign from the Loftus Road side.

Well done, FA! – Martin Palazzotto

The most forgettable moment for me, this season, came on a personal level.  The realisation, midway through the campaign, that I no longer had any love for the club which I had supported since boyhood was a disheartening prospect.

The tip of the iceberg.

Matters came to a head with the Celtic/Dundee United match at Tannadice.  Referee Dougie MacDonald awarded, then rescinded, a penalty in Celtic’s favour.  When incensed manager Neil Lennon demanded an explanation, MacDonald lied to him, claiming that his assistant had corrected his decision.  The linesman in question, Steven Craven, subsequently resigned after receiving numerous death threats.  MacDonald and referee boss Hughie Dallas would soon followed him out the door, for attempting to cover up the deception.

What is distressing about the whole affair is not the immature tirade of Lennon and his appeals of its punishment, although such behaviour has no place in the game.  Nor was it the lack of professionalism from MacDonald and Dallas.  The real issue is why fans find it necessary, in defence of their club, to send death threats to officials, letter bombs to coaches and politicians, or to invade the pitch and attempt assault and battery, again on coaches.

Some blame it on drink, others on sectarianism.  Whatever the cause, though, extreme behaviour has become so commonplace in the SPL and Scottish Football in general that it has finally ground my spirit to dust. There was simply no passion left to follow the league on any level and it was time to let go. A really sad thing to happen, but one that I am not regretting. – Andrew Gibney

My most memorable moment in the Bundesliga featured BVB wresting the crown from Bayern Munich.  That the Bavarians had allowed Dortmund to gain the upper hand in the table was mainly down to all the in-fighting within the club.  

The figure at the centre of those battles was Louis van Gaal.  Players were complaining in public about their lack of playing time and his squad selection.  Finally, club president, Uli Hoeness could not contain himself any longer.  Long a father figure and defender of the players, it was amazing that he had remained silent as long as he did.

Two men with opposing views come to the same conclusion simultaneously. "Oh, yeah, he's got to go!"

Ironically, his silence ended after a Bayern victory.  Hoeness noted that the key players in that triumph, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Martin Demichelis and Mario Gomez  were all players of which Louis van Gaal had asked to be rid.  Gomez, in fact, went on to lead the club in scoring and popped in the game winner against Austria in stoppage time this weekend for Germany, extending die Mannschaft’s perfect Euro qualifying record.

Hoeness also noted that the manager was not one to listen to constructive criticism.  The Dutchman fired back that the club president was only undermining his authority at the worst possible time.

Finally, on a flight to Romania for a Champions League match, club executives Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Karl Hopfner and Christian Nerlinger brought the combatants together, forced a resolution to the matter and asked the two men to join in a group hug for the sake of the embattled club.  After subduing the Greco-Roman wrestling match which evolved from that hug, Herrs Rummenigge, Hopfner and Nerlinger released a statement to the effect that the pair had agreed to act more civilly and work together in the Rekordmeister cause.

The writing was on the wall for the outsider, van Gaal, though.  When the club continued to struggle to reach the Champions League places, it was announced he would not continue beyond the season.  When that failed to marshal the troops, he was finally sacked, with the club riding out the season under caretaker manager Andries Jonker.  Bayer Leverkusen boss Jupp Heynckes will take over in 2011-12, although, as diminutive as he is, he’ll have to tread lightly.  The pugnacious van Gaal was a much larger man and actually stood a chance in a tussle against the beefy Hoeness. – Martin Palazzotto

From a Dutch perspective there is one week that I wish I could erase from my mind.  I’m speaking of course, of the Europa League quarter-finals.

FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven’s humiliations at the hand of Villarreal and Benfica was embarrassingly thorough.  Both sides went in with a degree of confidence but a 4-1 drubbing at the Estadio da Luz for PSV was only positive in comparison to Twente’s 5-1 humiliation at El Madrigal.

The nightmare continued seven days later for Twente at the Arke Stadion.  Villareal dismantled them again, 3-1 this time, for an 8-2 aggregate victory.  PSV put up a better fight at the Philips Stadion but there was no way back from their three-goal deficit, as Benfica kept pace with them in a 2-2 draw.

It was another nadir in recent Dutch football history on the continent and an unwanted reality check.  The only consolation was that both of their tormentors would go on to lose in the semi-finals. – Mohamed Moallim

You can always count on the FFF for a bit of drama. This season was meant to be a new start.  After Raymond Domenech had left the national side in a shambles, Laurent Blanc was to usher in an era of stability.

To be fair, this was largely the case in the beginning, despite the FFF’s best efforts.  The suspensions of then captain Patrice Evra, for five matches, Franck Ribery for three and Jeremy Toulalan actually gave Blanc the excuse to bleed new players and make a clean break from the Domenech regime.

No, Minister, I'm not racist. I'd just like to have a few white players around, if you don't mind.

Then, in March, a scandal broke out alleging the introduction of race quotas in academies. The idea that fewer black players should be in the national side kicked off a veritable storm in left leaning France, with managers, players (both current and former) and politicians all throwing in their ‘deux centimes’.

Most notable was the split in opinion between the ’98 World Cup squad; an ironic indictment of a team once renowned for its black/blanc/beur make-up, which simultaneously exposed far deeper flaws in French multiculturalism.  Lilian Thuram and Marcel Desailly criticised the policy, joined by the likes of Patrick Vieira.  Politicians, including French Minister of Sport Chantal Jouanno, preached that quotas had no place in the French game and that players should be chosen on the basis of athletic ability.

Blanc disagreed, noting that  players of African, North African and French origin each tended to have their own tactical characteristics, with athletic ability not always being the most important criteria in selection.  His position was supported by French icon Zinedine Zidane, a beur, which exposed the cracks which are often painted over when it comes to discussions of French multiculturalism. – Tapesh Patel

For me, the lowlight in Spanish football was the combination of two separate but similar events, one occurring before the season began and the other after it ended, with neither raising very many eyebrows at all.  I’m referring to the double sacking of Gregorio Manzano, first at Mallorca and then at Sevilla.  

Mallorca, under new ownership which arrived only after the club went into administration, released the coach who had guided them to a fifth-placed finish in La Liga and, under normal circumstances, making them eligible for Europa League play.  Their financial difficulties led UEFA to disqualify them, however.  Subsequently, Manzano was let go and the largely inexperienced Michael Laudrup was appointed to succeed him.  While Laudrip began the campaign well, keeping the club in or around tenth place, the second half of the season saw them slide slowly down until they at last came to rest a very nerve-wracking one point from relegation.

"I'm confused. Do they want me to lose?"

Manzano began the season without a job but Sevilla was doing so poorly under Arturo Alvarez that he was brought in with a mandate to bring the Sevillistas back to their accustomed place, in the shadow of Barcelona and Real Madrid.  That he did, guiding them to his second consecutive fifth-placed finish and an unassailable place in the Europa League.  Shortly after the season ended, the club dropped the boom on Manzano, announcing that they preferred to go in a different direction.

Ownership, of course, does have the right to choose, or change, the course of the club at whim.  Still, it’s difficult to understand exactly why Manzano’s repeated success is so unappreciated.  Given the tremendous gap in quality between Real, Barça and the rest of the Primera Liga, the only conceivable direction left, when you let a successful coach go, is down.   One hopes that Manzano, who has proved his worth more than once, is offered a more stable position in the future, much like Manuel Pellegrini, who has established the foundations of a strong project at Malaga.  He certainly deserves it. – Martin Palazzotto

In a nutshell, Sampdoria’s whole season has been one the fans would love to forget. Last August, they were rubbing shoulders with Werder Bremen in the Champions League.  This August they’ll be tangling with Sassuolo in Serie B.

Trouble was on the horizon as soon as the relationship with prodigal son Antonio Cassano started to sour. After allegedly calling president Riccardo Garrone a “shitty old man,” the aforementioned substance hit the fan and Cassano was frozen out of the first-team picture and his likeness photoshopped out of several pieces of club merchandise.

Things got worse in January when both Milan clubs came in to raid top marksman Giampaolo Pazzini and pick up a cut-price Cassano in the process. Add in the sacking of Domenico Di Carlo, a last kick of the game defeat to city neighbours Genoa, which effectively relegated the club and the heartbreaking image of captain Angelo Palombo breaking down in front of the club’s fans, asking for forgiveness. Sampdoria have certainly seen their Serie A status go down the drain.

Claudio Ranieri and Rafa Benitez deserve honourable mentions as well for their calamitous reigns at Roma and Inter respectively. Fortunately, both sides dumped the deadweight, turning to rookie replacements in Vincenzo Montella and Leonardo to effectively turn their seasons around.

Finally, the fresh illegal betting scandal that’s rocked Italy has left as bad taste in my mouth as the pre-match drinks in the Cremonese bar. Nasty stuff! Around 28 or so former players have been implicated thus far and just like the Calciopoli scandal that rocked Italy several years ago, one must feel that this new nightmare has only just begun. – Shaun Best

Okay, so you know what’s coming.

There can’t possibly be any incident more regrettable than the first leg of the Real/Madrid/Barcelona semi-final, when it comes to the 2010-11 Champions League.  Barcelona supporters offer the excuse that they were only responding to Jose Mourinho’s negative tactics.  Madridistas reply that if you give the Catalans a game they resort to play-acting and referee baiting rather than raising their competitive level.

The simple fact is that both are correct.  The evidence was fully visible on the Santiago Bernabeu turf for all to see, provided that they had the stomach to look.  The Meringues were barging into tackles, oftentimes far too late and with studs up.  Even when they missed, the likes of Sergio Busquets, Pedro and Javier Mascherano were writhing about on the ground like Darryl Hannah in Bladerunner.

Okay, so not quite that bad but when the theatrics failed to impress the match official, the Blaugrana began hunting him in packs, haranguing him in an attempt to get someone, anyone, sent off.

Meanwhile, when football was being played, Real were continually pushing their opponents back into their own end, not pursuing but content to wait for their opponent’s frustration to create an opportunity to counterattack, as only they can.

How could you upset the children, Jose?!

But it was Barcelona’s negative tactic which succeeded first, with Pepe drawing a red card.  The heretofore shackled Lionel Messi was suddenly free to wreak havoc and he struck for a double to give the Catalans an insurmountable lead, heading back to the Nou Camp.

Jose Mourinho’s post game remarks, in which he claimed referees were conditioned to favour Barcelona because of their carefully crafted image, which included their sponsorship deal with UNICEF, did nothing to improve matters.  He was subsequently banned and Madrid appealed in vain, releasing video to the public showing Dani Alves obviously play-acting in the crucial foul called on Pepe.  In turn, Barcelona attempted to bring charges of defamation against Mourinho.

The UEFA disciplinary committee threw up their hands in frustration and told the two squabbling children that if they’d regret it if Michel Platini was forced to get in the back seat with them.  Wouldn’t we all?

A few weeks later, the entire mess was conveniently forgotten when Pep Guardiola’s side put in a much more positive performance against man United at Wembley.  – Martin Palazzotto

That’s it then.  There’s only so much bad news one can take, after all.

On Sunday, keep an eye out for the third instalment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Ballon d’Or Candidates Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo.

In the meantime, you can read the first chapter in the UEFA 2010-11 Yearbook:  Most Memorable Moments right here!

Enjoy!

It’s been a long, hard season in Europe.  The campaign began in the shadow of the South African World Cup, where Les Bleus paid tribute to that old TV comedy, On The Buses, and the Netherlands introduced a new fighting style, Dutch Fu, to little avail in the final against Spain.  When the club season began, the mixture of MMA and football continued in the Premier League, where Dutch Fu master Nigel de Jong oversees the Eastlands dojo at Manchester City.  As well, Wayne Rooney fought off rumours of an illicit affair with a prostitute and held out for more cash from Man United.  In Germany, Louis van Gaal tussled with Uli Hoeness and in Italy, Rafa Benitez pulled an inside job on Jose Mourinho’s treble winning Inter.  Those are all forgettable moments, however, and we’ll deal with them in the next segment.

Today is reserved for remembering the good times.  At WFC, sadly, more writers have gone through our revolving door than managers in Serie A, but it has always been enjoyable.  We’ll miss the likes of Chris Mann, Matt Dalton, Geoff Edwards, Eliot Rothwell and Kristian Anker-Möller.  Still, those of us who remain behind have come together to bring you the best moments from the 2010-11 season.  So, without further adieu, let’s get cracking.

It’s been emotional. I’ll miss you guys – even old Paleface Palazzotto with his screeching, virtual chalk stick and strict deadlines. I might even pop back now and again to help out (not that I was actually there very often, eh Gib?).

I’d like to point out that at this time I’m playing a highly impressionable 16-year-old.  It’s called method acting.  To get in the proper mindset for a year book contribution, I thought I’d enjoy the freedom of being an obnoxious teenager again.  You can get away with so much more than an obnoxious adult.  So, I’m scribbling all this down on the back of my planner, during break time, behind the bike sheds with the cool kids (I actually don’t like smoking – tickles the lungs – but I pretend to take the occasional drag).

My older, more learned self will realise the folly of his ways in about seven years’ time – and go on to learn such mature facts as there being no such team as Inter Milan (just Inter or Internazionale) and their ground is the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, in San Siro (not the San Siro).

Bale may not have deserved the PFA Player of the Year Award but his play against Inter is one of the highlights of the Champions league season

But for now, I’m a spotty, horny teenager, as I will be for the remainder of this piece. Miss Anistonne, the drama teacher, has told me I’ll never make it to Hollywood if I can’t learn to stay in character. And I’ll take the advice of anyone with breasts like those!

Best moment then? Well, apart from Bestie and the chewing gum incident, it’s gotta be Gareth Bale’s hat-trick against Inter Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. Crucial, crucial goals in a massive game, scored by the best player in England, if not the world. He’s been doing it consistently all season, has Balo, and quite rightly won the Premier League’s Player of the Year award. – Jude Ellery

Editor’s note:  The rest of us will be our normal selves throughout the series but we have respect for Jude’s thespian efforts.  Therefore to help him stay in part, we’ll be spending as much time as necessary behind the bike shed, having removed the chains from a few of it’s inhabitants, to use for alternate purposes. –Paleface

For Berba, it's quality, not quantity.

Being a fan of Man United, you’d think it would be easy for me to come up with a highlight for the season.  They did just hoist their nineteenth league trophy, one more than hated Liverpool but the clinching match against Blackburn wasn’t their best effort of the year.  What, then, along the way was the most memorable happening?

After a good deal of thought, and ‘Paleface’breathing down my neck to get it done, I’ve settled on Dimitar Berbatov’s hat trick against, who else but Liverpool.  Despite his seemingly laissez-faire attitude, the Bulgarian is a player I’ve always stood by.  He’s a classy footballer, big and strong, a real number nine in  my opinion.  It hurt to see him left out of the Champions League Final at Wembley.

The pièce de résistance of the three-bagger against the Reds at Old Trafford was the overhead kick.  My eyes popped open and the drool rolled down my chin as I watched him control the ball with his knee, teeing it up and then leaping backwards to drive it over a helpless Pepe Reina.  As they say on Soccer AM, you don’t save those! – Dale OD

Hi all.  Hang on a mo’, while I get this bike grease off my hands.  Oh, and just ignore the moans coming from behind the shed.  Jude will be fine, although all those screams of “Not in the face! Not in the face!” were rather pathetic.

Next time I see Steve, we're going to have words.

So, where are we now?  Right, the Championship.  Well, it was obviously QPR’s year, even if the FA did make them sweat it at season’s end.  Congratulations to Neil Warnock and his crew.   For me, however, the highlight of the Championship season was David “Calamity” James joining Bristol City.  Obviously, not much came of it, as the Robins finished in fifteenth place, roughly halfway between relegation and the playoffs.  Worse, manager Steve Coppell did a Martin O’Neill and left the club just two games into the season.

What makes me think of James first, though, when asked what I remember best about the campaign, is the manner of his signing.  The morning after his bachelor party, a groggy James answered the annoying buzz of his cell phone, something he rarely does when his wits are about him.  On the other end was Coppell, who said, “if you’re not doing much this year, why not come down to Bristol.  We’ll have a few laughs.”  And that was that.  No Premier League, no England, no coach and no choice but to ride it out.

Lesson One:  Never sign a professional football contract while hung over.

Lesson Two:  Always have a fall back plan if you’re on for drinks with Steve Coppell. – Martin “Paleface” Palazzotto

It really has not been a memorable SPL season, to be honest. We have had death threats, managers attacked, player brawls, referee strikes, club sales and a lot of postponement. So there have been too many bad highlights for me this season.

But since my arm is being twisted, I’m picking the final match of the season between Rangers and Kilmarnock as my most memorable moment.   Call me cynical but as well as bringing an end to a miserable season, the match was entertaining and it crowned the league champion.

Always leave them wanting more!

With Rangers needing to win to secure the SPL title, they were three-nil up within the first seven minutes from a trio of superbly taken goals. It was refreshing to see a team finishing so clinically in such a big game! There was also a hat-trick for the usually woeful Kyle Lafferty and Croat Nikica Jelavic struck a lovely free kick to make it four for Rangers. The game finished 5-1.

Most importantly, Walter Smith won his last game as Rangers boss, departing with three titles on the trot.  Smith deserved such a send off but with a month to go it didn’t look as though it would happen.  Celtic were the front-runners but they slipped and Rangers passed them by, never looking back.

I hope for more memorable moments next season, and less forgettable ones, as Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist go head to head as managers.  Hopefully Hearts can challenge the Old Firm for the full season and won’t it be nice to see all the new signings and welcome Dunfermline back to the SPL? – Scott Johnston

The Bundesliga is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe and while Bayern Munich are always a factor, they don’t dominate in quite the same way as Barcelona has in Spain or Inter and Lyon had done recently in Italy and France.  Their fans do expect them to always be on top, however, which sets up an ideal love/hate relationship with the Rekordmeister throughout Germany.

This season, it was the haters’turn to celebrate, as Juergen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund overcame an early surge from Mainz 05 to take the Bundesliga by storm.  An aging Bayern side languished in the mid-table, while Louis van Gaal fought off criticism from within, without, above and below.  Still, the set-upon Dutchman had the Bavarians within shouting distance in February, with a match at the Allianz Arena against BVB set to define the 2010-11 campaign.

"We won, we won! but everything is so blurry.... Mats, Mario, was that crunching sound?"

The first quarter-hour was a Latin American affair, with Paraguayan Lucas Barrios putting Dortmund in front and Brazilian Luis Gustavo leveling for Bayern.  Yet, two minutes after the equaliser, Klopp found some Turkish delight as Nuri Sahin put BVB back in the lead.  On the hour, the not so tiny figure of Mats Hummels sealed the deal for the visitors, who dominated most of the match.  A pair of shattered specs, crushed in the victory celebration were a small price for Klopp to pay for a championship.

In the aftermath, a supremely confident Dortmund would open such a wide margin on the field that a late season malaise never truly threatened their championship.  Meanwhile, van Gaal failed to last the season and the Munich side had to settle for third place and Champions League qualifying over the summer. – Martin Palazzotto

For me, two games stick out in the Eredivisie session, for different reasons, with one taking place in the early stages of the campaign and the other on the final day. Despite Ajax clinching the league at home against FC Twente in round thirty-four, their first league title in seven seasons, my memorable moment had to be watching PSV v Feyenoord in October.

It was one of the most surreal games I’ve witnessed in a long time and I couldn’t get my head around the full-time score, which read PSV 10-0 Feyenoord.  It was like playing FIFA XI on easy mode.  Games like these come few and far between in a competitive top flight, especially in the last few decades.

Ay, Caramba!

What also amazed me was the ruthless aggression shown by the PSV players, in particular Balázs Dzsudzsák, Jeremain Lens and Jonathan Reis, with Reis scoring the only hat-trick of the game. If that wasn’t sufficiently impressive, even with more than five goals on the board, PSV gave the impression, charging forward with their onslaught, that they were the team trailing desperately.

It was a watershed moment for Mario Been; although Feyenoord came into the game without the best of forms no one could predict the afternoon they would endure. Been even speculated, prior to the match, that he could be rewarded with a new contract at the full-time whistle.  Famous last words.

In the end, he stayed and despite a few more bumpy rides, culminating in what could have been Feyenoord facing a relegation battle, he managed to galvanise the side through the introduction of Japanese youngster Ryo Miyaichi.  The club began to ascend the table, finishing just shy of a Europa League playoff spot.  They also all but ended PSV’s title hopes when they gained revenge in late April, with two of Holland’s brightest talents Georginio Wijnaldum and Luc Castaignos on the score sheet. – Mohamed Moallim

Oops, wrong Brainiac. Apologies.

In France, a country still recovering from their World Cup embarrassment and now coming to grips with the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal, tiny Chambery sounded a positive note by making a stunning run in the Coupe de la Ligue, skewering Monaco, Brest and Sochaux, three top flight sides, before finally succumbing to Ligue 2 club Angers.

Personally, however, nothing could have been more heartwarming than to see an end to Lille’s fifity-six year wait for a trophy. The Stade de France was close to capacity, when, in the 90th minute, Polish midfielder Ludovic Obraniak curled in a high free-kick to the back post. Gregory Coupet, in goal for PSG, misjudged it and the net bulged.  Forty thousand fans in Paris (and one in Leeds) went nuts.  It was by miles the best moment I’ve experienced in following Lille for seven years. — Andrew Gibney

For many, Barcelona’s third league title and second Champions League crown under Pep Guardiola were the re-affirmation of the greatness of Spanish football, which was hinted at in the 2008 Euros and first confirmed in the World Cup.  Yet, Barça and Real Madrid have perched atop La Liga for so long that they must go a long way to impress.

Valdez is Sub-Lime!

Hercules, on the other hand, came into the La Liga season with their garish kit far brighter than their expectations.  Even with Royston Drenthe and David Trezeguet added to the line-up, the Alicante side were not expected to do much.  So, a 2-0 victory at the Nou Camp in the season’s second week had the world sitting up and taking notice.  The hero was Paraguayan World Cup star Nelson Valdes who pumped in both goals, just before the half-hour and hour marks respectively.

Unfortunately, the next surprise from the club, over the Christmas holidays, revealed that they were struggling desperately to pay their new stars.  Drenthe, in fact, threatened to go back to his parent club, Real Madrid, loan agreement or no.  At season’s end, Hercules found themselves headed back to the Segunda Division but at least they offered one dazzlingly bright moment in their short, troubled stay in the top flight. — Martin Palazzotto

Serie A has certainly had its fair share of memorable moments this season.  From Kevin Prince-Boateng’s scudetto moonwalk, in full Michael Jackson garb, to the many outbursts from eccentric Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini, there’s never been a dull weekend in pizza land.  On the pitch, we’ve seen many great individual goals, but in terms of all-round entertainment, no-one can trump Udinese.

The free-scoring Friuli club has been to Serie A what Blackpool has to the Premiership – albeit with a better ability to defend – and that is great entertainment to watch.  In addition to the enthralling 4-4 draw with champions Milan at San Siro, Udinese walloped Palermo 7-0 in Sicily to briefly knock Delio Rossi off the Palermo managerial merry-go-round.

Love of the game transcends all language.

Champions League football was rubber-stamped on the final day of the season and top marksman Antonio di Natale retained the goalscorer’s crown with an impressive twenty-eight strikes, one short of his previous season’s tally.

Fifty-seven goals in two seasons of Catenaccio, especially when you’re well over thirty years of age makes one wonder how the Bianconeri captain fails to figure in Cesare Prandelli’s Azzurri plans, youth movement or no.

Udinese’s Chilean #7, Alexis Sánchez, deserves special mention too, enjoying his finest season to date in pulling the strings behind the Friuli forward line. Amazingly, he found a way to communicate with di Natale, despite being unable to speak a word of Italian. Mama Mia!

Sánchez’s four goals in the infamous Palermo match have put him in the shop window at a cool €35 million. The tally in that match may have been more, had coach Francesco Guidolin not taken mercy on his former club and subbed Sanchez after 52 minutes! – Shaun Best

Falcao stepped into Diego Forlan's 2010 Europa League boots with his four goal masterpiece.

If you want to play Europa League word association, you’ll get pretty much the same response from everyone.  If you say 2010, the answer will almost surely be Diego Forlan, who scored goals in both legs of the semi-final tie versus Liverpool and then the lone goal in the Hamburg Final against Roy Hodgson’s Fulham.  If 2011 then spills from your lips, the virtually unanimous response will be Falcao.

Porto’s fiery Colombian went on a mad spree in the final rounds of the tournament, including a four-goal rampage through a very strong Villareal side in the semi-final first leg.  Then, he delivered Andres Villas-Boas the second of what would become a treble haul of trophies, when they went on to win the Portuguese Cup, by scoring the lone goal against Braga at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in the Europa League Final.

One just hopes that he doesn’t continue to outdo Forlan, by fading from the scene even more spectacularly than the Uruguayan. — Martin Palazzotto

So nice, we had to show it twice!

Gareth Bale’s one man demolition of Inter was breathtaking indeed but, for me, the moment that will stick in my memory was Eric Abidal hoisting Barcelona’s Champions League trophy. The entire ceremony demonstrated the unity of this extraordinary La Masia-based family.  That a foreigner became the symbol of its success in that moment only further strengthened its image.

Moreover, the very fact that Abidal had appeared in the final, having suffered the removal of a liver tumour just 3 months before, was miraculous. It turned out that his lack of match fitness wasn’t truly tested by Manchester United, but no matter. Abidal is a changed man after the experience, having auctioned off his collection of sports cars to aid research into the condition which afflicted him. Mes que un club, y mes que un juego: at Barcelona, football truly reaches beyond the 22 men plus ball that take to the pitch for 90 minutes, twice a week. — Tapesh Patel

On Saturday, keep an eye out for the second instalment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Most Forgettable Moments.

See you then!

The dust has finally settled on another Champions League campaign, many fans and experts alike will be happy to see Barcelona lift the trophy after playing the best football throughout most of the competition. It may have soured a little with the antics against Real Madrid but the best of the Blaugrana was displayed on the Wembley stage and they thoroughly deserved to be crowned champions of Europe.

Questions remain over the future of the club. Will Pep Guardiola continue for another year? In the joy of the moment, he says yes (!) but the contract remains to be signed.

Will the players have the desire to again climb the highest mountain of continued success? How long can they maintain their dominance over Spain and Europe? The rapturous media believes that no one can stop them in the foreseeable future but, when it really comes down to it, who knows what is going to happen when they walk out the door to work in the morning?  Certainly, Jose Mourinho and a busily improving Real Madrid are eager for another crack at their old rivals.

It is easy to talk about how good Barcelona were, and we will but let’s look at their opponents on the night,Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson said in the lead up that he had learnt his lesson from the 2-0 defeat in Rome. Looking at the 3-1 score line from Saturday instantly puts doubt to his observations.

After most defeats, the first thing to do is question the tactic and line-up so let’s.  Playing what was a 4-4-1-1 Ferguson left Giggs and Carrick 2 v 3 against Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi, instant suicide. Usually against Arsenal – who are probably the closest to Barça in the PL – Ferguson will start in a 4-5-1 and pack the midfield so it was surprising not to see this sort of set up. Perhaps with Park, Giggs and Carrick in the middle they could have limited the time the Barça midfield had on the ball.

Obviously the pressure was on for Javier Hernandez to start after his great form of late but to sacrifice the midfield to play two upfront was the move that gave United no chance in the final. United started the game very well, pressuring Barcelona all over the pitch and for 10 minutes, as in Rome, it worked to great effect and Barça failed to settle.

Eventually, the Spanish champions took control and limited the amount of the ball United saw. Rooney became a figure of frustration and Hernandez basically disappeared. No disgrace to the young Mexican but this wasn’t going to be his night.

The pre-match decision to leave Dimitar Berbatov out of the squad seemed to come back to haunt Sir Alex. Hernandez and Rooney worked well at the start but once the team had gone in level for me it was time to change the tactic. Sir Alex simply moved Park inside and Giggs outside; ultimately this led to Barça’s second, with Giggs not there to close down Messi.

Perhaps there was a case for Berbatov to come on at half time and get his foot on the ball. Although he is not a typical number 9 he does do a very good job holding onto the ball and creating some chances. Rooney could have played off the Bulgarian and perhaps cause the Catalan defence some problems. Instead, United’s second half was spent chasing shadows.

Back to the worthy winners. It was a superb performance from Pep Guardiola’s side. After the scores were brought level through Rooney’s excellent strike, Barcelona took control and United never looked like threatening again. Busquets controlled the midfield and started the majority of their moves. Xavi and Iniesta were majestic – the little tiki-taka passes were in full flow – and Pedro and Messi continued to find space around the defence to operate.

Two superb goals from Messi and Villa were enough to separate the sides and in the end it was an impressive win for the Spanish champions. United did give a better account of themselves over the 90 minutes, the second time around but remain light-years away from Barça’s level.

Messi’s goal has led to a revival of the “Best Ever” conversations which surround the Lego master.  Winning a World Cup does not come into the discussion anymore, if it ever should have, given that Johan Cruyff is often brought up in this debate.  Regardless, the Champions League is now football’s elite tournament, the opponents are tougher and form has to stretch over a whole season. For Messi to have two winners’ medals in his pocket at the age of 23 means he should now be included in the Maradona/Pele conversation. He may not win it yet but he is certainly in the race.  One has to wonder, though, if the lucky fellow below was aware of what would occur on a balmy May evening not too far from Hackney Marshes in just eight and a half months?

So that’s it for another year of European nights.  Whoever is last off the pitch, turn off the flood-lights, will you?

This season has seen a host of young talents rise to prominence in Ligue 1, which means that the transfer window will bring mixed news to fans hoping that their idols stay around another year. It is inevitable that, at some point, clubs outside Ligue 1 will scoop up the crème de la crème, allowing the youngsters to test themselves against the best players in the world.

The best side of all is, of course, Barcelona, whose thorough second-half dismantling of Manchester United on Saturday surely demonstrated the chasm that lies between them and any other side on the planet. This extended to actions off the pitch, as Eric Abidal (of non-La Masia heritage) was given the armband to be the first to hoist the trophy, seventy-one days after being diagnosed with a liver tumour. Mes que un club? You bet.

Meanwhile, the nature of their emphatic victory, on the club game’s biggest of occasions, will have chairmen everywhere looking for some kind of bridge in talent – and with UEFA’s Fair Play rules at the back of their minds, head honchos may cast an ever fonder look towards more long-term investments in youth.

Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson has already fueled speculation regarding Davide de Gea as a replacement for Edwin Van Der Sar.

Which youngsters from France, then, are primed to make the step up to rejuvenate some of Europe’s very best?

Eden Hazard – Quite possibly Europe’s hottest property at the moment, his mercurial presence in a Lille side that will contest next season’s Champions League will certainly have drawn admirers. Hazard ended a double-winning season by extending his contract until 2015, however, someone might be willing to part with the type of cash which even Les Dogues could not refuse.

Gervinho – While Hazard is under contract for the foreseeable future, clubmate Gervinho will be available for nothing come the summer of 2012. Apparently, the Ivory Coast forward knows his plans already, but he hasn’t disclosed them…yet. Liverpool put in a failed bid in January, and clubs like Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Atletico Madrid are reportedly sniffing around, as well.

Kevin Gameiro – Formed a devastating partnership with Morgan Amalfitano this season, with his 22 goals crucial to Lorient’s European push. Gameiro is a pacy striker with a lethal finish, and impressive off-the-ball intelligence.

His decisions off the pitch have so far been as good as those on it – after his club rejected a bid from Valencia in January, Gameiro snubbed advances (and a substantial pay packet) from Bordeaux to continue enhancing his reputation with his current side. The very next match saw him score a hat-trick against Les Girondins, showing the same determination to succeed that has led to such a successful career, despite being rejected from the Clairefontaine academy a few years ago.

Michel Bastos – Ever since declaring a desire to move there this summer, Bastos has been heavily linked with Juventus. Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas has already welcomed the interest in a move for the left-back/winger, as long as it comes to pass fairly quickly. Will new Bianconeri boss Antonio Conte be interested?  This could well be the start of a summer of change for Lyon, as they try to reestablish their credentials within a division they dominated just a few short seasons ago.

Mamadou Sakho – The Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year has been linked with Europe’s top clubs for a while now. Each year the centre-half spends at home-town club PSG seems to increase his value even further but, like Eden Hazard, Sakho is very much settled at his club and probably won’t move for anything less than a premium fee. However, value for money is all but assured – despite being only twenty-one, Sakho has already spent four seasons in the first-team, even captaining the side in the absence of more senior players. What he lacks sometimes in concentration is more than made up for in physicality and defensive prowess, so perhaps this is the year that an even bigger club snaps him up.

Ligue 1 round-up

Lyon 2-0 Monaco

With the title already decided in Ligue 1, only two battles needed to be settled in this match: those of the Champions League and relegation. It turned out that one match would determine both.

With the loss, Monaco became the unlucky third side to be relegated to Ligue 2. It’s a reality that has threatened them all season, but with a roster that many above them would envy, no-one could have expected that this would be the end result. However, team unity has been a huge and ultimately crucial issue in the club’s unsuccessful season.

Lyon, meanwhile, made the coming transfer window much more appealing after gaining qualification to the Champions League. Hugo Lloris, so often linked with moves away, has stated that he would like to play for the club next season, which can only be good. Nevertheless, Lyon need new players to plug a couple of gaps this summer.

Marseille 2-2 Caen

As Caen desperately fought against relegation these last few weeks, they may have found a new star. Sixteen-year-old M’Baye Niang scored three crucial goals in seven bit-part appearances, and is the talk of the town at the moment.  At his tender age, Caen can breathe easy for a year or two, before the sharks start circling their young prize.

Lille 3-2 Rennes

Lille’s Moussa Sow cemented his place as France’s top scorer with a hat-trick against Rennes, taking his tally for the season to 25. With that, he has surely brought himself to the attention of managers around Europe. With Yohan Cabaye now on his way to Newcastle, could Sow be the next to go?

Well, with that, we reach the end of a superb Ligue 1 season. We had unpredictability at the start of the season, a fair amount of scandal a few months back, and it has all ended with Lille’s double, resulting in their first trophies for over half a century. Brilliant viewing, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Let’s hope for more of the same next year!

The Coppa d’Italia at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome brought the curtain down on Liga Calcio for the 2010-11 season, which leaves us just enough time for one last edition of the good, the bad and the ugly in Serie A before Clint heads off on his annual summer cattle drive from Carmel to Beverly Hills.

The Good

Inter had it all their own way early in Sunday’s Cup Final, with Samuel Eto’o capitalising on their dominance in possession shortly before the half-hour.  Wesley Sneijder, who was a doubt coming into the match having battled against time to recover from a calf injury, played the whole match, after only seeing five minutes before limping off in last year’s edition, and played a significant part in the 3-1 victory.  When Thiago Motta won the ball in the centre of the pitch, he quickly delivered it to Sneijder,  who, in turn, found the Cameroonian in the box.  Eto’o then calmly sent the ball to the far side netting to give Inter the lead.

The Sicilians were behind and Delio Rossi had been forced to make an early substitution after Dorin Golan couldn’t continue, yet they fought back and twice almost leveled the score through Federico Balzetti and Abel Hernandez.  Still trailing as the hour mark approached, Rossi brought on veteran captain Fabrizio Miccoli and the stocky forward quickly made his presence felt, connecting with a Javier Pastore cross.  The header tested Julio Cesar but the Brazilian number one was up to the task.

The Rosanero pushed Inter harder and harder, seeking to equalise and finally they pushed too far.  With fifteen minutes remaining, Inter struck again with a quick counterattack.  Sneijder found some room on the left flank and crossed into the box.  Eto’o was waiting once more, getting his right foot on the delivery to send it past Salvatore Sirigu.

Eto'o's brace powered Inter to their seventh Coppa d'Italia crown.

With stoppage time nearing, Miccoli sent a perfect corner into Ezequiel Munoz, whose header was too good for Cesar to parry.  On the board but desperate, Munoz was too rash with a tackle on McDonald Mariga, earning his second caution.

Down a man, Palermo were vulnerable and forgotten man Diego Milito took advantage.  The player whose scintillating strike was the difference in Inter’s sixth Coppa d’Italia win, in 2010, sealed the seventh by finishing coolly after Goran Pandev had found him alone in the box.  Having been granted a cameo by Leonardo in the eighty-seventh minute, the Argentine made his case to be on the pitch from the start, be it with the Nerazzurri or another, more interested club.

With the convincing victory, the Brazilian coach made a solid final argument to remain Inter boss, earning his first trophy as a manager.  It is now up to Massimo Moratti to decide whether the final effort warrants another year’s service for the young, attack minded coach.   Consistency is something that Inter has not had in abundance, in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s departure and if they are to revert to a more steady course, it must begin at the top.

The Bad

 Inter may have been inconsistent in 2010-11 but life at Palermo was absolutely chaotic.  Moreover, the source of the madness was the chairman.  Maurizio Zamparini’s emotions are more difficult to rein in than a maddened team of horses dragging a burning wagon through a lightning storm.

With his club hot on the heels of the clubs in the Europa League places, a 0-7 rout at the hands of a rampant Udinese was too much for Zamparini’s ego to bear and Delio Rossi was shown the door.  The chairman drafted Sergio Cosmi to replace Rossi, only to see two more defeats.  Then, the Rosanero pulled off a stunning 1-0 victory over eventual champions Milan, 1-0.  A week later, however, a 0-4 pasting at the hands of Catania had Mad Zamparini on the telephone, begging Rossi to come back. Rossi agreed to resume command, although only until season’s end, and through the run to the Cup Final secured a place in the Europa League for his bombastic chairman.

For Palermo, the defeat likely means the club will have some significant shoes to fill over the summer.

The question is what will come of that opportunity?  Rossi will be gone and Zamparini is highly unlikely to suddenly gain control of his tempestuous nature.  Further, captain Fabrizio Miccoli, unhappy with being relegated to the substitute’s bench is intent on moving to another club and Zamparini himself has admitted that he will almost surely be unable to meet Argentine wunderkind Javier Pastore’s new contract demands.  After posting ridiculous valuations of the player on a weekly basis, ranging from €50-100 million, the Palermo president he could not compete with the potential wage offers from a major club.

“Pastore is the only player who could leave. It all depends on the boy. He earns less than €1 million and if a big club offered him €4 million then it would be hard to keep him. Palermo can’t afford that and we have to balance the books.”

Miccoli will beg to differ on the first sentence in that statement and without either of their most dangerous players, Zamparini will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat to remain competitive in Serie A, let alone on the continent.  One only has to look at Sampdoria’s plight, resultant from their own fiery President, Riccardo Garrone, offloading Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini in the winter window to see the danger to the Sicilian club.

The Ugly

AC Milan had a wonderful season to reclaim their first Scudetto in eight years.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic carried them through the early part of the campaign, when neither of the other new acquisitions, Robinho and Kevin-Prince Boateng could find their footing and veterans like Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Pato were also disinterested or struggling.  The savage knee injury suffered by Pippo Inzaghi threatened to make their attack even more of a one man army.

After the holidays, however, the cavalry arrived in the form of Antonio Cassano and Mark van Bommel.  Even with Ibra tapering off, Milan became stronger at both ends and began to play with an edge.  The big Swede found himself suspended for five matches over the season and who can forget Gennaro Gattuso’s confrontation with cantankerous Spurs coach Joe Jordan?  As well, there was the spirited draw at San Siro against Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage.

Unfortunately, with a season of accomplishment to look back upon, Rossoneri manager Massimiliano Allegri went on an Italian talk show and proceeded to disparage Jose Mourinho.

“Every now and then he is pathetic. He continuously repeats the same things and it becomes banal. I think he is very talented but his arrogance hides insecurity.”

Such a remark begs the question what makes Allegri any better than the man whom he is criticising?  Certainly not his record.  What Allegri has done at Milan has been accomplished twice over and with extras by the Special One.  Moreover, when the Portuguese was around to respond to any criticism, his Inter easily outperformed Allegri’s Juventus.  The arrogance of Allegri’s comment suggests that perhaps he has some insecurities of his own.

What Would Clint Do?

It’s the end of the season, mate.  What do you think he’s going to do?

See you in August!

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