“Van the Man” Makes Potentially Career Shattering Move

 

 

I have had a few days to mull this over… and I still cannot believe that Ruud van Nistelrooy has opted to join German club Hamburg SV, instead of bowing to one of his many potential suitors in England. In doing so he may just have sealed his fate as another past-his prime striker, doomed to finish out his career shrouded in the anonymity of sub-par football league play. 

Road to the Super Bowl

The NFL season is over and the playoffs are ready to begin.  It’s time to put all that talk of undefeated teams and the whole Bret Favre saga behind us as we focus on games that now are now meaningful. With football having a one game do or die system, us fans will be in for a treat.

I am here to make my picks. I’ll go beyond this weekend and make my picks for the whole playoff bracket. It’ll be fast and simple and keep you from boredom with stats and numbers.

Donovan to Everton: Can Landon Succeed In England?

Landon Joins The Toffees

Hey Landon: Welcome to Merseyside. The blue half of Liverpool has reason to ‘celebrate’ in the young January transfer window, as Everton has claimed the first semi-big name on the market. The loan agreement could not have worked out any better for The Toffees as they will receive a relatively good, pacey striker, with the ability to pot goals for the comparably low wages paid to MLS players. If it works, and he consistently thumps the back of the net, the Everton brain trust will look like geniuses, and if he doesn’t… well, at least they didn’t go out and break the bank, leading to an annual loss of nearly 97 million pounds (I’m talking to you Manchester City). Thats all well and fantastic for the boys in blue, though is it a good move for Donovan?

Top 10: Footy’s Young Guns To Watch in 2010

In 2009 we saw numerous young talents blossom. Alexandre Pato enjoyed his first full Serie A season with great success. Arsenal’s young gunners continued to thrive under the knowing gaze of Arsene Wenger. And Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero showed Europeans why they should fear Argentina’s attack come summer 2010.

Thats all well and good… but I think it is time to look to the future. Namely, what budding starlets stand to make themselves household names over the next year (or few years). The following is a list of young football phenoms (all U-21) who I predict will have a serious impact on their respective teams, and thus the trajectory of their career over the next year, and for the future. Please note that I have left out the likes of Bojan, Tony Kroos and Gareth Bale (among others) due to the fact that while they will continue to grow and flourish with their squads, they have, for the most part secured a role on their squad, and are already looked upon as starting XI or role players.

Lets take a look at the list:

Honourable Mention: Jack Wilshere – MF – Arsenal – England

Sorry Jack, much like Arsene, I just didn’t know how to fit you into the lineup. Maybe next year.

10: Franco Di Santo – ST – Chelsea – Argentina

Although he has already played 16 games plus with the big club, the young Argentinian has not been as prolific has he was once professed to become. However, he is currently on loan at Blackburn, which will enable him to increase his playing time 10 fold when cutting his teeth in the EPL. Look for Di Santo to establish himself in the second half of the 2009/2010 season

Coutinho Bravo

9: Phillipe Coutinho – MF Vasco Da Gama – Brasil/Dominic Aidiyah – ST- Milan – Ghana

Ladies and gents, we have a tie for 9th. It was both difficult to select and difficult to cut these two players as they have yet to prove themselves in a truly dominant fashion. The 20 year old Ghanaian has been toiling away in Norway over the past few seasons while his younger Brasilian counterpart his biding his time in Brasil with Vasco until he is legally entitled to play in Italy. Both will heading to Milan come January, the former AC and the later t0 Inter, and for the life of me, I dont know who will make the bigger impact first.