Another transfer window has come and gone… and what do the football clubs of the world have to show for it? Not a whole lot, to be completely honest. But as with all transfer windows, there are winners… and there are losers.
First, the former: The Winners
Inter Milan:
Kenyan McDonald Mariga, signed with the Nerazzuri after being pursued by multiple squads in the Premiership, and Serie A. Mancini’s departure to cross-town rivals AC Milan has likely ensured that the young midfielder will see quite a bit of pitch time under Jose Mourinho’s watch. Mourinho and company should also be happy about the shipping out of little used, and aging midfielder, Patrick Viera in addition to the loan agreement worked out for underachieving Luis Jiminez. All and all, a productive window for the Italian outfit.
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.
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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.
In nearly any other country on the planet, Mario Balotelli would be considered one of the most promising young football talents around. In fact, in most countries he would most likely be named one of the strikers, and possibly even a member of a national squad’s starting XI, come the World Cup next summer. Too bad the young black phenom is Italian.
Bafetembi Gomis: One Of Four Lyon Goal Scorers In Matchday 6
Ladies and Gentlemen… that is all she wrote , the group stage is in the bag. Of the more impressive performers in this round of play were Lyon sniping 4 goals against Debrecen, United, who benefited from a hat trick from Michael Owen in a solid performance over Wolfsburg, and of course, Barcelona who managed to squeak out a late winner to defeat Dynamo Kiev (just as I predicted btw). I think its time now to review this matchday’s results and compare them to my humble prognostications. Here’s hoping I was hotter this week than in my last few attempts:
Michael Owen Potted Three As United Downed Wolfsburg 3-1
After an action packed first half of the matchday, I am here once again to put in my two cents for the final group stage matches of the 2009/2010 CL season:
Group E – An already qualified Fiorentina squad will play a dejected Liverpool FC in what still has the potential of being a dazzling match. The Viola will most likely dress the majority of their tried and true starting XI so as to take maximum points from the contest, and thus lock up the top spot in the group. Despite playing for a spot in the Europa league, Liverpool, who is having trouble finding any sort of momentum this year, will in all likelihood succumb to their Italian counterparts. In the group’s other match, Lyon should triumph over a Debrecen side that has failed to secure a single point in the tournament.
Here it is folks. The final round robin matchday of this year’s installment of Champions League play. Fortunately for us there is much to be settled (and hopefully in dramatic fashion) during these last group stage matches.On behalf of all of the die-hard Cheddarbomb footy fanatics… it is my distinct pleasure to bring you another installment of Champions League predictions:
Group A – With FC Girondins de Bordeaux already through to the knockout round the stage has been set for Bayern Munich and Juventus to do battle for rights to second place in the group. It will be difficult for both sides, though I think Bayern’s struggles throughout the Champions Legaue and at home in the Bundesliga will come to a head tonight in the form of a loss to the Italian side. Juve to win. Also, look for Bordeaux to sweep aside Maccabi Haifa, despite having already qualified.
Arsenal is at the crossroads. A debilitating loss to London rival Chelsea last weekend has placed the fate of the struggling squad squarely in the hands of their manager, Arsene Wenger. While the Gunners had a blistering start to this year’s campaign, things have waned of late, punctuated by the aforementioned loss and humiliating match at Sunderland, where the result was 1-0 in the opponent’s favour. Arsenal is struggling to find goals over the past few weeks, which is concerning for a team that should be collecting them by the bucketful and is considered ‘weak’ defensively. This problem has been compounded by the fact that, without star striker Robin van Persie, there no longer exists a tip of the spear to the once potent North London squad’s attack.
Many of you are probably thinking… what the *&%! is this guy on about? You are probably thinking: What about Man U or Chelsea? What about Barca or Real Madrid? Scratch that. Even as you rack your brain trying to understand how I could have made such a grievous oversight, a fair number of you are probably trying to figure out which of the world’s football leagues FC Twente plays in. For those of you in need of broadening your football horizons, Twente plays in the Dutch top league, The Eredivisie. While the league has historically been dominated by Ajax of Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, some of the league’s traditional second tier, have made their presence known in the past few seasons. Twente had a solid showing last season and have now posted a 3-0-0 record in November alone. In fact, they have not lost a league game this season, winning their last 10 in a row en route to a 13-2-0 record through the young Eredivisie Season.
Posted by Robert Greco 
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