On the eve of the transfer period, European clubs begin to maneuver for their primary and secondary targets. Here are several questions to consider:
1. Will Cristiano Ronaldo stay or will he go? All signs point to the Manchester United star moving to Real Madrid. Will the Spanish outfit be able to come up with enough cash to secure the services of the world’s greatest player?
2. Will A.C. Milan, Manchester City, or another club land Barcelona’s Ronaldinho? Argentine superstar and fellow teammate Lionel Messi wants the Brazilian to remain with the Catalan outfit, but it looks like Ronaldinho is moving on.
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Chelsea FC finally put Avram Grant out of his misery and officially announced what everyone had known for months. That he would not be coaching Chelsea next year. The contenders to replace Grant include Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink and Roberto Mancini.
The official announcement reads:
“Chelsea can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract as manager terminated today. This follows meetings over the last two days. Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September. We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”
It was a game that had everything. Goals, unbelievable tension, red cards and finally a winner. Fifty years on from the Munich air disaster, Manchester United won their third European Cup final in a dramatic shootout.
It was a game of 2 halves and overtime. The first half belonged to Man Utd, who easily could have been three up after 30 minutes. But Chelsea battled back as they and hit the post twice, in the second half and overtime.
Avram Grant answered all the questions about his tactical knowledge with some great half-time adjustments, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored again in a big game.
Rumors out of Moscow are that Chelsea midfield star Frank Lampard is heading to Inter Milan on a four year deal worth almost 6 million pounds a year.
While Chelsea denies the story, former Chelsea boss has been long rumored to being the new Inter coach. Jose Mourinho is very close to Lampard (and Drogba) and Lampard has stalled on signing a new contract.
I think it will be a very interesting summer at Stamford Bridge with a lot of changes, regardless of how they do against Manchester United on Wednesday.
Eurosport has just released its inaugural European Power Ranking and Manchester United are on top. Intern Milan had led these rankings for much of the season but have dropped to fourth place after their recent stumbles is Serie A.
Europsport uses a mathematical formula based on based on points per game in domestic league and European games. What I cannot understand is how Arsenal are ranked higher than Chelsea. Chelsea finished higher than then in the Premiership and went two rounds further in the Champions League. Somehow the last-minute goal they conceded against Bolton cost them a place. And I thought the BCS formula was confusing!
For years, pundits have argued the EPL is a boring league because of the concentration of talent at the top.
Like MLB, the EPL allows teams to spend as freely as they like, meaning billionaire American businessmen and Russian oil tycoons can stockpile the best players like rations in a nuclear fallout shelter. In case of emergency (or injury), they can just pop another superstar out of the box (new signing bonus smell!) and into the roster.
The benefits of such a system are that when Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal is on the pitch, fans know they are watching a top quality product. The detriments?
Manchester United and Chelsea fans who are heading to Moscow for the Champions League Final got good news today when UEFA announced that all ticket holders attending the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow on 21 May will be able to use their match ticket as a visa entry to the Russian Federation for a 72-hour period.
This is a tough draw for both teams who will play each other a few times between match ups in the Champions League. This is a classic match up of European soccer vs. Premier League soccer, as Liverpool always performs well in European play, while Arsenal always battles for the Premier League title. Things are no different this year, as Liverpool made it to the quarters of Champions League and are 4th in the Premier League, while Arsenal was recently surpassed by Chelsea for the 2nd spot after losing to them on Sunday. Even though Liverpool is moving up and Arsenal is moving down I think this is Arsenal’s year, as they will dispatch of Liverpool in the quarters.
