Top 10 football transfers - summer 2008

Except Euro 2008 this summer the football world will remember the transfer activities of the clubs all across Europe. Real Madrid made a huge campaign chasing C. Ronaldo, but Milan and Barca were the most active clubs in the transfer market. Barcelona spent over 100 M Euros for the signatures of Dani Alves, Caceres, Hleb, Keita and Henrique, and on the other hand they sold Ronaldinho, Deco, Dos Santos, Zambrota and Edmilson. Milan signed Ronaldinho, Flamini, Shevchenko and Zambrota.

10. Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander to Real Madrid (10 M €)

This Argentine youngster is the one of the hottest prospects of the Argentinean football. He is only 21 and already was a part of the Argentinean Olympic team that won the golden medal. Garay was on the verge of joining Barcelona this summer but in the last moment the Catalonian team decided not to make the approach. Los Merengues were fast enough and signed the player for only 10 M Euros. For instance, one month later Barcelona signed Martin Caceres from Villareal for a much larger amount (17 M). Later this summer Garay was returned to his old club Racing on a one season loan, and he will join Madrid next season.


9. Robinho from Real Madrid to Manchester city (41 M €)

Madrid’s chase over Ronaldo this summer made Robinho’s agent start to think that his client will be on the way out of Bernabeu. Or maybe he realized that he won’t be their biggest star in the future so he decided to fight for his escape from Real Madrid. Ronaldo’s transfer failed but Robinho already declared his wish to join Chelsea (they offered him 6 M per year, instead of Madrid’s 5 M). Chelsea hasn’t met the demanding price of 40 M Euros so everybody thought Robinho will be Blanco for another year. Then Al Nahyan's Abu Dhabi group took-over Manchester City and the new mega-rich owners made approach for Robinho with the biggest transfer fee this summer. All in all, everybody came out satisfied with this transfer. Real Madrid got rid of their disgruntled player, Man. C. acquired their first super-transfer and Robinho left the Spanish capital as he desired.


8. Ronaldinho from Barcelona to Milan (20 M €)

Sometimes the best player of the world, his last 2 seasons at Nou Camp were a real nightmare. In his last matches under Rijkard he was just a substitution and everybody thought his glory days were gone. But, despite his poor physical condition and his wild nightlife a lot of clubs were interested in Ronaldonho. There were rumors about him joining Chelsea, Manchester city, Fenerbahce and even LA Galaxy, but in the end he put a pen to the paper for a 3 year contract and moved to Milano. Some say it was a good deal, some the opposite. But in fact Blaugrana let go their legend that brought them back the Spanish and European glory in 2006, but the following 2 seasons were far below the limits. For them, Ronaldinho’s poor form was the reason. For the Rossoneri this was risky decision because of the player’s lack of professionalism, but his talent may rise again and then this transfer will definitely be a good move. For the player personally this is fantastic move because I hope he will never be booed at San Siro.


7. Daniel Alves from Sevilla to Barcelona (32 M €)

Dani Alves is 25 and is one of the best right wingbacks nowadays. Absolutely good signing but what I don’t fully agree is the price of the player. Sevilla got a habit to sell players to the larger clubs for boosted prices since Sergio Ramos and Baptista moved to Real Madrid and now Keita (15 M) and Alves to Barcelona. Barcelona sold Zambrotta (who was one of their best players last 2 seasons, and can play equally good on the right and left wingback position) to Milan for only 9 M Euros and that’s why I think that the price of Alves is too high. However, the time will show was this transfer profitable.


6. Hleb from Arsenal to Barcelona (15 M €)

Aliaksandr Hleb, age 27 is a Belarusian midfielder and one of the best Barcelona’s signings this summer. He was brought to Camp Nou as a replacement for Ronaldinho. I think that 15 M could be a very low price for the former Arsenal man. He is a versatile midfielder, can play upfront, and on the both sides, also high professional opposite of his predecessor in the Catalonian squad. The only thing Barcelona’s authorities should be aware of is his fragility, he missed few months on a several occasions during his time with the Gunners. We hope he’ll have a good season in Barcelona without injuries.


5. Berbatov from Tothenham to Manchester United (38 M €)

Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian forward was a long-time desire for the Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. One of the longest transfer dramas was put to its end just before the deadline of the transfer period. Tothenham officials first said that Berbatov can be sold to every other club except United, than Manchester City got involved in the pursue which was not very well accepted by the player, and in the end the 30.7 M £ offer from Manchester United closed the deal. Berbatov appeared to be happy about the move. Too much money or not, we’re about so see.


4. Deco from Barcelona to Chelsea (10 M €)

Only 10 M? That was the first reaction of Barca fans about this transfer. Unbelievably low price for the Portuguese midfielder who has just turned 31 but he is still capable of offering some fantastic displays. When Rijkard left the bench in Barcelona, more than obvious were the departures of Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o. Deco was the first to leave the Catalan club and fly up to London after the new Blues boss Scolari showed an interest in the former Porto man. His 3-year contract is worth 8 M £ (10 M €). Deco has started EPL campaign with a fantastic success on the 17 of August when Chelsea beat Portsmouth and Deco was the Man of the match. Great signing for Chelsea and a pretty big loss for Barcelona.


3. Flamini from Arsenal to Milan (free transfer)

After 4 years spent with Arsenal, Mathieu Flamini (24) decided to swap England for Italy. On 8 April the French national team player played the last match for Arsenal and few weeks later he joined A.C. Milan signing 4-year contract which will guarantee him 5.6 M € per season. Maybe his wage is little over that what he can contribute but grabbing this fantastic player with no fee is Milan’s absolutely best signing this year. For the player it is unnecessary to mention his great personal acquisition, but he is a little loss for Arsenal. Fortunately for the Gunners, they added Nasri on their squad list.


2. Nasri from Marseille to Arsenal (17 M €)

Gunners may have lost Flamini, but they secured the services of Nasri. Samir Nasri, the French wunderkind with Algerian roots is the best Arsenal’s signing this summer and maybe the best in England overall. He made his way into the French national team and he has proved himself as one of the best playmakers worldwide despite the fact that he is only 21. The Gunners boss Wenger was eager to get Nasri and after long turmoil he finally got him signing long-term contract with the North London club. Nasri made fantastic debuts in the Premier League – with a goal, and in the qualification round for the CL against FC Twente – with a goal too. His career is in front of him and the world football audience expects to see his magic on the pitch.


1. Rafael van der Vaart from Hamburg to Real Madrid (13 M €)

After failing to land C. Ronaldo, and Robinho already pushing his way out of Madrid, Los Merengues seemed to be in bad position with their summer transfer activities. While Schuster was demanding signing at least one striker and one midfield player, the board seemed to be satisfied with the current squad. But on the 4 of August a great agreement was made between Calderon and Hamburg officials for the future of the Dutch superstar Van der Vaart. Next day VDV signed a 5-year deal with The Blancos and fulfilled the Dutch colony in Real Madrid. He is only 25 and has great records behind him but also a bright future in the Spanish capital. He was delighted with the move in the team and started off the good campaign in the pre-season. He was given the number 23 – number that he has been wearing for his entire career and the previous owner of the 23 Snejder was given the respectable number 10 (after Robinho left). With such a small amount of money this transfer is considered as a transfer “robbery” and is definitely the best signing in Europe this summer.

How to win a football match

“The goal is to score a goal!”

The team who scores more goals – wins. If it is a cup competition, the winner continues in further matches and the loser is out of the competition. In a league match format, the winner takes 3 points, the loser nothing. Draw is also possible here with the two of the teams getting by one point.

So, how to beat the opponent is the subject of this post. There are few waypoints:

1. Ball possession
We all remember the glory days of the two Spanish giants and their eras of dominating the European stage. Real Madrid (1998-2002) and Barcelona (2005-06). And guess what they had in common? Yes, the ball possession.
When the team has the ball for most of the time, it is more possible to create chances for the forwards. That is why strong midfield is required.
The midfield can be organized in various ways, with 2 or 3 playmakers in the core of the midfield. The most important thing of quality midfield display is having defensive midfield with strong playmaking and passing skills and also strong shooting skill is welcomed (Cecs Fabregas, Andrea Pirlo, Steven Gerard…)
And the most important thing is mutual correlation and communication between the players.

2. Turning chances into a goal
Once the ball possession is gained, your team needs to convert the chances into goals. Having quality strikers is the best way to turn a chance into a goal. For bigger chances to score, the teams need higher frequency of shots. If you don’t take a shot, you won’t score.
Teams play with one or two forwards depending on a tactic. When playing 2 forwards, very often used tactic by the managers is one centre forward and one supporting forward. One of the most successful managers, Capello used this “hole” striker role when coaching Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma. Recognizable players on this position are Raul, Del Piero, Totti etc.
Some teams play with 3 forwards (Barcelona). But it is not possible to play with all 3 centre forwards (for example neither manager will put Van Nistelrooy, Drogba and Luca Toni together). And that’s why these teams play with one CF and 2 supporting (defensive) forwards. Barcelona’s squad during the past 3-4 seasons was always using this tactic with Eto’o as a CF and Ronaldinho and Messi as supporting forwards. The main role of these players is to connect the midfield with the attack.

3. Prevent opponents to score
Rock solid defense prevents opponent team to score. Decades ago, teams used to play man-to-man defense which requires running all over the field after the marked player. Today, most common defensive style of play is zonal marking which means that defenders have their assigned zones of the field to cover (not exact player).
The most of the teams today play with 4 defenders in a line. Defensive line is very important part of the team defense and demands high level of teamwork between those players.
Some managers use a “sweeper” – player behind the def. line who is assigned for correcting the possible mistakes by the DL.
In front of the DL there is always one or two defensive midfielders playing the role of “destructor” (Gatuso, Emerson, Makalele, Vieira etc.) and their main job is to strangle the opponent’s attack before it’s really created.
When praising the importance of DL, SW and DM positions I must declare that major importance of the team defense overall has the goalkeeper. Managers who have keepers like Casillas, Buffon of Cech between the posts can breathe easier during the match.

4. Teamwork
The best way to win the match is to have perfect teamwork of the players. We have been witnesses of F.C. Porto winning the CL in 2004 with average players but extremely high level of teamwork. The team had no such big names but Mourinho packed compatible lineup and faced the best teams in the Europe successfully.
On the other hand, see what happened with teams who had the best players all over the globe but didn’t manage so win even a title (Inter over the past 10 years; Real Madrid in the “Galactico” era and Barcelona in the past 2 seasons).

Football injuries

Recent injuries of Ronaldo and Eduardo da Silva made me thinking that injuries are the worst thing that can happen to a football player. Will they come back in the fields?
Well, Arsenal’s Eduardo’s injury was really bad and saving his left foot was doctor’s success. He will be able to walk in few months, but it’s only a question if will he play football again.
Ronaldo had bad knee injury less than 2 weeks before Eduardo. But if Eduardo (age 25) still has possibilities to continue his football career, Ronaldo’s chances are much smaller, coz he is 31.
Unfortunately, many players were forced to end active playing and many others never retrieved the form they had before. Even if the injury has been completely healed the formerly injured player feel “posttraumatic fear” that can be noticed through his performance.
But, there were situations in the past when the badly injured player recovered from the injury and came back on the pitch with brilliant appearances.
In the “Pele” era Brazil won three World Cups - “58,”62 and “70. One is missing. In the 1966 Pele got a bad blow and he missed the most important match against Hungary. Brazil lost. Many people then, thought that Pele’s career was over, but he denied them and got back on the field with the same elegancy and magic. Brazil won the WC in 1970 again with him.
Similar accident happened to Maradona – also one of the best players of all time. He singed for Barcelona in “82 but his shine was eclipsed due to an injury. He never showed the best of him and he moved in Italy to play for Napoli. He raised the club high and led them to the victory in the UEFA cup in “89. Maradona also won the WC with Argentina in “86.
Latest example of all is Ronaldo. In his early days he showed his great potential. By many, Ronaldo spent the time of his life playing for Barcelona, and then he moved to Italy. First year spent in Inter brought him a title in the UEFA cup.
In 1999 and 2000 Ronaldo went injured twice. Hard trainings resulted with knee ligament injury and he missed the season after. Later that season, Ronaldo ruptured his knee again and it was obviously the end of his career in Inter.
In the 2002 Ronaldo won the World Cup with Brazil, the record he didn’t managed to achieve in 1998. He was most influential player in the Carioca squad, also. Already transferred to Real Madrid, Ronaldo kept playing in high level. He won the FIFA Player of the year prize and he won the Spanish Primera that season, which he failed to win with Barcelona.
In 2007 Ronaldo was transferred to Milan and kept playing on high level. Unfortunately on Feb. 13 Ronaldo’s knee cracked down again. After successfully surgery, the doctors said he will be all right, but they are not sure is he going to play football again. Its bad way to finish someone’s career, especially someone’s like Ronaldo.

Nicknames of football teams and players

A lot of football teams and players around the world nave nicknames and few of them are even more known by their nicknames than their real names. For example, one of the best players of all times was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but he was wide known as Pele. “Pele” came from the wrong pronunciation of Bile’ (which meant goalkeeper those days). Actually Pele wanted to become goalkeeper in his early days and that’s why he called himself Bile’.

One of his teammates in the national team of Brazil and in the same time one of the best players in the world was Manoel dos Santos, but very, very much known as Garincha. Garincha is a small bird that lives in Brazil and Manoel used to hunt this kind of birds when he was a little boy.

So, national teams, clubs, fan clubs and players have their nicknames. Some of the team nicknames are given because of their club colors like NT of Italy – Azzurri which means Blues, France national team is also called “Les Bleus” because of their club colors, “Oranje” is the nickname of Netherlands team and Spanish national squad is called La Furia Roja (The red fury).
Often named by their club colors are some Italian teams like: A.C. Milan – Rossoneri, Inter – Neroazzurri. Juventus are called Bianconeri but also “La Vecchia Signora” which means old lady. You may ask why lady, but not gentleman. That’s because "Juventus" (Youth) is a Latin word of feminine gender and “old” because it’s one of the oldest clubs in Italy, of course. Roma are called Wolves because of the legend of Rome.
In Spain most popular club nicknames are “Los Merengues” – for Real Madrid and “Blaugrana” for Barcelona. Blaugrana in Spanish means blue and deep red color and Merengue is a delicious and very expensive dessert in Spain and only the wealthiest can afford it. In the era of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Beckham, Real Madrid was also called “Los Galacticos” because of their big names and all the fame around them. You can find somewhere “Los Blancos” which refers on Real Madrid too because of their all white uniforms. Atletico Madrid’s nickname is “Colchoneros”, name given because of their red and white stripes which reminds of the old-fashioned mattresses. Villareal is “The Yellow Submarine” coz of their yellow shirts and their mascot “Groguet” who is dressed all yellow and has submarine head. Racing Santander are “Montañeses” which means highlanders.
English clubs has their nicknames too. Manchester United is often called Red Devils for their red shirts and their city rivals Manchester City are called simply The Citizens. Arsenal nickname is Gunners and Newcastle’s nickname Magpies is about their black shirts. Tottenham Hotspur is simply called Spurs and Chelsea is called London Blues, of course, because of their all blue uniforms.
From the other popular nicknames of the famous clubs we can mention Bayern Munich who were called F.C. Hollywood in the “90s coz the club was full of stars. Monaco is sometimes called The Princes because Monaco is not a part of French republic and it’s constituted as principality.

Some famous football player’s nicknames:
Zinedine Zidane – Zizou
Paul Gascoigne – Gazza
Kevin Keegan – Mighty Mouse
Ruud Gullit – "Il Tulipo Nero" (The black tulip)
Eusebio – The Black Panther
Ferenc Puskas – The Galloping Major
Alfredo di Stefano – "La Saeta Rubia" (The Blond Arrow)
Gerd Muller – Bomber
Franz Beckenbauer – Der Kaiser
Lev Yashin - The Black Spider (a goalkeeper with fantastic anticipation)
Del Piero – Pinturicchio
Di Livio – Little Soldier
Batistuta – Bati-goal
Ruud van Nistelrooy – Ruud van Goal
Dragan Stojkovic - Piksi

So if you know any other nicknames, please put a comment with it.

Football quotes

Those guys sometimes can be very funny! Some of them said:


“We lost because we didn't win.” - Ronaldo

“I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona.” - Mark Draper

“I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier.” - Ugo Ehiogu

“I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George Ndah had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing.” - Ade Akinbiyi

“The opening ceremony was good, although I missed it.” - Graeme Le Saux

“It was like the ref had a brand new yellow card and wanted to see if it worked.” - Richard Rufus

“I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country.” - Ian Rush

"Italy cannot beat you but you can lose to Italy." - Johan Cruijff

“I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.” - Mark Viduka

"The philosophy of a lot of European teams, even in home matches, is not to give a goal away." -Sir Alex Ferguson

“The Brazilians were South America, and the Ukranians will be more European.” - Phil Neville

“Sometimes in football you have to score goals.” - Thierry Henry

“I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable.”
- Paul Gascoigne

"I think that France, Germany, Spain, Holland and England will join Brazil in the semi-finals." - Pele

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well." -Alan Shearer

"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol; it was the worst 20 minutes of my life." – George Best

“My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7.” - David Beckham

“Winning doesn't really matter as long as you win.” - Vinny Jones

“I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock.” - Barry Venison

"As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend. There was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede - it’s not fair for the football we played." – Jose Mourinho