Mes: agosto 2022

Of all the ‘Big 4’ clubs, the season ahead should be most interesting for Chelsea. After all, they’ve got a new coach in Big Phil Scholari and it looks like they will also have a new-look squad as well. But can Roman’s Blue Army continue to compete at the very top?

As I write this article, no major names have exited Stamford Bridge but the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba might well end up somewhere else come the start of the season which would be a tremendous blow to Chelsea. These two players have been central to their success over recent seasons and keeping them would represent more of a coup than bringing in any of the global superstars Chelsea have been linked with. The reason is that they’re already tried and tested in the squad and in the Premiership and you know that they will do the business over the course of a season.

Last season saw some notable flops at Chelsea, most notably Florent Malouda who came in from Lyon and never really hit the heights that were expected of him. If you consider he was supposed to be a replacement for Arjen Robben, then it further highlights how disappointing Malouda actually was. A big plus for Chelsea though was the emergeance of Micheal Ballack as a true Premiership star. His first season was a let down with so many fans expecting big things from the German skipper, but particularly towards the end of last season he showed himself to be one of the top players in the league. If Chelsea can get a good season out of him, then it will make all the difference to their success.

Who do Chelsea need to bring in? Well, if they lose Drogba then they certainly need a forward to lead the line. It is possible that Chelsea could revert to a 4-4-2 system for the first time in many years if Big Phil does play the kind of attacking football we expect him to. If this is the case then two big name forwards might well be required depending on whether Anelka is up to the job. Deco is a name that has been heavily linked to Chelsea and his arrival would be a great coup for both Chelsea and the Premiership.

As much as I can see Chelsea football shirts regaining the gold Premiership badge by making the right signings and landing on their feet this year, I can also invisage them getting it totally wrong and slipping down the Premiership pecking order. If I had to make a prediction, I’d say they’ll finish third or fourth in the Premiership, but make a big impact on the European stage. However, I’m fully prepared to be wrong on this one.

Camisetas Atletico Madrid Entérate de las últimas noticias del fútbol español y europeo. Con las principales novedades de la Liga y la Champions League.

One of the ironies of Samuel Eto’o playing for FC Barcelona is that he originally joined arch-rivals Real Madrid, who immediately put him out on loan; first to second division CD Leganes; then to first division Espanyol after playing just one league match for Madrid; and finally to Mallorca. He did so well at the latter club that they signed him for a club record and became the highest scorer in the history of the club with a total of 54 goals between 2000 and 2004.

The Cameroon striker signed to FC Barcelona after a series of negotiations between Barcelona, Mallorca and Real Madrid who had retained an option on him. On one hand Madrid didn’t require him in the team as they already had two strikers in the form of Ronaldo and Raul; on the other hand they didn’t want him to play for Barcelona, a club that was looking for a quality striker to cement the attack after they were unable to come to an agreement with midfielder Edgar Davids, who had spent the second half of the 2003-2004 season on loan to the Catalan club.

With Eto’o in place as striker and Ronaldinho as attacking mid-fielder, Samuel Eto’o quickly proved to be good value for money and scored a total of 24 league goals in the 2004-2005 season. Although he helped FC Barcelona to take the league title, he narrowly missed the title of top goal scorer in La Liga.

However, at the celebrations that followed at the Nou Camp he gave speech in which he openly criticised Real Madrid, apparently venting the bitterness he felt for being passed over by the club in favour of being put on loan. He later had to retract his statement and issue an apology.

The following year Samuel Eto’o was able to improve of his league score and with a total of 26 goals he narrowly took the «Pichichi» crown, just one goal ahead of David Villa from Valencia. His strong performance on the pitch saw him also score six Champions League goals, helping to propel Barcelona all the way to the final against Arsenal. He was strongly implicated in the result as first the Arsenal goalkeeper was sent off for a foul against Eto’o in the first 20 minutes; failing to capitalise on the one man advantage, Eto’o equalised in the 76th minute from a pass from Larsson and Belletti scored the winning goal a few minutes after.

On the basis of a strong season Samuel Eto’o was awarded the title of UEFA Champion’s League Best Forward as well as Best African Player for the third year running.

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The football transfer market came to live once again this week with Spanish giants Barca announcing the capture of Arsenal’s Midfielder Alexander Hleb and the release of Brazilian Ronaldinho to Ac Milan of Italy.

The Release of Ronaldinho is interesting because of the simple fact that his transfer means the end of an era at fc Barca and most importantly it makes the return to football of one of the greatest talents and personality in the game after a long time out due to injury, thirdly it leaves my dearest club ( yes I am a gunner fan ) Arsenal and we the fans wondering whats going on with our dear club , fourthly it ends Ac Milan’s interest in Arsenal’s Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor and also leaves Manchester City Fc ruing their miss after a long and interesting struggle for the signature of ever smiling Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho by Ac Milan despite the fact that he has not seen action for a very long time due to injury confirms the fact that he is one of the best players to have ever played the game of football.

Ronaldinho 28, still look very young and on his way to greatness in the game of football ( Americans call it soccer ). Barcelona spotted and signed the then 23 year old from French giants PSG five years back. He was supposedly the number 2 to David Beckham before the Briton decided to join Barca’s Arch rivals Real Madrid.

He joined Barca at a time when things was tough as they have just managed to qualify for the Uefa cup after finished 6 in the La Liga that year. He joined new coach Frank Rijkaard in the job of the transformation of the clubs dwinding fortunes.

Of course he succeeded in his mission as Barca finished second place behind Real Madrid the following season and went on to win back to back titles and the Uefa champions League beating Arsenal in the final a year after.

His feat did not go unnoticed as he was courted by Real Madrid and Fifa could also not ignore his brilliance as he was name the FIFA world footballer of the year.

But ever since things have gone from good to bad and from bad to worst for the Brazilian but now he has a great chance to start a revival of sort with Ac Milan.

As for Dear Arsenal, the news of the departure of Alexander Hleb adds to the growing list of the departees after Ac Milan had earlier stolen Mathieu Flamini right under our nose and the departure of Brazilian Gilberto Silva to Greece .

Although Hleb’s transfer to Barca does not seem to surprise any one as it is very obvious but whats a surprise is why does the players who almost won the league for Arsenal in a breath taking way suddenly hate the club. It doesn’t even end there as it is very possible that Emmanuel Adebayor may be also on his way out of the Emirates as he has declared his intention to join some other clubs if Arsenal can not agree to his ridiculous and selfish demands although one wonders if Milan who are the clear favorites to sign the Togolese will still be interested after the capture of Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho leaves Adebayor hoping Barca will regnite their interest in him. But Unfortunately media reports has it that Barca have decide to abandon their pursuit of the Togolese preferring to sign Tottenham hotspur’s Dimitav Berbatov instead. Barca’s interest in Berbatov will sure be a thing of concern for Manchester United’s Manager Sir Alex as he was also hoping to add the tall striker to his striking force.

With Gilberto also gone and Adebayor one leg in one leg out, it does confirms Arsene Wenger’s concern earlier in the summer when he said his greatest concern was not to buy new players but to keep the ones he already has. It does also looks as though as he is losing the battle to keep his players as the players seem to look elsewhere for other challenges in their careers.

As for Manchester City FC and their new Manager Mark Hughes who were hoping to lure Ronaldinho to the eastland stadium are now shocked to know Ronladinho prefers to sign for Milan for a reason that is very obvious- Champions League football. Even though Milan will not be contesting in the Champions League this term but then they have a greater chance to qualify in the future than does Manchester City who can only struggle and hope for Uefa cup appearance.

Now that Ronaldinho has signed for Ac Milan, it will be interesting to know who Manchester City and their ever ambitious manager Mark Hughes will be signing with the £25 million that was rejected by Ronaldinho and Barca.

The transfer of Hleb and Ronaldinho to Barca and Ac Milan respectively could lead to a large scale moment of players from one club to another as it looks as though Milan and Barca mean business after the bad season the last time out. Hleb’s transfer leaves Arsene Wenger with the headache of looking for a replacement for Hleb even though he has got Nasri and as for Manchester City it will be difficult to attract the kind of players who will get them breaking into the big four in the English Premiership in the coming season though they are ambitious but I still do not believe they will be attractive enough to get players of the capacity of Ronaldinho at least not for this season.

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It came without warning. Many football analysts and supporters were totally taken by surprise. But by the time the matches were rounded up, some of the big teams in this year’s competition had been kicked out unexpectedly.

Real Madrid FC, Barcelona FC and Arsenal FC, clubs that are football giants in Europe had all lost out to teams that they were expected to beat.

When the champion’s league knockout stage draw paired Barcelona and Liverpool together, all expected an easy ride for the former. After all, they were the reigning champions, and were one of the top teams in Europe on current form.

But a two to one loss right on their home soil meant that they had to win by two unreplied goals in the return leg at Liverpool.

They could only manage to score a lone goal, however and that meant that they lost out on the away goals rule.

The Barcelona fans and many other football followers worldwide were stunned by this result.

Many had expected the Barca team to at least reach the finals of this season’s competition. They were one of the best teams around and had given very good displays all year round. Alas, however, they had lost to a smaller club by comparison.

Although Liverpool were the European champions in 2005, no one had expected them to cause a major upset by beating Barcelona, at least on paper.

After the match, some analysts attributed the shock defeat to the recent turmoil in the team. The scorer of the lone goal at Anfield, Eidur Gudjohnssen in a press interview after the match made comments that seemed to corroborate the fact that all was not well with the team, as was being widely speculated.

Now, the Barca team can only realistically hope to aim for the Spanish league title and the King’s cup.

They still have a good shot at winning, as they are still on top of the la liga, ahead of second placed Sevilla on goals difference.

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Eidur Gudjohnsen, of course, is the answer to a well-known quiz question.   Who was the first player to come on as a substitute for his own father in an international football match?   What might be even more amazing is that it could happen again in a few years – Eidur’s son was one of the star players in the annual televised schoolboys tournament in the summer of 2008, captaining the Barcelona team.

Born in Reykjavik in 1978, Eidur Gudjohnsen was clearly always going to be a footballer and made his debut in the Icelandic League when he was only 16 years of age.   After just 17 games for his club Valur, the player had done enough to earn a transfer to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.   During his 2 seasons in Holland, however, Eidur suffered numerous injuries and was only able to complete 13 games before being transferred back to Iceland – to KR Reykjavik.

Barely had he signed, though, before he was off on his travels again – this time to England and, after a short trial, to Bolton Wanderers.   It was his success here, mainly as a bustling and determined centre forward, that brought a move to Chelsea, where he was to stay for 6 seasons. During this spell at Stamford Bridge, Gudjohnsen made a total of 268 first team appearances, scoring 78 goals.

Although originally a centre forward, Eidur always demonstrated what pundits insisted on calling ‘a surprisingly good touch for a big man’. Technically gifted, with very quick feet and, crucially, a nimble brain, the Chelsea fans warmed to the big Icelander because of his remarkable versatility.   Able to play up front, in midfield, or even on the wings, Eidur was part of the developing Chelsea team that won the league in 2005 and 2006 and the Carling Cup in 2005.

Many people were surprised when Eidur signed for Barcelona in the summer of 2006, especially when it appeared he was being seen as a direct replacement for the huge fans’ favourite, Henrik Larsen.   Initially played as a striker, he certainly had problems winning over the Barça faithful and, in his first season, a return of just 5 goals in 25 league games led to questions being asked about the player’s suitability for La Liga.

One thing that Eidur Gudjohnsen has always been, though, is determined and that played a big part in his ability to turn the difficult situation around.   By being used more in midfield, the player demonstrated his adaptability and consequently, in both 2006/07 and 2007/08, he became an important member of the squad.   Able to play in a variety of positions, and always liable to come up with a goal, Eidur Gudjohnsen is now an established Barcelona player and one whom the fans now trust totally.

Iceland’s record goal scorer, and with over 50 international caps already, and captain of the national team, Gudjohnsen has been Icelandic Player of the year three times.   It is a good bet that he will try to keep his place in the national squad until he’s able to play in the same team as his son. Now that would be a good quiz question.

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