There Is Only One Sinnacle

Liverpool’s Spanish winger Albert Riera is ready to quit Anfield for a loan move to Spartak Moscow in a bid to save his World Cup dream. Daily Star

If Jesus Navas can barely get a crack at the Spanish National team then you know Riera isn’t going to cut it.

Palermo have their sights set on a bid for Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen, with Rovers hoping to take midfielder Mark Bresciano in the other direction. The Sun

Both players haven’t done much since 2006.

Manchester City are also in talks with Grenoble over a summer switch for their France Under-21 midfielder Sofiane Feghouli, who will be out of contract at the end of the season. The Sun

Not this version of Manchester City. Can’t see “The biggest club in the world going after free transfers not named Joe Cole.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis is keen on Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara, who is currently on loan at Portsmouth. Daily Mirror

O’Hara would be the perfect player for Stoke. Tottenham would also do business for O’Hara despite Harry Redknapp saying good things about the player before ripping him for cheering on Fulham against Tottenham so he can play in the FA Cup semi final.

Former Chelsea boss Glenn Hoddle is being lined up for a dramatic return to management in place of West Ham’s Gianfranco Zola. Daily Mirror

Actually, former Man City boss Mark Hughes is the man the Upton Park club want to replace their struggling Italian gaffer. Daily Star

Zola has no chance at West Ham, despiste David Sullivan backing him in the short term. When you aren’t the owners choice you are on a short leesh. Combine that with being given very little money and Zola was always going to be facing an uphill climb.

Been repeated many times but a coach is usually only three games from being fired. In Jimenez case it was seven as yesterday draw against Xerez left them winless in the last seven games. Add to that being knocked out of the Champions League by CSKA Moscow and it’s not a shocked Sevilla sporting director Monchi decided to pull the trigger and fire Jimenez who despite having Sevilla near the Champions League spaces could not quite repeat the success previous coach Juande Ramos.

As for Luis Aragones taking over? Sevilla would be better off if he declined. While he did lead Spain to the Euro 2008 crowd, his brief time coaching Fenerbahçe leaves me doubting is Aragones is the right man to handle the week to week battle for places in La Liga.

Liverpool winger Albert Riera hopes to join a Russian club this week to boost his chances of playing for Spain at the World Cup. Russia’s transfer window is still open and the 27-year-old has been linked with Moscow clubs Spartak and CSKA. (PA)

If Liverpool gets 6 million for Riera it’s not a bad piece of business considering he wasn’t happy nor a major part of this team going forward.

French winger Franck Ribery’s long-running transfer saga has taken a new twist. The Chelsea target says he will “certainly be going to Spain” should he leave German side Bayern Munich in the summer. imscouting.com

Going to Chelsea isn’t what it use to be.

Inter Milan are set to launch a bid for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. imscouting.com

Read about this yesterday how Inter Milan have taken out insurance forms under Cesc Fabregas’s name. Just a weird story and one that is hard to believe.

Ajrjen Robben has called for Chelsea and Real Madrid target Franck Ribery to stay at Bayern Munich. imscouting.com

Robben should know full well what it’s like to play for both teams.

Chelsea are closing in on Real Madrid’s £10m-rated Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. The Sun

Too little, too late. Chelsea could of had van der Vaart for a song this summer. With Guti on his last legs and with van der Vaart’s recent performances just don’t see Real Madrid letting him go.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp insists he has no interest in signing Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, who is likely to be available on a free transfer at the end of the season. The Guardian

Makes no sense for Redknapp to play his hand right now. I’d be shocked if by July 1st he doesn’t make a call however.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is lining up a £1m bid for Notts County goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Daily Mirror

Felt sorry for Kasper Schmeichel these last three years. He signs a new contract with Manchester City then is placed on the bench or loaned out these last two years. He signs with Notts County believing in the Sven revolution only for that to fall apart.

Gunners midfielder Andrey Arshavin has claimed the north Londoners will not win the title because they do not have enough “real stars”. Various

If I’m Arsenal I’d be worried everytime Arshavin gets near a microphone.

Everton manager David Moyes believes Manchester City’s megabucks stars have no genuine feeling for their club. Daily Star

Nice little shot there by David Moyes.

Carlo Ancelotti believes he will “definitely” still be Chelsea manager next season. (La Stampa)

Or Ancelotti has 21 days to rescue Chelsea’s season and his job or he will be shown the door.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Seriously, how is any of this Carlo Ancelotti fault? There are many differences between Italy and England. The food, the weather, the women, the use of hands to express themselves etc. One of the other differences is if Paolo Maldini was fooling around with Gianluca Zambrotta wife, there is a good chance it wouldn’t be reported by the Italian press. How is a coach suppose to deal with such a one off as the ugly John Terry-Wayne Bridge mess. Someone should go to Terry and tell him if Chelsea doesn’t win anything this year it’s on him.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s injury problems have worsened, with the news that Branislav Ivanovic has been ruled out for a month, leaving the club without their first (Jose Bosingwa) and second-choice right-backs. Daily Mail

These injures don’t help matters either.

Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon will be put up for sale this summer, with rivals Manchester United and Manchester City set to compete for his signature. TuttoSport (Italian)

Buffon will always be a Juventus legend but maybe he is curious about playing in another league.

Atletico Madrid have rejected Manchester United’s approaches for 19-year-old Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea and refused to negotiate with the Premier League side. imscouting

Money aisde, David De Gea is better off at Atletico Madrid. He will play for Atletico Madrid where as I have a hard time believing Sir Alex Ferguson will end up trusting a 20 year old goalie come the big matches.

Chelsea and Manchester City have been alerted after Valencia decided they will sell Spanish international striker David Villa this summer, with the price likely to be about £40m. The Sun

Meanwhile, Manchester United could move for Villa’s Valencia team-mate David Silva, with the attacking midfielder likely to fetch around £20m. The Sun

I’ll believe it when it happens. Every summer it’s the same old.

Inter Milan’s Brazilian full-back Maicon, 28, is being lined up for a move to Real Madrid in the summer – although Manchester City could still be an option for the defender. imscouting

Not even Robinho would choose Manchester City over Real Madrid going forward.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has lined up a deal to sell Albert Riera to Spartak Moscow. It follows the midfielder’s outburst in which he described the Anfield club as “a sinking ship”. Daily Mail

You know Albert Riera really wants to leave when he is more than willing to play in Russia. Not exactly a hot bed for Spanish players. Riera agent should of said, “Listen you aren’t going to make the Spanish World Cup team anyway, wait until the summer. Most likely Rafa will be gone by then and you’ll have a clean slate with a new coach.

Everton are planning a £650,000 summer swoop for Portugal Under-20 striker Joao Silva, who plays for Desportivo das Aves and is the top scorer in his country’s second division. Daily Mail

Talk about a text book Portuguese name. This would be like Everton signing an English Under 20 striker named Joe Smith.

The balance of power in Portuguese football has officially changed. In the Taca Da Liga (League Cup) finals Benfica out classed a Porto team who were for so long the team to beat in Portugal. Porto will rise again, it’s very much a transition year for them but for now the great Rui Costa and coach Jorge Jesus have this Benfica team on a roll. Bring on Liverpool.

B.T.W Yes, I know that first goal is one of the weakest goal you can ever see.

Mario Balotelli must drive Mourinho nuts. Here you have a player, very talented but very dumb. For Mourinho to trust a player he needs to display an intellect out on the pitch. Despite Balotelli talents there is a reason more often than not when it comes to the big games, Balotelli finds himself on the bench. Him wearing an A.C Milan on an Italian TV show isn’t going to help matters either.

(You just need to see from the 2:30 mark and more importantly the end.)

What a stunning place is the first thing I think of when looking at the new Red Bull Arena. As I love Red Bull it makes me sleep better at night knowing part of the 200 million this stadium cost came out of my pocket. Truthfully I never would of ever dreamt of the day when such money would be paid to a soccer stadium in North America. It’s do or die time for football in New York now. No more excuses. They have a first class soccer stadium, natural rivalries with Philadelphia and New England. Now with such a beautiful stadium hopefully they can attact a big name European player to keep the momentum going on the field.

BMO Field in Toronto, the fans make it what it is. Aside from that it’s pretty much a cookie cutter arena which should be better now that it has natural grass. Red Bull Arena however so stunning that I’m going to make it out there for a game sometime during the year.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney raised concerns over his fitness as he limped away from Old Trafford after his side’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool. Daily Mail

Limping is a couple of weeks even if he was injured. It’s when Rooney is carried off by medical staff is when you need to be concerned.

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has told Dutch television he is now “medically fit” and will return to training this week following his long injury lay-off. IMScouting

Who knows how long it will take Robin van Persie to get in game shape but this is great news for Arsenal as it looks like it will end up being a two horse race between them and Manchester United.

Midfielder Joe Cole, 28, will be the first victim of a “purge of older players” at Chelsea now that their Champions League dream has ended for another season. The Times

More like a styles clash. Wide players have never really been Carlo Ancelotti thing. Ancelotti like Mourinho before him prefer to go through the middle of the pitch.

Roma and Celtic are lining up to swoop for Portsmouth full-back Nadi Belhadj, thought to be available for £2m. (Full story: Daily Mail)

Either club would be wise to make this signing before the World Cup. Belhadj like many of these Portsmouth players deserve credit for trying their best in the most trying of times.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has hit out at England boss Fabio Capello for not looking to keeper Chris Kirkland. Daily Mail

Doing so isn’t going to help Kirkland cause. Besides everytime Kirkland as been given a crack at the National team bad luck finds him and gets hurt soon after.

Just going to touch on a bunch of random stuff dealing with the site today.

It’s been two years since my first post appeared on this site. So much happen in football during the last two years. From Manchester United beating Chelsea on penalties to win the Champions League. Torres scoring for Spain and winning the European Championship in the process. So many coaching changes my head spins thinking about it. Barcelona epic season last year. Real Madrid and Barcelona making huge moves in the transfer market etc.

The last couple of months been quite busy trying to make some other things happen. Basically I know I’ve been slacking but right now I only have so many hours in the day. It’s weird, a couple of days ago I finally checked on my web stats and fully expected it to drop like a rock. To my dismay it hasn’t, it actually has gone up. Thank you John Terry you cheater for the SEO love and my Manchester United coming to Toronto post which still hasn’t happen yet…..but will. Most of all thank you for still visiting.

Sorry if I’ve disappointed anyone with the lack of posts recently, if you can bare with me for another month everything will be back to normal heading into the Champions League final and going strong into the World Cup.

Ahhh…..what could of been. Mourinho back in the day when he was coach of Benfica for a brief time.

I still have a bounce in my step after seeing Inter advancing in the Champions League. While Retro to most of you as this never appeared on this site, someone wrote an opinion (which he is entitled too) that Mourinho was over rated a couple of weeks ago. This was my reply

He won everything at Porto. Turned cast offs into European players of the year and players Porto would make huge profits on. He has already proven he can win on a shoestring budget.

Look at Frank Rijkaard, do you think he is going to win a Champions League anytime soon at Galatasaray as an example? It takes someone truly special in this era to win a Champions League with a club not playing in an elite league.

The fact he has already done this makes him better than 90% of the managers out there.

The whole let’s discount what he did at Chelsea thing cause of all the money they have behind them is also foolish. How many teams spend major money only to end up failing? Mark Hughes was given all the money in the world and couldn’t hack it. It’s one thing having money, it’s another turning a group of men into a group of winners. Let’s face it, Chelsea were a group of professional losers out there. Yeah they were a good team but you always knew in a big game they would come up short pre-Mourinho. They had no real history. He gave them that swagger and the believe no club is better than them. In his first year in England, in a new league, in a new country he changed the rules of the game and made Arsenal play catch up (which they are still doing) and Manchester United (who too there credit, did.)

You can even make the case Mourinho is partly responsible for the explosion of the EPL. Every good story needs a bad guy and he plays the bad guy role to a tee. Combine that with a certain charisma and it made him the perfect lightning rod during his time in England. His arrival came at a perfect time when some people were starting to get tired of Manchester United and Arsenal flip flopping league titles with Liverpool, well being Liverpool. I’m not here to pour anymore salt on the wound.

At Inter, the team already won successive league titles when he arrived. line is also laughable. One of the successive league titles was given to them on paper thanks to Juventus cheating. The second league title was won with Juventus in Serie B and A.C Milan docked points to start the season. Then the last title Inter almost threw away as they had a double digit lead at x-mas only to win it on the final game of the season with a victory against Parma. Besides Mancini sealed his faith wanting to quit after the Liverpool defeat in the Champions League.

Again, new team, new country. No excuses, no “three year plan, or it’s going to take time.” Mourinho is all about winning now and as a fan you respect it. His team’s will always be tough to beat, another sign of a great coach.

Inter isn’t tired of his act. Massimo Moratti loves his act. Inter were another club who were known as professional losers. Again another example of a club who spent a lot of money at the turn of the last decade with little to show for it. Now Mourinho comes there and turns Inter into the top club in Italy. Again Mourinho sets the bar right now for A.C Milan and Juventus to try an jump over when in year’s past it’s always been the reserve.

Mourinho also likes to mess with people’s heads. Any talk about Liverpool is just to mess with Rafa Benitez since the two are unlikely on each others x-mas card list. Why would Mourinho no matter who owns Liverpool want to go there considering he still has a job to do at Inter, plus if he really wanted to leave he could of sought out the Real Madrid job again last summer. Going to Spain has also been on of Mourinho goals. He throws out the return to England but the English press love hearing it.

I’m not going to say Mourinho is the best coach in the world as these things are subjective but I can say with his resume they is no club in the world who wouldn’t consider themselves lucky to have him if a coaching job were to open up.

Every top club has black marks, no coach is perfect, well unless your name is Pep Guardiola but he doesn’t have to deal with the “oh your a great coach because Barcelona spends a lot.”

You can point out Wenger has never won a European title or S.A.F in close to 25 years at a major club like Manchester United has only won two as examples. Both are still great coaches. I can understand why people don’t like Mourinho, he is easy to dislike but I don’t care if he has devil horns there is no denying he is one of the world’s best coaches.