There Is Only One Sinnacle

[picappgallerysingle id="10315877"]

For the last 36 hours being reading countless articles by American and British journalist/bid organizers over how flawed the World Cup bidding process is. BBC aside now these journalist have figured out what the common soccer fan has known all along or simply a case of these jouranlist/bid organizers who were more than happy to get into bed with a snake now expressing outage when the snake bites them.

My favorite part of the World Cup bidding process is people being mad at the BBC for exposing how corrupt the power brokers of Fifa are. How dare the BBC shine light on dirty deeds when a World Cup bid is at stake. Not one group tried to suggest anything was even slightly wrong in the World Cup bidding process when everyone else could see that there was. This is why I feel little pity for the England or United States bid as both were quite happy to play Fifa’s game right til the end. I can’t feel sorry for you when Fifa does what it always does and goes after the money before anything else.

In the end this will blow over like everything else cause before justice people love football first and foremost and Fifa controls that with an iron grip. A lot of noise will be made, maybe Fifa will set up some “special task force” on the subject but when it comes to the next round of World Cup bidding 8 years or so from now it will be business as usual with the World Cup going to the country who can lining Fifa’s pockets the most.

Unless you are living under a rock these last 24 hours you all know that a bid from New England Sports Ventures (the people behind the Boston Red Sox’s) was accepted much to the delight of Liverpool fans and much to the disgust of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Despite what is out there in the press right now not all the moves have been made. The only thing that is certain is there will be a bunch of lawyers who will paid very well in the coming weeks and months as this offer basically leaves Hicks and Gillett out in the cold.

What I also know is that business schools should use this as an example of how to run a club into the ground from a business point of view. Being greedy is common in business, being stubborn is a fault. Of course few could predict the recession at the time Hicks and Gillett brought the club but the very second they couldn’t come up with the money to build a new stadium they should of sold it and walked away with some profit instead of nothing. Once the American duo couldn’t build a new stadium red flag were raised. Coupled with Gillett having to sell the Montreal Canadiens and Hick’s Texas Rangers going into bankruptcy and there was blood in the water. Any smart business person was going to sit back and wait for the bank to take it over and cut Hicks and Gillett out of the picture by dealing directly with the bank.

My last point I wanted to make is are there any rich English people? Why are crown jewels of English football always being sold to foreign ownership groups?

I’m not going to get into a big long rant on Canadian TV since most of you are not Canadians. For the Canadians who do read this I’m not going to go on about how Rogers Sportsnet One is one of the worst launches in TV history. If you are a Toronto Blue Jays fan you already know the feeling of having games you use to get for free put on a station which few get and when you do get you will need to soon pay extra for it.

Last year Rogers Sportsnet had a good little thing going on. They have two Champions League games spread out of there four regional channels (they should of had four different games on those four channels but two wasn’t bad.) and an extra game on Setanta sports. Three games out of the eight played in the Champions League group stage is pretty good. At the very least you get two games if you don’t want to shell out for Setanta.

This year Rogers Sportnet decided sell a piece on their Champions League rights to TSN and TSN2. The only thing that bugged me about this move is during the TSN promos for Champions League soccer they for some reason included Manchester City. What does bug me is how Rogers Sportnet only shows one Champions League match on there four regional channels and the second one is now on Rogers Sportnets One which no one gets. I meam come on, that is like stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Would it of been so hard to keep the two Champions League games on Rogers Sportnet and add a 3rd one to Sportsnet One, add that to Setanta and you get four games. Not too bad, but of course Rogers is the king of making you pay more for things you use to get cheaper.

I can’t blame A.C Milan for going out there and getting Robinho on the cheap even when they didn’t need him. A talent like his is hard to pass up even if it throws everything out of whack up front. If I’m Massimiliano Allegri the only way I can see a four man attacking front working is to follow what Mourinho did last weekend with Real Madrid when he played Gonzalo Higuaín up front with Mesut Özil in behind him then Ronaldo and Karim Benzema out wide. Something like that could work for A.C Milan with Ibrahimović up front Ronaldinho playing just behind him and Robinho and Pato out wide. The main sticking point would be does moving Pato out wide chop him off at the knees?

Even if Allegri decides to only play three at a time this could be the first time since the 2006 World Cup Ronaldinho will be motivated by football. Robinho is first choice on the Brazilian team where as Ronaldinho doesn’t even get a call. If I was Ronalddinho I’d be wanting to put the boots on Robinho to keep him on the bench that way the calls will get even louder for Ronaldinho to make his return to the Brazilian national team. After all it’s hard to not call up a player who is playing ahead of your first choice attacking midfielder in Robinho?

Try as they might to sign Jurgen Klinsmann the United States Soccer Federation have decided to extend Bob Bradley’s contract for another four years much to the disappointment of some U.S fans.

I’ve always been on the fence when it comes to Bob Bradley but for the most part I lean to giving him the axe. What I can say about this contract is just because Bradley was given a four year deal doesn’t mean he is going to be the coach at the next World Cup.

Four year’s is a long time for a coach to sit around and really do nothing. The Gold Cup means little and sure you can’t take anything for granted but the United States has one of the easiest roads to the World Cup. Not exactly appealing for a coach like Jurgen Klinsmann. Til then Bob Bradley can keep the seat warm for the next couple of years and if the United States have a slip up close to World Cup time I have no doubt the U.S.S.F will axe Bob Bradley for some high profile coach.

Sorry about starting this off with Jose Mourinho but it always seems like whatever team he coaches they are the second seed in the Champions League draw. Be it having to face Real Madrid when Porto won the Champions League, or facing Barcelona twice with both Chelsea and Inter Milan. It’s never easy for the Special One when it comes to the Champions League draw.

Group A: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, FC Twente

Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv

Group C: Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor.

Group D: FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan

Group E: Bayern Munich, AS Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj

Group F: Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina

Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Group H: Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, FK Partisan

It almost seemed like yesterday the World Cup was wrapping up but after today’s draw you can feel the upcoming season fast approaching. No stand out games like the Arsenal-Celtic pairing of last year with Werder Bremen vs Sampdoria being one of the more interesting games. This suits Tottenham just fair as they take on Swiss side Young Boys in the final step to gain entry into the Champions League. On a personal note while anything can happen Braga is up against it facing Sevilla. We all know the recent luck between Portuguese and Spanish sides.

Young Boys (SUI) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Sporting Braga (POR) v Sevilla (ESP)
Werder Bremen (GER) v Sampdoria (ITA)
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v Auxerre (FRA)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) v Ajax (NED)
Partizan Belgrade (SRB) v Anderlecht (BEL)

These final four pairings should be dancing a jig considering who they could of faced.

Salzburg (AUT) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Rosenborg (NOR) v Copenhagen (DEN)
Basel (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA)
Sparta Prague (CZE) v MSK Zilina (SVK)

The Europa League draw will see Aston Villa go up against Rapid Vienna for the second straight year. Hopefully Martin O’Neill starts to see some value in the Europa League and learn from last years failings.

Paris St Germain (France) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Tavria Simferopol (Ukraine)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) v Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)
Hajduk Split (Croatia) v Unirea Urziceni (Romania)
Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Ghent (Belgium)
Racing Genk (Belgium) v Porto (Portugal)
Debrecen (Hungary) v Litex Lovech (Bulgaria)
Aris Saloniki (Greece) v Austria Vienna (Austria)
Galatasaray (Turkey) v Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine)
Palermo (Italy) v Maribor (Slovenia)
Club Bruges (Belgium) v Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)
Omonia (Cyprus) v Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Vaslui (Romania) v Lille (France)
Napoli (Italy) v Elfsborg Boras (Sweden)
Sporting (Portugal) v Brondby (Denmark)
Grasshoppers (Switzerland) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Liverpool (England) v Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Celtic (Scotland) v Utrecht (Netherlands)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) v Garabagh Agdam (Azerbaijan)
AIK Stockholm (Sweden) v Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
Sturm Graz (Austria) v Juventus (Italy)
Getafe (Spain) v APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus)
Dundee United (Scotland) v AEK Athens (Greece)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) v FK Atyrau (Kazakhstan)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) v Lech Poznan (Poland)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) v Aston Villa (England)
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) v TNS (Wales)
Besiktas (Turkey) v HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia) v PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Maritimo (Portugal)
Luzern (Switzerland) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Gyor ETO (Hungary) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
OB Odense (Denmark) v Motherwell (Scotland)
PAOK Salonika (Greece) v Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Villarreal (Spain) v Dnepr Mogilev (Belarus)
FC Timisoara (Romania) v Manchester City (England)

If the United States weren’t playing Brazil couldn’t see how the players from the World Cup team could be excited about the match. Thankfully for the United States fans who will pack Meadowlands Stadium this roster should be geared up to avenge their loss against a much different Brazil side in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS (3): Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

MLS can no longer claim to be undefeated against European clubs at the All Star Game. I’ll say one thing about MLS at least their all star game is interesting unlike NBA, NHL and NFL as you know the MLS players are geared up to play in this game and while it may not be a Champions League final the Manchester United players didn’t treat it as just a friendly.

Manchester United set the tone from the start on an awful back pass gifted Federico Macheda a goal within 23 seconds of the game. From there Manchester United showed lovely bits of skills with Darren Gibson free kick goal, Tom Cleverley beautiful individual effort and to the delight the 70,000 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium new signing Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez scored on a lovely chip to cap the night for Manchester United.

While the game wasn’t close, it was entertaining and local Houston Dynamo had something to cheer for with Brian Ching and former Houston Dynamo Dewayne Rosario scoring for MLS.

Out with the old and in with the new as new Brazilian coach Mano Menezes looks to test out the next generation of Brazil footballers ahead of their friendly against the United States on Aug 10th.

List of players, in alphabetical order:

Alexandre Pato – Milan
André – Santos
André Santos – Fenerbahçe
Carlos Eduardo – Hoffenhein
Daniel Alves – Barcelona
David Luís – Benfica
Diego Tardelli – Atlético Mineiro
Ederson – Lyon
Paulo Henrique Ganso – Santos
Henrique – Racing Santander
Hernanes – São Paulo
Jeferson – Botafogo
Jucilei – Corinthians
Lucas – Liverpool
Marcelo – Real Madrid
Neymar – Santos
Rafael – Manchester United
Ramires – Benfica
Renan – Avaí
Rever – Atlético Mineiro
Robinho – Santos
Sandro – Internacional
Thiago Silva – Milan
Victor – Grêmio