La Furia Roja Call Ups Announced

Spanish National Squad Announced:

 

Del Bosque announced his first squad that will face Denmark in a friendly on August 20th. No Raul and no Guti. First time call ups Fernando Amorebieta, Central Defender from Athletic Bilbao, Andoni Iraola, an attacking Right Back or Right Midfielder, also from Athletic Bilbao, Diego Capel, Left Winger from Sevilla and Bojan Krkic, el Crack from Barçelona. Cesc, and Marchena were not called up due to injury. Arbeloa, Sergio Garcia and Palop were are also missing. But for the most part the Euro 2008 squad is in tact. If it ain’t broke….

 

Here’s the complete list…

 

Goalkeepers: Reina (Liverpool), Casillas (Real Madrid);

Defenders: Amorebieta and Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Puyol (Barcelona), Juanito (Betis), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Fernando Navarro (Sevilla), Raúl Albiol (Valencia), Capdevila (Villarreal);

Midfielders: Iniesta and Xavi (Barcelona), De la Red (Getafe), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Diego Capel (Sevilla), David Silva (Valencia), Cazorla and Marcos Senna (Villarreal);

Forwards: Bojan Krkic (Barcelona), Güiza (Fenerbahçe), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia).

 

U-21 Call ups:

 

The U-21’s will be playing a very important European qualifier against Russia in Moscow on August 19th. Here is the list of the full La Furia Rojillo squad:

 

Goalkeepers: Fabri (Deportivo), Sergio Asenjo (Valladolid);

Defenders: Piqué (Barcelona), Torrejón (Espanyol), Monreal (Osasuna), Miguel Torres (Real Madrid), Crespo (Sevilla);

Midfielders: Javi Martínez and Susaeta (Athletic Bilbao), Raúl García (Atlético Madrid), Granero (Getafe), Jurado (Mallorca), Javi García (Real Madrid), Sisi (Valladolid);

Forwards: Xisco (Deportivo), José María Callejón (Espanyol), Jonathan Pereira (Racing Santander), Mata (Valencia).

 

U-19 call ups:

 

Not to be left out, the U-19 will be playing this month in a friendly tournament in Ireland along with Ukraine and Portugal. Here’s the 18 man squad and schedule:

 

Albacete: Jaime Romero

Athletic Bilbao: Isma López

Atlético Madrid: Sergio Rodríguez, Pichu Atienza

Barcelona: Iago Falqué

Celta: Joselu Sanmartín

Deportivo: David Rochela

Mallorca: Sergio Enrich

Rayo Vallecano: Jorge Sáez

Real Sociedad: Alberto Morgado

Sevilla: José Antonio Ríos, Salvador González

Valencia: Fernando Martínez

Valladolid: Carlos Lázaro

Villarreal: Diego Mariño, Mario Gaspar Pérez, Miguel Angel Luque, Jordi Pablo.

 

Fixtures will be as follows:

18/08: Spain v Ukraine (Lissywoollen);

19/08: Portugal v Spain (Leah Victoria Park);

21/08: Eire v Spain (Lissywoollen).

 

How deep is Spain? VERY deep! Aupa España!

Mad for It

Those longtime readers of the blog will recognize this theme. I used to have a Summer Book series to tie me over until the season started. The summer hits, there’s no football on the air and the nights get hotter and hotter, reading about Bill Shankly or Herbert Chapman kept me sane. That would go one until suddenly the temperature at night starts to drop, a slight chill hits and you know that football is almost there. Well, it almost is: August is like Christmas to me.

 

I realize this book review is a little late in the Summer to really appreciate as an intro, but I stumbled upon it and I highly recommend it. The book as you see by the cover above is by Andy Mitten, who has written loads of Manchester United propaganda, I mean fan appreciation material, but this is as even handed as it comes. The book is called Mad for It: from Blackpool to Barcelona Football’s Greatest Rivalries and it was written for Four Four Two Magazine and it features some of the more intense rivalries in World Football.

 

The big ones are all there: Liverpool v ManU, Boca v River, Milan v Inter, Rangers v Celtic, Madrid v Barca and the authors really pull them off well, but the really interesting one’s are the smaller ones like Hapoel v Maccabi in Tel Aviv, or one of the more heated rivalries in World Football in Galatasaray v Fenerbahce.

 

The chapters are short and very interesting, loaded with little details about the derbies’ history annd the major players involved. I hate to call this bathroom reading, but it really is and in a very good way. Highly recommended, hope to have him on soon.

The Olympics Affect on La Liga

The Olympics have started and will continue until the end of August, assuming that the particular national team advances all the way to the final games. The recent complaints by the big teams and in light of the recent decision by CAS in favor of the clubs, I thought I would take a look at the Olympics and the affect on La Liga.

 

Here’s the list of players:

SERBIA

 

Midfielder: Milan Smiljanic (21) (Espanyol, Spain)

ARGENTINA

 

Goalkeeper: Oscar Ustari (Getafe)

 

Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid, on loan to Racing Santander), Federico Fazio (Sevilla)

 

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Ever Banega (Valencia),

 

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona) (OR Marco Ruben, Villareal), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla).

 

 

NETHERLANDS

 

Midfielder: Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid)

NIGERIA

 

Forward: Ikechukwu Uche (Getafe)

 

UNITED STATES

 

Forward: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

BELGIUM

 

Striker: Tom De Mul (22) (Sevilla, Spain)

 

BRAZIL

 

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (23) (Almeira, Spain)

 

Defenders: Marcelo (20) (Real Madrid, Spain)

 

Strikers: Rafael Sobis (23) (Real Betis, Spain)

 

ITALY

 

Strikers: Giuseppe Rossi (21) (Villareal, Spain)

 

The latest rulings have probably ruined future Olympics, friendlies and national team tournaments. Especially in regards to European big teams. But if we look at the statistics. Here is the impact on a team by team basis, which in my opinion is not insurmountable.

 

Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Villarreal – each have allowed 3 players. In fact, should Madrid decide to call back Ezekiel Garay from Racing Santander, Real Madrid will lead with 4 players released.

 

Espanyol, Getafe, and Valencia – each have allowed 2 players to play at the Olympics.

 

Almeria, Atletico Madrid, Barçelona, Racing Santander, and Real Betis each have released 1 player to the Olympic games.

 

What these statistics demonstrate to me, is that the majority of the richer or top teams have been quite generous in releasing players to the Olympics and have not brought matters to the Spanish press. Several smaller teams have been extremely understanding IE Getafe and Espanyol, and have taken a cosmopolitan attitude toward player and national team commitment. This is a global world and it is a shame that some teams are more concerned with money, insurance and club results, rather than a once in a lifetime opportunity for their players.

Existential Damage

 

Once again, a club has been hijacked by the actions of a fan or group of fans and forced to pay, in this case 1,500 Euros to a fan in Napoli, who was “damaged” by banners in a Napol v Inter Milan match at the Guiseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan last October. The banners in question were a response to a work stoppage organized by the Camorra-run, garbage collectors who were in disagreement with landfill operators and the government, causing a build-up of refuse in the streets of Napoli. They mentioned Naples as the “sewer of Italy”, another one that called residents “cholera sufferers” and others that said, “Neapolitans have got tuberculosis”. The anonymous fan was left “indignant and deeply hurt” and sued the club for “existential damage” with the verdict coming in his favor this week despite the clubs arguing that the courts had no jjurisdiction. The club and the supporters had already been sited by the league, but the Italian courts had the ultimate say.

 

I won’t get into much of a value judgment on what was said. The banners were pretty idiotic and petty. It’s typical of the usual North/South animosities that have been in place and certainly not the first salvo in such a highly charged rivalry; one that has decades of history between the two clubs and the two groups of supporters. I also won’t go into the legalities, as the details of Italian law and how it differs from U.S. law is ultimately beyond me, and other countries do have different definitions of personal freedom, but in my opinion, “what sort of damage exactly was done?” Was this an isolated incident? Was this any different from the scores of other times that Northern fans have reaped scorn at Southerners in the past? Lastly, will it ultimately correct the behavior in question?

 

I don’t think so really. I’m all for correcting past wrongs and solving this ethnic problem but this is not the

time nor the case to do that with. This smacks of one opportunistic fan sticking it to the establishment and while I usually side with guys like him in these cases, I just can’t get by the fact that he was left with “existential damages” from reading a series of banners.

The Sorting Hat – UEFA Style

Well the UEFA draw for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round and the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round. Confused yet?

 

Participants in the CL 3rd Round in La Liga and Serie A are the 3rd and 4th place winners of our leagues. Participants in the UEFA Cup 2nd Round is the Intertoto winners in La Liga and Serie A.

 

The Cup winners or 5th and 6th place winners in our leagues will take part in the Group Stage, I believe.

 

Now that we got that squared away. Here’s the draw:

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:

 

Pick of the draw: Atletico de Madrid vs Schalke 04. Good news: let’s get to business right away! Bad news: Las Pupas? Or rather why us? This could possibly be an early exit for Atleti. Especially without Kun. But Atleti has the talent to seize the day and beat Schalke. This is going to be a mouth watering affair. Save the date! August 12th and 27th!

 

Other notable: Fiorentina vs Slavia Prague. Fiorentina has been waiting for this moment to play with the big boys. Put playing away against the Eastern European teams could be a banana skin. Fiorentina has reengineered their squad a lot. Will they be in sync and have their chemistry together in time? I certainly hope so.

 

Cakewalks: Why do the big teams get all the breaks? Luck or conspiracy? Barcelona failed to place first or second and have to qualify. They will face either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow in Poland. I don’t think missing Messi will make a difference with Eto’o, Henry, Bojan, and Gudjonsen. Nope they are loaded. Meanwhile, Juventus is back to vye for Champions League glory! They will face either Tampere United of Finland or Artmedia of Slovakia. No problem, ya think?

 

UEFA CUP

 

A Coruña draw a toughie! Deportivo La Coruña are back in Europe after hard times financially. Team Depor will face Hadjuk Split from Croatia. This could be a difficult tie, especially if Depor lose hard man Coloccini to Newcastle. Depor ended their summer early and are raring to go. They will need to be at their best.

 

Easy peasy for Maradona’s old team. Napoli who have been long missing from Europe to face off against KS Vilaznia of Albania. This should be a shoo-in for the Southerners. Forza Napoli.

 

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? What are your predictions? Post your comments and let’s discuss.

Winds of Change?

A year ago, the English Premier League dominance on the world stage was rightly assured. Two English teams in the final of the Champions League, three of four in the semis, we assume that it is a trend, a watershed mark that will continue, but anyone with a sense of history in the game knows that European football is cyclical. Sooner rather than later a club, or a series of clubs, will step up from one of the other top leagues in Europe and challenge the Manchester United’s, Chelsea’s or Liverpool’s and repeat that feat of 3 of 4 in the semis. If so, then from where?

 

Most would often say Spain, they are the European Champions of Euro 2008, they have a young squad of brilliant players, the majority of which play nationally in La Liga; which is very important in my mind. Real Madrid are learning how to win again in the Champions League after a return to form domestically. Barcelona have endured two turbulent years, fueled by an out-of control dressing room, over-inflamed egos, and a sometimes lax director, but are about ready to return the challenge of the madridistas. Villareal have progressed in 5 years from relegation also-rans to title contenders as their neighbors Valencia have done much the same but in reverse. You might see a Real Madrid win again, and soon I might add, but the odds are further along for three of four in Spain to win.

 

In my opinion though, the sleeping giant of Italian football has been woken. AC Milan, recently content to give short shrift to the scudetto have seen rivals Inter win the championship twice on the field in succession, secured the more important off-field signings, and more importantly have just seen a media-conscious manager like Jose Mourinho give instant credibility to the often fractious nerazzurri side. Securing Ronaldinho is a coup on so many terms, but having him in partnership with Kaka  and Pato will be epic. Roma have seen better days, but they have one of the most exciting young coaches in Serie A, Lazio will be better and let no one forget (let alone me for my obvious disrespect last year) that Juventus will be a force to be dealt with. They have an aging squad certainly, but they have an interesting mix of competitive youngsters as well, and they have all of the resources of the Agnelli family behind them (wink, wink). Add an exciting side like Udinese, the creativity of Sampdoria and lest we not forget probably the most consistent Italian club over the last 5 years Fiorentina, and Serie A is in my opinion the most competitive league top to bottom in the world. The top 4 is back in business (AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and AS Roma) but they have serious competition from 3 or 4 other squads. They all have quality home-grown depth and they have arguably the best managers, coaches and trainers in the world. They have quality youth development, some fine feeder programs at clubs like Udinese, Siena and Empoli, and they have some of the best fan support in Europe, great derbies like Roma/Lazio, Milan/Inter, Genoa/Samdoria, and Juve/rest of Italy. If (and I realize these are big ifs) they could fix a troubled media rights compact, control fan and stadium violence, and curtail corruption they obviously could compete on the world stage with England and Spain as they did so successfully in the 1980’s and 1990’s. If you think they can’t, remember that  the current UEFA chairman Michel Platini was once the darling of the Turin alps in the bianconeri midfield.

All the President’s Men

Well, I wanted to call this blog THE GOON SQUAD, but I thought better of it. But what the hell is going on with the Owner’s in La Liga? Have they all gone bonkers? Is it something in the water?

 

This week in La Liga, 3 Owners have made some ghastly decisions that could wreck the future of their respective teams. Let’s run down the list:

Real Betis – All verdiblanco supporters loathe resident lunatic, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, who looks a bit too much like John Waters for my liking. Well, he finally decided to do the right thing and sell his shares to a new investor, Castel. Brilliant, yes! You have been sucking this club dry through legal and illegal means for too long! Please step down and give someone else a chance! But no, psych! Made ya look! Looks like Lopera is having cold feet and won’t let go of his greed, I mean club. Give me a break! Can someone just hire an assassin and be done with it? I have a bad feeling that he ain’t going anywhere.

 

Mallorca – In case you weren’t aware, the Islanders are in the midst of a fire sale. They are selling all their best players left and right to the top bidder. Guiza, Navarro, Ibagaza, etc. Why? Well, their parent company has filed for bankruptcy for one. Of course, club personnel said that the bankruptcy had nothing whatsoever to do with Real Mallorca. Ya right! Well now, Grande the owner wants to sell his shares in the club to an English Consortium headed by Paul “the plumber” Davidson. Does this sound too much like an episode of Dream Team? Davidson claims that he wants to expand his home improvement- type company sales in Spain and that is his motivation for investing in the club. Whuh? Grande says Davidson will invest a great deal of bling in the club. OK. Now reports coming out of Spain say that the money Grande will be receiving from Davidson, will be used to pay off Grande’s creditors. Yup! Also, the bankruptcy courts are investigating and reviewing the sale because it smells fishy!. This sounds like another owner using the club for his own private gain. In the process, the club has sold off it’s best players, and the fans will be left with probably nothing but debt and more debt. I honestly don’t think this sale will go through. Very sad indeed.

 

Valencia – Did you guys actually think that happy days were here again? That stability and zen was going to return to the Mestalla? That this year was going to be better? A fresh start? Think again. Juan Soler aka I am the Walrus has no business or sporting sense. The fans and players want him out. Please sell your shares! He “stepped” down last year and put in a puppet. That didn’t work. This summer, he brought in ex Telefonica exec, Villalonga as President. Things were going to be different this year. Villalonga made a lot of promises IE keeping the stars, a return to greatness, cleaning house, etc. He brought in his own hatchet man, Javier Azkagorta to help reorganize the club. Unfortunately, Villalonga found out in a mere 10 days, that the financial core of Valencia is black and rotten. So he went to the press and publicly announced that Valencia is in a shiteload of debt. $750M Euros to be exact and that a huge capital infusion of $77M Euros would be needed to keep the star performers. Soler went through the roof and fired Villalonga along with his staff. (Soler paid them off $10M Euros to leave!) The Walrus then decided to make a pact with the devil, his old foe, Vicente Soriano, the second largest shareholder at Los Che. WTF? Has it all gone mad? I thought they hated each other? Is Soler really gone? Or is he lurking in the back? Is Soriano just the same old crap? He has been on the board all this time. And now it looks like the superstars, David Villa (Madrid lurking) and David Silva (Atleti lurking) are back on the market, among others like Joaquin. Shite just hit the fan at Valencia, again!

 

As the World Turns….

Financial Problems in Spain’s Second Division

Running a Football club is extremely expensive. Most clubs in La Liga, are run at a loss. Some clubs still choose to expense their debt over future periods, rather than as they are incurred. This is extremely misleading and doesn’t show the clear financial picture of a club. In addition, La Liga continues to allow clubs to negotiate their own Television rights locally and globally. This means the big clubs get the lion’s share of the local and foreign revenues, whereas the smaller clubs are fortunate to get their games on the air.

 

The Spanish second division is even more precarious. Prior to the start of each season, the Spanish RFEF reviews the clubs to ensure that they have met all their financial obligations, including payments to players. This year the deadline is July 31st. If they cannot meet these obligations, they will be relegated. How do clubs avoid this punishment? Well, they file for protection from creditors under the Spanish “Ley Concursal”, similar to the U.S. equivalent of Chapter 11. Currently, both Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad are far behind in their payments. But unlike in other countries, in Spain, they can avoid any sporting penalty, if these two club file for protection under Ley Concursal. Las Palmas and Alaves both filed under this law, avoided relegation and the court sided that they could not pay their players while under administration. Sound fair? What about the players? Levante could follow suit. Salamanca, Elche and Albacete, among others have been reported to the player’s association (AFE) for non payment of wages and salaries. How many other clubs will fall and file for protection? No wonder the players are threatening with a strike.

 

The big clubs and star players are fine, but what about the career of the workman players, the regular joes trying to make end’s meat. And what about the future stars? . How can they pay their bills and support their family? The disparity is appalling. What can the Spanish RFEF and Player’s Association do to improve this situation? What about TV revenue sharing similar to the Premiership and soon Serie A? Will this help at all? What about stronger financial oversight, accountabily, and assistance? What about a sporting penalty IE relegation or deducting points for any club that files for protection, similar to Serie A? Isn’t the strength of the top league and youth system, depend largely on the strength of the Second division? Or is it survival of the fittest in a global economy? What do you think?

How Ronaldinho Gets His Groove Back

Well it is official. Ronaldinho has found a new how with a few less dollar signs.

 

I think this is a very good move for Ronaldinho and has the opportunity to be a great move for Milan.

 

Let’s start with the player. Ronaldinho has not set the world on fire for quit some time now. First things first, lets get him back in shape. Milan love talking about the Milan Labs, now lets work on him. Have him get back into playing shape and ready for the season. We all know Ronaldinho possesses the skills to dazzle millions. But will he change his recent ways in Milan? I think he will. Yes there are still a huge party environment in Milan but I think for at least the mean time he will be good and get back on track by training and watching the weight. How long that lasts well, I hope until the day his contract runs out.

 

Let’s go over to the club. Milan know that his name will sell and sell a lot. He will sell even more for the team if they are performing well on the pitch. Which takes me to my next point, as long as Milan do well on the pitch, we really can’t complain.

 

I am looking forward to this season beginning and I am hopeful we will see Ronaldinho back at his best entertaining millions and winning games for Milan.

Tradition!

It’s not just for Fiddlers on Roofs apparently. The Ronaldinho saga is apparently over, as it has been confirmed that, instead of signing a more lucrative deal for Manchester City, he will be traveling to Milan to join up with the Brazilian contingent at Milanello as another in a long line of samba stars to have graced the fashion capital of the world with their presence. What made him ignore Dr. Thaksin’s Blue Moon experiment?

 

Apparently, the lure of Milan was too much for ‘Dinho to ignore. They have more of a pedigree of forward thinking, attacking football certainly; a leftover of the great Arrigo Sacchi sides that blew past competitors in the late 80’s/early 90’s. They bring a style of football more suited to his particular talents, away from the the chuck-and-run nonsense of England. They also have the comforts of home for him as the lilt of Portuguese will be heard from compatriots Kaka and Alexandre Pato, not to mention Digao, Emerson and Dida , giving Milan more than a passing semblance of Rio or Sao Paolo on the mother continent. Ultimately, they have what clubs like Manchester City, or LA Galaxy for that matter if that report is to be believed, cannot have and that is tradition.

 

Manchester United has it, as does Arsenal or Liverpool, but all three clubs have gone generations in the past without winning. In Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona do, as do Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan in Italy. All of the above have gone years in their history without winning trophies. Winning doesn’t necessarily make tradition or else Deportivo La Coruna, Celta de Vigo in Spain or Sampdoria  and Parma in Italy would have the same cache at different times. Great players can make a club great as Pele did with Santos or Maradona did with Napoli but that doesn’t necessarily bridge the gap towards tradition. Big cities can make a club a traditional power, capitols London and Madrid comply as do larger cities like Barcelona, Turin and Manchester, but how do you explain the lack of tradition in Paris, Rome, or Berlin?

 

It’s in the supporters, the fan base, and certainly has little to do with even spending more money than your competitor. Nouveau-riche owners like Thaksin Shinawatra or Roman Abramovich can create successful clubs that win trophies by overspending their competitors, but in the end their success has a finite life.

 

A footballer has been likened to a modern mercenary, have money will travel, but when given the choice he will follow that trophy case, that fanbase, and that tradition that calls to them, more than any lucrative contract ever could.