Manchester United and Spurs – £25m for Berbatov
July 14, 2008
It looks like United will get Berbatov for approximately £25 million.
United have officially started negotiations with Spurs about the Bulgarian striker, although Spurs have apparantly said they will hold out for £28 million.
Ferguson has followed and made enquiries about Berbatov for the past 2 seasons and now appears to be the right time to make an official approach.
I think that Berbatov would be an amazing signing for United, the service he would receive from that team would surely see him hit the 30 goal mark and I see him as the key to deciding whether Ronaldo can go or not.
If they sign Berbatov expect to see Nani start making more appearances as they test the set up for Ronaldo’s departure, and if I am to be totally honest, with Dimitar on the books and Nani maturing into a top player in his own right, I think United can more than survive without Ronaldo.
I think they will have it more their own way this year than they did last year. They got off to a slow start last year, this year I expect to see them come flying out of the blocks and with Chelsea and Arsenal going through quite big changes at the moment I really can’t see Manchester United having much trouble defending their crown as Premier League champions.
And as an Everton supporter that’s not an easy thing to say!!
What do you think about the proposed signing of Berbatov?
Please leave a comment below.
Never write the Germans off
June 19, 2008
This afternoon in the office I was talking about how only a fool would write off the Germans.
They always get better as a tournament proceeds.
I have to admit there was a part of me that said Ronaldo, Deco and the other Portuguese stars had too much pace for the Germans to handle at the back, but sitting here now watching Germany lead 3-1 after 66 minutes it’s hard to see how Portugal can pull this one back.
Germany have looked a much improved team tonight. They started the game looking hungry and the first goal cam about from some beautiful football down the left of the field.
Portugal on the other hand seem to want that one pass too many in the opposing half , despite their undeniable talent they just don’t seem willing to try their luck once in a while. Maybe they got of f to such a good start that they became complacent, thinking they would waltz past the Germans as they have some other teams.
What is slightly concerning, seeing as though he is due to arrive to manage Chelsea in a few week is that Big Phil seems to be out of ideas as to how to pull it back.
I wonder what the Chelsea chairman is thinking now?
Actually he is probably still celebrating Russias excellent win last night!
Scolari takes the Chelsea hotseat.
June 12, 2008
Luis Felipe Scolari, “Big Phil”, was last night named as Chelsea boss.
The job that nobody wanted was finally filled by the Portugal boss just minutes after Portugals impressive 3-1 win against the Czech Republic.
I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself about his influence in the premier league already.
It all clicked into place, his helping hand at unsettling Ronaldo at United makes sense now. Knowing he was going to be Chelsea boss next season makes him want to get rid of the largest thorn he is likely to encounter, taking 40 goals a season off their nearest rivals is certainly a help.
Saying that the best move to help his career is to go to Real Madrid is a shocking statement, when you realise he was only actually saying that to benefit his own career, not that of Christiano Ronaldo.
So is it a good signing?
Well I think “Big Phil” has a bit to do to actually convince me. Of course the purists will say that he has won the world cup!!! But that was with a team that could have won the world cup managerless. Brazil where a dream team and Scolari moved on quickly after that, knowing expectations would be too much to live up to. In fairness he was right though and things began to fall apart a little after his departure.
His appointment at Portugal has coincided with some outstanding talent emerging. I am sure the Portuguese will be gutted to see him go, and the players I am sure will want to send him out with another trophy.
So why do I suggest I am still to be convinced?
Well I think Brazil and Portugal have spoilt Scolari for choice having world class talent to choose from.
Of course the bank balance at Chelsea ensures he can build a dream team of his own now but it’s the first season that I will be interested in. Will he be able to keep the key players he has and if so will he turn them back into champions?
I think he will be a great cup manager and so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take the European cup this year (although if Ronaldo goes to Madrid I would love to see United meet Real in the final!!) but I am not convinced he can take the league.
3 days to go and counting!!!!
The opening day of a major tournament is quite often a cagey affair with no teams wanting to be the first to concede in a championship.
The opening games on Saturday are Switzerland vs Czech republic and Portugal vs Turkey.
I can’t see there being too much to get excited about in the opener and expect it to be a 1-1 draw, both teams have a couple of decent players but neither have anything that makes the pulse race and get me jumping off my feet.
The second game on that opening day of Euro 2008 though is a different story. Portugal are many peoples favourites, with the remarkable Christiano Ronaldo lining up to drive his country men on to greatness. Let’s not put them down as a one man team though as they are anything but. They have oodles of talent throughout in the likes of Deco, Nani, Gomes, Postiga and Carvalho and that is why I am thinking that perhaps the best time to play these guys is in the opening game. Hit them before they have a chance to get into their stride. A couple of games in they’re going to be hard to beat as players find their form and the team starts playing a high tempo, smooth passing game. Turkey therefore are in for a difficult opener but not an impossible one.
If they can hit the Portuguese early on and stun them with an early goal I fancy the Turks to cause an upset right there on day one!
Turkey, fresh from a 2-0 win against finland, are quietly fancying themselves to do a job on Portugal an I for one won’t be surprised to see them get that job done. My prediction Turkey 2 – Portugal 1
