Upon arriving in the Rainbow Nation at the start of the Confederations Cup, it was hard to find a journalist to say, never mind write, a good word about the Brazilian.

Matters did improve to a certain extent after the tournament as Bafana Bafana progressed to the last four and gave creditable performances against Spain and Brazil.

The boss earned some breathing space that could be used as long as the Confed Cup provided a base to build upon for the next 12 months.

Joel Santana

That hasn’t happened, and then some, as South Africa have lost an astonishing eight of their last nine games. Santana was never going to survive that kind of run.

As coach of South Korea, Guus Hiddink led the 2002 co-hosts to some troubling friendly results but nothing like their 2010 counterparts.

Sadly, perhaps, for Bafana Bafana, Hiddink is not available and there are domestic demands for a local manager.

After all, Clive Barker, not the famous horror writer, led the team to the 1996 African title. But after the scary stories of the last few weeks, there could be another candidate to lead the team to the promised land – otherwise known as the second round.

Every host has the same fear – becoming the first not to make it past the first stage and into the knockout round. That worry was tangible in 2002 in East Asia, a region that doesn’t have the passion for the beautiful game as South Africa.

While a new coach is set to be announced on Friday, the SAFA is one that moves quickly, Bora Milutinovic was probably not even on the list. He should have been and not only because he is available.

Bora In South Africa Last June

Just to recap on a well-known career, Bora has taken five teams to the World Cup, two of them hosts. He knows all about the pressures and the fears of fans and media about early elimination.

He took Mexico to the last eight in 1986 and only a penalty shootout loss against Germany prevented a semi-final place. Eight years later, the United States were led to the last 16 where they were stopped by a 1-0 defeat at the hands of eventual champions Brazil.

When he hasn’t had the weight of host expectations on his shoulders, he hasn’t done badly either. He took the unfancied Costa Rica to the second round in 1990 and then did the same with Nigeria in 1998 –his fourth successive successful journey past the first round.

His only World Cup failure was with China in 2002 – no goals and no points but it was China’s debut and little was expected and little has happened there since he departed.

Bora may not be the most glamorous choice but he would put a smile back on the face of the hosts in the run-up to the World Cup, would relish the spotlight and would be popular with fans and those hitherto indifferent to the competition.

I wrote back in June that it was hard to escape the feeling that the Serbian, then in charge of Asian champions Iraq, was treating the eight-nation competition as one-long audition and when I got the chance to ask him, he just smiled and said nothing – an unusual situation.

In Johannesburg

It is a little unfair to criticize Santana for his language skills but the 65 year-old Serbian would at least make press conferences entertaining, more so than the usual ‘Bafana bafana, very good.”

He may not be in the running but with a host nation without a coach just eight months before a World Cup, Bora Milutinovic should be.

1. Where Michael Fits In

It may be surprising to hear, but Manchester United definitely needed someone like Michael Owen in order to strengthen their squad this season. With the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo United lost one of their most creative attackers; a player who could score wonder goals when things were going right and nick winners at the depth when they weren’t. Many United fans would be quick to point out that the likes of Wayne Rooney could step up and fill this role, but statistically speaking that does not seem to be the case.

Let’s look at Rooney’s statistics specifically. During the 07/08 season he made 27 appearances in the Premier League. In his two appearances as a substitute, Rooney scored no goals. However, in the remaining 25 starts, he put away 12 for United. Of these 12, none were game winners or savers. Nine came in no contest games (in which United sealed victory by 3 goals or more.)

Now let’s see what Owen did for Newcastle during that same season. He made 29 appearances in the Premier League for the club. In his five appearances as a substitute, he scored one goal-a game winner. In his remaining 24 starts Owen scored ten goals. Of these ten, five were game winners or savers and six came in must-win situations.

Putting two and two together we can come to the following conclusions: one, that Wayne Rooney tends to score when the going is good; two, that Michael Owen tends to create winners out of nothing; and three, that together these goalscoring foils could collaborate to fill the gap left by Ronaldo.

2. The Question of Injury

Most of Michael Owens’ critics have a problem with his physical fitness, claiming that he breaks down too easily and is sidelined by injury far too often. There is plenty of truth to this claim; we need only to look upon his career statistics to see that he is quite injury-prone. However, most of Owens’ injuries have occurred after he made several consecutive starts. It is easy to see that he isn’t up to par with other Premier League strikers on a game-by-game basis, and his critics are right to doubt him in that particular area.

Manchester United have made it clear that they don’t plan on using Owen in such a way. Based on his contract and the first few games of the season it seems Ferguson will be playing him mostly as a sub, in the same vein as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. This is an excellent move. Owen clearly can’t hold up properly if he starts every game, but playing in twenty minute spurts or so will keep him healthy and motivated. Looking again at his statistics, he scores nearly ¾ of his goals in the second half anyways, and his tendency to pick up late winners and equalizers means he is extremely well-suited to the role of “super sub.”

3. The Contract

Most of the genius of this particular deal comes from the contract. Manchester United clearly did their research before handing their offer to Owen, as it is perfectly tailored to maximize his potential while minimizing United’s cost of playing him. Obviously, Owen was picked up as a free agent, so United avoided paying any fees to Newcastle United in exchange for his services. This obviously made the signing of Michael Owen ludicrously cheap, but United refused to stop there. They drafted an intelligent contract built around the concept of keeping Owen healthy, motivated, and hungry for goals.

Owens’ contract is almost completely incentive-based. He will be paid based on minutes played and goals scored. Considering United’s attachment to the idea of playing him as a substitute, he will not play nearly as many minutes as the likes of Rooney and Berbatov and will therefore cost United much less. However, knowing that his paycheck is dependent upon his goalscoring performance will encourage Owen to make the most of every opportunity on the pitch. If he doesn’t score, he won’t be paid. If he does get injured, United will lose nothing, as he isn’t earning much of a weekly salary. In short, this deal was far from a gamble. It was a well thought out plan to gain the services of an experienced striker without having to pay the price tag that would normally accompany him. Plus, Owen is English, so he will help United to comply with the Premier League’s new home-grown player regulations. United cannot lose from this deal. And Owen will only lose if he doesn’t perform-good performances, meanwhile, will win him extra payments and a chance to get into Fabio Capello’s good books before the 2010 World Cup.

This is hardly an adoring ode to Michael’s controversial late winner against Manchester City. It is a testament to Manchester United’s rare moment of financial savvy. In a league where clubs are getting into huge amounts of trouble offering lucrative contracts to foreign teenagers, United managed to secure the signature of an experienced and well-respected player with little to no risk of failure. Even if Owen were to leave the club before the season ended, United still wouldn’t have lost. Their alacrity and astuteness in relation to Michael Owen is what surely makes this one of the greatest-and most devious-signings of this new century.

]]> http://www.9jasports.com/cristiano-ronaldo-replaces-beckham-at-armani/feed/ http://www.9jasports.com/berbatovs-time-to-shine/ http://www.9jasports.com/berbatovs-time-to-shine/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:56:30 +0000 lakesidesanni http://www.9jasports.com/?p=114 When a player is the subject of a 30 million transfer fee in the market, the subject is expected to deliver. Though the occasional glimpse of genius has been seen at Dimitar Berbatov’s Old Trafford career, the phrases in the opening line have been associated with the Bulgarian to date.

Berbarov

Alex Ferguson chased his man for well over a year, and if rumors are to be believed, showed a passing interest in the player during his highly successful spell in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.

BERBATOV BEGINS

Berbatov was a prodigy in his homeland at the beginning of his career, the main man (or boy) at SCKA Sofia before heading for the more competitive Bundesliga to Leverkusen.

He first gained worldwide attention as a substitute in the 2002 champions league final against Real Madrid. Two years later, he was undoubtedly the main man for his country and heir apparent to Hristo Stoitchkov as Bulgaria endured a disappointing Euro 2004 campaign, losing all their games. Berbatov couldn’t be faulted though, as Bulgaria back then (and still) are light years away from the halcyon days of USA 1994.

When Tottenham Hotspur signed Berbatov in 2006, only people who had seen him play knew what a coup it was. Like the Leverkusen adventure, Berbatov signed for a club that were not quite at the top but ambitious, a smart move to guarantee a bit of playing time.

Berbatov’s impact was immense, and hero status was immediately bestowed on him from the White Hart Lane faithful. A sublime touch with the football, an imaginative passer, and above all, a scorer of great goals saw him follow in the footsteps of Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne and David Ginola as a genuine fan favourite. For two seasons he was the first name on the teamsheet, his ability to amaze putting him in the upper echelon of the league’s players.

MEDIA SUBJECT

Berbatov’s time at White Hart Lane soured, however, as his petulant side triggered a long drawn out and rumoured move to Manchester United. His demeanor during the whole affair put him on a par with Sol Campbell, and the ex fan favourite has now become a hate figure at the club.

It would be unfair to call Berbatov a mercenary however, as a player usually only gets one chance to join Manchester’s (for now) top club. His reputation as a spoilt player doesn’t do reports of his general attitude justice. A shy man, even somewhat sensitive, he has learned to be tough after the events that caused him to leave CSKA Sofia. Castigated by the fans for turning his back on the club he loved, he never really got over the hurt he went through after being shunned by the club he loved. So if he wanted to leave Spurs, it should have been a doddle of a decision for him.

BIG MOVE

His arrival at Old Trafford made the new side look immense. Current League and European champions, they now had a player who was one of the most sought after players in Europe. The attacking talents of Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov seemed like a dream combination that would surely bring United into an era of dominance.

There were moments in Berbatov’s first season that had fans remembering fondly of the mercurial Eric Cantona. I remember one such performance against Hull last season where he seemed to run the game.

Berbatov’s first season was largely a letdown however. He didn’t seem to bring anything to the table most games, was overshadowed by the exploits of Rooney and Ronaldo, and whenever he got a kick, Carlos Tevez. The United fans were vehemently in favour of the little Argentine workhorse as a starter instead of the disinterested looking Berbatov. His approach to the game divided opinion, a portion of the United fans saying that Berbatov was playing the way he was supposed to, but the majority made it known that £30million had been paid for a “striker”, and 9 league goals wasn’t enough of a contribution to the side.

The lowpoint of last season was a weakly hit penalty straight at Tim Howard in the FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout against Everton. It was the kind of penalty that could send the keeper the wrong way but still travel at the pace that would allow a goalie to get his breath, ponder for a minute, and eventually reach for the catch. When introduced in the Champion’s League defeat to Barcelona, he was missing when it was hoped he could be some inspiration.

ALL EYES ON NUMBER 9

During the summer major changes happened at United, as you know. With Tevez and Ronaldo gone, Berbatov would be a major part of this seasons challenge, and should things go wrong, and they have at times already, his presence would be called under scrutiny.

This season Berbatov has had his critics, alot of them. But this last week has seen a man who could be capable of changing his perceived lack of ambition. He has already stated that last season he was not at his best, and that he must change his game around to perform at the level that Manchester demands. Last week at Stoke, he got a badly needed goal that every forward needs. In the champions League match against Wolfsberg this week, his appearance off the bench inspired United to play somewhat near they’re capable of, setting up several chances when there had been none previous. United managed to win 2-1.

His goal yesterday though had been real quality. As United struggled to create anything against Sunderland, the cross into him was met superbly by a sublime piece of skill, a right footed overhead volley from out of nowhere leaving the Sunderland keeper with no chance whatsoever.

In one week, Berbatov has had some sort of say in three matches for the red devil’s when others have been missing.

If he continues to produce magical moments such as yesterday on a regular basis, there may very well be a successor to King Eric!

One thing is for certain, this season is definitely make or break for the Bulgarian.

John Terry, Chelsea’s skipper has targeted trophies this season. Hoping to be fit in form for his club and country. Stressing this he added that he would not want to end hiss carrier not having won the champions league or for his country.

Manchester united striker, Wayne Rooney England record. The Manchester united and England striker said he would like to become England’s record goal scorer. It would be nice if, two if its team mates were to one and two on the list.
Stressing that Michael Owen should not be ruled out owing to the fact that he still has a chance, and looks forward to winning more trophies.

]]> http://www.9jasports.com/football-stars-live-in-action/feed/ http://www.9jasports.com/diego-maradona-threats-to-quit-coaching-argentina-football-team-2/ http://www.9jasports.com/diego-maradona-threats-to-quit-coaching-argentina-football-team-2/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:02:31 +0000 yemmit http://www.9jasports.com/?p=102 Following the warning given to Bilardo to make sure that Carlos Tevez and Zabaleta didn’t play for Manchester City before such crucial World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay, the coach of the Argentine national team, Diego Maradona, affirmed that he hasn’t liked several things since he was appointed, and that he will have to appraise whether he will continue in the position at the conclusion of the World Cup qualifiers.

Maradona said “Julius called me to his house and offered me the job. I told him I was the happiest guy in the world, but then things happened that I did not like and I’m going to say. I’ll see if I continue with my conditions,”
He (Maradona) said that he will continue coaching the team only “under his conditions” However, those conditions were not stated,he just need solution to the problem at hand.

What Diego Maradona dislike was that Pablo Zabaleta came back injured after playing for Manchester City. He however blamed Carlos Bilardo for allowing Zabaleta to go in the first place because he has earlier told Bilardo to make sure that Carlos Tevez and Zabaleta didn’t play for Manchester City before such crucial World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay.

Maradona expressed his discontent with Carols Bilardo, the technical director of the Argentina national soccer team for taking decisions without consulting him.
I think these two men were actually not having smooth relationship which is not really clear to everybody. They had better resolved their differences before they work against their success.

Right now more of their players have been given yellow card coupled with the fact that Zabaleta has injury, Maradona said he will not replace any of his team member “I will work with this squad.Now they are looking for players to see if we can replace him,” said Maradona.
He also noted the issue of yellow card they keep incurring in each of their matches played. He said, “We have a team with lots of yellow cards as we kept on getting yellows in each match, in all of the matches in which we played for our lives.”

Previous Teams: Real Madrid, Spain; Leganes, Spain; RCD Espanyol, Spain; RCD Mallorca, Spain;
National Squad/Number of Appearances: Cameroon/60+

Eto’o burst on to the European football scene at the age of 16 when he was signed to Real Madrid. He moved to Barcelona in 2004 and made an immediate impact by scoring 25 goals in his first season. He is a potential goal-scoring machine every time he sets foot on a pitch but is also well respected for his commitment to the team as a whole. Facts:

* Eto’o was the youngest player at the 1998 World Cup aged just 17 years and 3 months. He was also the only player at the tournament born in the 1980s.
* Eto’o had a complex relationship with Real Madrid. He signed for the club at 15 but they forgot to collect him at the airport when he arrived and he had to wait for hours without being able to speak any Spanish. He never really broke into the Madrid team and spent two periods on loan to other clubs before moving to Mallorca in a split ownership deal.
* His relationship with Mallorca was far better – he paid 30,000 Euros to treat Mallorca supporters to a meal at Mallorca’s Spanish Cup final against Recreativo Huelva.
* He became the highest league goal scorer ever at Mallorca with a total of 54 goals.
* When he signed for Barcelona Eto’o became the first Cameroonian player at the club.
* Eto’o’s goal against Levante won Barcelona the league title in the 2004-5 season.
* Eto’o was named African Player of the Year in 2004, 2005 and 2006 – a record three consecutive times.
* He has won two Spanish Supercups (2005-6/2006-7), two League Titles (2004-5/2005-6) and the Champions League (2005-6) with Barcelona. In addition, he won the Champions League (1999-00) and the Intercontinental Cup (1997-98) with Real Madrid and the Spanish Cup with Mallorca (2002-3).
* During his time playing for Cameroon the national squad has won the African Cup twice (2000, 2002) and he also won a Gold Medal at the Sydney Olympics.
* In 2006 Eto’o opened a foot

How would United replace him? Could they replace him?

When a rather gangly looking teenager bought from Sporting Lisbon for half of what we sold Beckham for was introduced as a sub against Bolton in 2003, he set the place alight and whilst a long way from the more rounded player who now leaves us, the post-Beckham future looked bright.

There can be no doubt that Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world and his skill, pace, trickery and goals will certainly be missed. To lose a player capable of scoring a goal such as the one he scored in the Champions League Quarter Final against Porto (40 yard screamer) is a tough one to take on the one hand.

On the other hand…

I won’t miss the way he would sit on the floor following a tackle on him waving his arms around at the “injustice” of not being given a free-kick every time he loses the ball. Sometimes his little protests would go on for so long that one of his team mates had won the ball back from the opposition and were looking to release it to Ronaldo but he was still sitting on his backside waving his arms in the air.

I won’t miss the scathing looks he would give his team-mates if they either a) did not play the ball exactly where he wanted it to be played to or b) did not make the run into the precise area he had passed the ball to.

I remember at the Arsenal Champions League game towards the end of last season an incident when Rooney tried to play a long cross-field pass to Ronaldo. It didn’t quite come off and Ronaldo turned round and started to have a rant at Rooney. The crowd went absolutely ballistic with Ronaldo suggesting that I am not the only one who was starting to grow weary of this side of him.

I won’t miss the type of petulant strop he had when substituted against Manchester City towards the end of the season. If my ten year old son behaved like that after getting subbed in a match, I would give the coach my full permission to clip him ’round the ear!

I won’t miss the way he expected every one of his team members to shower him in praise and adulation whenever he scored (sometimes he even seemed to expect it for an assist!) but would hardly bother to run over to a team-mate who had scored unless they just happened to be within a few feet of him.

I won’t miss the irritating, self-serving replies he always gave when asked if he wanted to stay at Manchester United, “Yes, maybe, I don’t know what the future holds, I have a dream, I am happy here”. And then the mischievous little smirk.

I won’t miss the general Real Madrid saga which has basically been going on for at least two years now and had become irritatingly tiresome.

Yes, there’s a lot that will be missed about Ronaldo but there’s an awful lot that I will be glad to see the back of too and I suspect, like when Beckham was sold to Real Madrid all those years ago, the baggage outweighs the good points and Fergie feels the time is now right to let him go.

That all said, Ronaldo is a very good player and I wish him every success in Spain, playing for the club he has always dreamed of playing for.

But he could be a Great player when he grows up.

Ronaldo must be positively unbearable, flouncing around in LA with the world media spotlight on him. It’s what he craves and lives by and what defines him as the shallow and conceited individual that he is.

And could our wildest dreams come through….that he fails his medical due to an STD picked-up from Paris Hilton, whom he reportedly cavorted with last night, returning to her sister’s house in the early hours from an elite LA nightclub.

Now there’s a woman who appreciates diving to the fullest, adores a good wink and is reportedly a screamer on a par with Ronaldo’s finish against Porto in the CL quarter final. “Take it out of that,” was her likely request as dawn broke over LA today.

But no! That would be a nightmare! As a Utd fan the last thing I need is for this deal to fail.

But back to the UK Press! Exhaustive coverage has been extended for the reader interested in the subject and who wants to be able to show his/her worth in the Friday night debate at the pub.

So if you are one of those, and in the interest of saving you time, here are the facts distilled into one simple (very) article.

When the Deal was Done.

A year ago, The Guardian tells us but a bit further down changes its mind to last September. The Times tells us that there was ‘no warning’ from Real about their bid. The Mail on the other hand is totally confused. Depending on where you want to look in their analysis the deal was struck ‘before Christmas’, ‘in the winter’ or ‘last summer’ (according to Calderon). Talk about blowing hot and cold!

The Mirror insists that the first contact in relation to the deal was ‘this week’ but The Record disagrees. The deal was done ‘last year’ according to them.

Agreeing the Deal

The deal was tied up in 15 minutes on Wednesday in a phone call by Perez to Gill, says The Guardian.

The Times suggests that it took 2 hours and involved a fax from Real to Gill, a call from Gill to Fergie, to get his approval, and a further call to the Glazers for the final seal of approval.

However, the version in The Mirror and The Record tell us that the pecking order was a phone call by Gill to the Glazers and THEN to Fergie (no timeframe suggested in either case).

The Fee

No conflict on this one, definitely 80M. 4 x 20M annual installments The Times tells us but if you read The Mail you’ll know that it’s a one-off up-front payment!

The Salary (all amounts in UK Pounds)

The Guardian: 6.8M/year + add-ons.

The Times: 9.5M/year, rising by 25% a year over the 6 year contract to a ‘staggering’ (their word not mine) 29M/year.

The Express: 10M/year

The Mail: 10.4M/year

The Mirror: 18M/year (bloddy glory hunters!)

The Record: 9.5M/year + 25% increase each year for 6 years (lazy journalism there…they just read The Times!)

The Timing

By the end of June (various).

‘Ronaldo expected to arrive in Spain in the next few days,’ says The Guardian.

‘Will complete the deal today,’ according to The Record, or ‘Real are sending a medical team to LA,’ (The Telegraph), possibly to do a Paris Hilton-ectomy, but that has not been confirmed.

Fergie’s Transfer Targets

Good unanimity on most of the names but that’s where it ends I’m afraid.

Ribery

‘Would prefer Spain’ (The Guardian).

It’s not him, The Mail explains, it’s his wife who wants a warmer climate. (“Bugger winning the CL, I want a sun tan!”…..that’s me talking by the way, not The Mail. God forbid they’d get a sense of humour!)

But hang onto your wallet! 64M says The Times, 50M (The Express), and 65M from The Mail (just to trump those upstarts at The Times).

Benzema

68M is The Guardian’s bid but they then suggest that he’d go for ‘half of that’. After all, what’s 34m between friends?

The Times bid 42M while The Express, The Mail and The Sun all agree on 25M (cheapskates). The Mirror ups the ante to a more plausible 30M (he is only 21 after all!).

Valencia

17M from The Guardian, 22M say The Express, 16M from The Mail. The Mirror journalist (obviously a Wigan fan) weighs in at 23M!

But…Stop The Press!!….The Sun have the scoop!….the deal is already done for 17M.

Now if only the others read The Sun first before making their numbers up………………or maybe The Guardian did!

Others

The Mail suggests Yaya Toure and The Sun go with Fabiano. It’s easy enough to picture how those ones came about:

Bored journalist pissed-off that everyone is mentioning Ribery, Benzema and Valancia. How about something original he thinks! Leans over to the next desk and asks: “Hey Bob, if you had 20M to spend as a manager, bearing in mind you being a Wimbledon err sorry…MK Dons fan, who would you spend it on?” Bob scratches an itch and quickly comes-up with Toure/Fabiano. Job done! Now there’s an original thought none of the others will come up with!

How Much Has Fergie to Spend?

The Express, The Star and The Sun all conclude that he has 80M in the transfer kitty. You can only surmise that extensive investigative journalism led to that conclusion in all cases!

However, The Mail has the inside track on this one!

‘Exclusive!’ they declare, ‘Fergie given 100M to burn.’ Yes, I joke you not…the man’s gonna burn the bloody loot! They go on to explain that it comes about from the 80M Ronaldo deal plus the 20M he already had approved. Now that’s investigative journalism…and then some!

So there you have it. You are now armed with the facts and won’t be caught napping at the pub tonight.

And just to cover you even more here are a few more things you’ll need to be up to speed on:

‘It’s a great deal for United’ or ‘This is a disaster for United.’

‘Fergie needs to bring in a right winger to replace him’ or ‘Fergie needs at least 2 world class players to replace him’ or ’Fergie needs to completely rebuild’.

And don’t forget what The Guardian has told you: ‘Devastating blow to Utd and a deal the fans have been dreading’. Trust me, every comment I have read from Utd fans supports that!

Also remember that The Times have warned of ‘Utd fighting-off an exodus.’

Tevez may leave and Vidic is of interest to both Barca and Real! Bloody hell, now that’s an exclusive if ever I saw one….exodus indeed!

Away you go then and don’t make a mug of yourself. I’ve saved you hours of reading and left you at the cutting edge in terms of owning the facts of this matter.

You gotta love the UK Press!