THE ISTANBUL´S DERBY AND OTHER SATURDAY´S GAMES(article in English and Español)

This Saturday afternoon we watched a vibrant Istanbul´s derby between Fenerbahçe SK and Besiktas JK, where we could see another win of the Luis Aragones´s team(2-1).The match started balanced but a mistake of the veteran goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber-a former FC Barcelona´s goalkeeper-allowed to the Fenerbahçe´s centre midfielder Selcuk Sahin to score with his head. From this moment Besiktas had the control of the game thanks to the good job of the smart and omnipresent Argentine Matías Delgado (it is very interesting the Besiktas´s duo Delgado-Mert Nobre) and of course this control of the game had a result when an electric play on the left-they took advantage of the absence of the offensive Fenerbahçe´s right back , Gökhan Gönül, at this precise moment(we like this player)- and the passivity as defender of Colin Kazim-he is far from the last year´s level-and the determinant striker, Nobre, scored thanks an excellent assist of Ekrem Dag. That goal gave confidence and power to Besiktas to look for a second goal and in fact it was very near to get it for example when Tomas Sivok committed a mistake and he shot on target when he was in offside´s position and he impeded the Matías Delgado´s shot. But football is football and after this Sivok´s mistake, the Fenerbahçe´s second goal arrived thanks to a long pass of the Fenerbahçe´s goalkeeper, Volkan Demirel, to the striker Dani Güiza, who took advantage of the mistake of the 2 Besiktas´s central defender-Göhkan Zan and Tomas Zapotocny- and he scored with a sublime and excellent shot. Since that time, the Fenerbahçe´s mission was to defend the result and to make electric attacks, taking advantage of the Besiktas´s defensive spaces and of absurd sending-off of the Besiktas´s central midfielder Edouard Cisse before the half time. The truth is that this sending-off did not alter the game of the teams since the Besiktas remained, being the owner of the ball´s possession and Fenerbahçe was the owner of the shots on target specially thanks to the good job of Ugur Boral-he played very well with Roberto Carlos- and the combative Dani Güiza, who had many chances to score more goals, but the Spanish was unlucky and the game finally finished 2-1 and now Fenerbahçe is in the 4th place position of the standing with 23 points(Besiktas has 25 points and the leader, Trabzonspor has 28 points after the draw in game played on Friday against Kayserispor of Julius Aghahowa) Anyway, as we said many time, be careful with Fenerbahçe, because although it is playing bad and it started the season horrible, it is in the top position and it is very near to the leader of the Süper Lig.
For the rest, we want to remark the dismal Real Madrid´s game at Getafe- of course this result is normal if we can find in the line up players like Drenthe and Michel Salgado-, the solvent FC Barcelona´s victory thanks to a spectacular Leo Messi-however, Sevilla FC played too conservative and of course it is difficult to beat FC Barcelona playing with this style (we did not see Valdés during the second half). The truth is that it has not been the best match of the Seville coach, Manolo Jimenez (we did not like neither the starting line up neither the substitutions during the game)-, the easy win of Juventus under the snow in the game played against Reggina Calcio –it won 4-0 with Camoranesi, Amauri, Chiellini and Del Piero´s goal-, the important Bayern Munich ´ s win in the game played against Bayern Leverkusen-it is second in the standing after this victory(0-2) and it seems that the duo, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, is here again-, the Olympique Lyon´s bad result at home in the game played against the modest Valenciennes, which until now had only got one point in all its away games. Anyway, we'll see if PSG, Olympique Marseille, Rennes Nice can take advantage today of this Lyon´s result (yesterday Girondins Bordeaux did the same as Lyon and it drawn the game played agains Sochaux).
Finally, remember that this Sunday we have good games like at 14:30 cet Manchester City-Manchester United (I suppose that United will beat the bad City´s defensive line), Inter Milan at 1500-SSC Napoli (Inter must show good thing today, after the bad game played against Panathinaikos), AS Roma-Fiorentina(AS Roma must confirm its good level) or Chelsea FC-FC Arsenal at 17.00 c.e.t (another difficult game for the young gunner players).
Cheers,
J&F

EL DERBY DE ESTAMBUL Y OTROS PARTIDOS DE ESTE SABADO(article in English soon)

Este sábado por la tarde hemos podido presenciar un vibrante derby de Estambul entre el Fenerbahçe SK y el Besiktas JK en el que el equipo de Luis Aragonés pudo llevarse la victoria final (2-1) porque su equipo ha sido el que menos errores ha cometido durante el partido.
El partido comenzó equilibrado pero un error en un corner de un viejo conocido de la afición azulgrana, el veterano portero Rüstü Recber, hizo que el Fenerbahçe se pudiese adelantar en el marcador gracias a un cabezazo del medio centro Selcuk Sahin. A partir de ese momento el Besiktas liderado por un gran y omnipresente Matías Delgado llevó el peso del partido y buscó el empate con insistencia (especialmente a través del dúo Delgado-Mert Nobre) y al final lo consiguió en una jugada eléctrica del Besikats por la banda izquierda, aprovechando la subida al ataque del ofensivo lateral derecho del Fenerbahçe,Gökhan Gönül-nos gusta mucho este jugador-,y que Colin Kazim-está lejos del nivel del año pasado- le hizo muy mal la cobertura y claro Nobre no desaprovechó el buen pase de Ekrem Dag y consiguió anotar el gol del empate. Ese gol dio fuerzas al Besiktas que buscó el segundo gol y de hecho estuvo a punto de conseguirlo en una muy buena jugada en la que Tomás Sivok remató en fuera de juega-si Sivok no hubiese intervenido en la jugada, Matías Delgado, que estaba en posición legal, hubiese conseguido adelantar a su equipo-.Pero el fútbol es como es y tras ese remate de Sivok, llegó un saque largo del portero del Fenerbahçe, Volkan Demirel, que llegó, gracias al gran error de la zaga del Besiktas-Göhkan Zan y Tomás Zapotocny-, al delantero Dani Güiza que de forma sublime, marco de vaselina el segundo gol de su equipo.
Desde ese momento, el Fenerbahçe se dedicó a esperar a su rival para salir a la contra, aprovechando los espacios que dejaba un Besiktas que sufrió el inconveniente de la absurda expulsión del medio defensivo Edouard Cissé en el minuto 42 de partidos.
La verdad es que la expulsión no alteró el juego de los equipos, pues el Besiktas siguió siendo el dueño de la posesión de balón y el Fenerbahçe el de las ocasiones de gol, destacando sobre todo Ugur Boral-se ha entendido a la perfección con Roberto Carlos- y el participativo y combativo Dani Güiza, que ha tenido bastantes ocasiones para marcar más goles, pero el español ha estado desafortunado con la puntería y finalmente el partido concluyó con el 2-1, que hace que el Fenerbahçe se coloque ya en 4ª posición de la clasificación con 23 puntos a 2 puntos del Besiktas que es 2º y a 5 del líder, el Trabzonspor, que el viernes no pudo pasar del empate a 1 en su partido contra el Kayserispor de Julius Aghahowa.
En fin, lo que hemos dicho varias veces, ojo con el Fenerbahçe de Luis, que sí, no juega bien, empezó fatal, pero ya está arriba en la clasificación.
Por lo demás, destacar el pésimo partido del Real Madrid en Getafe-aunque si juegan juntos Drenthe y Michel Salgado, creo que ya queda todo dicho-, el solvente triunfo de un FC Barcelona, liderado por Leo Messi-de todas formas, el Sevilla FC ha jugado de una manera demasiado conservadora y así es difícil hacer daño a este FC Barcelona (en la segunda parte no hemos visto a Valdés). La verdad es que no ha sido el mejor partido del entrenador del Sevilla, Manolo Jiménez(no nos ha gustado ni su alineación ni los cambios realizados), del paseo militar de la Juventus bajo la nieve contra la Reggina Calcio- ganó 4-0 con goles de Camoranesi, Amauri, Chiellini, y Del Piero-,el trascendental triunfo del Bayern de Munich en campo del Bayern Leverkusen por 0-2 y ya es segundo en la clasificación-parece que ha vuelto la dupla Luca Toni-Miroslav Klose-y el pinchazo del Olympique Lyon en casa ante el modesto Valenciennes, que hasta hoy sólo había conseguido empatar un partido fuera de su estadio-de todas formas ya veremos si mañana, PSG, Olympique Marsella, Rennes u Niza lo aprovechan(de momento hoy el Girondins de Burdeos no lo ha aprovechado y sólo pudo empatar en campo del Sochaux).
Finalmente recordar que este domingo tenemos buenos partidos como a las 14.30 c.e.t Manchester City-Manchester United, a las 15.00 Inter Milan-SSC Napoli, AS Roma-Fiorentina o a las 17.00 c.e.t Chelsea-Arsenal.
Cheers,
J&F

NBA: FREE AGENTS 2009 (article in English and Español)

The NBA´s protagonist in recent days is the New York Knicks, because the Madison´s team seems to have decided to forget about the performance of both this and of the next season and it will wait until the summer of 2010 to have a competitive team, since it is possible that players like LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Steve Nash-these 3 players will be free agent in 2010-arrive to New York in 2010. Obviously to see these arrivals, we must wait 2 years and although anything is possible, it seems very probable, since if there is not a good reason, it is very difficult to explain the departure from New York this week of the 2 best scorer of the team this season, Jamal Crawford- the 28 year´s old´s guard with a salary of 8,640,000$, is averaging 19 points per game- and the controversial Zach Randolph –he is 27 year´s old and his numbers are 19 points and 11 rebound and he has a salary of 14,666,667$-.New York signed in these transactions: Tim Thomas-he is 31 year´s old and his numbers are 10 point per game and a salary of 6,049,400$-, Cuttino Mobley-he is 33 year´s old!!! and his numbers are 14 points per game and a salary of 8.925.00$- (both will be free agent in 2010) and Al Harrington-he is 28 year´s old and his numbers are: salary of 9,226,250$ and 14.3 points per game (during his first 3 Knick´s games his FG% was 14-44 .... we will see if he improves during the season).

Well, we will have many time to talk about LeBron James, Knicks and about the major players-Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks; 23.4 points per game), Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics;19 points per game), Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets;15 points per game), Yao Ming (Houston Rockets and 18 points and 9.7 rebounds per game), Dirk Nowitzki (24, 6 points per game), Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat; 27.4 points per game ), Richard Jefferson (Milwaukee Bucks;18.8 points per game), Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks;21 per game), Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns; 22 points and 8 rebounds per game) or Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs)-who will be free agent in 2010 and of course they can arrive to the Madison in this year. But as we said, until these movements, we have 2 years and besides the team will have other option before to strengthen the rosters, since there will be many interesting unrestricted free agent next summer 2009 and now we will analyse them.

GUARD

It is clear that there are teams, which need to sign a player for this position in order to be truly competitive in the league, such as Los Angeles Lakers, since we believe that it should strengthen this position because Derek Fisher is a veteran player-34 year´s old-and he can not hold all the competition at 100% and the other team guard, Jordan Farmar, is too young and impulsive to be the play maker of a winning team- it is true that this year he is improving and besides Lakers does not pay a lot of money as salary(1,080,000 $) -. In similar situations, there are teams like Phoenix Suns- if the great Steve Nash is injured, Suns have a problem, since the Nash´s substitute is not a solvent player and in fact, Goran Dragic is a fiasco, which is normal because he only played a good European season-, Toronto-Raptors –the GM did not solve the TJ Ford´s departure last summer and the team has a problem in this position, since although Jose Calderon had a lot of quality and he is qualified to be the in starting lineup of any NBA´s team, his substitutes are not the adequate, since Roko Ukic, as Dragic, has played only a good European season at Lotttomatica Rome and the other, Willie Solomon, is not a playmaker, since he is a shooter and besides he must change his mind, because he was the team´s leader when he played in Europe and now he is simply one more of the roster-, Portland Trail Blazers- this team can be one of the dominant teams during the next years, because the duo Brandon Roy-Greg Oden can be incredible, but if the team wants to be a serious candidate, it needs another guard since Steve Blake is a shooter and he is not a playmaker and Sergio Rodriguez does not have the confidence of Nate McMillan(the coach)and his Portland´s future is uncertain and even it is possible that he have a new team in the next weeks(since Sergio Rodriguez´s agent said that Sergio wants a transfer, he is playing more minutes, ¿why? one reason can be that the other teams have to see Sergio in action more minutes in order to decide if he can be a valid player for them) -.

Well, these teams might interest some of these players: If you have enough money and you are seeking a total player, the player can be Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks), who despite his 35 year´s old, this year he is still averaging 10.2 points, 8.4 assist, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 steals-the problem is his currently salary, since he is earning 21,372,000$ although we think that it will decline substantially since next summer-. If you want a great name and excellent scorer, your options must be players like Allen Iverson-the Detroit Pistons´s player is 33 year´s old and his numbers are 18.5 points, 5.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds this season and his current salary is 20,840,625$ (¿who does not want "The Answer "?)-, Mike Bibby (Atlanta Hawks)-he is 30 year´s old, and the current numbers are15 points, 4.6 assists, 1.4 and 1.4 steal per game and his current salary:14,983,603$ - Ben Gordon (Chicago Bulls)-he is 25 year´s old and the numbers are 20 points, 3.7 assists and with a current salary of 6,404,750 $, which obviously will be increased and he will earn at least around 10-12 million per year-, Jamal Crawford (Golden State Warriors)-he is 28 year´s old and his numbers are 19 points, 4.7 assists and the current salary:8,640,000$ -. However, if you prefer a pure playmaker, you should sign the good Philadelphia 76ers´s guard, Andre Mille-he is 32 year´s old but he continues with his great level and this year is averaging 14 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, with a current salary of 10,333,334 $-, although if you do not want to spend so much money, your option must be a player like Anthony Carter (Denver Nuggets)-he is 33 year´s old and his numbers are 6.7 points, 4.8 assists, 3 rebounds and 1.4 steal and a current salary of 797,581$ -, Travis Diener (Indiana Pacers)-we like this 26 year´s old´s guard since his period Orlando Magic and he can be a good option for any medium team(his current salary is 1,620,000$)-,or the experienced Eddie House (Boston Celtics)-he is 30 year´s old and he has a current salary of 2,650,000$) or Damon Jones (Milwaukee Bucks)-he is 32 years old and he is good 3FG(41%3FG) and his number are this season: 6.5 points and 1.9 assists in 20 minutes, current salary 4,460,186$-. Along with these reliable choices, the free agents´s market has other players whose performance can be a mystery, since these are players who have a big name and it seems they are not very motivated to play. But if there are any brave, it can sign players like Steve Francis (Houston-Rockets)-he is only 31 year´s old but he is far from his best level and now he has poor numbers: only 5 points and 3 assists in 20 minutes of play, with a current salary of 2,634,480$- or the controversial Stephon Marbury (New York Knicks)-this 31 year´s old´s guard (with a salary of 20,840,625$!!!) has decided that he will not play more with Knicks because he has a bad relation with the coach Mike D'Antoni ... .we will see what will be the future of this player who once was a excellent player(he said that he was the best guard of the world), having an averaged during his 12 years in the NBA of 20 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds per game-, or Ricky Davis (Los Angeles Clippers)-he is 29 year´s old and he is obviously far from his best level but if he can improve his performance, he may be valid for any team (his career´s number are 14.1 points, and 3.4 assists and his current salary is 2,300,000$-.

FORWARD

Of course that in this position, the most important free agent will be Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), who is 30 year´s old but he is still a wonderful player, being possibly the best player in the league-his numbers this season are 23.7 points, 3.9 assists and 5 rebounds and his current salary: 21,262,500$- and sincerely I think that his team should be Lakers, because it is a great team, a serious aspirant to be the champion of this season and during the next 3-4 year, but it has a good play in the paint (Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, although perhaps Lakers should dispense with players like Chris Mihm (salary:2,500,000$), DJ Mbenga (salary:880,658$), Sun Yue (salary:442,114$), who contribute almost nothing and all this sum of money could be destined to acquire another good player for the “paint”). Besides the Lakers is the ideal team for Kobe, because he is the leader and no one would discuss his role and therefore there will not be any egos´s problem, since all the player know the situation and they respect it. So we believe that there should be no reason to see a Kobe´s departure from Lakers, which should also make an effort with Trevor Ariza, whose contract ends this season too and he is really playing very well, with intensity, concentration and quality -this season his numbers are 9.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.92 steals, with a current salary: 3,100,000$-,showing that he is a player with a lot of present and future and he which should be rewarded with a good contract(around 6-8 million $ per year).

Along with Lakers´s players, we should also pay attention to the future of NBA´s classics such as Wally Szczerbiak (Cleveland Cavaliers)- I do not know if he has any problem playing alongside LeBron James, but the truth is that he is only 31 year´s old and his numbers are bad, because a player with a salary of 13,775,000$ can not offer 7.6 points and 2 rebounds. So, if he wants a good salary for next season, he must improve-,Ron Artest- possibly the Houston Rockets´s player is one of the pleasant surprises of the season and we do not refer to his excellent level ( the number of the 29 year´s old´s forward are 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists), since we want to remark his behaviour on the court, since it seems that he want to stop his bad reputation to be a polite player and of course it is very good in order to get a good salary next season(his current salary is 7,400,000$) - Shawn Marion (Miami Heat)-this 30 year´s old forward is not playing well and it is seems that he has a passive attitude and of course the Miami´s fans and GM want more than his 12.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, because he has a big and important salary(17,810,000 $)and of course if he continues with this play, perhaps Miami Heat should forget this player and use this salary to acquire a good center to complement Dwyane Wade(if Miami want that the Wade´s continuity after 2010, it must acquire a good center) and promising rookie Michael Beasley-, Quentin Richardson(New-York Knicks)-he is a good player with only 28 year´s old and with numbers of 12 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and his current salary: 8,685,500$- Hedo Turkoglu (Orlando Magic)-we knew his tremendous quality in Europe and now, with 29 year´s old and in full maturity, we can say that he has "exploited" as an NBA player and he is becoming an important player in the league, as his numbers say: 16.7 points (although we think that he must improve his %FG this year, since he has the adequate quality), 5.1 rebounds and 4, 1 assists and his current salary: 6,864,200$, which will be increased from next season and he will earn around 10-12 million $ per year as minimum. We'll see if he continues at Orlando, which would be his best option, because playing alongside a dominant center as Dwight Howard is always a guarantee for a shooter, because he knows that he can shoot with calmness, knowing that if he mistakes the shoot, the rebound will have an owner, Howard.

In addition we will pay attention to the future of the correct players as Anthony Parker(Toronto Raptors)-33 year´s old, 10.6 points, 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists, current salary: 4,550,000 $ (we do not believe that he move to another team and his salary more or less will be similar to this season)- and the shooter Kyle Korver (Utah Jazz) –he is 27 year´s old with 7.3 points this season and a salary of 4,956,818 $- and the future of one of the positive surprises of this season, Matt Barnes (Phoenix Suns), since this 28 year´s old´s forward is playing very well, meriting a big contract next season, since his numbers(12 points with 47 FG%, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists)merit something more than his current salary of 797,581 $-. So, he is a good player and we think that Phoenix Suns would recompense his season, offering a new contract, as to Grant Hill, whose contract with Suns also finishes this summer and although he is already 36 year´s old and he has suffered many injuries throughout his career and certainly he is not in his best moment, he keeps his tremendous quality and he can play well 20 minutes per game and for example his numbers are this season: 9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game and he has current salary of 1,976,400$.

CENTER-POWER FORWARD

In this position, the focus will be on what will happen with the Utah Jazz´s player and what will happens with Lakers´s player, Lamar Odom.

Firstly, in relation to the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan can have a big problem next season if Salt Lake City´s team can not keep the 2 essential player in the Utah´s “paint”, Carlos Boozer-he is 27 year´s old and his numbers are 20.5 points(55 FG%), 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists and a current salary of 11593817 $- and Mehmet Okur-he is 29 year´s old and his numbers are 15.9 points (54 FG%), 6.2 rebounds and 1, 7 assistances, and with a current salary of 8,500,000$ - because it is very difficult to find these kind of players: hard, aggressive, with quality and determinant –Okur scored many times the decisive last shot of the game-, so it is not an easy task to replace these player and therefore the , the Energy Solutions Arena´ GM must find a good solution to please the loyal Jazz´s fans-buy the way the Energy Solutions Arena is one the most difficult and complicated arena in the NBA-who want only to see next year these 2 excellent at Utah-we think that the Boozer´s salary should be around 15-17 million $ and Okur´s salary around 12 million$- .
On the other hand, the other important player is Lamar Odom, who will decide whether to continue accepting his new Lakers´s role, because this year with the Bynum´s return, Odom does not play in the starting line up and of course he does not like this situation, since he thinks that his age-29 year´old- and his quality-he plays less minutes this season, but his numbers are good: 10.5 points (53 FG%), 5.8 rebounds and 2 assists-. He must decide if he wants to continue with this role in an important team or if he prefers to be a determinant player in a medium team. He has the last word and although we believe that his continuity would be good for the Lakers, we must also bear in mind that his departure would mean that the Lakers could spend the Odom´s big salary ( 14,148,596 $) in a player with more projection, and future.

In addition we will see the movements of other important players and we will if some of them arrive to Miami Heat, which could be the destination of Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers)-he is 33 year´s old (maybe it is his big problem), 14.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 85 FT% and a current salary:10,841, 615 $-the controversial and hard Rasheed Wallace (Detroit Pistons)-he is 34 year´s old, 13.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, salary: 13,930,000 $(much level !!)-, Drew Gooden (Chicago Bulls)-good player, he is 27 year´s old and his numbers this season are 13 points, 8.7 rebounds and his current salary is 7,151,183$-,Eddy Curry (New York Knicks)-he is 25 year´s old, 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds during his career-Jermaine O'Neal ( Toronto Raptors)- he is 30 year´s old, 12 4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 82 FT% and a current salary: 21,372,000 $(he would be a good asset for Miami); finally we will indicate that alongside these big names, the teams may also find profiles of players with less name and cheaper, although of course being very professional in the commended task. Players with this profile are Zaza Pachulia (Atlanta Hawks)-he is 24 year´s old and his current numbers are 5 points and 6 rebounds, current salary:4,000,000 $- the hard Anderson Varejao (Cleveland Cavaliers) –he is 26 year´s old and his currents numbers are 8 points and 6 rebounds; current salary: 5,784,480$- or Rasho Nesterovic (Indiana Pacers)-he is 32 year´s old and he can offer a lot of experience and he is a synonym of professional player, since for example this year his numbers are 10, 4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 85% in FT; current salary:8,400,000$ -.

We'll see the future of all of them,

Other recent article about NBA:

NBA: GOOD GAME AT BOSTON GARDEN (article available in English and Español)

NBA:SPAIN AND ROOKIES (This article is available in English and Español)

Cheers,

J&F

NBA: FREE AGENTS 2009 (article in English and Español)

El protagonista en los últimos días en la NBA está claro que está siendo los New York Knicks, pues el equipo del Madison parece que ha decido olvidarse del rendimiento tanto de está como de la próxima temporada y esperan como agua de mayo el año 2010 con la más que posible llegada de Lebron James a la Gran Manzana junto a otros grandes nombres como el de la superestrella de Toronto Raptors Chris Bosh o el grandísimo base Steve Nash-los 3 jugadores terminarán sus respectivos contratos en dicho año-. Evidentemente habrá que esperar estos 2 años para ver si se confirman o no estas operaciones, pero está claro que los tiros van por ahí, porque sino es muy difícil explicar como un equipo se deshace de un plumazo de sus 2 mejores anotadores esta temporada-el base Jamal Crawford de 28 años (salario de 8.640.000 $) que está promediando 19 puntos por partido y el controvertido Zach Randolph de 27 años (salario de 14.666.667 $) que está consiguiendo 19 puntos y 11 rebotes por partido- a cambio de Tim Thomas de 31 años (salario de 6.049.400 $ y 10 puntos de media esta temporada), Cuttino Mobley de 33 años!! (salario de 8.925.00 $ y 14 puntos de media)-ambos terminan contrato en 2010-y Al Harrington de 28 años (salario de 9.226.250 $ y 14.3 puntos de media)-en sus primeros 3 partidos con los Knicks nos ha mostrado un 14-44 en tiros de campo….a ver si afina un poco la puntería).
En fin, habrá tiempo más que de sobra para hablar de Lebron James, de los Nicks y de los jugadores importantísimos-Joe Johnson de Atlanta Hawks (23.4 puntos de media), Paul Pierce de los Boston Celtics (19 puntos por partido), Tracy McGrady de Houston Rockets (15 puntos de media), Yao Ming de Houston Rockets (18 puntos y 9,7 rebotes por partido), Dirk Nowitzki ( 24, 6 puntos por partido) Dwyane Wade de Miami Heat (27,4 puntos por partido), Richard Jefferson de Milwaukee Bucks (18,8 puntos por partido), Michael Redd de Milwaukee Bucks( 21 puntos de media), Amare Stoudemire de Phoenix Suns (22 puntos y 8 rebotes por partido) o Manu Ginobili de Sant Antonio Spurs- que quedarán libres en el 2010 y que podrían recalar en el Madison. Pero como decimos para ver estos movimientos aún queda bastante y antes los equipos van a tener una magnifica oportunidad de fortalecer sus plantillas con los jugadores que quedan libres este próximo verano 2009 y que en este artículo trataremos de hacer un pequeño análisis.

BASES

Está claro que hay equipos que necesitan fichar un jugador para esta posición para poder ser realmente competitivos en la competición, pues por ejemplo Los Angeles Lakers creemos que debería reforzar esta posición pues Derek Fisher es ya un jugador veterano-34 años- y no puede aguantar toda la competición al 100% y el otro base del equipo Jordan Farmar es demasiado joven e impulsivo para poder ser el creador de juego de un equipo ganador-es cierto que este año esta mejorando en cuanto a sus prestaciones y que además no cobra mucho(1,080,000$)-.En parecidas situaciones se encuentran equipos como los Phoenix Suns-si se lesiona el gran Steve Nash, el equipo de Arizona no tiene nada solvente en esta posición, pues el recién llegado Goran Dragic está siendo un fiasco(posiblemente era lo esperado porque en Europa sólo ha jugado un año más o menos bueno)-, Toronto Raptors-tras la salida este verano de TJ Ford, esta posición está un poco coja y si bien José Calderón tiene mucha calidad y está capacitado para ser el base titular, no podemos decir lo mismo de sus suplentes, ya que a Roko Ukic le pasa como a Dragic, pues sólo ha jugado una buena temporada en Lotttomatica Roma y el otro, Willie Solomon, no es un creador de juego, es un tirador que además tiene que cambiar totalmente el chip, pues en Europa era el líder del equipo en el que jugaba y ahora es un jugador más, con un rol muy secundario- o Portland Trail Blazers-este equipo puede ser uno de los equipos dominantes en los próximos años, porque el dúo Brandon Roy-Greg Oden puede hacer estragos, ahora bien para dar ese salto de calidad deberían fichar a un base, pues Steve Blake es un tirador y no un creador de juego y Sergio Rodríguez no tiene la confianza de Nate McMillan y su futuro en Portland es incierto e incluso no es descartable que en las próximas semanas se produzca su traspaso(parece sospechoso que justo fue decir el agente de Sergio que querían el traspaso, que Nate le diese más minutos de juego, ¿quizás para que el resto de equipos lo vean y puedan estar interesados en su fichaje?)-.

Pues bien, a estos equipos les podría interesar algunos de estos jugadores: Si tienen dinero suficiente y buscan un jugador total, es decir, que dirija, anote, asista y rebotee, la opción es clara, Jason Kidd de Dallas Mavericks, que pese a sus 35 años, este año sigue promediando 10,2 puntos, 8,4 asistencia, 7,4 rebotes y 2,5 robos de balón-su problema es el salario, pues actualmente cobra 21,372,000 $, aunque creemos que lo bajará sustancialmente-. Si lo que buscan es un perfil de gran jugador, con mucho nombre en la liga y que sea sobre todo un anotador, pues tienen donde elegir, ya que en la lista vemos nombres como el de Allen Iverson-jugador de Detroit Pistons,33 años, 18,5 puntos, 5,7 asistencias, 3,4 rebotes y con un salario actual de 20,840,625$(quién no quiere a “The Answer”?)-, Mike Bibby-base de Atlanta Hawks,30 años, 15 puntos y 4,6 asistencias, 1,4 recuperaciones y 1,4 perdidas por partido y con un salario actual de 14,983,603$-, Ben Gordon-base de Chicago Bulls, 25 años, 20 puntos de media, 3,7 asistencias y 2,38 perdidas y con un salario actual de 6,404, 750, que evidentemente se verá incrementado y como mínimo pasará a cobrar entorno a los 10-12 millones anuales-, Jamal Crawford-base de Golden State Warriors, 28 años,19 puntos, 4,7 asistencias, salario actual de 8,640,000$-.
Ahora bien, si se decantan por un jugador más creador de juego, que lo que primero le interese es el rendimiento del equipo, pues deberían hacerse con un buen base como Andre Miller de Philadelphia 76ers-32 años, pero él sigue con su gran nivel y este año está promediando de 14 puntos, 5,8 asistencias, 3,5 rebotes, con un salario actual de 10, 333,334$-, o con un base con un perfil y salario más bajo pero no por ello de poca calidad como Anthony Carter de Denver Nuggets-33 años, 6,7 puntos, 4,8 asistencias, 3 rebotes y 1,4 robos de balón y un salario actual de 797,581$- Travis Diener de Indiana Pacers- 26 años, este año tiene problemas con las lesiones pero es un jugador que siempre nos ha gustado(ya en su etapa en Orlando Magic) y puede ser un buen complemento para cualquier equipo; su salario actual es de 1,620,000$- o el experimentado Eddie House de Boston Celtics( 30 años y un salario actual 2,650,000$) o Damon Jones de Milwaukee Bucks- 32 años, buen triplista 41%, 6,5 puntos y 1,9 asistencias en 20 minutos, salario actual 4,460,186$-. Junto a estas opciones fiables, el mercado de agentes libres presenta otros jugadores cuyo rendimiento puede ser una incógnita, ya que se trata de jugadores que tienen mucho nombre pero que parece que sus mejores años ya han pasado y que ya no están muy motivados para rendir, teniendo ya la vida solucionada. Ahora bien, si hay algún valiente que se la quiere jugar, pues que fiche o a Steve Francis de Houston Rockets- 31 años y está muy lejos de lo que fue, pues ahora sólo aporta 5 puntos y 3 asistencias en 20 minutos de juego, con un salario actual de 2,634,480$-o al controvertido Stephon Marbury de los New York Knicks-el base de 31 años y un salario de 20,840,625 $ ha decido que no va a jugar más con los Knicks por desavenencias con el entrenador Mike D´Antoni….veremos cual es el destino de este jugador que en otro tiempo fue un jugadorazo(no hace mucho que él se autoproclamó el mejor base del mundo), pues ha promediado en 12 años en la NBA 20 puntos, 8 asistencias y 3 rebotes-,o a Ricky Davis de Los Angeles Clippers, 29 años, y evidentemente está lejos de su mejor nivel pero si consigue mejorar sus prestaciones puede ser válido para cualquier equipo, en su carrera tiene unas medias de 14,1 puntos y 3, 4 asistencias y en la actualidad tiene un salario de 2,300,000.

ALEROS

Evidentemente en esta posición hay un gran protagonista, Kobe Bryant de Los Angeles Lakers, que a sus 30 años sigue maravillando, siendo posiblemente el mejor jugador de la liga-esta temporada está promediando 23,7 puntos, 3,9 asistencias y 5 rebotes y tiene un salario de 21,262,500$- y sinceramente creemos que su equipo deben ser los Lakers, porque es un gran equipo, serio aspirante a ser el campeón, no sólo esta temporada sino durante los 3-4 años gracias al gran juego interior formado por Pau Gasol y Andrew Bynum-quizás el equipo angelino debería prescindir de jugadores como Chris Mihm(salario de 2,500,000$), DJ Mbenga (salario de 880,658$), Yue Sun(salario de 442,114$), que no aportan casi nada y fichar con ese dinero a un buen complemento para el dúo Pau-Bynum-. Además los Lakers es un equipo hecho a la medida de Kobe, pues él es el líder y nadie se lo discute, con lo que no hay en ningún caso problemas de egos que siempre pueden generar tensión y mal ambiente dentro de una plantilla, así que creemos que no debe haber ninguna razón para ver una salida por parte de Kobe de los Lakers, que también deberían hacer un esfuerzo con Trevor Ariza, que también termina contrato esta temporada y que realmente está jugando muy bien, con intensidad, concentración y calidad –esta temporada está promediando 9,2 puntos, 5,5 rebotes, 2,4 asistencias y 1,92 robos, con un salario actual de 3,100,000$- demostrando que a sus 23 años es un jugador de presente y con mucho futuro y que debe ser premiado con un buen contrato-como mínimo debería estar entorno a los 6-8 millones $ anuales-.
Junto a los jugadores de los Lakers, también deberemos prestar atención al futuro de clásicos de la NBA como Wally Szczerbiak de Cleveland Cavaliers-no sé si es que está muy escondido o acomplejado jugando junto a Lebron James, pero la verdad es con 31 años hay que pedirle mucho más que los 7,6 puntos y 2 rebotes de esta temporada. En fin, unos pobres números que no justifican su salario de 13,775,000$ y parece claro que el año que viene el equipo que lo quiera, le ofrecerá menos dinero- Ron Artest de Houston Rockets-posiblemente es una de las sorpresas gratas de la temporada y no nos referiremos a su excelente nivel(pues el jugador de 29 años está promediando 14,8 puntos, 6,2 rebotes, 3,1 asistencias), sino a su comportamiento en la pista, pues parece que por fin ha asentado la cabeza y ya no quiere ser más un jugador polémico, con lo que su cotización está subiendo y debería el próximo año conseguir un salario superior al de esta temporada que es de 7,400,000$-, Shawn Marion de Miami Heats- a sus 30 años, lo vemos un poco pasota y sus números son malos, pues a un jugador de su nivel y salario (17,810,000$) hay que exigirle algo más que 12,4 puntos y 8,8 rebotes, con lo que si sigue en esta línea, quizás los Heat deberían olvidarse de él y utilizar ese salario para conseguir un pívot de garantías que complemente a Dwyane Wade-y así convencerle para que en el año 2010 no se quiera ir de Miami- y al prometedor rookie Michael Beasley-, Quentin Richardson de New York Nicks- 28 años, 12 puntos y 5,7 rebotes por partido, y un salario actual de 8,685,500$- Hedo Turkoglu de Orlando Magics-en Europa conocíamos de sobra su tremenda calidad y ahora a sus 29 años está en plena madurez y podemos decir que por fin ha “explotado” como jugador NBA y se está convirtiendo en un jugador importante de la liga, sus números lo dicen todo:16,7 puntos-este año tiene que mejorar en los porcentajes un poco-, 5,1 rebotes y 4,1 asistencias y un salario actual: 6,864,200$, que creemos que se verá incrementado a partir de la próxima temporada y debería moverse alrededor de los 10-12 millones $ anuales como mínimo. Veremos si sigue en Orlando que para nosotros es su mejor opción, pues jugar junto a un pivot tan dominante como Dwight Howard es siempre una garantía para un tirador, ya que sabe que si falla el tiro, el rebote de Howard es casi seguro-. Además prestaremos atención al futuro de los siempre cumplidores Anthony Parker de los Toronto Raptors-33 años, 10,6 puntos, 3 rebotes y 2,3 asistencias, salario actual de 4,550,000$(no creemos que cambie de equipo y su salario debe ser similar al actual) y Kyle Korver –tirador de Utah Jazz de 27 años con 7,3 puntos esta temporada y un salario de 4,956,818- y de lo que ocurra con una de las sorpresas positivas esta temporada, Matt Barnes de Phoenix Suns, que a sus 28 años está jugando a un gran nivel, llamando a las puertas de un gran contrato la próxima temporada pues sus 12 puntos-47% en tiros de campo-, 5,4 rebotes y 2,4 asistencias le hacen acreedor de algo más que sus actuales 797,581$.En fin es un jugador muy a seguir esta temporada y creemos que Phoenix Suns haría bien si lo conserva en su plantilla y le ofrece un buen contrato-por cierto que el equipo de Arizona también tendrá encima de la mesa otra renovación este verano, la de Grant Hill, que aunque ya tiene 36 años y que ha sufrido múltiples lesiones a lo largo de su carrera y que por supuesto sus mejores años lógicamente ya han pasado, la clase la sigue teniendo para rendir a la perfección unos 20 minutos por partido y este año está con sus 9 puntos, 4,3 rebotes y 1,4 asistencias por partido y un salario actual de 1,976,400$, con lo que creemos que también debería continuar en Phoenix-.

PIVOTS

En esta posición, la atención se centrará en lo que ocurra con los Utah Jazz y en lo que acontezca con el jugador de los Lakers, Lamar Odom.
En primer lugar, con relación a los Utah Jazz, decir que Jerry Sloan puede tener un gran problema la próxima temporada como el equipo de Salt Lake City no consiga conservar a su pareja en el juego interior Carlos Boozer- 27 años, 20.5 puntos-55% tiros de campo-,11,7 rebotes y 2,7 asistencias y un salario actual de 11,593,817$- y Mehmet Okur- 29 años, 15,9 puntos-54%tiros de campo-, 6,2 rebotes y 1, 7 asistencias, y con un salario actual de 8,500,000$-, porque encontrar dos jugadores de este nivel: correosos, duros, agresivos, con calidad y tan determinantes-cuántas veces hemos visto como Okur decidía un partido con un triple en el último segundo!- no es tarea fácil, con lo que en el Energy Solutions Arena-por cierto, qué afición tiene los Jazz! es una de las pistas más complicadas de la NBA-se tienen que poner las pilas y conseguirlo, ofreciendo un salario acorde al nivel de estos 2 jugadores-Boozer no debería estar por debajo de los 15 millones $ y Okur como mínimo 12 millones $-.
Por otro lado, el otro protagonista será Lamar Odom, quien decidirá si acepta seguir con su nuevo rol dentro de los Lakers, pues este año con el regreso de Bynum, se ha convertido en el 6º hombre del equipo, lo cual parece que no acaba de convencerle y piensa que su edad-29 años- y su calidad-este año, pese a jugar menos minutos, está consiguiendo10,5 puntos, 5,8 rebotes y 2 asistencias y por encima del 50% en tiros de campo-merecen algo más. Es el que tiene que sopesar qué es lo que le conviene si seguir con este rol en un equipo ganador o si ser un jugador determinante en un equipo medio. Él decide, y si bien creemos que sería bueno para los Lakers la continuidad de Odom, también hay que tener en cuenta que su salida conllevaría que los Lakers pudieran dedicar los 14,148,596 $ del salario de Odom en un jugador con mucha más proyección, futuro y hambre deportiva.
Además veremos los movimientos de otros jugadores importantes y comprobaremos si alguno de ellos llega a unos necesitados Miami Heat, que podría estar más que interesados en jugadores como Drew Gooden de Chicago Bulls-buen jugador de 27 años, que está promediando 13 puntos, 8,7 rebotes, con un salario actual de 7,151,183$-, el veterano Zydrunas Ilgauskas de Cleveland Cavaliers- 33 años(quizás su gran problema), 14,7 puntos, 7,1 rebotes, 1,2 tapones , 85% en tiros libres y un salario actual de 10,841, 615 $-, Rasheed Wallace de Detroit Pistons- 34 años, 13,4 puntos , 9.2 rebotes y 1,7 tapones, salario de 13,930,000$(mucho nivel!!)-, Eddy Curry de los New York Nicks- 25 años, 13,5 puntos, 5,4 rebotes de media durante su carrera-, Jermaine O´Neal de Toronto Raptors-30 años, 12,4 puntos, 8,8 rebotes, 1,4 tapones,82% en tiros libres y un salario actual de 21,372,000(un poco elevado, la verdad, pero sería un buen elemento para Miami); Finalmente indicar que junto a estos grandes nombres, los equipos también podrán encontrar perfiles de jugadores con menos solera y más baratos pero muy profesionales y cumplidores con las labores encomendadas, son los casos de Zaza Pachulia de Atlanta Hawks- 24 años, 5 puntos y 6 rebotes, salario actual de 4,000,000 $-, el rocoso Anderson Varejao de Cleveland Cavaliers -26 años, 8 puntos y 6 rebotes, salario actual 5,784,480- o Rasho Nesterovic de Indiana Pacers- 32 años, mucha experiencia y siempre es cumplidor y de hecho este año está en 10, 4 puntos, 6,2 rebotes, 1,2 tapones, 85% en tiros libres, salario actual de 8,400,000$-.
Veremos el futuro de todos ellos,
Cheers,
J&F

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: A DECISIVE TUESDAY (article available in English and Españo)

This Tuesday the Champions League returns with some decisive games in order to see the future of many teams in this competition. Possibly the "hottest" group is the group G, because in it all the teams still have chances to play the next round of the competition and therefore we will see tense games at the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal FC-FC Dynamo Kiev), and at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (Fenerbahçe SK-FC Porto) -at the moment the Group G is: 1-Arsenal 8 points, 2-FC Porto 6 points, 3 - FC Dynamo Kiev 4 points;-Fenerbahçe 2 points-.

If there is a completely unpredictable team at this moment, this is the Arsenal of Arsene Wenger, because it is not in its best time, since the squad continues with its problem with the injuries(we must include one more name in the list of injured players- Kolo Toure, Emmanuel , Eboue, Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo-,since the striker Theo Walcott will be out during the next 10 weeks) and besides it is “suffering” another problem, since the gunner captain William Gallas criticized the attitude and mentality of the rest of the squad, saying that they are not winner players and it will be very difficult to win a title this season(perhaps it was not correct to say this thing in the media but we agree with Gallas, because it is not understandable that these players have already lost 5 and drawn 2 Premier League´s games with 18 goals received ). Obviously these statements do not like to the rest of the squad, who are going to have a wonderful opportunity to contradict Gallas this Tuesday if they can win the determinant game against Dynamo, since if Arsenal win the game it will make sure the qualify to the next round, but if Gallas is right and they lose, be careful, because Arsenal will decide its future in the last day at the complicated stadium do Dragao in Porto. The truth is that Arsenal's game will not be easy because the Dynamo of Yuri Semin is a very solid team with good players in all their lines as the promising goalkeeper Stanislav Bogush-he arrived this season to replace the veteran and irregular Alexander Shovkovsky- or as the defensive players Badr Kaddouri-7 seasons in Dynamo- Betao and the Senegalese central defender Pape Milikou Diakhaté, or the good midfielder Tiberiu Ghioane-he is an essential player for the team, he is always in the correct place-or the destabilizing Aleksandr Aliev- excellent for the free-kick, he has a great shot!!-and the good strikers of the team: Ismael Bangoura (11 goals in 15 league´s games)-quality, speed, skill, in the correct place to score ... he is a very good striker and he can be a real threat to the Arseanl´s defence if he can play with spaces-and the young and powerful Artem Milevski (7 goals in 12 league´s games)- it seems that this year he is already beginning to show the level that he presupposed when he was young, but of course in any case he will be the new Sheva as some media said some years ago-.So, it is a good team and besides it is getting good results when it plays away from the Valeriy Lobanovskyy Stadium, since it has only suffered one league defeat- it was in the game played against Shakhtar Donezk- and in the Champions League it is unbeaten, since it drew the game played at Istanbul and it won the game played at Porto, so FC Arsenal must play at 100% to get a good result and to guarantee the qualify.

But if the game at the Emirates Stadium is uncertain, what can we say about the game between Fenerbahçe SK and FC Porto at Istanbul. We can say that it is a real final for both teams and especially for the Luis Aragones's team, because if Fenerbahçe wants to keep some options to play the next round of the Champions League, there is only a result, the victory. Obviously the game will be difficult and very tactical and we can not opt for favourite team for the victory, although maybe Fenerbahçe has more chance to win it, because the Istanbul´s team is its best moment of the season- which does not want to say much-, since it has not lost a game since October, 21 when it lost the game played against Arsenal FC and in the Turkish Süper Lig its last defeat was on the 5 of October, when it suffered a humiliating defeat in a game played at home against Kayserispor (1-4)-. Moreover, the team is showing strength bit by bit in the defensive line-it has received only one goal in the last 4 game played, including the game against Arsenal FC- and we are not watching those incredible mistakes of the first games of the season-although there are always a silly details like for example the absurd action of Volkan Demirel last Saturday when he gave absurdly a corner to MKE Ankaragücü-.Besides Luis Aragones can count at last with all his players after the latest recoveries of the key players of the team, Alex and Emre. So, there should be no excuses and Fenerbahçe, helped by the incredible fans, should win the tonight´s game that it will play against a team with a very irregular behaviour when it play away from the Dragao Stadiuma(for example in the Portuguese Super League, FC Porto has only been able to win a match- although we must be emphasized that it was an important victory in a difficult game, since it was in the game played against its eternal rival, Sporting Lisbon- and for example in the Champions league, FC Porto was humiliated by Arsenal -4-0-) and besides Jesualdo Ferreira will have an important trouble for the tonight´s game, because the best player of the team , the Argentine elegant and determinant midfielder, Lucho Gonzalez, is punished and he will not play this game and therefore the other team's star, the striker Lisandro Lopez-he is not showing his last year´s season, when he played very well- will be alone to attack with guarantees and so it will be a great opportunity for Fenerbahçe to arrive to the last day with many options to play the next round.

Finally, we will also pay attention to the game at the Madrigal Stadium between Villarrael FC and Manchester United-they will decide which team finishes as the first of the group- and the game at Florence between Fiorentina and Olympique Lyon-it is last option to Fiore to have an option to play the next round (Olympique Lyon and Bayern Munich have 8 points and Fiore only 3 points).

Enjoy.

Cheers,
J&F

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: UN MARTES DECISIVO (article available in English and Español)

Este martes vuelve la Champions con una serie de partidos que serán decisivos para definir los distintos equipos clasificados para la siguiente fase. Posiblemente el grupo más “caliente” es el G pues en él todos los equipos tienen aún posibilidades de clasificarse, con lo que sin duda la tensión será máxima en el Emirates Stadium -FC Arsenal-FC Dynamo de Kiev- y en el Sükrü Saracoglu Srac -Fenerbahçe SK- FC Porto-(en estos momentos el grupo g está de esta manera: 1-Arsenal 8 puntos;2-FC Porto 6 puntos;3- FC Dynamo Kiev 4 puntos; Fenerbahçe 2 puntos-)

Si hay un equipo totalmente impredecible en este momento con relación a las prestaciones que nos va a mostrar en un partido, éste es el Arsenal de Wenger que la verdad es que no está pasando por su mejor momento, pues a la plaga de lesiones importantes que sigue azotando a la plantilla “gunnerS”(a las conocidas bajas de Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Eboué, Tomás Rosicky y Eduardo, hay que añadir un nuevo nombre, Theo Walcott, que estará unas 10 semanas de baja) y hay que añadirle las explosivas declaraciones de su capitán William Gallas, que cargó contra sus compañeros, diciendo que el equipo no era lo suficientemente competitivo para poder aspirar a ganar algo esta temporada y que les faltaba mentalidad ganadora(quizás decirlo en publico no estuvo bien, pero en el fondo Gallas tiene razón porque no es comprensible que el Arsenal a estas alturas de competición ya haya perdido 5 partidos y empatado 2 de 14 jugados en la Premier League, habiendo recibido ya la friolera de 18 goles). Evidentemente estas declaraciones no gustaron al resto de integrantes del vestuario, quienes van a tener una magnifica oportunidad de llevarle la contraria a Gallas este martes en el trascendental partido contra el Dynamo, pues el Arsenal que ahora tiene 8 puntos certificaría la clasificación si gana este partido, pero como lo pierda, mucho cuidado, porque el Dynamo conseguiría llegar a los 7 puntos y todo quedaría a expensas de la última jornada en la que el Arsenal se lo jugaría todo en el complicado campo Do Dragao de Porto.
La cierto es que el partido del Arsenal no va a ser sencillo pues el Dynamo de Yuri Semin es un equipo bastante sólido con buenos jugadores en todas sus líneas como el prometedor portero Stanislav Bogush que ha llegado para sustituir al irregular veterano Aleksandr Shovkovsky o como los jugadores defensivos Badr El Kaddouri-7 temporadas en el Dynamo-, Betao y el central senegalés Pape Milikou Diakhaté, o los medio campistas Tiberiu Ghioane-el jugador que equilibra el juego del Dynamo- el desequilibrante Aleksandr Aliev-gran lanzador de faltas- y por supuesto la interesante dupla atacante formada Ismael Bangoura (11 goles en 15 partidos de liga)-calidad, olfato goleador, velocidad, habilidad…muy buen delantero y que puede un auténtica amenaza como la defensa del Arsenal le deje espacios- y el joven y poderoso Artem Milevski (7 goles en 12 partidos)-este año parece que ya está empezando a mostrar el nivel que se le presuponía, aunque en ningún caso va a ser el nuevo Sheva, como se llegó a decir sobre él-. En fin buenos jugadores que fuera del Valeriy Lobanovskyy Stadium están consiguiendo muy buenos resultados, pues en liga sólo han sufrido una derrota –en campo del Shakhtar Donezk- y en la Champions están imbatidos-empate en Estambul y victoria en Porto-, así que el FC Arsenal debe jugar al 100% si quiere conseguir un buen resultado y no complicarse la vida

Pero si el partido en el Emirates Stadium es incierto, qué podemos decir del que jugarán el Fenerbahçe SK y el FC Porto en Estambul. Podemos decir que es una auténtica final para ambos equipos y sobre todo para el equipo de Luís Aragonés, pues si quiere mantener alguna opción de clasificarse sólo le vale un resultado, la victoria.
Evidentemente el partido va a ser difícil y muy táctico y sin que podamos decantarnos por un equipo como favorito para el triunfo, aunque presenta más números para conseguirlo el Fenerbahçe, pues llega a este partido en su mejor momento de la temporada-lo cual tampoco quiere decir mucho-, ya que no pierde un partido desde el 21 de octubre en el campo del FC Arsenal-en la Süper Lig turca no pierde desde el 5 de octubre cuando sufrió una humillante derrota en casa ante el Kayserispor(1-4)- y el equipo poco a poco está mostrando solidez defensiva-en sus últimos 4 partidos disputados, incluido el partido contra el FC Arsenal, sólo ha recibido un gol-y ya no se ven aquellos errores infantiles que veíamos a principio de temporada-aunque siempre hay un detalle tonto como por ejemplo el de Volkan Demirel el pasado sábado en campo del MKE Ankaragücü que regaló un corner absurdamente-. Además Luís Aragonés puede contar por fin con todos sus jugadores tras las últimas recuperaciones de jugadores importantes como Alex o Emre, con lo que no debe haber excusas y ayudados por el calor de la caliente afición de Estambul deberían ganar a un FC Porto que fuera de su campo está mostrando un comportamiento muy irregular( pues por ejemplo en la Super Liga portuguesa sólo ha sido capaz de ganar un partido-aunque hay que remarcar que fue en el campo del Sporting de Lisboa- y en la Champions fue vapuleado en campo del Arsenal(4-0) y además el equipo de Jesualdo Ferreira jugará este partido trascendental sin su mejor jugador, la estrella del equipo, el elegante y determinante medio argentino Lucho González que está sancionado y no va a poder estar en este partido, con lo que la otra estrella del equipo, el delantero Lisandro López-que este año no está para nada mostrando el nivel del año anterior-, estará muy sola, así que gran ocasión para el Fenerbahçe para meterse de lleno en la lucha por la clasificación para la siguiente fase.

Finalmente reseñar que también habrá que estar atentos al partido del Madrigal donde el Villarrael CF y el Manchester United decidirán que equipo termina como primero de grupo y al partido del Fiorentina-Olympique Lyon donde el equipo italiano se juega su última oportunidad de poder tener alguna opción de clasificación (el Olympique Lyon y el Bayern Munich tienen 8 puntos y la Fiore sólo 3).
A disfrutar.
Cheers,
J&F

THE ITALIAN DERBY (This article is in English and Españo)

After the friendly games of the national teams last Wednesday, the National Leagues return with a big game next Saturday at 20.30 c.e.t at San Siro, the Italian derby between Inter Milan and Juventus of Turin. After 2 years in which Juventus has suffered the effects of the "Moggigate", finally this classical game returns to what was usual, with both teams showing a good level and fighting for the top position of the Italian standing, since Inter is the leader of the Scudetto with 27 points and Juventus is in the third position with 24 points. So, it presents a thrilling derby between 2 teams whose level is perfect at this moment.

On the one hand, Inter Milan arrives to this game being the Italian team with the best goal average(it is the second Serie A´s top scorer team with 19 goals-only 2 goals unless than SS Lazio of the magnificent duo Zarate-Pandev- and it is the Italian team with less goals received-only 7 goals in 12 games-) and it also arrives with good results in the Italian league: 8 wins, 3 draws and only 1 defeat-this defeat was painful, because Inter, although it finished the game with only 9 players(Marcos Materazzi and Nicolás Burdisso were sent off), played a bad game and besides it was a game against its eternal rival, AC Milan-.Anyway, we should point out that although the Inter's numbers are good -or very good-, the Interista fans and the Italian medias are not very happy with the José Mourinho´s job and inexplicably-for me-, they are criticizing many Mourinho´s aspects and especially the tactics used, since they think that an Italian team can not use the 4-3-3 and it is obligatory to play with 4 midfielders and they think that the Mancini´s Inter was better….In short, I suppose that in the following days we will heard that José Mourinho does not have any idea about football, since for example he was a simple Bobby Robson´s translator during his FC Barcelona´s period(this absurd argument is used sometimes by the Spanish medias when they speak about Mou) ... well, nonsense, because José Mourinho has amply demonstrated that he knows a lot about football, being a great strategist, with a winning mentality and being a great knowledgeable about both the different rivals and the potential of the players, who are in the Jose Mourinho´s squad-for example the best moment of players such as Carlos Alberto and Derlei was when they coincided with José Mourinho during their FC Porto´s period-. So, it is clear that if I had a football team, no doubt, Mou would be the coach and I would have full confidence in his decisions and if he decides to use the 4-3-3, it is because there is an important reason to use-anyway I did not heard any critic after the Inter´s recital at the Olympic of Roma when it humiliated AS Roma (0-4 ), I say this because Mourinho used in that game, the criticized 4-3-3 (Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba, Chivu, Zanetti; Cambiasso, Muntari, Stankovic; Quaresma, Obinna, Ibrahimovic) and of course AS Roma is an Italian team and it plays in Serie A, so it is false that the 4-3-3 does not serve for the Italian league-. If we set aside the controversy about Mou and we speak about this derby, we can say that the coach of Setubal almost can count on with his favourite team, since he has ready all the players except the suspended Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and the injured Luis Figo-he has not any presence in the team until this moment-, Luis Jimenez-he has played only 19 minutes this season against Sampdoria-, Cristian Chivu and Nelson Rivas. Therefore it is very likely that we will see a team with these player: the secure Julio Cesar as goalkeeper; 4 defenders: the fast and offensive Maicon as right back, the experienced and versatile Javier Zanetti as left back- perhaps this year is not to be too good for him and he is already beginning to suffer the consequences of his age (he is 35 year´s old and he has a professional career of 16 years with more than 500 games played!)-and two phenomenal and hard central defender: Marco Materazzi and Walter Samuel-ok, he did not play in Spain during his Real Madrid´s period, but he is a different player in Italy and he plays with a great confidence and level-; as midfielders, Mou will bet on very hard and experienced Esteban Cambiasso, Sulley Ali Muntari- he is very good! - Patrick Vieira and Dejan Stankovic; finally alongside the superb and decisive Zlatan Ibrahimovic, we will see if Mourinho opts for Amantino Mancini, Ricardo Quaresma –he has started horrible the season, playing without confidence…we will see if he improves, because if he continues with this line, we can have another Alberto Gilardino´s case-Gilardino only played well when he did not play at San Siro, since he could not endure the San Siro´s pressure during his AC Milan´s period-, Ricardo Cruz, who is always synonym of goal and opportunism or the talented Mario Balotelli-although his inclusion in the squad since the first minute of the game would be a surprise-.

On the other hand, Juventus of Turin arrived to the game in its best moment of the season, because it started October with poor results-it drew the games played Bate Borisov and Catania Calcio and it lost the games played against SCC Napoli and US Palermo-, but since the victory at Torino over Real Madrid in a Champions League´s game, it has obtained spectacular results with 7 consecutive victories- including the Bernabeu´s victory in the game played against that horrible Real Madrid of Drenthe-, being the main man a superb Alex Del Piero, who is living a second youth, since he is showing an incredible level and being a determinant player, scoring 5 goals in the last 6 games played- however, it is not surprised for me, because for example Del Piero scored 21 goals in 37 games played last season-. The truth is that this victorious period has merit because many Juve´s player are suffering injuries and for example Claudio Ranieri could not use during this last month players like: the superb goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who will not return until January, the unlucky Jorge Andrade-he has only been able to play 4 games since he arrived to Juventus from Deportivo la Coruña-, the French back Jonathan Zebina-he had an operation during this week and he is in a hospital-, Cristiano Zanetti, Christian Poulsen-he needs to rest some more days to be ready to play again-and the determinant French striker David Trezeguet. Moreover, Claudio Ranieri will have the absences of the Croatian central defender Dario Knezevic and the hard and competitive Bosnian midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic. So, this last Juve´s month is meritorious and it has been achieved thanks to the order and an excellent defensive work-it has only received 3 goals in the last 7 games played-, showing a great level players like the central defender Giorgio Chiellini, the left back Cristian Molinaro, the powerful and sacrificed-they are always in the correct place- Tiago and Momo Sissoko- the truth is that he has improved during the season, since he started very bad, showing a poor level, but now he is a different player, playing with a great confidence and he recalls a bit to Patrick Vieira-, the competitive Pavel Nevded or the “authentic killers”: Alex Del Piero and the powerful Amauri-excellent with head and how he protects the ball with his body! and of course he has goal since he has scored 8 goals between the Serie A and Champions League´s games (he scored all the goals in different games, which is very important), being on the bench players like the experienced striker Vincenzo Iaquinta and the incredible Sebastiano Giovinco (for me, the Claudio Ranieri´s Big Mistake of this season is the situation of Giovinco, since I can not understand why is this phenomenon on the bench? Why does he have any option to play a lot of minutes during the games? Since I think that this player has to play without discussion, because he has a lot of quality, ability, speed, vision of the game, he assists perfectly to the strikers ....So, I think it is a big sin to see him on the bench, where unfortunately he is often lately, since he did not start a game in the field since last October, the 5th and since this game ha has only played 58!! minutes with Juventus-if we do not count the miserable 3 minutes played on November, the 13th against FC Genoa, the "atomic ant" do not play since last October, the 29th during the FC Bologna-Juventus-. We hope that Ranieri change his opinion about Giovinco and he can have more minutes, because if this situation continues, the football´s fans could lose a future star, which would be a pity. In principle at San Siro, Claudio Ranieri will use a 4-4-2 :Alex Manninger as goalkeeper-he is showing a correct level and he is playing much better than I expected-; Grygera as the right back, Molinaro as left back, 2 central defenders: the mentioned Chiellini and the experienced Nicola Legrottaglie; 4 tough and competitive midfielders: Pavel Nevded, Mauro Camoranesi, Tiago and Momo Sissoko; and as strikers the lethal duo Del Piero and Amauri.

Anyway, so we will have a very open game and now it is time to enjoy it an of course the best and powerful team will win the match, we will see who will be.

Cheers,

J&F