THE FINAL OF RAMÓN CALDERÓN (article in English and Español)

Those who follow our blog know that we have criticized many times the decisions taken by the president of Real Madrid, Ramon Calderon, and especially his sportive´s decisions and promises-¿where are Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo or the excellence that he promised? the pathetic situation after the Huntelaar and Lass´s arrival, the continuity of the incompetent Mijatovic as football director, the Calderon´s public critics to the Real Madrid´s players, the negative of David Villa and Santi Cazola,the Vlade Divac´s situation-he had a good salary but he had not any functions- , the supposed big commission in some transfers, the departure of Michel as director of the youth Real Madrid´s players, etc..-

But obviously, these situations can be described as minutiae if we compare these facts with the latest news related with the scandal in the last Assembly of Real Madrid. Anyway, I must say that this scandal was foreseeable if we bear in mind the Calderon´s actions during these last 30 months, because he has always been related with controversy, which was reported by some medias and especially by the Spanish radio,Cadena Cope, whose sports´s director, Jose Antonio Abellán ,explained many times some Calderon´s irregularities-during the elections, with the Real Madrid´s subscriptions, with the sale of tickets for the games, abuse with credit cards, the Real Madrid´s job of the Calderón´s brother, the acquisition of different flats for his sons and daughters, etc-, which were signs that if we talk about Calderon, anything is possible and even the scandal during the last Assembly is a normal thing. I presume that more or less everybody knows what happened during these Assembly, but just in case, I remember that, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca, many people, who had not the right to vote in these Assembly, were in the Assembly and they voted and "accidentally" they voted for Ramon Calderon, who later, to justify what happened in the assembly, returned to lie and he swore on his honour ("I swear on my honour that neither I nor anyone of my “directives” have manipulated this assembly")- of course this sentence will be one of the famous phrases, and we can unite it to the famous sentence of the other controversial president, Joan Laporta: “que n 'aprenguin-something like “they learn from me” , que no los embauquen, and al loro!!-something like be careful because they want to mislead you- (obviously as FC Barcelona is making a good season, nobody is criticizing the labour of this man, who was beleaguered 5 months in a vote of confidence against his mismanagement) -.We say that Calderon returned to lie-he lied many times during these last 30 months- because the medias, Marca and Cadena Cope, are dismantle the theories of a conspiracy against the "poor" Calderon and they are showing photos where we can see members of the Calderon´s family with some persons who, without the right to vote, voted in that Assembly. Moreover Cadena Cope radio announced last Wednesday that it could speak about a very important person in this scandal, the young “Nanín”-he is a 25 year´s old man, very close to a Calderon´s daughter and whose contribution to the Calderon´s victory in the elections was very important and in fact his labour was remarked by Calderon when he won the elections (he said "I want to thank from here to Nacho and Nanín! This victory would have been impossible without them"-by the way, the other guy ,Nacho (Ignacio Horcajada), as Cadena Cope announced, has been dedicated to sell the sponsors´s tickets-these tickets should be free- , for example, his company earned1.832.80 EUR when he sold 4 tickets for the game against Bate Borisov) -.As I said before Nanín-he appears in the photo alongside a former Real Madrid´s directive, Melchor Miralle- spoke last Wednesday with a famous journalist Quique Guasch-he works in Cadena Cope Radio- and he dismantled the theory that Calderon did not know anything, because Nanín confirmed that he acted according the Calderon´s instructions and besides that the Ramón Calderón´s sister was in the Assembly and even she has not the right to vote, she voted…so Mr Calderon, stop giving more bad excuses and justifications and stop to damage this important Spanish sportive club and resign!!-although you said the resignation is synonym of cowardice(he wanted to criticized the former president Florentino Perez), it is the best thing that you can do and fortunately it seems that we will see your official resignation this afternoon ant 18.00 c.e.t (of course we must wait cause he is the “best” if we talk about the change of his opinion-yesterday he said that he resigned and later he-it seems that he received some pressure from some medias- decide to continue as the president…so we will see what will happen at 18.00
Cheers,

J&F

EL FIN DE CALDERÓN (article in English and Español)

Los que seguís nuestro blog sabéis que hemos sido muy críticos con las decisiones tomadas por el presidente del Real Madrid, Ramón Calderón, sobre todo en lo que se refería en la parcela deportivo-¿dónde esta Kaka, Cesc, Cristiano, la excelencia prometida?, la patética situación tras los fichajes de Huntelaar y Lass, el mantener en el cargo a un incompetente como Mijatovic, las críticas que públicamente Calderón dedicó en una Universidad a la plantilla, las funciones de Vlado Divac, supuesto engorde de las comisiones en los fichajes, el no de Villa y Cazorla,la marcha de Michel del fútbol base, etc-. Pero evidentemente estas situaciones pueden ser calificadas como minucias ante lo que hemos vivido en las últimas fechas con el escándalo en la última Asamblea del Real Madrid.
De todas formas, hay que decir que este escándalo es una crónica de una muerte anunciada, pues qué podíamos esperar de un personaje como Calderón que a lo largo de estos 2 años y medio siempre ha estado vinculado con situaciones controvertidas y que hemos conocido gracias en gran parte a la labor de distintos medios de comunicación y especialmente a la emisora de radio la Cadena Cope, cuyo director de deportes José Antonio Abellán nos ha contado noche tras noche multitud de irregularidades de este caballero-irregularidades en las elecciones, en el voto por correo, en los abonos, en la venta de entradas, uso abusivo de la tarjeta del Real Madrid, la "colocación" del hermano de Ramón como abogado del Real Madrid,que si los hijos de Calderón tenían pisos de protección oficial adjudicados de una manera poco legal, etc-, que hacían suponer que con Calderón cualquier cosa era y es posible, hasta incluso lo que aconteció en la última Asamblea. Supongo que más o menos todos conocéis lo que ocurrió en esa Asamblea, pero por si acaso hay algún despistado, decir que según destapó el diario Marca, en esa Asamblea acudieron muchas personas que no tenían derecho a votar, pues no eran socios compromisarios y que “casualmente” votaron a favor de Ramón Calderón, quien días después para justificar lo acontecido en la asamblea volvió a representar su papel favorito, el de Pinocho de Concha Espina-forma con la que José Antonio Abellán designa a Calderón- y nos volvió a mentir a todos y está vez además jurando por su honor (“Juro por mi honor que ni yo-Ramón Calderón-ni nadie de mi Junta hemos manipulado esta asamblea”) -esta frase ya va a quedar como una de las frases célebres y la podemos unir a las del otro controvertido presidente, Joan Laporta:" que n´ aprenguin, que no les embauquen, y al loro!!"(evidentemente como ahora el FC Barcelona va bien deportivamente, pues los medios están dejando tranquilo al hombre que fue vapuleado hace 5 meses en una moción de censura contra su gestión)-. Decimos que Calderón volvió a mentir porque las teorías que defienden algunos de que todo esto ha sido una conspiración contra el “pobre” Calderón y que Don Ramón no sabía nada de esto, se desmonta, además de con las múltiples fotos aparecidas en el diario Marca que vinculan a la familia Calderón con las personas que votaron sin tener derecho a hacerlo, sobre todo por las declaraciones de un personaje clave, “Nanín”-un chico de 25 años, muy amigo de luna de las hijas de Calderón y que cuya contribución fue clave para que Calderón ganase las elecciones o al menos ha sido lo dijo Calderón el día que gano ( alabó el trabajo de 2 “fenómenos, Nanín y Nacho” y dijo “Quiero dar las gracias desde aquí a Nacho y a Nanín! ¡Nada de esto habría sido posible sin ellos! -por cierto que el tal Nacho(Ignacio Horcajada),según denunció la Cadena Cope, se ha dedicado a revender entradas gratis destinadas a los patrocinadores y por ejemplo su empresa cobró 1832,80 euros por 4 entradas del partido contra el Bate Borisov)-. Pues bien, el tal Nanín-en la foto sale acompañado de ex directivo Melchor Miralles- el pasado miércoles desmontó la teoría de que Calderón no sabía nada cuando le comentó al colaborador de la Cadena Cope, el famoso periodista Quique Guasch, que él actuó a instancias de Calderón y que en esa Asamblea votó la hermana de Ramón Calderón y lo hizo, como no, sin tener derecho a voto, así que no nos venga el Sr Calderón con milongas y excusas de mal pagador y lo que tiene que hacer de una vez es marcharse y dejar tranquila a esta entidad del fútbol español, pero bueno como decimos habrá que esperar acontecimientos y hasta que Calderón no salga públicamente diciendo que se va y convoque nuevas elecciones, podemos esperar cualquier cosa de este personaje-ayer parece que presentó la dimisión por la tarde y luego se volvió atrás y decidió continuar en el cargo (parece que recibió fuertes presiones de algún grupo de comunicación para que no dimita por el momento, aunque parece que finalmente dimitará esta tarde a las 6 de la tarde, aunque si lo hace volverá a ser poco coherente, pues recordemos que dijo que sólo dimiten los cobardes-en alusión al antiguo presidente Florentino Perez- y que él no lo es y que no pensaba dimitir).
Contaremos lo que acontezca en este apasionante tema.
Cheers
J&F

NBA: DECISIVE DAYS FOR SERGIO RODRIGUEZ (article in English and Español)

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These days seem decisive to the future of Sergio Rodriguez in Portland Trail Blazers, because after the injury of Steve Blake-the habitual guard in the starting line up-, we will see once if the coach Nate McMillan trust or does not trust in the” Spanish Chocolate”. The truth is that Sergio is not having much luck in his NBA´s adventure, because until this moment he only showed off his tremendous value in concrete moments- an example was a game against Denver Nuggets a year ago where his numbers were: 23 points and 11 assists in 30 minutes-, but the truth is that he has not had many opportunities to play-in fact he is playing 14 minutes per game during this season-, because the conservative Nate McMillan dislikes the fast and imaginative Sergio´s play and he prefers players with a completely different style for the playmaker´s position -in fact the guard in the starting line up is Steve Blake, who is a good shooter and he does not commit many turnovers but a team with aspirations to the title must have in the roster a better playmaker, because the Blake´s numbers as playmaker are poor: 4.7 assists in 31 minutes per game (NBA rank 31)-. It is true that since the Sergio´s agent requested of a transfer-it was last November-, it seemed that Nate changed his opinion about Sergio and he had more minutes on the floor, the fact is that it was a mirage and now we are seeing the habitual situation during the last seasons: Sergio Rodriguez on the bench and without many chances to play and of course many rumours about his future(there were possible interests from teams like Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and now the latest rumour is from the Madison Square Garden, since there is the possible interest from the New York Knicks to acquire this guard- the first rumour was Sergio to New York and the center- forward David Lee to Portland (David Lee is playing very well and his numbers during this season are 15 points and 11 rebounds, so I do not believe that the Knicks wants to follow from this player) and now the latest is the transaction Sergio Rodriguez-Nate Robinson(I think that it would not be a good acquisition for Blazers, because Nate is a similar player to Steve Blake, cause he is a good scorer but even he is worse player than Blake if we talk about the assists per game... so, Nate is not a necessary player for Blazers, because Portland has an incredible and excellent shooter as the super star Brandon Roy, so I think that best thing for Blazer is only one Nate in the team-although it also would be a good news if Blazers have other coach- and this Nate must trust on Sergio Rodriguez-by the way I think it would be a great news for Sergio this transaction to New York because it is sure that the phenomenal Mike D'Antoni, who wants a fast and dynamic play, would trust on the style of Sergio, who is the 7th best player in the NBA in number of assist every 48 minutes (10,2 assists) during this season-.

So, many rumours, but one thing is clear, these following games will be decisive to see the Sergio´s future, because if when Steve Blake is injured, Nate McMillan does not give minutes to Sergio and we see Sergio on the bench and the rookie Jarryd Bayless on the floor-Yesterday Bayless made an "exhibition" against Sixers, cause his numbers were 5 points (1-11! FGP), 0 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes played ... spectacular!!!-, it will mean that the Sergio´s period at Blazers will arriving to the end and that the best thing that could happen to both sides is a transaction.
Tonight we will have the first clue in the game between Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets.

Cheers,

J&F

NBA: DÍAS DECISIVOS PARA SERGIO (article in English and Español)

Estos días parecen decisivos para el futuro de Sergio Rodríguez en los Portland Trail Blazers, pues tras la lesión del base titular Steve Blake veremos de una vez por todas si el entrenador Nate McMillan confía o no en “el Chacho”.
Lo cierto es que Sergio no está teniendo demasiada fortuna en su periplo por la NBA, pues por el momento sólo nos ha mostrado en momentos puntuales toda su tremenda calidad-un ejemplo fue un partido contra Denver Nuggets hace un año donde en 30 minutos se fue a los 23 puntos y 11 asistencias- , aunque la verdad muchas oportunidades tampoco es que haya tenido-esta temporada está teniendo una media de 14 minutos por partido-, porque el conservador Nate McMillan no confía en demasía en el juego rápido e imaginativo de Sergio y prefiere jugadores con un perfil totalmente diferente para la posición de base-de hecho el base habitual del equipo es Steve Blake, que es un buen lanzador y pierde pocos balones pero de base tiene poco, pues un equipo con aspiraciones tiene que tener en esta posición algo más que un jugador que aporta 4,7 asistencias en 31 minutos (rank 31 de la NBA)-.
Si bien es cierto que tras las declaraciones del agente de Sergio en las que solicitaba el traspaso parecía que Nate cambiaba su opinión sobre el Chacho y que poco a poco tenía más presencia en la pista, lo cierto es que al final parece que volvemos a lo de antes, mucho banquillo, poco juego y multitud de rumores relativos al futuro del “Spanish Chocolate”, que si a Dallas Mavericks, que si a Memphis Grizzlies, que si a Phoenix Suns o el último rumor que lo sitúa en “la Gran Manzana” para jugar en los New York Knicks a las ordenes del magistral Mike D´Antoni-se especula mucho con este destino, pues primero se especuló con la llegada de Sergio a New York a cambio del ala-pivot David Lee que está haciendo una gran temporada con 15 puntos y 11 rebotes(con lo que dudo mucho que los Knicks se quieran deshacer de él)y ahora con el posible intercambio por el saltarín Nate Robinson(no entendería mucho esta llegada a los Blazers, porque Nate es un poco como Steve Blake, buen lanzamiento, anotador, pero incluso asiste menos que Blake…y para anotar, los Blazers ya tienen al descomunal Brandon Roy, así que para traer más de lo mismo, mejor que se queden como están y que Nate McMillan confíe en Sergio, a quién por cierto le vendría fenomenal el traspaso a los Knicks, porque seguro que Mike D´Antoni, partidario de un juego rápido y dinámico, confiaría en el estilo de Sergio-recordemos que Sergio es esta temporada el 7 mejor jugador de la NBA en número asistencias cada 48 minutos (10, 2 de media)-
En fin, muchos rumores, pero una cosa está clara, estos partidos que vienen van a ser muy decisivos para su futuro, pues si con Steve Blake lesionado, Nate McMillan no le da minutos a Sergio y lo deja en el banquillo, apostando por el rookie Jarryd Bayless-ayer Bayless nos hizo una “exhibición” contra los Sixers pues sus números fueron 5 puntos (1-11!!! en tiros de campo), 0 asistencias, 2 pérdidas y 2 rebotes en 25 minutos jugados…espectacular!!!-significará que los días de Sergio están contados y que lo mejor que puede pasar para ambas partes es un cambio.
Esta noche contra los New Jersey Nets tendremos la primera pista.
Cheers,
J&F

A REVISION OF THE TRANSFERS DURING THE LAST WEEK (article in English and Español)

We continue with the revision of the most important transactions in the European teams.

During these last days the protagonists continue being the German teams and specially Borussia Mönchengladbach, whose president, Rolf Königs, is looking for solutions to the defensive line, which was the main problem of the team during the first half of the season and he is signing many defensive players, since alongside the experienced Stalteri and Galasek, we will see the young but experienced Belgian goalkeeper, Logan Bailly – he played the last Olympic Games (Borussia paid 2,5 million euros to Racing Genk)- and the good Brazilian central defender Dante, who arrives from the fashionable Standard Liege-the Belgian team receives 2, 5 million for this player-. Anyway, good players whose performance should be enough to see Borussia next year playing in the Bundesliga, because at the moment Borussia is “building” a better team than its direct rivals (Arminia Bielefeld, Bochum, Energie Cottbus and Karlsruher). About the top Bundesliga´s team, we have news too, because on the one hand Werder Bremen has found again a solution for the unprofessional Brazilian Carlos Alberto, who will play on loan at the Vasco da Gama-it is a pity to see the actual performance of this former European Champion with FC Porto- and besides Werder is trying to solve its defensive problems-it is the seventh worst team in the Bundesliga if we talk about the numbers of goals received- and it signed on loan a powerful central midfielder, the Greek Alexandros Tziolis-he is an experienced player with 10 games played with the Greek National team(the truth is that it seems a bit strange this transaction from Panathinaikos to Werder, although it can be considered as normal if we bear in mind that the agent of this player is Paul Koutsoaliakos, who is a great expert of the German and Greek market)-.
In addition, the Bundesliga has the return of Kevin Boateng who after an unfortunate period in Tottenham-he had not any options to play there-, he has decided to look for minutes to show his abilities and he will have a new opportunity at Borussia Dortmund, whose football director-Michael Zorc- was looking for a central midfielder after the departure of the young and promising Kruska, who just signed with Club Bruges- by the way this Belgian team is also seeking a better balance in the team and FC Bruges signed also other young midfielder Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (he played the Olympic Game with the Belgium team), who arrives from Hamburg SV. We'll see if now FC Bruges can be a real alternative to RSC Anderlecht, which is the new club of the powerful striker Tom de Sutter (he has played 5 games with the Belgian National team), who arrives from Cercle Bruges thanks to a transfer fee of 3.1 million euros-.

Moreover other Bundesliga´s news are the departure from FC Schalke 04 of Peter Lovenkrands-it is a normal departure, because the Danish striker never found his place in the German team and his performance showed during these last year was far from the expectations after his good years during his Glasgow Rangers´s period. We will see if his future will be at Brondby, in the Dutch league, at Fulham FC or at Villarreal CF- and return to the Bundesliga-although he will play in the 2 Division, Hansa Rostock-of Krisztian Lisztes, which is a great news, because the fine Hungarian midfielder was very unlucky since when he was at his best moment, he suffered an untimely-it was when he finished contract with Werder Bremen- and serious injury, which spoiled his promising career. Moreover, in the second German league, we will see the arrival to SC Freiburg-it is struggling to return to the first division-of the striker Vitali Rodionov, who arrives from other fashionable team, FC Bate Borisov.

In addition, we must remark the return of Jermaine Defoe to Tottenham Hotspur (it was a serious Juande´s mistake, since Defoe is synonym of mobility, quality... the Juande´s “joke” is expensive, because Spurs sold him with a transfer fee of 9,3 million euros and now it pays 16,5 million euros, but this transaction is necessary for Spurs, because its offensive line is not showing a good performance and besides it is very possible that the Pavlyuchenko´s performance is worst during the second half of the season, because we must bear in mind that he will show fatigue because his last rest was one year ago, since during the last 12 months he has played the Russian league, the Euro, more Russian League and the Premier League´s games-); Other English new are: the arrival of Aziza Makukula and of Sebastien Puygrenier -on loan- to Bolton Wanderers- the French central defender did not show the expected level during his Zenit´s games and he is far from the level showed during his Nancy´s period- and the “banishment” of Lee Bowyer to second division-he will play in Birmingham City, which is fighting to return to the Premier League (I hope that we can see again this team in the Premier, because it is a pity and almost a sin to see the great James McFadden playing in the second division)-.

About the rest of the leagues, we want to remark the arrival of Brazilian striker Brandao to Olympique Marseille-finally Olympique rejected the Larsson´s option and it chosen this powerful striker(the price was 6 million euros) who played well will during his Shakhtar Donezk´s period-, the Sampdoria´s reinforcement – it seems that it is preparing for the possible departure of the brilliant Cassano to Inter and it just signed Giampaolo Pazzini (it paid to Fiorentina 8 million euros and the services until the end of this season of Emiliano Bonazzoli for this good striker although this year is not at his best level), Pazzini is the second arrival to Marassi, since Samp also signed on loan the right back Andrea Raggi, who arrived from Palermo)-, the transaction of Thiago Silva to AC Milan with a transfer fee of 10 million Euro- finally, we can see news and young faces in the veteran AC Milan defensive´s line. We think that it is a good news for AC Milan, cause Silva has shown a very high level during his last Fluminense´s years-, the arrival of: the Spanish central defender Sergio to Osasuna-this team must be harder and without absurd mistakes if it wants to have any chance to remain in the Spanish First Division-, the signature on loan of the goalkeeper Lafuente-Sporting de Gijón needed a goalkeeper after the injury of Ivan Cuellar although I do not believe that Lafuente has many chances to play-, the new Recreativo Huelva´s bet, the back Alain Nef, whose performance is a mystery because he did not have any chances play at Udinese; and the return to Peru of the good player Nolberto Solano,who after 10 years in the European football has decided to return to their country to play his last football years at the Universitario Lima . Finally, in Turkey, we do not have many news related with the top team-the most remarkable news were the transfer of Simsek to Besiktas and of Kayali and Emreciksin to Fenerbahçe and in fact, the Galatasaray´s coach, Michael Skibbe said that he does want any new player during this market(maybe the only big news for Galatasaray would be the resign of Skibbe as the coach)-and the only protagonist during the last days is Bursaspor, since the Bursa´s team will start the second half of the season with new coach, the young Ertugrul Saglam-he resigned as Besiktas´s coach some month ago when Besiktas lost its Uefa Cup´s round- and he is building a new team and he is signing players(the right midfielder Ali Tandoğan and the central defender Ayhab Tuna Üzümcü), whose performances knows very well after their Besiktas´s period.
These are the most important news during the last days and of course we will pay attention to the future news from Manchester City, the future of Podolski or if Fabian Ernst will play at Besiktas or if Ibisevic-we must wait to see if he has a big injury- or Cassano arrive to Inter.

Other articles about the winter market:

THE MARKET IS HERE (article in English and Español)

THE WINTER MARKET STARTS (article in English and Español)

A GREAT SUNDAY (article in English and Español)

Cheers,

J&F

REPASO A LOS FICHAJES DE LA ÚLTIMA SEMANA (article in English and Español)

Seguimos con nuestro parte de fichajes realizados durante los últimos días en los diferentes equipos europeos.
Durante estos días se sigue manteniendo la tendencia apreciada en los anteriores artículos sobre este mercado, pues los principales animadores de este mercado invernal siguen siendo los equipos alemanes en general y el Borussia Mönchengladbach en particular, cuyo presidente, Rolf Königs, ha decido dar un paso al frente para intentar salvar a su equipo del descenso y está reforzando el talón de Aquiles de este equipo, la línea defensiva, para lo que, además de Stalteri y Galasek, ahora ha incorporado a un joven pero ya experimentado portero belga, Logan Bailly-jugó los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing-(el Borussia ha pagado 2, 5 millones de euros al Racing Genk) y a un buen central como es el joven brasileño Dante, que llega procedente de uno de los equipos de moda en Europa, el Standard de Lieja, que recibirá 2, 5 millones por este jugador. En fin, buenos jugadores cuyas prestaciones seguro que harán que volvamos a ver al Borussia la próxima temporada en la Bundesliga, pues por el momento no hay color si comparamos los refuerzos del Borussia con los de sus rivales directo (Arminia Bielefeld, Bochum, Energie Cottbus y Karlsruher).
En la zona alta de la Bundesliga también tenemos novedades, pues por un lado el Werder Bremen es noticia porque vuelve a buscarle una salida al poco profesional Carlos Alberto que se va cedido al Vasco de Gama-da un poco de pena ver como va la carrera de este jugador que fue campeón de Europa con el FC Porto-y además el Werder va intentar solventar sus problemas defensivos-es el séptimo peor equipo de la Bundesliga en cuanto a goles recibidos- y busca darle equilibrio a su equipo con la llegada de un medio centro defensivo, el griego Alexandros Tziolis-experimentado jugador, con 10 partidos con la selección absoluta griega y que llega a la Bundesliga cedido por el Panathinaikos(la verdad es que parece un poco extraña esta operación, aunque no nos debe sorprender viendo que su agente es Paul Koutsoaliakos, pues es un gran conocedor del mercado alemán y griego) -
Por lo demás, en Alemania hemos presenciado la vuelta de Kevin Boateng al fútbol alemán tras un desafortunado periodo en el Tottenham, donde prácticamente no tenía opciones de jugar y ahora intentará mostrar toda su calidad en el Borussia Dortmund que buscaba con un urgencia a un medio centro para suplir la marcha del joven y prometedor Kruska, que acaba de firmar con el Club Brujas-por cierto que el equipo belga busca también un mayor equilibrio en su plantilla y la llegada de Kruska se une a la del otro joven mediocampista Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe(internacional Olímpico con Bélgica) procedente del Hamburgo. Veremos si con estos fichajes, el Brujas puede ser una seria alternativa al RSC Anderlecht, equipo en el que veremos jugar al potente delantero Tom de Sutter(5 partidos con la selección absoluta belga), que llega tras el pago de 3,1 millones de euros al Circulo de Brujas-
Finalmente sobre la Bundesliga reseñar que al final se ha producido la marcha de Peter Lovenkrands del FC Schalke-parecía algo obvio porque el delantero danés jamás encontró su sitio en el equipo alemán, rindiendo muy por debajo de lo esperado tras sus buenos años en el Glasgow Rangers. Veremos si su futuro está en el Brondby, en la liga holandesa, en el FC Fulham o incluso en el Villarreal CF- y el retorno a la Bundesliga-aunque será en la 2 división, en el Hansa Rostock- de Krisztian Lisztes, de lo cual nos alegramos, pues el fino medio húngaro tuvo muy mala suerte cuando estaba en su mejor momento, pues sufrió una inoportuna-justo antes de terminar su contrato con el Werder Bremen- y gravísima lesión que truncó totalmente su carrera. También en la segunda alemana, destacar la llegada al SC Friburgo-está luchando por retornar a la primera división- del delantero Vitali Rodionov, procedente de otro de los equipos de moda, el FC Bate Borisov.

Por lo demás, debemos reseñar el retorno de Jermaine Defoe al Tottenham Hotspur(fue un grave error de Juande su decisión de prescindir de este muy buen delantero-movilidad, olfato, calidad-…la bromita de Juande le ha supuesto a los Spurs 7 millones de euros-lo vendieron por 9,3 y ahora pagan por su retorno 16,5-, pero en fin es un fichaje necesario, porque la delantera de los Spurs está un poco coja y además Pavlyuchenko necesitará un buen relevo durante está segunda parte de la temporada, porque se supone que su nivel bajará-aún más-pues acusará el cansancio acumulado en el último año-y es que lleva un año sin descano entre la Euro, liga Rusa y la Premier-);
Además en Inglaterra, hemos asistido a la llegada del delantero Aziza Makukula y del central Sébastien Puygrenier al Bolton Wanderers-el central francés ha rendido por debajo de lo esperado en el Zenit que ha decidido cederlo para ver si recupera las sensaciones de su etapa en el Nancy- y al destierro de Lee Bowyer-jugará cedido en segunda división, en el Birmingham City, que está luchando por conseguir un plaza de ascenso directo(esperemos que lo consiga porque es casi un pecado ver al gran James McFadden en segunda división)-

Con relación al resto de campeonatos, lo más destacado ha sido la llegada del delantero brasileño Brandao al Olympique de Marsella-al final el equipo del Velodrome descartó a Larsson y ha apostado fuerte(paga 6 millones de euros) por este potente delantero que ha rendido bastante bien en el Shakhtar Donezk-, el refuerzo de la Sampdoria-parece que se está preparando a la posible marcha de Cassano al Inter y acaba de firmar a Giampaolo Pazzini(buen delantero aunque este año no está en su mejor nivel) por 8 millones más la cesión del potente Emiliano Bonazzoli a la Fiorentina(Pazzini se une al lateral derecho Andrea Raggi que jugará cedido por el Palermo en Marassi hasta el final de esta temporada)-, el fichaje de Thiago Silva por el AC Milan a cambio de 10 millones de euros-ya era hora de ver gente joven y con potencial en la veterana zaga milanista. En principio es un buen fichaje pues Silva ha mostrado un muy buen nivel durante estos 3 últimos años en el Fluminense-, la llegada del: central Sergio al Osasuna que tiene que solventar de una vez su debilidad defensiva si quiere mantenerse en primera división, del portero Lafuente al Sporting de Gijón para suplir al lesionado Iván Cuellar-no creo que tenga muchas oportunidades de jugar-, del lateral Alain Nef al Recreativo de Huelva-es una incógnita su rendimiento, pues en el Udinese no ha tenido ninguna oportunidad de mostrarse- y el regreso a Perú de un buen jugador como Nolberto Solano que tras 10 años en el fútbol europeo ha decidido volver a su país para jugar en el Universitario de Lima sus últimos años futbolísticos.
Finalmente reseñar que en Turquía, a la espera de que los equipos más importantes se muevan más-por el momento lo más destacado han sido los fichajes de Simsek por el Besiktas y de Kayali y Emreciksin por el Fenerbahçe- , el Bursaspor es el principal animador de los equipos de la zona noble, pues estrena nueva entrenador, el joen Ertugrul Saglam-presentó hace unos meses su dimisión como entrenador del Besiktas tras la eliminación del equipo de la Uefa- que trae consigo a jugadores que conoce a la perfección de su periodo en el Besiktas, pues el Bursaspor ha fichado al medio derecha Ali Tandogan y al central Ayhab Tuna Üzümcü.
Esto es por el momento lo más destacado, estaremos atentos a las novedades del Manchester City, al futuro de Podolski, si Fabian Ernst recala en el Besiktas, si Ibisevic o Cassano llegan al Inter, etc.
Otros artículos sobre el mercado invernal:
LLEGA EL MERCADO INVERNAL (article in English and Español)
El INICIO DEL MERCADO INVERNAL (article in English and Español)
UN DOMINGO APASIONANTE (article in English and Español)
Cheers,
J&F

A GREAT SUNDAY (article in English and Español)

After the Christmas holidays almost all the European leagues return and they come back with many good games and especially during this Sunday, when we will have a real soccer´s marathon.

This particular marathon will start with a very attractive Manchester United-Chelsea FC, which may be understood as a real final for Chelsea FC, if the Felipao´s team loses its game at Old Trafford against Manchester United, it will say almost goodbye to the Championship and even to the second place, because between Chelsea and Manchester would be a gap of 5 points- I am assuming that Manchester will win its 2 comfortable and pending games (against Fulham FC and Wigan Athletic)-, and besides it will be another example that Felipao Scolari is not a good coach for a top European team (During this season, FC Chelsea has not win any game played against a top team, since it lost the games played against Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC-both played at Stamford Bridge - and it drew the game played against the United, and even the played games against Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United- all played at Stamford Bridge-). Both teams arrive to this game with their best players-United has only the problem of Owen Hargreaves´s injury (he will be injured all season) and Chelsea has the absence of the strong Mikael Essien (he is injured until next March) and the doubts of Malouda and Alex) - but they arrive to the game in a different way, because Manchester United is showing an incredible level-especially when it plays at Old Trafford where the Untied has the great record of 7 wins and 1 draw with 20 goals scored and 4 goals received- and in fact it does not lose any Premier´s game and it does not received any goal since last 8 of November-it lost the game played at Emirates Stadium against Arsenal (2-1)-. Instead Chelsea does not make very good season and it is not the solvent team of the Mourinho or Grant´s period and if we look at the record, the truth is that there are no good because of its last 7 games, it has only been capable to win 2 games! and with 5 goals received during these 7 games, which is strange when we speak about the "bleu", whose defensive performance was its identity sign during the last years. So it will be a difficult game for Chelsea and I think Felipao will continue with his bad record when his team plays against a top team…by the way ¿Will Anelka score in this game or he will continue with his bad performance when he plays against a top team since he arrived to Chelsea? we will have the answer on Sunday at 1700 c.e.t.

Also on Sunday we will be very attentive to the Italian classic between AS Roma and AC Milan, whose result is frankly uncertain because both teams have enough problems. On one side, AS Roma arrives this match with the absence of the great captain Francesco Totti, which can be understand as almost decisive to the final scorer, since AS Roma without Totti is a team without a soul, without a winner, without a leader who takes responsibility in the complicated moments of the games and resolve the problems. The totti-dependency is very obvious this season because if we analyze the results with and without Totti, we see that the best AS Roma´s record during this season has coincided with the presence of Francesco -Totti began to take his best fitness on the game 11 and since then AS Roma did not lose any league´s game until last game before Christmas´s holidays when Totti had an injury´s problem and he could only play 30 minutes against Catania Calcio and of course AS Roma without Totti lost the game .....so I think this game it is a clear example of the “mental fragility” during this season of the team of Spalleti, who counts on with the defender Max Tonneto and with French offensive midfielder Jérémy Menez-the presence of the French player will be hesitant until the end; by the way Menez must to improve in many thing to be an important player-. So, AS Roma will not have many chances to win this game, although it is also true that AC Milan is showing a very irregular level during this season and when AC Milan is playing, anything is possible, since it depends on the ability of its Brazilian trio-Ronaldinho, Kaka, Pato-, which is always dangerous, because if they do not have a good day, the team has many problems and especially far from San Siro, since AC Milan is showing very weak results when it plays as visitor and in fact it does not win a league´s game since last October 26 when it played at Bergamo against Atalanta-it has scorer 9 goals and it has received 13 goals in the 8 games played far from San Siro Stadium-. So, it is an uncertain game, although I think that AC Milan-Carlo Ancelotti will have the absences of: Nesta, Borriello, Gattuso, Bonera- has more chances to win the game, because AC Milan´s players have more quality and especially if we will see again the best version of Andrea Pirlo, whose level showed after his injury was quite vulgar and it is sure that the Christmas´s break was good for his total recovery. The game will be this Sunday at 20:30 cet at Olimpico Rome, where maybe we will see the debut of David Beckham-he is not ready to play many minutes- and of the Brazilian central defender Thiago Silva.

We will also pay attention to other Sunday´s games as the games of the 2 Spanish Giants(both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have comfortable games, although they must play concentrated if they do not want any problems with Real Mallorca-it showed a good level at the Camp Nou Stadium last week in the game against FC Barcelona- and with Osasuna-it is always a very uncomfortable team when it plays at home-), or the important game for second place of the French Championat between Girondins Bordeaux and Paris Saint Germaine at 21.00 c.e.t (it will be a duel between the 2 scorers of the French championship, Fernando Cavenaghi (11 goals)- finally we are seeing the best version of the Argentine in Europe who is helped by great players like Wendel, Gourcouff or Chamack- and the striker of PSG, Guillaume Hoarau (11 goals)-he showed a great level last season in Le Havre-french 2 division, where he scored 28 goals in 38 games- and now he is confirming his good abilities and that he is ready to play in a Top French-). Finally we will see what will it happen in Turkey, where the teams are playing Cup matches and they are awaiting the return of the Süper Lig next January 25.Possibly the most remarkable duels are Kayserispor-Ankaraspor (Saturday at 12.30 cet- Kayserispor won 2-1 thanks to the goals from Topuz-he sounds for Galatasaray- and Cangele) and Gaziantepspor-Besiktas (Saturday at 18.00 cet where we may see the debut of the new incorporation of Besiktas, the good and experienced midfielder Yusuf Simsek-I do not know if this kind of player was the main Besiktas´s need but of course it is always good to have in the squad players with the quality and vision of the game like Simsek) and the game between the modest Tokatspor and Fenerbahçe (on Sunday at 12:30 CET,. It is possible that Luis Aragones may give minutes to the new Fenerbahçe´s players: the promising midfielder Abdulkadir Kayali-he should play on loan in other team, cuase he needs minutes and I do not think that he have many chances this season at Fenerbahçe- and the right midfielder Gökhan Emreciksin- I do not know if this player was necessary, since Fenerbahçe has players like Kazim-Kazim (he is playing very bad, far from his last year´s level) and the offensive right back Gökhan Gönül, but as the Simsek´s case, it is always good to strengthen all the lines of the team.

Enjoy.

Cheers,

J&F