Manchester City football fans
Football much like life isn’t fair, and much like life, it is the pursuit of happiness that we all seek in supporting a football team, and although this sounds remarkably shallow, that happiness seems to be intrinsically linked to wealth. It is a simple thought, if your club is rich then you will be happy and if your club is poor, you will more than likely be unhappy. There is a growing problem with this wealth within football, as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the gap between teams grows more cavernous by the day. Eventually, it will reach its tipping point as small teams give up trying to compete with the bigger clubs and eventually just disappear into obscurity. This will in all probability begin with the very small teams, who surrounded by the mass appeal of bigger teams will fail to cover costs due to the simple fact that people won’t want to go to the game anymore, with a lack of people to go through the gates the ticket prices will rise to cover costs. After this the only remaining option is to sell off your best players whenever you get them to a bigger club, meaning that success is near impossible to sustain. This might not kill clubs but it will send them into obscurity and from this obscurity, the bigger clubs will grow stronger. Nobody wants to watch a team fight relegation every year, so rather than face that a lot of potential football fans will transfer their allegiances to the more powerful clubs. It is a pattern that can be seen on the high street of any provincial town in England, rather than many people wearing the town’s team’s colors there will be a plethora of Manchester United or City shirts, mixed with plenty of Chelsea and Arsenal colors too. The biggest clubs will do all they can to stay strong, and to gain strength in football fans you must severely weaken your opponents in every way possible, and hell to any consequences. In their pursuit of glory Manchester City, just the latest of the big spenders in English football did not immediately buy superstars, as they did not have the appeal for the best players in the world. Therefore, they started by bringing in the best players from those clubs they would traditionally compete with the free bet. They signed the likes of Gareth Barry from Villa, Joleon Lescott from Everton, to build the core of the side. Then as they climb the ladder it is time to sign players who will strengthen there team whilst weakening those on the rung of the ladder above them Adebayor and Toure from Arsenal for example. Then once the team is built, the final nails are hammered into the coffins of the teams they have weakened. Not only will they buy a team’s best player, but they also will not even really buy them for any clear purpose. The city did not really need James Milner or latterly Samir Nasri, but in buying them, they improved their team by 1% and weakened the other teams by about 5%. This is clearly not an exact science, but despite receiving healthy fees for these players, it is hard to argue that Arsenal, Everton, and Villa are better off because of it, they’d have to arguably spend more than they received to adequately replace the departed. This is not a feature that can be isolated to Manchester City alone, it is a path walked by Chelsea, Manchester United, and Blackburn and to a lower level extent teams like Leicester and my own team Huddersfield Town. We gain strength by weakening others, we see that the opposition have a fantastic player, so we go and buy them, not because we need them but it is better to have them on our side than have to face them. With football fans now, it is money that talks, and it will be money that buys success. Manchester City will have their time at the top of the tree; it is not a case of if it is a case of when. And they could stay there forever as the money appears to be unlimited. With that success comes fans and adulation, also more success will always be around the corner as when you succeed players will want to play for you. The disappearing fans will kill the small clubs and the players that leave will weaken the bigger clubs. Either way, there will be a far greater gulf created by a few teams having all the money, and my great fear is that eventually, this gulf will become far too large to cross. Some fill push hard to compete, others will try but fail, and some will merely just fall by the wayside. This is unfortunately how I see the future of football, as the few get bigger, the many just slips away.
Manchester United without Jonny Evans
Jonny Evans has admitted he must improve at Manchester United this season or face the probability of it being his last one. The Northern Ireland international football player has certainly started well enough, retaining his place for the record win over Arsenal after stepping in for the injured Rio Ferdinand in the previous week's win against Tottenham. Together with Phil Jones, Evans has forged a youthful partnership that has also done Chris Smalling a favor given it was Sir Alex Ferguson's faith in the pair that allowed him to move the former Fulham man to right back, from where he has jumped into the England football team. But Evans knows he must maintain his current form in order to avoid a repeat of last season's disappointments. Of the three seasons, since he has come back from Sunderland, the last one was my most difficult for him. He didn't hit the form he wanted. He went away and thought maybe he has another year if he had another season like that I am sure the manager wouldn't want him around. He wasn't playing consistently to a good enough standard for Manchester United fans expectations, so he has gone back to basics and worked hard. Evans was confident he would get that extra year and Ferguson would not make a snap judgment based on a single poor season. The departures of Wes Brown and John O'Shea to Sunderland were a further hint in that direction, although Evans realized he could not afford to take anything for granted. The football manager never said anything to him and he never went to see him. He has always thought he has a bit of faith in him. Last year was not a total disaster for Evans. There were times when he did feel good and others where felt that he needed that level of consistency every week. He was on holiday when I heard John and Wes were in talks with Sunderland and would be leaving. It did make him think there was room but no matter who the manager gets rid of, or signs, there are so many players who can step into so many different positions it is crazy. Who are not in his plans he will move you on. If you are here you have a great chance of being involved. That Evans was able to play a full part in United's three-week football pre-season tour of North America has helped his early season form, although the 23-year-old has previously admitted similar performances last summer proved to be no indicator to what lay ahead. It could be that he is also feeding off the exuberance of those around him who, staggeringly, have put Evans into the category of an old stager. It is hard to believe Phil Jones is only 19, Chris Smalling is 21 years old and David de Gea is 20. The average age against Tottenham was 23. It has given the young players an incentive to step up to the mark. You cannot be a kid anymore and sit back and let things happen. Changes are inevitable now though as the games have high live levels. Before the next international break, Benfica and Basel must be faced in the Champions League, Leeds visited in the Carling Cup and four Premier League games played, starting with Saturday's trip to Bolton when Evans feels the true value of this United side will start to become known. We are so good at going forward and scoring goals it takes a lot of pressure off you. But we have a lot of big tests coming up. It is places like Bolton and Stoke that really test you. Going away from home to get a result will be tough with such a young side, so I am sure the manager will tinker with it when the time is right.
Polish Football
Polish football is a different world compared to what football fans from England and other top nations know and are used to. Lower crowds, wages, fees, quality and the only real thing Polish can compare with others is the noise fans make at rising stadiums at a live match, and that’s not happening everywhere. It’s all about dealing right now. Or it was, so today we take a look at the whole summer in the Polish transfer market, pointing out the best signings clubs have made and focusing on the stories behind their activity.
Following their promotion to the Ekstraklasa ranks, they found themselves in the middle of a mess after short celebrations. Most of the players were out of contract, the squad was clearly in need of class and an injection of quality before the start of the season and it was a busy summer in which LKS exchanged more than a dozen players. Eight were released or sent back to their clubs, while the wheeling and dealing made before the first round proved not to be enough, eight new players not helping them to earn more than one point in five games. This Tuesday they made one more push, not really knowing how on earth their club could afford it, and four signings were added to the squad, three on loan and one on a free bet transfer. They already had an experienced squad but lacked quality in defense and midfield so no wonder why so many goals, that most of them are capable of improving these areas. Will it be enough to stay in the league? It should be but that won’t hide the problem that most of their activity in the football transfer market this summer offers only a short term solution. The minute the final whistle of the 2010-2011 season ended Wisla’s campaign for the Polish football championship, manager Robert Maaskant and Sport’s Director Stan Valckx were up for the next challenge, the Champions League. Five games were won in the qualifications but in the last one they failed and Wisla will take part in the Europa League this fall. But the new signings were made before the start of the season and the movement from and into the club was arguably good. David Biton should put more pressure on Genkov for the lone striker role (and three league goals early in the season will help him), while Gervasio Nunez fits surprisingly well in Maaskant’s system. Iliev is another recruit, and although an old one, he has already proven his worth. Unfortunately, the hunt cannot be claimed as a totally successful one as there are still gaps in the defense, Junior Diaz was taken back from Club Brugge and his recent performances were woeful, while Marko Jovanovic still isn’t the first pick at center back and it was defensive mistakes that cost them the Champions Football League. This is the club that is not afraid to spend money on Polish players or players from the Polish league. With a rich and very demanding owner, it may get tricky for the manager, although the current one, Jacek Zielinski, already knows how it is to work with him, he was Polonia’s coach and was previously sacked by the same man. But this summer was not only about buying but also about income to the club budget, although many will argue whether they went one step too far with selling their best players. Artur Sobiech and Ebi Smolarek did not agree to have their contracts cut so the former was sold to Hannover, for more than €1 million, while the latter was released (almost €400,000 saved in wages). Adrian Mierzejewski became the biggest free bet transfer of the summer when Polonia let him go to Trabzonspor for €5 million, the highest sum a Polish club has ever received for a domestic player. The replacement process followed although many will disagree over the direction taken by Polonia. They signed a trio of players from Górnik Zabrze (Jez, Sikorski, Bonin), also handing contracts to Marcin Baszczynski and Aleksandar Todorovski to strengthen the back line, while Edgar Cani and Pavel Sultes were bought to score goals. They were not at their best in the first rounds and that’s why the owner looked for more surprising options, Mateja Kezman was even briefly linked with Poland.
Much smaller movement than in other teams but coach Franciszek Smuda did fairly well to strengthen the squad in the positions in which he needed more quality. Eugen Polanski, after long negotiations and process, turned down his chance to play for Germany and decided that he is Polish after all – his debut against Georgia was a good one, although a recent injury ruled him out from the Germany game. Smuda was much more cautious with defenders as he won’t forget how badly it went with Laurent Koscielny’s football recruitment and how the long-term injury of Sebastian Boenisch gave him a headache over the left-back position. But after long and hard negotiations, in the dying seconds of this transfer window, Damien Perquis was given Polish citizenship. He is already with the team and is prepared to make his debut on Friday against Mexico. The only blow is the injury that rules out Manuel Arboleda, another of Smuda’s targets, this one from Colombia, for several months with lack of live score. He probably won’t make it to the team before Euro 2012 and unfortunately, the coach will have to look at domestic possibilities, rather than seek deals abroad. This is probably the biggest surprise of the Polish transfer summer. The important thing was to get rid of the dead wood, six players who were not needed were released with a huge sigh of relief, while the live score replacements they are simply much better players. Michal Zewlakow gives Football Legia more experience and calms at the back, while Dusan Kuciak has already proved a much more trustworthy goalkeeper than Wojciech Skaba ever was. They didn’t sign the numbers, they simply went for quality, Moshe Ohayon should be the creative spark they need higher up the pitch, while Danijel Ljuboja is in his own class in Ekstraklasa and has already proven to be the striker Legia have needed for several seasons now. He is the highest earner at the club and this risks causing problems inside Maciej Skorza’s squad but his quality, experience, calmness and fighting spirit has already helped Legia win promotion to the Europa League group stages. Keeping Ariel Borysiuk at the club, despite interest from Serie A clubs, also shouldn’t be understated.
Manchester City and its perfect sense
The news hit me like a sludge of shit and my reaction was to slowly wipe it from my eyes and shake it from my hands in the exaggerated manner of Oliver Hardy being hit by a custard pie. Owen Hargreaves to City? A cast-off crock from those lot of all people. Tevez was one thing but this was quite another. Hearing that he’d passed his medical was astounding. That he never broke his wrist when putting pen to paper was another small miracle. But as I digested the information I began to see the sense in the move. The city appears to have an abundance of central football midfielders. We don’t. By employing Bobby Manc’s ‘power three’ that leaves us with Milner or to deploy Zabaleta in his second-choice role as back up. We needed cover for a long, arduous campaign and all the talk was of De Rossi. £35m and another slingshot for the snipers to mention our outlay. As good as De Rossi is – no, how great a player he is – he would have unsettled a bedded-in formation and set-up at City. The battle for a first team spot would have created potential disharmony. Whereas Hargreaves, bless his ankle-supporting socks, will merely be glad to be involved. A league game here and there. And if – and I grant you it’s colossal if – he can regain his former fitness suddenly the move looks very shrewd indeed. His European experience and quiet intelligence alone is worthy of a squad place. In that respect, as in others, he slots in as a replacement for Vieira. Owen Hargreaves to City? This morning I would have scoffed. Now I’m beginning to see the logic. Welcome to Manchester Owen. Don’t look up at the poster we’ve done for you. You’ll probably crick your neck.
While completely understanding the views of my esteemed colleague from a Manchester City perspective, Owen Hargreaves must have the same rocks in his head that have destroyed his knees to join Manchester City. I have nothing against City and really enjoy watching them, but Hargreaves must be insane on two counts. Firstly, if I had been unable to play football for two years and was suddenly fit enough to actually contemplate kicking a ball again (and miraculously pass a medical) then the last thing I would want to do is become a bench warmer at a club with enough players to fill a trench at Ypres. When returning from long term injuries, players often pick up secondary and even tertiary strains and pulls that can only be worked out of the system by playing regular football. Secondly, we can only presume that the deal will be of the pay as you play variety, and with this in mind added to what I’ve said above, he won’t be splashing out on any new cars or hairbands anytime soon. West Brom, Spurs, and Villa don’t have the same allure as City, but you can pretty much guarantee that, should he actually be able to play consistently, he would be one of the first names on the team sheet at any one of those clubs. I feel for Owen Hargreaves, I had to stop playing football aged 21 to injuries and I miss playing free bets at an average county standard, so I don’t begrudge him this move at all. However, I heard that he sees a move to City as the best way to get his England place back which I also see as nonsense. Had he chosen to go to a less illustrious team and played a full season then he’d surely be on the reckoning for Euro 2012 and would possibly get a shot at Champions League football with another move one year down the line. As it is, I see him remaining a frustrated player looking through a steamed up window like a footballing version of little Timmy Cratchett.