Just before we get carried away

Madrid’s Loss

While football lovers are yet to come to reality with Chelsea’s best player Juan Mata being on the bench, a bombshell rocked the footballing world: Real Madrid offloads Mesut Ozil. Suffice to say that this is one of the most shocking transfers ever. In a window when big clubs dug their heels to keep want away players like Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Keisuke Honda, Real Madrid, a club that cannot be bullied seemed to shoot themselves in the foot by kicking out their second best player. Who could have thought that a player who scored 27 goals, and assisted 71 in 159 games after three seasons would be shipped out in a blink of an eye? Real Madrid simply made a meal of his weaknesses and committed a transfer sacrilege. Essentially, they have lost a selfless and clever playmaker in Mesut Ozil. Good luck Madrid.

SO CLOSE YET SO FAR

Many would agree with me that the European transfer deadline day is one of the most interesting day in football as even the richest and most organised clubs scramble to make one signing or the other. Yesterday’s was no different. Interestingly, there seem to be a shout of joy from all camps as their various clubs gave them something to chew by signing needed players. In total, £1510bn was spent with English clubs spending £630m, Italian and Spanish clubs spending £335m each, French clubs spending £315m and German clubs spending £230m.

On the day, many records were broken by clubs both at club levels and global level, but this is not the focal point this piece. Due to one reason or the other, some players who were expected to jump ship failed to move, either due to personal interest or the inability of the clubs to reach an agreement. Here is a complete team comprising of players who were reported to make a move but refused.

Saving The Best For The Last

The footballing season has finally kicked off but ……. But something is definitely missing. While many would understandably not observe, the few that do, really do. The Italian Serie A might not be as fascinating as it was in the 90s, yet, it still makes millions of people’s weekend by keeping them glued to their television.

One thing that scores the Calcio for my money is the “absence of intimidation”. As a matter of fact, the difference in play between the best and worst teams in the league is not as much as other top leagues in Europe. For the also-rans, the dearth of “big name” players is outwitted by a sound tactical approach which is indeed superior to the players. In the words of current Chelsea Manager, Jose Felix Mourinho “Italy is my greatest challenge yet. How can a team who wants to win be playing against a team who doesn’t want to lose?” To cap it off, the Italian league leaves you mouth- opened with mesmerizing artistic goals that keeps you licking your lips week in week out. With these, we now take a look at the chances of favourite teams for the scudetto.

WHO WINS THE EPL 2013-2014 SEASON?

Even though two European leagues have commenced, the appetite of most football fans is still left intact as they eagerly count days to August 17 which is 90 days after last season. There’s no price for guessing right, it marks the commencement of the most watched league in the world, which some refer to as mankind’s greatest obsession – the English Premier League.

 This season’s wait is aided by the return of the spotlight monger, “the special one”, Jose Felix Mourinho to Chelsea after six years. It must be said that this move suits all parties – the coach, the owner, the players, the fans and even the media. For the opponents, it only leaves them with worries as they are now up against a manger who managed 67% win (124 win of 185 games) in his first stint. Still in London, this time the North, the world would expect Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger to finally break the deadlock of eight trophyless seasons as the current longest serving manager in the peninsula (17 years). In the red side of Manchester, it would be fascinating to see how former Preston and Everton manager, David Moyes, settle in and maybe fill his compatriot’s peerless shoes in the dug out of Manchester United.

With these teasers, I could not help but do an expose on favourite teams in terms of their strength, weaknesses and consequently, give my advice. In no particular order:

Two-Horse Race. So?

That the Primera division is almost documented to be a two horse race does not take the shine off it. In fact, it makes it all the more interesting. Although it must be said that the exit of the best three strikers in the league after Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi makes it uglier, with Radamel Falcao having gone to Monaco, Alvaro Negredo to Manchester City and Roberto Soldado to Tottenham Hotspurs. Still, the best players in the planet ply their trade in the la Liga, not least the El Classico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Of most interest would be to see how both teams with new managers and a couple of interesting signings will slug it out for the league title. That there is no clear favourite leaves a lot to be seen. To this effect, we would give a close look at both teams to give us an idea of where the trophy will be heading. In no particular order:

En Route Maracana

The FIFA confederations cup tournament has come and gone and the Super Eagles got axed from the group stage, no thanks to defeats by South American champions, Uruguay, and World and European champions, Spain. Coincidentally, those two consecutive defeats came after 18 games (some even said 20) unbeaten run (the highest in her history) which dated back to the friendly match defeat to Peru in May, 2012. This tournament has more than ever divided opinion between football fans especially Nigerians in many respects. While some salute the bravery of the Super Eagles even in the defeats, others point to the Super Eagles profligacy in front of goal, which if avoided, would have salvaged the nation some pride.

Whose?

While many football fans are left in boredom owing to the club break which will be till sometime in August, the confederations cup gives us something to chew in the interim. It offers us the best of football from the best football nations, hence, the nickname, festival of champions. True its name; it is a tournament comprising the seven continental champions and the coming world cup host – this time, Brazil. So you could see it as a dress rehearsal for the world cup. This does not in any way take the shine off the tournament as nations scramble to win it. This year is not different as 2014 world cup host, Brazil host the champions across six cities. Since its inception 21 years ago, there have been five winners in eight tournaments. They are Argentina in 1992, Denmark in 1995, Brazil in 1997, Mexico in 1999, France in 2001, France in 2003, and Brazil in 2005 as well as 2009.

This time, Nigeria, Spain, Italy, Tahiti, Uruguay and Japan would be aiming to clinch the title for the first time while Mexico and host-nation, Brazil would be seeking their second and fourth respectively. Each of these eight nations has lots of questions to answer on the football pitch if they are to realize their dream. In group A, we have Brazil, Italy, Mexico and Japan and in group B, Nigeria, Spain, Uruguay and Tahiti. Now let’s do an exposition on each of them.