Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Great teams evolve … they’re never bought off the shelf
One of the cruellest insults thrown at Florentino Perez during his first spell at Real Madrid was that the president had turned a great team into football's version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
For Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon read Figo and Zidane. For Wilt Chamberlain and Marques Haynes we had Ronaldo and David Beckham to bring gasps from the crowd and bamboozle the opposition.
First time around, it took Perez three years to assemble the All-Star cast that came to define his project, and another three for it to collapse under the combined weight of the salaries and egos, and those damned image rights we heard so much about.
In his second spell, Perez seems intent on proving that the only thing he did wrong at the start of the decade was move too slowly.
In the past few days he has pledged 162 million euros in transfer fees alone to sign Kaka from AC Milan and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
If Marca and As are correct, David Villa will be the next to come, with Xabi Alonso, David Silva and Franck Ribery among the other targets.
The total outlay could be 300 million euros -- plus the agents' fees and the salary commitments for the next half-decade or so. Whether you feel that sort of spending is justifiable in the current climate, and there are plenty who will see it as plain wrong, this is not going to bring Real back to the position they once held as the neutral's favourite.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Wenger makes his point with customary elegance
"Highly intelligent" and "Arsene Wenger" sit neatly together in countless newspaper columns outlining the exploits, achievements and travails of the cerebral Arsenal manager.
Consequently there was no elaborate deconstruction required following an interview with a French television channel at the club's training ground this week.
Wenger, who habitually brushes aside any question of his allegiance to the north London club, was asked his thoughts about yet another approach from Real Madrid if Florentino Perez returns as president.
"With Florentino Perez in charge, the project he has put forward would be interesting for any coach but I would prefer not to comment on this," Wenger replied.
Wenger was fully aware that he had already commented. His response followed a sometimes acrimonious question-and-answer session with the Arsenal shareholders on the previous night and grumbling among fans who have been forced to absorb higher season ticket prices during a fourth consecutive season without a trophy.
The prospect of Wenger defecting to the Bernabeu after 13 years at Arsenal inspired an instant response in north London and one gratifying to the many supporters of a sensitive man committed to his vision of the beautiful game and convinced that style and success are not mutually exclusive. The group Redaction has mobilised a march of supporters for Sunday's home match against Stoke and online petitions backing Wenger have been launched.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
The Real Madrid Presidential Candidacy ‘Promisometer’
The campaign to be the next president of Real Madrid Football Club has finally kicked into gear with the claim from the little known Eduardo Garcia that, if elected on June 14, he will bring with him the Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
Promising big-name signings has long been an easy way for candidates to drum up support for the presidency at Real and Barcelona, the two member-owned Spanish clubs, but ever since Florentino Perez came from nowhere to take the 2000 election what was once an entertaining sideshow has become the key battleground.
Perez, you may remember, outrageously delivered on a promise to sign Luis Figo from Barcelona in 2000 and the grandmaster is set to announce he is standing again, after resigning in 2006.
Garcia, the 29-year-old director of an IT consultancy, is considered a huge outsider for the position but he earned a bit of publicity with his claim that he could land Drogba, as well as Palmeiras attacking midfielder Keirrison and Racing Santander left back Ivan Marcano. (The fact the interview was hidden away on page 6 of sports daily AS shows how seriously his candidacy is being taken in the local media.)
The latest election campaign at Real was ushered in by the resignation of Ramon Calderon, who failed to deliver on his pre-election promises of bringing Kaka and Cesc Fabregas in 2006.
While agents rub their hands, clubs in Europe and South America will bracing themselves for a flurry of interest in their players, as candidates try to outdo each other in the rush to win the votes of club members.
The other candidates will have to work pretty hard to outdo Florentino.
Hi jamie. It will be interesting to see if Ronaldo can replicate the form he showed in England at the bernabeu. It often takes players a while to adjust but I think he’ll do pretty well … certainly better than Henry and Shevchenko after their moves.