More meaningless soccer games?

With club league games, club domestic cup games, club European games, international friendlies, international qualifiers; a soccer players season can be a little long. Now clubs are looking at taking their teams on tour after the season, how much is too much. Now Rupert Murdoch wants global summer football tournament. This could only be a bad thing, players need time to rest and right now that time is really limited. So please no.

The end of the treble

Manchester United saw their dreams of a second treble come to end earlier today. The game against Real Madrid turned on a terrible red card against Nani. It's not often you get all of the English papers to agree but they did on the red card, using words like robbed and cheated.

The Global Munich

Last year Bayern Munich broke the bank and signed Javi Martinez for a German record 40 million euros from Athletic Bilbo, that move may have set the wheels in motion to the turn the German giants into a truly global club.

Not saying that Munich is not a global club. For generations Munich has a been a club that has been rooted in German players and coaches but that might be changing. Last years move for Martinez may have been the start of it.

Earlier this year, the German Giants tabbed former Barca manager Pep Guardiola to head the revolution. This is not your typical hire for Munich. In the past they would have targeted someone like Jurgen Klopp to run the show. The Guardiola hire shows that the largest club in German is up for more than more than German domination.

Then today more signs that Munich want to be global club. Rumors all over Europe are linking Munich to signing Neymar for 86 million pounds, according to the British press. The club is no stranger to signing Brazilian. Munich currently has three Brazilians on their roster, no of the quality or cost of Neymar. Munich brought the three in for a total of $30 million Euros.

Would getting Neymar allow Munich to be a force in Brazil? It might.

The changes are coming fast at the German giant, I want to see how this all ends.

Premier League Playoffs?

The Premier League Title race looks like its over and all that is left to play for Champions League, Europa League and relegation spots. Will this be enough to hold the interest of the avid soccer fan around the world. 

The idea that every season is going to come down to the final minutes like it did last year, is just nuts. Last year was a once and a lifetime type thing. 

Would the Premier League be suited to moved to a NFL type model to crown their champion. Daily Columnist Adrian Durham makes the case for moving in that direction.  

"It’s flexible but you could have the top four involved – fourth plays third, winner plays second and winner of that plays the 'champions' after 38 games in a huge Grand Final at Wembley,'' Durham wrote. "It would generate more money from TV and sponsorship and it would mean more football and extra excitement for fans."

As an American, I'm very familiar with the playoff system and for one I'm not the biggest fan. When you move to the type of system you don't always get the best team as your champions. The best example is the when New York Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. 

As the old saying goes "The Table Never Lies" and that is true the way Premier League stands now, if playoffs are introduced to determine the champion, that statement would ring hollow. I would hate to see them change the current format of the league. 

This is Gus Baby

This is not Dave O'Brien at the World Cup, but I was afraid that it would be. Gus Johnson became the voice of soccer on Fox Sports when he called the first leg of the Champions League epic clash between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

For a first outing it was not that bad. I was at work for the game, so I listened to it on Sirius and they used the Fox Sports audio featuring Johnson and Warren Barton. To be honest, I'm not the biggest Johnson fan to begin with. Never been a huge fan of his over the top style.

But to his credit he was a true professional during the game, he seemed to do a great deal of research in preparing for the game and that showed during the broadcast.

My concern about Gus was that he would not let the game breath and he allowed the game to breath, which was good to see. What makes English announcers so good is that they don't talk over everything and Gus did not. Fair play to him.

Gus said a couple of little things that annoyed me, the main one being when he called the ball a "football"

I think that Awful Announcing summed up Gus's performance perfectly.

"Gus didn't sound like a basketball announcer calling soccer, he sounded like a soccer announcer,'' Awful announcing wrote. "The rhythm of his calls and his excitement as the action reaches a crescendo is a fantastic pairing."

From Baby Faced Assassin to title winning manager

Over the last couple of weeks Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been rumored to make a return to England to manage Aston Villa but that appears to have fallen apart. In one year in his native Norway Solskjaer has brought his home town team a title and become one Fergie's fledgling. Of all of Fergie's former players Ole might have the brightest future as a manger and could one day find himself in the Old Trafford hot seat.

OTWT Starting 11 for 2011

Everyone is doing it, so I thought we would too. Here is the OTWT starting 11 for 2011

• Goalkeeper: Joe Hart, Manchester City
• Left Back: Ashley Cole, Chelsea
• Center back: Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
• Center back: Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
• Right Back:  Gregory van der Wiel, Ajax
• Left side: Eden Hazard, Lille
• Central Midfielder: Javier Mascherano, Barcelona 
• Central Midfielder: Xavi, Barcelona
• Right side:Mario Goetze, Borussia Dortmund
• Striker: Ronaldo, Real Madrid
• Striker: Lionel Messi, Barcelona

I know everyone does not agree with my starting 11, so let the trashing begin. 

This Tevez thing could blow Man City apart

Why do I think this could spell the end to Manchester City rise. According to the Daily Mail Manchester City players are going to claim they 'didn't hear' Carlos Tevez's refusal to play in the Champions League. This is starting to sound like it could turn into a circus.

Time and Practice

A great column by the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel on how it takes time to get to the top of the Champions League. City discover it's a steep climb to Carnegie Hall. They might get there one day, but its going to take time especially in a group that features Napoli, Munich, and Villarreal.

What could be

With talk of Real Madrid and Barca destroying Spanish soccer and leaving for a European Super League, I talk you back to a post I did two years ago on what a European Soccer League would look like. The League would feature 24 teams and could be really interesting. It could work, but I would hate to see the current structure destroyed.

Professional Tailgating: Wembley Revenge

It might not have been the Champions League Final but Manchester United and Barcelona faced off in Washington DC on Saturday as part of the World Football Challenge. Manchester United won the game, here are some of the sites and sounds from the game. 

The scarfs are hung 

All types of jerseys where on display, even Afellay 

 Game was part of the World Football Challenge

Manchester United and Barcelona take the field

Teams ready for battle

Five Clubs to Watch this Season

Teams are returning to preseason training around Europe and there are ton of story lines. But here are five clubs that I will be keeping on a close eye during this upcoming season.

• PSG: I have highlighted them in the past, but they are the team to watch in France this year. They are closing in on QPR's Adel Taarabt, that should be the first of many big money signings at the capital city club. 
• Maluga: They are turning into the Manchester City of Spain. Sheikh Al Thani purchased the club on June 11, 2010 and became president on July 28. Jesualdo Ferreira was brought in as coach but was sacked after a series of bad results. Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who had previously been in charge of Villarreal and Real Madrid, took the reins while the club was in the relegation zone. He oversaw a revival thanks to five consecutive wins later in the season, a historic first for the club. With several new signings, which included Maresca, Martin Demichelis, Ruud van Nisterlrooy (above) and Julio Baptista, the club managed to finish in 11th place.
• Manchester City: It's one thing to make it to the Champions League, it's another to deal with the demand. They have a big enough squad, now the fan base is going demand that they contend for the league title and not just qualify for Champions League.
• QPR: Once the richest club in the world, now the club is going to face a tough return to the Premier League. Will the owners spend enough to keep them there and how much is the pending loss of Taarabt going to effect them. 
• Bayern Munich: Last years was a disaster in the league finishing third. How does the big spending club bounce back. 

News of the World says Good Bye

The News of the World is set to close its doors and here are some of the back pages of sports coverage over the years. There are some great headlines and telling stories that mostly ended up being true, including Manchester United selling Ronnie.

Is PSG the Manchester City of France?

Two years ago, the fate of Manchester City changed when a big money group purchased the club. Fast forward to this upcoming season and all of the money that was spent in the transfer market has paid off as the club will be playing the in Champions League. The same might be happening in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Taarabt to PSG?
.

On 31 May 2011, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Qatar Investment Authority bought a controlling 70% stake in the club. Colony Capital and Butler Capital Partners, who bought the club from television channel Canal+ in 2006, remained as minority shareholders with 30% and 4,2% of the stakes. QIA is estimated to hold in excess of $60 billion of assets, an amount that will significantly increase by 2011 as the state completes its expansion projects to become the world's largest LNG exporter with 77 million tons output capacity. The Qatar economy has been one of the most dynamic, where the GDP has risen from $8 billion in 1995 to an estimated GDP of $52 billion. The groups has been rumoured to put in a bid to buy Manchester United. 


Now the group is rumoured to be sinking a lot of money into the club in this transfer market. After years of being an after thought, PSG has been linked with Manchester United Dimitar Barbatov, Juventus's Mohamed Sissoko and QPR's Adel Taarabt. In the past the team would not be able to spend this much in a transfer window but with the funding in place they are more than happy to spend.

This sums it up

Barca are the kings of Europe again and maybe a team of a generation.This is the front page of a Spanish delay and its sums it up.

One Word: Believe

While the book makers have Barcelona the favorites, I for one "believe" that United will make us proud in the Champions League final. This is the mosaic from the 2008 Champions League in Moscow and it brings back good memory for any United fan. Glory Glory Man United.

Will Sir Alex go 4-4-1-1

The countdown is on until Saturday epic battle between Manchester United and Barcelona in the Champions League Final. While Barcelona formation appears to be set, Manchester United's formation appears to be up for debate. Will United play two up front, will Giggs make the starting 11. So here is what I would do if I was Sir Alex

Van de Sar

Rafeal                    Vidic                             Rio         Evra

Valencia             Carrick                      Fletcher             Park

Rooney

Hernandez

By going with this formation, Carrick and Fletcher could be supported in the middle by Park Ji Sung if its need and Rooney could then move out the wing. The bench would feature: Berba, Smalling, Giggs, O'Shea, Nani, Scholes, and Kuszcak. I would go with 4-4-1-1. This would be the formation that gives United the best chance to lift Mr. Big Ears again.

Special 1TV: The end of the season

The Special One puts all of his chips on red for the Champions League Final.

This tweet sums it up

The so-called business end of the season in the English Premier League can be full of excitment and stress, but this tweet sums from @ManUnitedYouth sums it up best:

"This time of year is just horrible and brilliant and nerve-wracking and thrilling and sickening and incredible.

Obertan: Maybe he is a bust

After CR7 left Manchester United for Real Madrid two years ago, United brought in a promising french winger named Gabriel Obertan to help fill that void. After a year and a half, I'm really starting to question if Obertan is going to make the grade.

During the season Obertan has had his detractors for his performances, I was not one of them. I thought that he had not been given a fair chance to show his skills, but that all changed on Saturday against Wigan and it had nothing to do with his performance on the field, but rather off of the field.

While watching the game on TV, the telecast showed a shot of Ryan Giggs sitting next to Obertan and Bebe in the directors box. One thing was different about the three of them, Giggs was sitting their watching the game, Bebe was checking his phone, while Obertan had head phones on. I'm not excusing Bebe for checking his phone, but who really knows if he was on during the whole game. I don't care if you are an academy player that has not been used all year, you should not be wearing headphones in the directors box.

If Obertan really cared about his spot or his future at United he would act like a professional and professionals don't sit in the director box wearing head phones, its not acceptable.