Last Post of The Year 2007. Welcome 2008

This is going to my last post for the year 2007. Some exiting developments in soccer world happened this year, my favorite one was Sepahan of Iran making it to club world cup championship, Arsenal's strong appearance in EPL ending the year on top of the table, and of course David Beckham coming to US. The biggest disappointment was of course the Englishmen not making it to to Euro 2008 but life goes on.

I am looking forward the year 2008 because of Euro 2008. It is going to be a very competitive tournament. I think the favorites are Spain and Italy. Although Holland is a strong side too and and they are long over due for a major title. Of course Germany and France are among European powerhouses too and can create wonders. Croatia is going to be a good side too, considering them beating England in England.

As far as business concerned, thank God we have a good Christmas shopping season at the soccer store. It helped us pay a few big bills and to re-invest into our business and get ready for Euro 2008. I am looking forward a good online sale of soccer jerseys for Euro 2008. So don't forget to buy your jersey ;).

I will start putting posts again on the new year, with a slight change to this blog. The soccer posts will continue but you will also see occasional posts about daily life and technology. I figured I give a little life to this blog since after all it is my personal blog.

Anyway, have a happy and safe new year.

Ronaldinho and Deco Will Be Benched Against Real Madrid Game

I have a lot of respect Frank Rijkaard and always liked him both as a player and as a coach. While being part of Holland team back in 1990s, he made wonders and now coaching Barcelona, he had brought both the Spanish La Liga soccer title as well as European Champion's league title for them. He knows what he is doing. It seems that his strategies and methods have worked very well for Barcelona so far.

According to Goal.com, he is set to bench two of his stars, Ronaldinho and Deco for the upcoming classico game against Real Madrid. Both players have fell out of fitness and have been benched the last few games.

But I think he is really pushing his chances too far by Benching both Ronaldinho and Deco against the classico game against Real Madrid. Lack of fitness according to today's standards don't necessarily mean that players are literally out of form or out of shape. It can simply mean that they have not done as great as expected in past few games and during the practice sessions. Perhaps that is due to fatigue, recovering from injuries, or personal problems.

Great players such as the two time world soccer player of the year Ronaldinho, and the power shooter Deco, are not like other average players and often don't allow their slight lack of form prevent them from creating magic. And that is exactly what Barcelona is going to need against the the La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid. Real Madrid are not an easy side to beat simply by placing good coaching tactics. To beat this team, each team need special players with skills, heart, and experience. And both Ronaldinho and Deco are among those special players that Barcelona is lucky to have. So starting them off the bench in such important game, in my humble opinion, could be an obvious mistake.

England Soccer Jersey On Sale

Ok I told you all I am over England for a while and nothing has change. I am over them they have their coach now and it is time to talk about other news and evens of soccer world. However we are way overstock in England football shirts specially the short sleeve England home jerseys so if you are an England fan, regardless of them making it to world cup Euro 2008 or not, we suggest you take advantage of this deal. This is the best quality jersey Umbro has ever made and it is a "must own" jersey. It is also good until entire 2008 so you will be seeing England playing in this jersey for world cup qualifying games.

So buy England Soccer Jersey on sale today at Soccer Nation today and by doing that, get a great jersey on sale and also help us out to move these items and getting our invested money back. Remember the retail price of these jerseys are $80 each.!

I Am Officially Over England Coaching News

I am at this point over England now that it is known that Fabio is their new coach. He is a great coach and I think his resume proves that. Of course England media is hot about this and will be talking about this for months and years to come but that is mainly because they have nothing better to do. After all they did not make it to Euro 2008 so they have nothing better to do or analyze so they are going to over reanalysis picking Fabio as England's next manager. But I am not going to follow the English media Hype no more. They have their coach, and my humble opinion is that he is a very capable and competent coach and if England can not get results with him, they maybe it is the English who lack not the coach.

With that note, I am going to leave England behind for a while (until something really big comes up). I am going to put more focus on teams that actually made it to Euro 2008. It is going to be a competitive one so stay tuned and enjoy the ride!

Cappello Confirmed the New England Boss

Fabio Capello is now the confirmed manager of England soccer team. He starts his new job starting January 7th and expected to be England's boss for next 4 and half years. His salary is reported to be 6.5 Euros a year, which is probably the most money FA has ever spent. Will Fabio be able to deliver?

FA Offers Fabio Capello England Job

Per Associated Press, the Italian Fabio Capello has officially been offered the England job by FA.
Fabio that was a successful coach at AC Milan, Juventus, and Real Madrid, lost his job as Real Madrid head coach despite winning the title for them. even though he had many offers from other teams, he waited to find the right offer and it seems that the England job maybe the type of job he wanted.

FA board as approved Fabio to be the next England boss but as of now there are no contracts have been signed. However the final negotiations are expected to be finalized soon perhaps later today or coming days and Fabio is expected to be the next England soccer team manager.

Jose Mourionho Rejects FA Offer for England Job

Once he was reported as almost begging FA to talk to him for the available England job, the unemployed Jose Mourionho has reject FA's 50 million Euro offer for five years as England manager according to Gol TV.

Jose left Chelsea FC earlier this EPL season, as disputes between him and Chelsea Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, grew even more when both side agreed to cut his contract short. He has been without a job since his departure from Chelsea and there were reports that he made it clear to media he could be interested in the England job. Over the weekend, he flew to England to talk to FA officials, and the word is that he received a 50 million Euro offer, but it has been reported that he has rejected that offer. No specific reason has been specified however there are rumors that he is also talking to the Italian super club AC Milan.

Fabio Capello, former Italy national team and Real Madrid coach, is currently talking to FA for the job but as of now, England national team seems to be without a head coach.

Chelsea and Barcelona Agree on Ronaldinho Transfer

I read on Fox Sports that Chelsea and Barcelona have reached an agreement to transfer Ronaldinho, the Brazilian soccer super star and two times best soccer player of the world to Chelsea FC. Fox Sports source was RivalsDM and Spanish daily Marca, although the news is somewhat surprising, but there has been rumors of such move for months and it seems that it is finally going to happen.

I am personally a bit uncertain about this move the motivations behind it. I mean other than huge financial deal, I don't really believe such transfer makes any technical sense for any side. Chelsea already has plenty of great players, and Ronaldinho's style of play does not fit the fast pace EPL style so he is going to have hard time adapting and he may spend some time on the bench. And Barcelona will also lose because they are going to be loosing their best player, who lead them to European Champions League cup in 2006.

As I mentioned earlier, it seems and money is driving this deal. Ronaldionio will sell millions of jerseys for Chelsea, he will probably get a huge salary raise and bonus, and Barcelona will cash in for transferring him. It's professional football and a its main goal is profit and being a business owner myself owning a soccer store, I think I can agree with business side of it.

Soccer Club Owners Careless About Winter Transfer Window

Benitez, the Spaniard who coaches and manages the English soccer club Liverpool, has criticized the American owners of the club of that they don't fully understanding the importance of the winter transfer window. The American owners have told Benitez to work with the players he has and there won't be any new players during that time. As the result this started conflict between Benitez and the American owners.

But this does not seem to be limited to the Yanks. Today Spaniard president of Spanish giant soccer club Real Madrid, Ramon Calderon said that club was not going to bring in or sell any of the current players for the open transfer window in January. He did not mentioned why but this is what he said
"It's not necessary for anyone to come in," Calderon said Tuesday. "Neither will we give away any players."

In seems that winter transfer window is becoming less important among the club owners and presidents and mainly I believe would be due to club’s business strategy more than anything else. From business prospective it makes perfect sense. Brining important players mid season will cost clubs big money will not return as much because they can’t sell enough soccer jerseys of the new player(s) and can’t bank enough on the new player(s) during that short period of time they have. The rater have those big player for entire season from beginning to the end, where their investments in that player will make sense from business and financial prospective.

Therefore for a while we may see a battle between soccer coaches versus owners and presidents of the clubs. And of course in today’s soccer world, money rules so I can only predict the obvious, that the soccer club owners and presidents will win this battle easily and the football club coaches will just have to learn to deal with it.

Kaka, World Player of the Year

And very well deserved! AC Milan and Brazil midfielder was voted the World Player of the Year, winning the "Golden Ball" award.

Kaka is by far the best midfielder in the world and the best world has been after Zidane retired. Kaka has been a key play maker for both Brazil, his national team, and AC Milan, his club team scoring and assisting in many goals. Although his moved to Real Madrid is now even a better possiblity, but AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani beleives that could give Kaka even better motivation to stay with AC Milan where he calls a "fighting team".

Congratulation to Brazil and AC Milan fans, because they have the best player of the world playing for them.