Transfer Window - The Bundesliga Exodus

The season has ended. But the transfer window has just opened. The off-field action can get as nail-biting as the FA cup final between Liverpool and West Ham. With managers wary of an astronomical price increase in case of their target doing well in the World Cup, and also due to the fact that many players preferred to sort their futures out before going to Germany, there've been some heavy movements across the transfer window.



Can Chelsea remain quiet in the transfer window? They've added Michael Ballack, a matchwinner in his ownright to their embarassment of riches. The weird thing is Chelsea have nabbed a player on a bosman, rather than paying up 2 or 3 times the player's actual worth. Mourinho seems to have had enough with Crespo's whinging and is ready to offer him to Milan along with the under-estimated William Gallas in return for Andriy Shevchenko. The situation in Milan seems to be the same like it was in Highbury a few weeks ago when Henry was pondering "To be or not to be".



Buoyed by his captain's decision to stay, Wenger has promised to sign two top-class signings in the summer. He has got one in the form of the Czech playmaker, Tomas Rosicky who has moved from Borussia Dortmund.Aleksander Hleb seems to have led the way. The German exodus seemed to have gained momentum with many players moving across. Rosicky is a pacy, attack-minded midfielder who can play in the hole, central midfield or the wings. Rosicky's arrival seems to end the Arsenal career of Robert Pires, who has contributed immensely to the club's success.Personally, I'd like Pires to stay and pass on his experience to newcomers and youngsters. With age catching up, it'd be better advised if he plays selected matches. Arsenal've also been linked with former Liverpool hero Michael Owen, not for the first time though.



Fergie has got into self-destructive mood once again. It seems, supporting the past outlaws like Stam, Beckham and Keane is a reason enough to chuck a player out of Old Trafford. But the club will find it extremely hard to replace. Moreover, with Chelsea scouring the market for forwards, Fergie will always end up second best. Speaking of strikers and Chelsea, there seems to be some talk of United exchanging van Nistelrooy for Chelsea's Gudjohnsen and some cash. But Gudjohnsen seems to have his eyes on Barcelona who are looking for a replacement for Larsson.



Newcastle seem to call all leading strikers in the market as replacement for Alan Shearer. They're said to be monitoring the two young strikers, Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres. But they face competition from Liverpool and Arsenal respectively.





Tottenham, after missing out agonizingly on Champions League can be very happy after signing Dimitar Berbatov for 10.7 million from Leverkusen. Its again a case of another Bundesliga player moving out.Berbatov is a complete forward. In my opinion, he deserves to play for a club which can consistently provide Champions League. Spurs also seem to be ready to lock horns with bitter rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United in the race to sign midfielder, Didier Zokora. Spurs are also trying to sign Pascal Chimbonda and Curtis Davies from Wigan and West Brom respectively.



Moving momentarily way from England, Juve's state of turmoil following the match-fixing allegations can lead to players leaving the Old Lady. Players like Trezeguet, Vieira, Thuram and Ibrahimovic are all eyed by several clubs across Europe like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Arsenal.

We need to wait till the World cup finishes to witness some more major transfers. It's promising to be a great two months on and off the field for soccer fans.

The Eternal Underdogs

They have figured consistently in the World Cup finals. But they've been consistently knocked out in the quarter-finals many times and they are increasing finding it to difficult to get rid of the "Quarter-chokers" tag. They have two of the greatest clubs in Europe and in the world in Barcelona and Real Madrid. But their popularity, legacy and success in club football doesn't seem to be play any part in correcting the problems in the national team.



Spain's coach, Luis Aragones has announced his provisional squad of 27 members. There are no major changes but still one look at the list will not make a happy reading for everyone. An inconsistent Guti, also Real Madrid's stand-in-captain has been given the axe along with Espanyol's Ivan de la Pena. Valencia star Vicente is in the injury list which already has Valeron and hence does not figure in the line-up. But one startling selection has been that of Asier del Horno at the expense of Getafe's impressive Mariano Pernia, who is eligible to play for Spain in the world cup. Had he been selected, Pernia would have been the second naturalized Spaniard after Marcos Senna to have represented Spain in the past six months.Del Horno has failed to deliver the goods for Chelsea at left back. If Guti was omitted on the grounds of inconsistency, so should have been Del Horno.Also maybe due to Bilbao's pathetic performance or injury, I cannot figure out why Joseba Etxeberria, who played well in Euro '04 has not been selected. But Spain is blessed with good talent in the wings. Betis' right winger Joaquin is a star in his own right.



Aragones has gone in for his experienced stars, inspite of the fact that some of them are coming out of career threatening injuries. Xavi and captain Raul are in the team. Fernando Morientes, whose Liverpool career has not gone off to a flyer, also retains his place. Apart from the above duo, Carles Puyol, Barcelona captain and Real Madrid's saviour Casillas will be crucial to Spain's chances.



Aragones has also picked David Villa and Fernando Torres, both youngsters have been in goal scoring form, with Villa in particular who looks set to ensure Eto'o does not get the eluding 'Pichichi'this year also. Similarly, midfield also has a blend of youth and experience with Xabi Alonso giving company to Xavi in the midfield along with Iniesta and Cesc. Alonso has been in terrific form for Liverpool. If he can reproduce such displays, Spain can go a long way.



With Shevchenko inspired Ukraine, ex-African Champions Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, their group is definitely not looking tough when you compare what lies in store for Holland, Italy, Argentina and Czech Republic. As an admirer of Spanish style of football, I would seriously love to see them go the distance. Getting past the quarters is the key. Hope Raul does something good for his country atleast.

A Final to savour for the purists and the continuing Metatarsal jinx

When the Champions League semifinal second leg kicked off in spain last week, all the teams knew that they had a chance to progress. After all, the first leg was a very close call with one goal separating the teams.

Arsenal survived a severe onslaught by Villareal to hang on to their 1 goal lead. The match was a one-sided affair throughout. Villareal were guilty of not converting the chances to a goal. They could have easily grabbed 2 goals. Franco, unfortunately had most of the opportunities none of which he could take. Forlan got a sitter, which he could not slot into an empty net.



When the match was meandering towards a draw, the ref reminded he was very much there on the pitch by awarding an outrageous penalty on the 89th minute, which seemed to amuse the diver, Jose Mari. Some kind of justice was done for their turned down penalty appeal at Highbury. But another kind of justice was done when the Argentine midfield general, Riquelme came up with a mediocre penalty which was well saved by Lehmann. Arsenal held on to progress to their first Champions League final. Another interesting event in this match was that involving a Barca fan, who was trying to decorate Henry with a Barca jersey. The professional he is, Henry hardly let the incident affect him.

Milan came to Camp Nou with an almost impossible mission. They could have wiped off the arrear in the very first minute had Kaka's shot been on target. Barca attacked and defended well. Had Eto'o been a bit more unselfish, they could have scored a goal. Dida did well between the sticks for Milan.



The boisterous home crowd was stunned into silence when Shevchenko headed the ball past Valdes in the second half. But the ref did not let it count for Shevchenko seemed to be fouling Puyol. Replays showed that the decision was very much debatable. Whatever said, Barca played the best football over two legs and deserved to go to Paris.



So an Anglo-Spanish final awaits us on May 17th in Paris. This week, another Anglo-Spanish final in the form of UEFA cup is going to take place at the Philipps Stadion between Boro and Seville. Boro's march has been nothing short of a revelation. They have done the Houdini act, twice in both Quarters and Semis, to come this far. Their unlikely hero on both the occassions has been Massimo Maccarone.



The EPL also witnessed some significant moments this weekend. Chelsea won their successive title drubbing nearest rivals Manchester United 3-0. Alan Curbishley, the second longest serving manager among the current crop, decided to call time on his Charlton career. Harry does the "Houdini" as Portsmouth stay in the premiership for another season. Gerrard banged in two as Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 3-1. Spurs weathered a Bolton storm for much of the match and by the sheer brilliance of Carrick and Lennon scored a solitary goal which gave them 3 points and puts them in the driver's seat for the last Champions League berth.

The most significant moment though, has to be the fact that we were all getting to see Michael Owen play after a long time. The striker was coming out of a long lay-off caused due to a broken metatarsal. While Owen was not exactly match fit and was on a comeback, his mercurial striker partner Rooney suffered an injury, serious enough to put his World Cup hopes in jeopardy. And agonizingly,Rooney has a broken metatarsal. During last World cup, Beckham had suffered a similar injury, just weeks before the finals. Rooney himself was a victim at Euro 2004. This season, Owen, Ashley Cole and now Rooney have all fallen to this injury. The worst thing is this has happened just days before Sven announces the squad and has happened to main players. Rooney's individual brilliance cannot be emulated by anyone else in the country. I just hope, England get past the group stage without him and then unleash a fit Rooney on the opposition in the knockout stages. At present though, the situation looks grim for the "Three Lions".