1. 365 days to the World Cup Final, not ONE favorite in sight - but FOUR. Germany, Brazil, Italy and Spain (in that order). Belgians are the dark horses. The Dutch are rank outsiders.
2. The Spaniards have undone their chances for 2014 by hiring Neymar to FC Barcelona. No way will Torres & other non La Liga playing strikers ever mix well with the FCB midfield trio of Iniesta, Xavi and Fabregas at the national side.
3. The people making real money in football - the agents !!. Why ? Its got to do with the leadership change across all the top European clubs - (except for the Gunners)....Bayern Munchen, Real Madrid, FCB, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all have new bosses. Which pretty much means the guys making all the money are the agents. Mourinho alone will underwrite millions of pounds in agent fees as he starts his second career at the Le Blues and throw out at least 5 from the current Chelsea team.
4. My Players of the season.
Goalkeeper:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern).
Strikers:
Michu (Swansea), Neymar (soon FCB) and Lewandowski (Dortmund).
Midfielders: Mata (Chelsea), Iniesta (FCB), Carzola (Arsenal), Arturo Vidal (Juve) & Arjen Robben (Bayern).
Defenders: David Luiz (Chelsea), Philip Lahm (Bayern), Bonucci (Juventus), Dani Alves (FCB)
* I have obviously omitted the superstars !!
5. Goals that matter...just one - Robben's 89th minute against Dortmund in the CL final (also one of the classiest last year).
6. Boring statistic ....It has been a boring European league season. The most consistent teams won....not because they were superior...but because everyone else was inconsistent.
FC Barcelona 100 pts vs. 2nd placed Real Madrid with 85 points
Juventus 87 vs. Napoli 78
Bayern Munich 91 vs. B Dortmund 66
Man U 89 vs. Man city 78
Which meant that almost all clubs had the trophy in their cabinets by mid-April. YAWN !!
We all hope the 2013/2014 season gets better.
7. The German renaissance is complete. A collective 11 goals in a Germany vs. Spain CL semi-final. Complete destruction of the FCB Aura. An all German final at Wembley. Clearly the junior training program that started in 2001 is paying rich dividends. Watch out for the Germans in Brazil 2014...and not too far behind - the Belgians. Read this line-up...Vincent Kompany, Fellaini, Vertonghen, Eden Hazard, Lukaku...All of them below 28...have brought the Belgians to No:12 in FIFA rankings. Clearly my dark horses for 2014.
8. And as always - the teams to watch out for in 2014 - Galatasaray, Paris St Germain, FC Zenit and Arsenal.
2. The Spaniards have undone their chances for 2014 by hiring Neymar to FC Barcelona. No way will Torres & other non La Liga playing strikers ever mix well with the FCB midfield trio of Iniesta, Xavi and Fabregas at the national side.
3. The people making real money in football - the agents !!. Why ? Its got to do with the leadership change across all the top European clubs - (except for the Gunners)....Bayern Munchen, Real Madrid, FCB, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all have new bosses. Which pretty much means the guys making all the money are the agents. Mourinho alone will underwrite millions of pounds in agent fees as he starts his second career at the Le Blues and throw out at least 5 from the current Chelsea team.
4. My Players of the season.
Goalkeeper:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern).
Strikers:
Michu (Swansea), Neymar (soon FCB) and Lewandowski (Dortmund).
Midfielders: Mata (Chelsea), Iniesta (FCB), Carzola (Arsenal), Arturo Vidal (Juve) & Arjen Robben (Bayern).
Defenders: David Luiz (Chelsea), Philip Lahm (Bayern), Bonucci (Juventus), Dani Alves (FCB)
* I have obviously omitted the superstars !!
5. Goals that matter...just one - Robben's 89th minute against Dortmund in the CL final (also one of the classiest last year).
6. Boring statistic ....It has been a boring European league season. The most consistent teams won....not because they were superior...but because everyone else was inconsistent.
FC Barcelona 100 pts vs. 2nd placed Real Madrid with 85 points
Juventus 87 vs. Napoli 78
Bayern Munich 91 vs. B Dortmund 66
Man U 89 vs. Man city 78
Which meant that almost all clubs had the trophy in their cabinets by mid-April. YAWN !!
We all hope the 2013/2014 season gets better.
7. The German renaissance is complete. A collective 11 goals in a Germany vs. Spain CL semi-final. Complete destruction of the FCB Aura. An all German final at Wembley. Clearly the junior training program that started in 2001 is paying rich dividends. Watch out for the Germans in Brazil 2014...and not too far behind - the Belgians. Read this line-up...Vincent Kompany, Fellaini, Vertonghen, Eden Hazard, Lukaku...All of them below 28...have brought the Belgians to No:12 in FIFA rankings. Clearly my dark horses for 2014.
8. And as always - the teams to watch out for in 2014 - Galatasaray, Paris St Germain, FC Zenit and Arsenal.
1 comment:
Now there is only 240 days for the 2014 World Cup starts... its going to be great!!!!
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