Will Jose’s arrival spark summer sale in Madrid???

So old Jose Mourinho was finally confirmed as the new manager at Real Madrid yesterday. The 11th manager in 7 seasons someone suggested yesterday on Avenell Road – staggering figures, no wonder our very own Arsene Wenger has never accepted their offer.

The appointment of their new manager was kept about as secret as us signing Chamakh and Sami Nasri… 🙂

I’m glad though, for two reasons.

1) It might just be the thing to knock Barcelona off their high and mighty perch.

2) Jose may actually think Cesc is worth our clubs value and make a sensible offer to spark a bidding war. This in turn could do one of two things, make Cesc realise he is better off staying put rather than being stuck in a City where he  doesn’t want to be, or make Barca realise they won’t get our player for peanuts.

I said a few days ago, we are holding all the cards, we are in a win win situation, Jose’s appointment may just be the thing that keeps Cesc stay at Arsenal – after all, what Catalan man would want to move to Madrid??

So, back to Real Madrid and Jose, he who thinks he’s so special….

Will he have a bit of sale in order to fund potential moves for the likes of Cashley Cole and Frank Lumpard or will he just be gifted another £100M to go and get who he wants.

There must be a few players at Real Madrid who are thinking, ‘S**t, what’s going to happen to me, I’ve had it easy, but this new man may sell me now’ – Let’s take a look at who they have in their squad, see who you think he may sell and most importantly, who would you be happy to see us buy if he was up for sale…

1 GK Iker Casillas (vice-captain)
2 DF Álvaro Arbeloa
3 DF Pepe
4 DF Sergio Ramos (vice-captain)
5 MF Fernando Gago
6 MF Mahamadou Diarra
7 FW Raúl (captain)
8 MF Kaká
9 FW Cristiano Ronaldo
10 MF Lass Diarra
11 FW Karim Benzema
12 DF Marcelo
13 GK Jerzy Dudek
14 MF Guti (vice-captain)
15 MF Royston Drenthe
18 DF Raúl Albiol
19 DF Ezequiel Garay
20 FW Gonzalo Higuaín
22 MF Xabi Alonso
23 MF Rafael van der Vaart
24 MF Esteban Granero
26 GK Antonio Adán
— MF Sergio Canales

We need a midfielder, a big strong lump who isn’t afraid of getting stuck in, if I could magic Paddy back all over again, thats who I would choose, but I can’t. Interstingly enough, all the midfielders who are at the right age for us who currently play for Real Madrid are shorties, so they can keep them all…

We need central defenders, again big strong ones.What about Álvaro Arbeloa Coca if he becomes available, 6’0″, 27yrs old and plays for his country every now and again. He’s even played in the Premier League under Rafa before a punch up with Jamie Carragher saw him be moved on!!

Pepe – 6’1.5″ Portuguese central defender, 27yrs old, what about him?? Ex Porto player, so Jose will keep him no doubt..

Raúl Albiol Tortajada – 6’3″ 24yrs old – now your talking, but no way will Jose sell him, will he?? He’s a central defender but can also play in the centre of midfield…..

Ezequiel Marcelo Garay – 6’2.5″ – 23yrs old, central defender – he would be good too, his country is Argentina…

Madrid have more defenders, but like the midfielders they are either too short or too old so they can keep them too…

But for me, there is one player I would like to see Madrid sell and thats Rafael van der Vaart, if ever there is a player who could really ‘fill the void’ left by Dennis Bergkamp a few years ago, I think its him…….

Yes I know, some will say where will he fit in, who’s place who he take….. I don’t care about either really, if Wenger wants to be creative, then get a player who can really keep us being creative – if that means selling a player or two to accomodate him joining or even to fund the move then so be it – as long as its Almunia, Denilson, Diaby, Flapianski, Silvestre – or even all of them, I’m sure it would be worth it 🙂

So then folks, if you could pick one player from the squad of Real Madrid – who would it be??

The day has arrived, June 1st 2010, the transfer window is finally open, will  Joe Cole be the second summer signing this window later today?

I hope so – have a good day all…

The Biggest Signing Of the Summer

Forget David Villa’s 34.2 million euros to Stalker FC  Barcelona. Forget Cesc’s potential multi million pound deal to the same set of shitbags. Forget any potential big name signing to any of the european super clubs this summer can offer. The biggest signature will be that of Jose Mourinho when he takes over at Real Madrid.

Why? Because the man is undoubtedly the best club manager in the world right now and his legacy is only just beginning. As an accountant he may not be great, as a developer of young players he may not be great, but as a manager and a tactician there is nobody who can touch him. He’s not paid to make money, he’s paid to build a squad and lead them to glory and he does this with his eyes closed.

His record speaks for itself. At Porto he won the League twice, 2 domestic cups, the UEFA cup and the Champions League. At Chelsea he won the League twice and three domestic cups. At Inter he won the league twice, two domestic cups and the Champions League and he’s done all this in the space of eight years. In eight years of management he’s won 16 trophies in three different leagues. Say what you want about him, call him anti-football all you want, but the mans a genius and he delivers exactly what he’s paid to do. Football is all about winning. If it’s not about winning then why do we keep score? Jose knows how to win so I would suggest he’s far from anti-football.

In fifty years time nobodies going to care about the fact that Inter Milan had only 33% possession in the 2010 Champions League Final. All they’ll care about is the fact that Inter won the game 2-0 and they won the trophy with it.

That same logic can be applied to The Arsenal. In years to come nobodies going to care about the fact we played pretty triangle football that went sideways and nobody had a shot. All that will matter is Arsenal went 5 years and counting without a trophy.

For all the signings that Real Madrid made last year, this one tops the lot. To think that they managed to reach 96 points last year and still not win the league is quite amazing, but Jose will give them that extra 20%. Dont be surprised if Real go unbeaten next year and over take the 100 point mark. Which I hope they do because I officially hate Barcelona. They constantly stalk our players year after year and they need a kick in the bollocks.

So where does this leave Arsenal? When I think about what Jose is paid to do it makes  me wonder what Sir Arsene is paid to do. I wont go into too much detail into that one because I think we all know the answer and it’s been talked about until the cows come home, but where’s the excitement at our club now?

We lack so much ambition its untrue. Our ambition does not match the clubs status. The stadium is world class, our youth setup is world class, the foundations of the club are laid and we are regarded as one of Europe’s elite clubs. So why are we happy to just keep doing what we are doing every season? Where’s the extra effort to make that next step to make us the best of the best? That extra 20% that will make us world beaters isn’t there because nobody at the club has the balls to make the call and say spending £20 million on a top player every season will not turn us into Portsmouth or Leeds. Spending £20 million on a top player will not kill a young player because there’s a huge possibility that the young player wont make it in the first place. Cesc is one of the few players the academy has produced that can be argued to be world class and he doesn’t even have the values of the club at heart, he has Barca’s and always has done so whats the point??

It was a big risk moving to the new stadium and Wenger performed miracles but after a while it’s becoming a tad boring being regarded as a selling club and having the vultures circling every season. Picking off our best players because we can’t provide the medals to keep them.

Nobody has a god given right to win a trophy, but all I’m asking for is let us get some heart and soul back into this team and get the fans excited again.

Jose’s teams may not be the prettiest, but he wins the fans hearts by filling their trophy cabinet.

Take my advice Arsene, the fans do not regard 3rd place as a trophy. The fans do not care about making super sums of money every year nor do they care about killing the progress of Fabianski or Denilson. You are in serious danger of ending your legacy on a sour note, so nows the time to put your hands in your pocket and bring something home to give the fans something to shout about. Even if it is just the FA cup.

Give the fans something to get excited about. Do your job as a MANAGER!!