Blogorama - The Blog Directory Football knowhows: March 2014

Saturday 29 March 2014

Top players who could be on the move this summer.

With the winter transfer window far behind, several players are on the brink of a summer move with rumours already piling up as the window approaches.

Looking towards the summer of 2014, some transfers appear to be imminent and here's the list of players who could be on the move come summer.

 Mirko Vucinic - the old lady forward will be on the lookout for a new club with game time at juventus seemingly rare. Mirko might leave Juventus for Tottenham, Arsenal and Inter.


Sebastian Giovinco - the atomic ant attracted interest from Torino, Bologna, Genoa and Lazio in January. This summer looks more likely the way out for the Italy international as he may opt for a relative smaller club for more playing time.



Fredy Guarin - With the addition of Hernanes from Lazio, it may come to view the need for guarin, the player will most likely be shipped out come summer with teams like juventus and Manchester united ready for his signature.


Jackson Martinez - with the injury to falcao, martinez seems to be replacing falcao for the colombian frontline in the world cup and with a string of good performances offers could be tumbling in for him.The 27-year-old’s new $68 million release clause in his contract will be a challenge for many clubs.


Diego Costa - Chelsea is on the look out to solve their striking problems and costa seems to be the ideal solution. The deal should also determine the future of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois—currently a Chelsea player on loan at Atletico Madrid.


Wilfried Zaha - The on loan Manchester united forward have made little impact since joining United and at his young age a summer move seems to be in the card for the Englishman in the summer.


Matthias ginter - the young centre back at times deployed as a defensive midfielder has grown too well for his club to hold him too long with clubs like Manchester united and arsenal interested in the player.


Jan Vertonghen - The former Ajax defender is reportedly unhappy at Tottenham and will be looking forward for a move away in search of champions league football. The defender though have many options, Barcelona FC seems to be his ideal destination.



Eliaquim Mangala - The young centre back have definitely caught the eye of several big clubs and a bid in the summer will be very likely and possible a transfer with porto looking forward for a huge chunk for the highly rated defender, regardless of the price Mangala seems destined to be wearing a new jersey in the summer.


David Luiz - The former Benfica defender is not short of transfer spices with Barcelona being heavily linked. Luiz did not come up to the mark for Mourinho and with luiz leading the Brazilian backline , the summer could be the turn the player need.
















Saturday 22 March 2014

What happened to Serie A? Downfall of Italian fooball.



Serie A. Yes, the top football division in Italy experienced a huge turnover in the last decade or so. Who could have thought that the Serie A teams like the Milan duo could find it an uphill battle even to qualify for the champions league next season, these are the Same milan clubs which dominated Europe alongside Juventus in the 80s and 90s.

 So what happened ? Why aren't there any Italian team in the last 8 of the champions league this year. The only Italian team competing in europe is Juventus and that too in the second tier (Europa League). Many questions arise to why the nation where foreign legends like Zidan, Maradona, Cafu and Ronaldo to name a few have once outplayed the rest of europe to proclaim the best league status has now been under the shadow of star departures. The reason behind this could be many among them is the lack of revenue, yes, the Italian football do have a great anual revenue but so is the expenditure.

Serie A never experienced International exposure like the Premier League and hence causing a decline in their income. Since we are talking about income let me just inform you that the match day income of any italian club is also much much less in comparison to their european counterparts. The reason behind this being the stadium which most of the clubs don't own and not to mention the lack of services provided to the fans. Fans also play an important in the financial status of a club, as we can see during any serie A match, most of the grounds are half empty. Apart from the financial loss the fans in most italian matches seem violent and encourage racism.



 Due to the above facts alone foreign players of good callibre don't prefer italy as of now and in the process hamper the overall quality of Italian football. With the sale of star players like Cavani, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic and many others, what got affected the most is the quality of italian football as player would prefer a move to either the Premier league or La Liga and now even France.

Apart from the above factors the main reason for the downfall of Serie A seems to be the "calciopoli Scandal" in 2006, where many of the clubs were accused of match fixing and referee preferences were taken. The club that suffered the most from this was Juventus. Juventus got their title taken away and wer demoted to the second division which eventualy caused a massive stir in Seria A resulting in less sponsors and the worst, player leaving their clubs. Though juventus did manage to get promoted and now stand at the Top of the table after becoming champions last year. So if Juventus can bounce back from Serie B to take away the Serie A title then what happened to the other clubs ?.

 Now it remains very unclear where the future of italian football lies, but the future does looks bright with the asian ownership of Inter and the massive spending of Napoli only time will tell whether we can see the italian giants wake up again or they will be overpowered by the ever growing Premier League and La Liga.

Friday 21 March 2014

Top Premier league players with expiring contracts

Here is the list of players in the Barclay's premier league whose contracts will be expiring in the summer.



Frank Lampard
Franky the Chelsea legend is yet to accept a contract renewal and could be on his way out in the summer. The English man has also been linked to MLS so the possibility lies in the summer transfer window.

Dimitar Berbatov
The former Manchester United and Tottenham striker will also be out of contract next summer. The player is currently enjoying his loan at Monaco scoring goals so the summer might come up with great offers for him.

Joleon Lescott
The former Everton defender was looking for as way out in the winter transfer to make his way through the English squad for the world cup. Turkish side Besiktas is said to be interested in his service but the slaggy defender would prefer a deal rather in his homeland.

Michael Carrick
The 32 year old was the most consistent player among the United ranks but now with his contract expiring and Moyes on the verge of a rebuilding we can only wait to find out wat awaits for him.

Johnny Heitinga
The Dutch defender joins the list of players who will be out of contract come summer, but the defender is yet to sign a new contract in Everton neither any noticeable offers are made.

Sebastian Larsson
The dead ball specialist from Sunderland will be a free agent in the summer. The former Birmingham man will be helping his team fight relegation and may get his contracts renewed but his future lies on Sunderland avoiding relegation which seems unlikely.

Bacary Sagna
The french defender was a subject of speculation regarding his contract renewal but now the player seems more likely to leave if Arsenal signs a replacement with clubs like PSG and Liverpool said to be interested.

Ashley Cole
The 33 year old Englishmen will be a free agent in the summer and is yet to sign a new deal. He is still among the best left back in the premier league and a host of clubs will be looking in the situation with Real madrid heavily linked with the player.

 Patrice Evra
The Frenchmen is said to have a clause in his contract which can enable him to further extend his contract by one year but that seem unlikely with united interested in Baines and Shaw, evra could well be a bench warmer if he decides to stay.

Samuel Eto
The former Barcelona man was brought to Chelsea just as a stop gap striker. His best days are definitely behind and now with his contract expiring he could well make a move to America.

UEFA Champions league quarter final fixture 2014

Uefa Champions league quarter final draw 2014
The draw for the Champions league is out and we will be seeing a host of fixtures of the best clubs around europe.
Barcelona FC V/S Athletico madrid - Tata's men would be looking forward for revenge against Athletico as the two spanish sides go head to head. Athletico have caused Barcelona all sorts of problem in the domestic league and cup and this match would surely pump up the occasion.
Real Madrid V/S B.Dortmond - Real would be definitely looking forward to this match after last years semi final exit at the hands of the German power package.
PSG V/S Chelsea - The table toppers of both England and France will go head to head and we will witness the might of Europe keeping in mind both of the clubs financial strength.
Manchester United V/S Bayern munich - Bayern munich is on the verge of successfully defending their tittle but will definitely face a test against the current English champions.
The match will take place on April and the teams will fight to reach Lisbon to play for the UEFA Champions league tittle.

Arsenal transfer rumour.


Arsenal is rumoured to be looking for a new fullback and a host of name have already been linked. With Bacary Sagna on the verge of a move away from the emirates Arsene Wenger have shortlisted a few young fullbacks for life after Sagna.
 Serge Aurier, the Ivorian fullback from Toulouse has been in great form recently and have captured the eye of the arsenal boss. Though Wenger would also be looking at other options which also include Southampton's Luke Chambers, the young defender have definitely impressed Wenger and with his performances have eventually fend of any doubters. The young age of these player may be a stumble as they would not prefer to leave their parent club, but any big bids would surely make it happen.