Transfer Fallout: Curbishley and Keegan

This just in: the Abu Dhabi group have funded their own Fountain of Youth, and want to pay Pele 400 million pounds to take dip and play for City.

Okay, not so much, but after pledging a ridiculous sum on Ronaldo for January, Manchester City's new owners may not be the biggest story from this summer's transfer period.

The real trouble may rest with the long term fallout from Alan Curbishley leaving West Ham and Kevin Keegan teetering on doing the same with Newcastle. Make no mistake, the tide was already turning for Premier League managers; from a position of large scale control of a club, to just another interchangeable part in the money machine. But now, with Curbishley resigning from the Hammers, and Keegan contemplating his departure from the Toon, it looks as if we have turned the corner on managerial power for good.

This idea has existed in Italy and Spain for some time now. Managers, even those with cup and league winning success, are turned over with the regularity of an oil change on a high performance automobile. Capello left Real Madrid after an inspiring La Liga championship, spurred by star David Beckham, who had fallen out of favor with his manager. Managers in England, however, are associated with their clubs. Sir-guson at Man U, Wenger with Arsenal, even Curbishley at Charlton for all those years.

It is probably that run at Charlton that is blinding Curbishley to the reality of modern football. At his former club, he brought in the players he liked for low costs and built the team he wanted. So what's changed? He has more talent now with West Ham than he had at Charlton.

The difference lies in ownership and the operation of clubs. Curbishley was told when he was hired that West Ham was willing to spend and bring in quality players. Then comes the summer transfer period, West Ham sell two important defensive players and bring no one of note back into the club, violating the reserved manager's trust.

The same has happened at Newcastle. Keegan's reaction to the mid range signings of Xisco and Gonzalez could only mean that he was promised more and didn't get it. This is the situation we are in. Ownership changes hands or restructures their own spending policies with little notice, and taking this as a personal affront, while a natural response, is not a healthy one for a manager.

My criticism is not primarily with ownership, the fault does not all rest in the boardroom. Curbishley and Keegan should know by now that this is modern football. A promise of spending or a warning of prudence means nothing. Managerial positions are not easy to come by in the Premier League and once a manager gets in, he should see that job out. His obligation is to the fans, his squad, and himself.

Are West Ham and Newcastle tied to a mid table finish with the talent that they have, probably. By why not show what you can do with the players you have? Isn't it better to fight for a fifth place finish, than to resign your squad to not winning and give up. How much would Keegan or Curbishley be lauded by media and fans alike if either of their teams made a charge up the table?

I can understand the immediate frustration and anger over being misled by upper management, but I don't understand giving up. Cup victories and the possibility of European play next year should be enough of a goal for these managers. A modern manager should manager his players and their tactics on the pitch, everything else is secondary.

Is it fair? Is it right? Probably not, but it is reality, and stomping away from your team and your fans will not change that fact.

$ Man City Hype $

After having a day to digest the entire Man City-Abu Dhabi-Robinho scenario, I've come to the conclusion that we all need to slow down a little on crowning City as world beaters just yet. I'll start with Robinho.

First off, Robinho is not worth the 32.5 million pound fee he commanded. City's new owners overpaid to introduce themselves to the football world in grand style. They wanted it to be known that they are now a player on the world scene. Great, but don't get Robinho confused with one of the top players in the world, he's not. At least not yet.

When he came over to Real Madrid, the Brazilian forward was tabbed to blossom into one of the world's greatest. They handed him the number ten jersey three years ago, and never saw him climb to the heights that Messi, Ronaldo, and Kaka have since then. Can he get there? Perhaps, but Robinho is 24 now, far from the 20 year old that came to Europe looking to dominate the world.

I'm not suggesting that the Robinho signing wasn't a good one. He just would have looked far more dangerous surrounded by Ballack, Drogba, Lampard, Cole, etc. One attacking player will not take City from a mid-table squad to the top 4. It will be how the team meshes that decides where they finish, not superstars.

As for the deep pockets of Sulaiman Al-Fahid and the Abu Dhabi group, it would be too hasty to automatically equate that with success right away. Al-Fahid even stated that they are targetting next year to start winning trophies. Of course, to this everyone would respond, 'well, look what happened with Chelsea and Roman Abramovich's money". Man City differs from Chelsea in several ways and it's not guaranteed that they will repeat their success.

For one, Chelsea was considerably more successful befoe Abramovich was on the scene, than Man City has been in the last few years. They had finished in the top 6 for the prior seven seasons and had a good core of Lampard and Terry to build on. And when the new Russian owner came in and spent 100 million pounds, it didn't translate directly into a championship. The list is too long to cover, but of the transfers, only Joe Cole, Makelele, and Damien Duff made a real impact on the team. They finished second under Claudio Raineri, and brought in Mourinho and a bunch of new signings to seal the deal the next year. It was Mourinho that brought the new signings and its old core together.

There is no way of knowing if that can happen with Mark Hughes and City, or whoever they bring in for Hughes at the end of the season.

The most troubling thing is Al-Fahid talking about how he is going to go after Ronaldo, Torres, and Kaka. Man City has a group of talented players now: Petrov, Elano, Richards, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Benjani, Jo, Castillo, Johnson, and Ireland. They are all solid Premiership players. How well are they going to play, knowing that the Robinho's and Ronaldo's of the world are going to come in and replace most of them by next year. Why would they play now for somebody else's glory later? It's unfair to your players, letting them know just how expendable they are.

One final point when it comes to the glorious, championship plans of the new owners and their version of Real Madrid's, "galaticos". How can we forget that the Mardrid galaticos failed to win a trophy for three consecutive years. Stocking their lineup with 8 of the greatest in the world, and then failing to find the right mix.

Transfer Madness

With the last minute sale of Manchester City to billionaire Sulaiman Al Fahim and the Abu Dhabi Group, the final day of the transfer window was tossed on its head. Here's a quick recap of the most notable action from the final day of money tossing and debt incurring.

Berba
The Berbatov finally took his cigarette smoking, Euro slick, Andy-Garcianess to Manchested United. City tried to steal the smooth Bulgarian striker at the last minute, but in the end, Sir-guson got his man. It will be interesting when Spurs and Man U meet up this year, as it's obvious that Juande Ramos is aware how to push the buttons of the easily bothered Berba. 30.75 million pounds is the going rate for gifted malcontents who show their teammates up on the pitch. I have every expectation that Rooney will not react well after Berba throws his hands up at bad ball in his direction.

Man City
Manchester City swept in at the last second to steal Robinho right from under Chelsea. It's gotta be weird for Roman to get out-billionaired by Al Fahim. The Brazilian starlet was nabbed for a mere 32.7 million pounds. It's also great to have another world class player come over to the Premier League, especially since we lost John Arne Riise earlier this summer. Sorry JAR, I joke because I,....well, because I won't forgive you until Roma plays Liverpool in the CL and you head in an own goal for us this time.
They also picked up Argentine right side defender/midfielder, Pablo Zabaleta, from Espanyol. Zabaleta was a stand out in Argentina's gold medal Olympic run. Man City will be looking to flash some more green over the January transfer window, so if they can hang around the top of the table, look out.

Spurs
With The Berbatov gone, Spurs filled his role with a trio of strikers. The Roman Pavlyuchenko deal was finalized with Zenit, likely pairing the Russian with Darren Bent on the next Spurs run out. Vedran Corluka joins the squad from Man City, and Frazier Campbell comes over from Man U for a loan spell, as part of the Berba deal.

Newcastle
Okay, so it's not that Sisqo, but Xisco is coming to Newcastle from bottom half La Liga squad, Real Betis. I hope that Toon supporters have the good sense not to create a Xisco chant around the "Thong Song". Who am I kidding, that would probably be fantastic. The striker comes to Keegan's squad on the heels of their wretched performance against Arsenal. Ignacio Gonzalez is another addition to the black and white upon Tyne, joining the team on loan from Valencia.


Everton
The deal for oft-injured French striker, Louis Saha, has gone through, giving the Toffees another option up front with The Yak. The other deadline day signing that David Moyes made was Belgian midfielder, Marouane Fellaini. Fellaini comes over from Standard Liege, where his box to box midfield play led his team to a Belgian Championship and a shocking near victory against Liverpool in last week's Champions League qualifier. Having watched him for the past couple of weeks, I will say that Fellaini is an inspiring player, who is going just as hard in the 90th minute as he is at kickoff.

Liverpool
The Albert Riera deal with Espanyol has gone through, bringing the Spanish winger to Anfield. Man City fans will tell you that he didn't do much in his first go around in the Premier League. Well, with Torres and Gerrard out, he better be ready to step in and make an impact. Steve Finnan, out of favor with Rafa for offering too much stability at right back, has switched placed with Riera and has headed to Espanyol. Also departing is disappointing Ukrainian striker, Andriy Voronin, who only managed 6 goals in 27 appearances last year. Voronin leaves for the Bundesliga and Hertha Berlin, reducing the Reds' blond ponytail quotient by %100.

Liverpool Player Reviews: Week 3- Aston Villa

In Focus: Javier Mascherano

This weekend's In Focus player is 24 year old Argentine defensive midfielder, Javier Mascherano. Mascherano played the role of destroyer and distributor to perfection throughout, and was the best player on the pitch in a 0-0 draw. Keeping an eye on Mascher for an entire game is a beautiful thing to watch. There just are not many players around that do what he does.

Mascher plays with what seems like a boundless amount of energy. He was killing Villan attacks on both sides of the pitch all night. He spent the game running up on Barry, Petrov, and Reo-Coker, and the backs that rushed ahead. Killing attacks before they could start, and ending them when they did, that was his game today. His attacks were filled with pace and control, running up onto a player, cutting off his momentum and his passing lanes at the same time.

When a player did get into the Liverpool half with some pace, Mascher ran that down too. Petrov juked a defender on the right and he came flying in, tackling square on the ball without so much as scraping the Villa winger, who was right on the ball. Perhaps his most impressive play was on a Reo-Coker run in the second half. Reo-Coker had gotten by a pursuing Dossena towards the end line, preparing to either cross or cut into the box with pace. Mascherano came flying in from out of nowhere, square on the ball, causing a corner.

Javi also did some good work on the offensive end. He was really the only Liverpool player running into the Villa half on the ball. His pace was blazing, taking the ball from defense to midfield, or midfield to attack, several times. One of his runs ended in a dangerous situation and a Liverpool corner. His passing was intelligent and efficient, which is his role when they are trying to work it up. He left the long balling, danger passing to Alonso. When not making runs, he kept it simple, while making positive decisions, as opposed to a Lucas Leiva, who was uncontrolled in most work ups.

Mascher did have two mistakes in the game, albeit, both coming after great plays. In the first half, he made a great transition from end to end, after nicking the ball, Javi flew 30 yards down on the Villa defense with great pace. Kuyt running with a world of space on his right, Mascherano shoved a poor pass right into the line of the defender and the play was ended. The other was during a Villa attack, just outside the Liverpool penalty area. Mascherano, ended the challenge, stole the ball, but then gave it away, right up the middle. The play came to nothing, but he did put them in good scoring position with the play. These little hiccups prevent him from getting an A.

For my money, Mascherano has become the best defensive midfielder in the world. And he's only 24. There are some great things to come for this Argentine international. Let's hope Rafa has the good sense to play him in every game.

Grade: A-


Player Grades:
Pepe Reina- B
Didn't have to do all that much. Made a good kick save on Carew in the first half. Dealt with corners well. His distribution was efficient.

Alvaro Arbeloa- C
Wasn't broken down as much as I thought by Ashley Young, but that was do more to the fact that Young wasn't getting any delivery. Alvaro gave up two corners on balls he probably could have headed away more effectively. Created nothing going forward.

Martin Skrtel- B
The young Slovak was a bit erratic and dangerous at times, but kept the Villa forwards in check most of the night. One thing that was a little scary, he kept challenging hard, after receiving a 13th minute yellow card. Played on the edge, as usual, but got away with it.

Jamie Carragher- B+
Carragher made the plays he had to, as usual, and despite not seeing much from Carew and Agbonglahor, was solid when pressured. Along with Reina, handled the Villa corners nicely.

Andrea Dossena- B-
My mix emotions continue on Dossena. He had some good delivery into the box when he came forward, outside of one dreadful mishit rugby shot that flew over the bar and out. Dealt with Reo-Coker and Milner on the right pretty well.

Dirk Kuyt- C
Played wide right in what essentially was a five man midfield (although Rafa might tell you it was a 4-3-3) and did little in attacking. Had an early chance that he pushed wide. Didn't really push up when Torres left the game, but that was probably Rafa's doing.

Xabi Alonso- C
Never really impressed with his corner taking in Gerrard's absence. Xabi failed to put his authority on the game like he could have. I had hoped that he would have pushed up with the Skipper out, but he really just played conservatively. Had a shot deflected high that could have been dangerous.

Lucas Leiva- D+
Played ninety minutes and made little impact on the game. His defense was acceptable, as he picked up on anything Mascher didn't cover. His play on the ball was dreadful, a disappointment after watching him shine for Brazil in the Olympics (outside of his last game against Argentina). He mishandles both accepting and dishing out passes were frustrating. And again, he played ninety minutes. Why did Rafa take out Keane and leave Lucas, oh yeah, that's right he needed that all important draw.

Keane- C+
Much better from Keano today, well at least after Torres left the game. He was moved into a center forward role and played better than he has all year. Laid off two nice balls to Ngog and Alonso, both of which went just over the bar. Actually looked semi-competent on the ball. Was taken down on his breakaway, probably could have been called a penalty.

Fernando Torres- C-
Injured in the 27th minute, but did little before that. El Nino had little service to speak of and not much chance to create. Tried to run on to a few balls, but never got anything going. His presence alone can put off defenders, that was really his only impact.

David Ngog- D
The 19 year-old had one good run onto a Keane pass, and fired it just high of the bar. Did virtually nothing in the second half. Why is he the only option to go in for the world's best striker? Wouldn't that have been the perfect time to give Babel a chance at striker? Rafa, sweet, Rafa.

Fabio Aurelio- C
Came on for Kuyt and just held things down on the left with Dossena, switching up on forward runs with the Italian defender.

Yossi Benayoun- C-
Came on for Keane and failed to create any of the magic that he is capable of. Could be because Rafa put him on for the only forward that could create any space for that magic, but I'm sure Rafa knows what he's doing. You're a peach Gaffer.

Man of the Match: Javier Mascherano