World Football Postulant

I got too busy yesterday to publish my thoughts on Shaun Wright-Phillips moving to Manchester City, though I just updated American Soccer Reader with the story.

The move came about pretty quickly.  Not so much the Wright-Phillips moved from Chelsea-part.  That seemed to be a given all summer, and it was somewhat surprising when, over the last two weeks, it seemed Wright-Phillips would not be moving.  If anything, he looked to play less under Scolari than he had last season.  But this week rumors regarding Everton and Manchester City surfaced, and while they were initially denied by Wright-Phillips, the winger moved on Thursday.

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Manchester City center back Micah Richards had to be stretched off the pitch on Sunday after knocking heads with partner Tal Ben Haim. What looked like a painful but unremarkable clash of heads became serious when Richards fell to the field and lost consciousness within seconds of the collision. The England international spent the night in the hospital.

Thankfully, it looks like Richards will be able to play Manchester City’s UEFA Cup tie against FC Midtjylland on Thursday. Continue Reading »

One of the trickle-down effects of Robinho’s potential move to Chelsea will be the renewed availability of Shawn Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips was thought to be gone from Stamford Bridge this summer as Luiz Felipe Scolari thinned out the bloated squad he’d inherited. Ultimately, Scolari decided to keep Wright-Phillips as an understudy to Joe Cole. But when Robinho comes aboard Wright-Phillips will lose a rung on the depth chart, becoming an extraneous third option at right wing. So as Chelsea continue negotiating with Real Madrid for their Brazilian target, Peter Kenyon is sure to have a subordinate calling around the Premiership looking for a new home for Wright-Phillips.

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A series of interesting notes from Saturday’s papers, but nothing to dissuade me from the notion that Robinho will be in London early this week and will be confirmed a Blue shortly there after.  There are, however, plenty of reports that would undermine that conclusion.

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In the last day Robinho has gone public with his wish to move away from Real Madrid, explicitly citing Chelsea as his desired destination.  Real Madrid, on the club’s web site, announced their intention to honor the request, taking a swipe at Manchester United in by saying they would never hold a player against his wishes.  And though it would seem the story has little to do with Cristiano Ronaldo, the loss of Robinho will undoubtedly have an effect on Madrid’s continued desire to lure the Portuguese star.  But first, Robinho.

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Yet another rumor surrounding Fluminense attacker Thiago Neves, though there is another suitor mentioned in this one.  This time, it is Manchester City, a team who is still looking for that marquee name after being used by Ronaldinho early this summer.  Neves, who just finished his Olympics commitment to Brazil, would fill that role, even if expectations of him are a bit high at this point.  Atlético Madrid has also been strongly mentioned in some reports, but Neves’s representation is speaking openly about a City move, something that is both a good and a bad sign.

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If you read my EPL preview over at American Soccer Reader, you know I think highly of Middlesbrough’s chances this season. I picked them to finish ninth, and the simulation I wrote saw them as having a outside but meaningful chance at finishing in the top seven. But given a chance to pick Boro when they hosted a team of similar standing (by the prediction) to open the season, I picked the visitor.

That’s because that visitor was Tottenham. Continue Reading »

Hamburger SV have accepted a bid from Manchester City for 22-year-old right back Vincent Kompany.  No personal terms have been agreed to yet, but a move seems likely as Hamburger wants to rid themselves of their formerly prized prospect after a rift has formed over the Olympics.

Hamburg had negotiated a deal with the Belgian football federation that would have their player return from Beijing for last Friday’s Bundesliga start at Bayern Munich.  When Kompany complained about having to leave the Olympics, Hamburg became defensive, publicly noting an agreement had been in place for some time.

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This is truly kicking somebody when they’re down, but today’s events need to be looked at from Manchester City’s perspective.

First, Djibril Cisse slips through their fingers after Sunderland swoops in and Marseille decides to deal him as soon as possible.  I get the feeling that Sunderland was willing to just take him, as soon as possible, and was more persistent after this weekend when Cisse’s benching made it clear has was about to go.  I can’t help but feel Manchester City’s organizational turmoil prevented them from making a quick decision on bringing in Cisse and his salary.

Second, Mikael Silvestre.  This one is much more mundane, which is why it may hurt even more.  City was about to get Silvestre from Manchester United, who have been trying to find a home for him all summer.  Right as they are ready to bring him in, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger decide they need more depth.  Silvestre was so close to making this deal that he has to call City and apologize for going to Arsenal.

So you have these two issues, another striker injury this weekend, the UEFA cup and open day loses, Tkashin Shinawatra not returning to Thailand, and that soft hum of Ronaldinho using them still audible in the background.

Mark Hughes is staying, Jô will be back soon, but yeesh:  What a difference a year makes.

Their quarterfinal match-up with Cameroon saw Brazil continue their uninspired Olympics play, needing extra time to beat a team that was reduced to ten men early in the second half.  The sending off came after Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva seemed to simulate an injury, casting a black cloud over a match in which the referee brought out his cards thirteen times.  After a scoreless ninety minutes, Brazil got goals from Rafael Sobis and Marcelo in extra time to put them through to a probable semifinal match-up with Argentina.

Brazil, my pre-tournament pick for gold, looks ripe for the picking, particularly sign Dunga has elected to drop Alexandre Pato from the starting XI while leaving Jô and Thiago Neves out of the lineup.  Neves, who had two goals in Brazil’s final group match (his only start of the tournament), came on in the sixty-sixth minute, though Pato, Jô and Thiago Silva saw no time.

Brazil proved to have the easiest group - with Belgium, China, and New Zealand - and found a way to make some of those matches look close.  In their first real competition, against one of the African sides that have been so impressive (all three, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria advancing), Brazil renders and inconclusive result thanks to the sending off.

The Brazilians have the talent to win this tournament, but like Argentina coming out of group A, they have yet to impress.

Links
Brazil sink battling Cameroon
Brazil sink Cameroon in niggly match
Brazil down Cameroon after extra time