World Football Postulant

Juventus center back Giorgio Chiellini is targeting a return for the opening of Champions League.

Juventus looked like half a team during their season opener at Fiorentina, with injuries keeping them from taking advantage of Adrian Mutu’s absence. The sides played to a 1-1 draw, altering Juve as to how much injuries are taking their toll early in the season. With Champions League play set to start next week, the schedule only gets more compacted from here out. Thankfully, some of their injury concerns are starting to be alleviated.

Center-back Giorgio Chiellini has said that he hopes to be on the pitch for next week’s Champions League opener against Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg. He will not, however, be available this weekend, when Juventus hosts Antonio Di Natale and Udinese.

Continue Reading »

The European Match of the Week is in Serie A, where Juventus starts their march towards recapturing the Scudetto against an Adrian Mutu-less Fiorentina side.  We’ve seen examples in the Bundesliga (Diego, Werder Bremen) and the Premiership (Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal) of what one player can mean to a team, but Mutu’s meaning to Fiorentina might prove to be just as large.  Continue Reading »

The final set of predictions for the 2008-09 European club season takes me to Italy, where your view on who will win the league will undoubtedly be dependent on what you think of Jose Mourinho.  He has been the big name transaction of the Calcio summer,  A has dominated the Italian media and made himself the face of not just Internazionale but the league.  There may not have been one better move the league could have made to reassert itself on the continent after the bad news of recent seasons.

I am a Mourinho fan and have great respect for everything he’s accomplished.  Show me a real football follower who does not respect what Mourinho has done.  And he and Internazionale are a perfect fit.  It is a club with history and resources, is ready to win now, and will appreciate Mourinho more than he ever seemed to be over the last two years at Stamford Bridge.  Everything is in place for him to succeed, and he better.  This is a club that has won the last three Scudetto.  Their management not only expects a repeat in the league but also challenge for the Champions League.  Anything less than the final four in Europe will bring questions as to whether Mourinho had a successful season.  To his credit, he seems to realize this.

Domestically, there are four teams which critics see as challengers.  There’s Adrian Mutu’s Fiorentina, but the loss of Tomas Ujfalusi and goalie Sebastien Frey coming back to Earth a bit make it unlikely they will improve on a successful 2007-08.  Milan, who finish behind Fiorentina, will have to make up 21 points on Inter despite an aging and injury-prone team.  Roma came within three points last season, but this is another case where questions can be raised as to whether they can replicate an 82 point season, especially if Francesco Totti can never find true health.

That leaves Juventus, who I was biased towards at the start of this exercise.  They have the best set of strikers in the league and could get 50-60 goals from just those four.  They can expect a little better luck with health, and they have the best goalie in the league in Gianluigi Buffon.  People outside Italy seem to forget that last season was their return to Serie A.  This year they will have no issues of adjustment.  More than any of this, though:  this team really wants to win the title.  There is a certain pride thse players have in playing for the Old Lady that’s admirable.

However, when I sat down and looked at the rosters, man-by-who should be playing man, it was just difficult to see Juve making up 13 points on Inter.  In fact, I expect Inter to improve slightly with Mourinho.  Juve will have to make up more than 13 points to take the Scudetto.

Ultimatley, I like Internazionale to win.  Again.  And thanks to a just quick fall-off in quality through the table, I think Inter (and the other top teams) to put up a lot of points.  Last season inter only lost three matches.  I don’t expect that number to increase this season.  They tied ten times.  I do see some of those matches turning into wins.

Amongst the surprise teams of the league, I like Torino to jump into UEFA Cup contention.  Lazio, I like to make the top seven, which would hopefully find them in Europe.  I also like Catania to avoid many of the struggles they had last season and easily avoid relegation battles.

At the other end of the spectrum, I like both Chievo and Lecce to stay up after being promoted from Serie B.  Bologna, I don’t see as fortunate.  Amongst the teams that I see fighting for survival:  Reggina, Palermo, and Genoa.

Other teams I expect to falter a little:  I think Udinese will finish closer to relegation than another UEFA Cup spot.  I also think Fiorentina not only will not challenge for the league, I like them to get passed by Sampdoria, both of them finishing will behind Roma for the last Champions League spot.

One of the more exciting days of the European club football season is the day the Champions League group stage is drawn.

The 32 teams that have qualified for the group stage are drawn into eight, four-team groups.  Before that happens, all teams are broken into four pots, labeled A through D, where they are grouped according to a team’s strength (as determined by a formula called a coefficient).  Each of the eight groups can have no more than one team from each pot, no more than one team from a country.  The eight groups end up pretty even.

The draw is fun because you end up with a series of matches which, in addition to being high profile based on the quality of the teams involved, are rare.  In the days before the draw, you start considering the possibilities and potential story lines:  Chelsea and Fiorentina in a group, forcing Adrian Mutu to play the club he owes £14 million; Marseille being slotted with Arsenal months after having sold them Samir Nasri, and potentially getting Bayern Munich in the group, so they would have to face Franck Ribery; Barcelona being slotted with a Zenit St. Petersburg team whose star, Andrei Arshavin, so badly wanted to play at Camp Nou; FC Porto being grouped with Inter Milan and facing Jose Mourinho.

Here’s how the eight groups ended up being drawn, with the clubs listed in order of the group they were drawn from:  A to D.  Continue Reading »

As if his week hasn’t been bad enough.

Adrian Mutu suffered a dislocated left elbow while training for Romania’s Wednesday friendly against Latvia.  His arm has had to be immobilized and he will miss two weeks.

That means Fiorentina will be without their talisman for their return fixture of Champions League third round qualifying against Slavia Prague on August 27 in the Czech Republic.  Four days later, Mutu will also miss Viola’s Serie A opener when Fiorentina hosts Juventus.

With a 2-0 advantage over Slavia Prague going into the tie’s second leg, Fiorentina is in good position to advance to the group stage without him.  Viola was very impressive in the first leg and should be able to control play in midfield.  Off to a mildly slow start Grambinus Liga (3 matches, 4 points, 0 goal differential), Slavia Prague may not be as strong a side as last season’s team that won the league and qualified for Champions League group stage.

What looked like a tough draw for the Italian club was little trouble in the first leg.  Though Mutu scored the club’s opening goal, Fiorentina should be able to advance without him, though it would make their backers feel a lot better if Alberto Gilardino could pocket and early goal.  With Sparta having failed to get any away goals, one Viola score would force the Czech champions to put up four goals to advance.

Should the home team pull off a 2-0 win or a two goal differential, Fiorentina may do to the head of the club-versus-country debate.  Let’s entertain the implications of a loss for a second.  It means Fiorentina will not go on to the Champions League group stage.  They will lose three highly lucrative home matches and potential prize money.  Should they get to that point, they would have a non-trivial chance of advancing to the knock-out stage, at which point they would get at least one more home match, against a big club, and more prize money.  While Slavia Prague may be down this season, a four game sample (three in league, one versus Fiorentina) is small enough to question whether they necessarily can’t win this tie.

That’s the nightmare scenario for Fiorentina.

After their Champions League qualifier is over, Fiorentina face a tough opening match to the Serie A season when Juventus visits Artemio Franchi.  All matches amongst Italy’s top five teams will be critical this season.  Fiorentina will have to face their first without their best player.

Juventus won the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Artmedia 4-0.  That result fell within an impressive preseason that reflects Juve’s desire to reclaim the Scudetto.  With the match between the two teams coming at the end of Mutu’s two week diagnosed recovery period, Fiorentina fans should hope for a quick recovery and the presence of their star in the August 31 lineup.

Links
Romania striker Mutu suffers dislocated elbow
Mutu suffers elbow injury
Romania striker Mutu suffers dislocated elbow
Injured Mutu needs two weeks to recover

One week after being on the verge of a move to AS Roma, Fiorentina star striker Adrian Mutu has signed an extension with La Viola that will keep him at the club through the summer of 2012. The extension contains a raise on his salary of about ten percent, making this contract extension less of an upgrade for the Romanian star and more of a pledge. Mutu’s reputation suffered a bit during the Roma ordeal because he had said, shortly before, that he wanted to stay at Fiorentina for life. Upset La Viola fans might want to note that their star has essentially taken less money to finish out his career with their club.

It is unlikely to assuage those committed to bitterness towards Mutu.   Thankfully, those seem relatively few.  For many fans, it is hard to think if terms of sympathy as it concerns a “mere” ten percent wage.  Over the next few seasons, as star players are signed or re-upped at their clubs, La Viola fans might want to note the find of money that Mutu passed up.  It will be notable.

But with the contract issue behind player and club, Fiorentina can now concentrate on their Champions League qualifying match-up against Slavia Prague.  Due to start in just under two weeks, Fiorentina has a difficult match-up against the Czech Republic club.  If Fiorentina can not solve problems at the back that have manifest  during the preseason, they will lose this tie.  The gap between Fiorentina (the fourth place team from Serie A) and the champions of the Grambrinus liga is not so big that Cesare Prandelli’s team can afford to be off their game.

Regardless of how they perform in Champions League, Fiorentina can use the knowledge that Mutu will be in fold to focus on re-qualifying for Champions League:  finishing in Serie A’s top four.  Inter has struggled to find their rhythm while implementing Jose Mourinho’s new system while AC Milan has looked old and thin.  In the early going, those two look most vulnerable, but Fiorentina must be ready from the get-go as they host Juventus in Round 1.

With the Mutu saga now over, Prandelli can stay preparing his team for their fights.

Links
Mutu Extends Fiorentina Contract
Mutu Signs Contract Extension
Mutu to extend La Viola deal

This season, there will be no more scrutinized goalie in the world than Chelsea’s Petr Cech.  After the goal he gave up at Euro 2008 to Nihat Kahveci that allowed Turkey to tie their final group stage match against the Czech Republic, Cech temporarily knocked himself out of the discussion for world’s best keeper, a debate which now leaves Juventus’s Gianluigi Buffon and Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas as its only candidates.   It was not just the Euro 2008-aberration.  Others remembered the howler Cech let in against Liverpool towards the end of Chelsea’s Champions League semifinal.

Yesterday in Moscow, Chelsea’s friendly against Lokomotiv in the Russian Railways Cup offered another reason to wonder if Cech will ascend back to the form that had him voted Europe’s best goalkeeper twice.

Chelsea had been protecting an early Michael Essien goal for most of the match when Loko was awarded a direct free kick from just outside the box.   There was less than ten minutes remaining in regular time.  Cech positioned his wall and looked like he had Ruslan Kambalov’s free kick covered.  As the ball came around the wall and towards the lower right-hand corner of Cech’s goal, the keeper curiously pulled his hands back slightly from the save, presumedly to let the ball would go wide.  The curving shot hit the inside of the post and went in to tie the match in a true “I can’t believe that just happened” moment.

Lokomotiv would go on to win the match on penalty kicks, with Cech failing to stop any of Loko’s attempts.

It was just a friendly, and of the three goals mentioned here, only one has been truly consequential, but in all three instances, Cech was trying to stop shots and did not do it (for what ever reason).  For people trying to assess Petr Cech, trying to determine what he is capable of, these instances matter.

Petr Cech is capable of some of the best goaltending in the world.  Last season, his return from injury to Chelsea’s lineup was one of the main reasons the Blues were able to push for both the Premiership and Champions League titles.  Still, his tendency to allow goals like these is troublesome, keeping him out of the conversation of best goaltender in the world.

Beyond Petr Cech’s performance, the Loko match exhibited one of Chelsea’s more worrisome tendencies from last season.  Chelsea had a knack for playing down to their opponents’ level - of either relaxing once they got a lead or not doing enough to get leads early.  Their Champions League loss in Istanbul to Fenerbahçe showed this, as did their final Premiership match against Bolton, to name two of the more obvious examples.

Similarly in this match, Chelsea controlled most of the match but showed an unwillingness to put forth the effort to get that critical second goal.   The one player who really stood out in his effort - a possibly rejuvenated Niclas Anelka, who beautifully trapped a cross onto Essien’s left foot for the goal - lacked teammates who matched his intensity.  They kept the lead at one, given Loko the opportunity to win in kicks should something like a Cech hiccup happen.

Loko is a very good team, possibly a title threat in the Russian Premier League, but they were clearly not in Chelsea’s league.  You do not want to take too much from a friendly, but if Chelsea goes through a second season of leaving points on the pitch like this, they can forget about winning a Premiership where Manchester United will be joined by improved Arsenal and Liverpool sides.

The good news for Arsenal is that most of their summer transfer drama is over. They have finished Arsene Wenger’s bargain shopping tour (which always seems to work out well) and after losing Mathieu Flamini in May, did not lose anybody irreplaceable (apologies to Alexander Hleb, your shoes will be filled).   The return to health of many vital cogs will lift the Gunners as the year moves on.  Though they still have the empty space Flamini’s eastern journey left, Arsenal has said they may be done shopping.  In addition to the good news of the team being mostly set, Arsenal has a squad that can compete in the Premiership, with their attack being left in tact, if not bolstered.

The bad news is that their attack not changing means Emmanuel Adebayor will return.

Adebayor is a world-class talent, to be sure, even if last year’s goal total (30) exaggerates his contributions. If his tally fell to below twenty he would still be a valuable part of the Arsenal team, his physical stature and ability to push the back line providing a needed dimension. With Robin van Persie due to be healthier, Carlos Vela in the fold, Nicklas Bendnter and Theo Walcott’s improvements, the acquisition of Samir Nasri and the returns of Eduardo de Silva and Tomas Rosicky (it really is an embarrassment of riches at the Emirates), Wenger will have no problem finding players who can pick up for the ten to 15-goal-drop Adebayor should encounter.  Adebayor had 36 goals in his six year career before Cesc Fabregas’s improvement helped him to his remarkable season.  It may be too much to expect replication.

As long as Arsenal has Fabregas performing at an elite level and can surround him with talent, players like Adebayor are expendable. That Arsenal was not about to cash-in on a £25 to £30 payday is the bad news. Adebayor could easily be replaced from within, or the money could have been used to upgrade a number of positions.  Flamini has yet to be adequately replaced, and some would like Arsenal to admit their center backs could be better. Both of those problems could have been addressed with the money Wenger would have gotten from Barcelona or AC Milan.

Even sell him to Chelsea and hope that the Blues use that as reason to get rid of Didier Drogba, the player whose two goals in last season’s reverse-fixture helped ruin the Gunners’ league campaign.

Wenger may value Adebayor much higher than most. Either that or he misjudged what Barça would be willing to pay. Instead, Wenger has given Adebayor a contract extension which will run until 2012, doubling his pay rate to £80,000 per week. Both sides were effusive yesterday in announcing the deal, happy that they could put this summer behind them and concentrate on the season.

Wenger’s happiness not withstanding, Arsenal fans have not forgotten or forgiven so quickly. Adebayor was booed at home when Arsenal faced Juventus today in the Emirates Cup. Perceived now as ungrateful and greedy, Adebayor will have to win back the hearts of Arsenal fans who had already started to turn on him after his poor showings in the second half of last season were blamed for Arsenal’s failings in the Premiership and Champions Leagues. The respect the supporters have for Wenger’s evaluations might not be enough, in the short term, to make Gunner fans forget that the Togoan seemed willing to go everywhere and anywhere for a raise.

Contrasted with those feelings, £25 million in Arsene Wenger’s hands looks pretty good. The increasingly moody Adebayor, who this summer expressed disappointment with how he was received at the end of last season, would be best to let the impending criticism run off his back. Give effort on the pitch, regardless of whether that leads to goals, and you will win the fans back. But in the interim, you will not be winning any fan’s player of the year awards.

We must live with the decisions we make, as confusing as that can be when you re-sign with a club you spent all summer trying to leave.

This article will be edited and posted to American Soccer Reader at some point today.

Quotes

“Now I can tell everyone that yes, I will sign a contract.” - Adebayor
‘When I was on holiday I never went on to the internet, I never read the newspapers, so to be honest I was with my family so my phone was off, so I didn’t know what was happening.  When I came back I realised what was happening - but, you know, the thing has happened already so now the most important thing is behind me and I will show everyone this club has given me a lot of things.” - Adebayor
“I have four more years’ contract. I am very happy that we have found a solution to stay here and my heart is with Arsenal.” - Adebayor
“All I have to do is play my football and I know the fans always love me, so there is no reason to not love me anymore because I am still here.” - Adebayor

Links

Another preseason setback for Arsenal
Ade booed as Arsenal are beaten
Adebayor has change of heart on Arsenal future
Adebayor jeered as Arsenal ensure another pre-season setback
Adebayor signs new Arsenal deal
Ade extends Gunners stay
Wenger sees off Barcelona and Milan to sign Adebayor for four more years
Adebayor agrees to sign new Arsenal deal
My heart is with Gunners, says Adebayor
Adebayor to extend Arsenal deal through 2012
Adebayor staying at Arsenal
Adebayor says he’s staying at Arsenal
Adebayor vows to stay at Arsenal
I will sign new contract says Adebayor
Adebayor sticking with Gunners
Adebayor says he is staying at Arsenal

The big names in today’s Champions League, third round qualifying draw can breathe a sigh of relief at having avoiding a match-up with Atlético Madrid, but one of the darlings of last year’s tournament was not so lucky.

Atlético, the best of the unseeded teams in today’s draw, stood to be slotted against some of the round’s high profile participants: Barcelona, Juventus, Arsenal, or Liverpool. Those clubs exhaled in avoiding Madrid while Schalke 04 garnered the dubious distinction.

Having made the final eight last season, Schalke had designs on another Champions League run. Now being matched-up against Atlético one step before the group stage, replicating their knock-out round success last season seems far off. They will enter this qualifying round tie as underdogs to the revamped Spanish side.

Still, Schalke has to be given more than a puncher’s chance considering Sergio Agüero, Atlético’s star striker, will be half-way around the world, staring for the Argentina olympic team.  All of Schalke’s complaints about losing Rafinha now ring a little hollow.

The other La Liga side in the draw, third-place finishing Barcelona, got a fortuitous match-up against the winner of the Beitar Jerusalem-Wisla Krakow second round match-up. Jerusalem leads the tie 2-1 after one leg, with the second leg scheduled for Krakow. Barcelona should easily advance into the group stage while being able to use their players judiciously. If their strong preseason form is any indication of how they will perform in two weeks, the Beitar-Wisla winner is in for a long two legs.

Likewise, Juventus looks to be heavy favorites over the winner of the Tampere (Finland)-Artmedia (Slovakia) second round qualifier. Artmedia won the first leg 3-1 in Finland. Like Barcelona, Juventus has looked impressive in preseason, coming off a controlling 3-1 away win in a friendly against Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. Juve’s return to the Champions League should get off to a successful start.

Although they will be favored, the same is not guaranteed for fellow Serie A-side Fiorentina. La Viola drew Slavia Prague, the tradition-rich club that is the current champion of the Czech Republic’s league (Grambinus liga). Slavia Prague qualified for the group stage of last year’s Champions League by eliminating Eredivisie side Ajax in last season’s third round qualifying. A young team that is a year more matured, Prague should not be taken lightly by Fiorentina.

Liverpool was drawn against Belgian champions Standard Liege, better known as the club of United States center back (and former Newcastle United player) Oguchi Onyewu. Liverpool, like Juventus and Barcelona, should breeze through.

Arsenal should also make it easily into the group stage, but their match-up will likely garner the most press in England. Eredivisie side FC Twente, who qualified for their Champions League spot thanks to the Dutch league’s unique playoff system, was drawn against Arsenal, allowing former Middlesbrough and England national team manager Steve McClaren to match-up against Arsene Wenger once again. There is a not-so-subtle irony to the former England coach being matched-up against a Premiership side that is unlikely start an English player. Add this to the fact that McLaren could not get a job in the Premiership yet finds himself in the Champions League and the papers will have a month’s worth of story lines.

Third round qualifying for the Champions League sees 32 teams paired off for two-legged ties, the winner of each moving on to the group stage of the competition.  Sixteen teams have already qualified for that stage.  Those 32 teams will be draw into eight, four team groups.  Each group then plays a double-round robin format, with the top two finishers  advancing to the competition’s knock-out stage.

The teams which lose in third-round qualifying will be entered into the UEFA Cup first round.

Other notable match-ups from the third qualifying round:

• Spartak Moscow looks destined to match-up with Dinamo Kiev, with the latter currently up 2-1 in their second-round qualifier against Ireland’s Drogheda United.
• Romanian power Steaua Bucharest will take on Galatasaray, last season’s Turcell Super League champions, in a match-up that will feature may players from this summer’s Euro 2008.
• And although each team has to finish-off their lead in second round qualifying, Greek squad Panathinaikos looks destined to meet Czech Republic side Sparta Prague.

This summary will also appear, in a revised form, on American Soccer Reader.

Quotes

“Every team is tough and when there’s a draw you have to pit yourself against the rival that fate gives you and that’s that.” - Enrique Cerezo, president, Atlético Madrid
“We’ve been drawn against a strong side, a German side, but in any case we’re going to give it everything because Atletico Madrid are going to push on from this round.” - Cerezo
“It was strange, because as soon as I joined (Twente) I knew we had the draw coming up.” - McClaren
“I expected one of the English teams. I think fate deals you certain cards and it has dealt us this draw.” - McClaren
‘I think of all the teams we could have had, that is the toughest - or one of the toughest. Obviously we looked at Arsenal, Liverpool, Juventus, Schalke and we got one of the most difficult.” - McLaren
“We will go to Krakow to watch the game. We honestly don’t mind which team we face.” - Txiki Bergiristain, sporting director, Barcelona
“Of course it’s always important for us to be in the group stage of the competition. We want to be there and of course we are working hard to be there.” - Bergiristain
“They will also be worried, knowing that return game is in Madrid and that we are a team that is improving and working hard. We have signed well and we have spent two years on this plan.” - Javier Aguirre, coach, Atlético Madrid
“Schalke are on a similar level to us and I think the tie is 50-50. I am very optimistic though and home advantage could prove to be very important over.” - Aguirre
“The draw could have gone better for us.  Atletico Madrid are a good side that finished fourth in a very strong Spanish league last season.” Fred Rutten, trainer, Schalke
“It’s a hammer blow- the most difficult opponents for us.  But I’m sure that Madrid would also have wished for a different opponent.” - Andreas Müller, general manager, Schalke
“For us the game against Atletico is a super game and will a high-point for our fans at the start of the season.” - Marcelo Bordon, captain, Schalke

Links

UCL: McClaren back as Twente draw Arsenal
Good draws for Serie A pair
Liverpool faces Standard Liege in Champions League
Cerezo expecting Atletico to ‘push on’
McClaren’s Twente to meet Arsenal
Aguirre:  Schalke Will Be Worried Too
Mac ready for Gunners test
Arsenal face McClaren in Champions League
Schalke Face Up To Tough Atleti Challenge
McClaren’s men coming to Emirates
Reds handed Standard test

Former France international Lilian Thuram, one of the cornerstones of the great France squads of the last decade, has retired from football. Thuram played in Euro 2008 and spent his last club season at Barcelona but will retire after a malformation of his heart was discovered during a medical undertaken in the process of his transfer to Paris St. Germain. PSG did not follow through on the transfer, leaving Thuram’s career in limbo.

Thuram had a brother die young from heart complications, putting his diagnosis into a poignant light. He retires from football having accumulated 142 caps for France as well as a reputation as a legend in French football. At 36-years-old, he retires having been offered a position within the French Football Federation.

Thuram struggled last season for Barça but would have been a great addition for PSG. He had more football left in him, even if that football wasn’t for Barcelona or Juventus (for whom he played earlier in his career). To see him have to retire early is a bit sad, as not only will football fans not be able to see him play anymore but a person’s career has been taken from him. It’s a career in which he’s been well compensated, but (trying not to be trite) there is something tragic about having your dream life taken from you while you’re living it. I imagine it to be like waking up from a dream only to find no matter how hard you try you can not go back to sleep and resume where you left off.

Quotes

“There are family reasons which have also been taken into account.” - Thuram
“I wanted to be the (Paolo) Maldini of PSG but that has not been possible. It’s sad to end a career like this.” - Thuram
“There was nothing detected before and I had a well-muscled heart. But I was pleased to find out I did not have this condition (hypertrophy).” - Thuram
“It’s sad to end a career like this.” - Thuram

Links

Thuram announces retirement
Thuram announces retirement from game
Thuram retires from football
Thuram calls it quits
Thuram brings career to close
Former France defender Thuram retires
Former World Cup winner Thuram retires
French authorities line-up Thuram for top position
Thuram to announce retirement, claim PSG