Transfer Trivia-I

So,the European Season has come to the close,with no major upsets at the final hurdle,with Chelsea,Barcelona,Inter and Bayern Munich wrapping up their domestic titles,and waht only remains to be seen is who is crowned Europe's Best in the Champions League Final.But,most big clubs are already starting to re-build for the next season,with many Big name transfers looking possible this summer.So,in this blog,I'm just trying to analyze who these clubs really need to sign,what they have lacked this season.It'll be a brilliant discussion if you can post your ideas in the comment box as well.

Starting with Barcelona,the Catalan giants have been heavily linked with a move for Franck Ribery and Cesc Fabregas,both of them highly creative playmakers.But,do Barca need any more creativity??? They really have enough of it,with the likes of Xavi,Iniesta,Pedro,and the best player in the World in Lionel Messi.What they really need is an Outright Goalscorer.Zlatan Ibrahimovic has not been good enough to justify his massive transfer fee,and just if Barca had someone like David Villa instead of him,they could have destroyed every other team in Europe.Yes,Ibra has scored goals,but he has missed too many chances for anyone's liking.Against Arsenal in First leg,a lot was made of his 2 goals,but I really feel any Decent striker could have had much more than that,with Barca's creative brains putting Gunners to the sword that night,but thanks to Ibra,Barca could only manage a 2-2 draw.So,someone like David Villa or even a Luis Fabiano would be really handy for them.

As far as the English Champions Chelsea are concerned,they have really got an in-depth squad.The fact that players like Joe Cole and Kalou and Deco can't get into first-team speaks for that.They have the best striker in the World in Didier Drogba,who when on song is simply unstoppable !!! Carlo Ancelotti wouldn't want to swap him for any other Forward in the world,not Wayne Rooney,not Cristiano Ronaldo,perhaps not even Lionel Messi !!!

What Chelsea really need is a magic-player,someone who can create something out of nothing ,when things are not going right for the team.And Carlo seems to have acknowledged that,as there are talks of Kaka arriving in London,next season.If that doesn't happen,may be they should go for Luka Modric,the brilliant Croatian playmaker,with excellent ballcontrol.They don't really need a striker,after breaking all the scoring records in EPL this season.But,still,the prospect of a Drogba-Torres combo is still magnificent.

ManUtd should really sign a striker,as Dimitar Brabatov is simply not good enough for them.Yes,he is brilliant when on song,but he doesn't really suit United's all action approach.They need Hard-workers,people like Darren Fletcher,who may not be highly gifted,but have an immense work-rate.They may also do with a defender.We have seen how injury-prone Vidic and Ferdinand are, this season.

So,I will leave all the transfer talks about remaining biggies like Madrid and Liverpool in part 2.Do remember to leave your coments.

The Comparison: Drogba versus Rooney

Well,I agree I am entering a never-ending debate,but after learning that Rooney was chosen as Barclays Player of the Season, I really start wonderiong what basis these guys use for such awards.No doubt,Rooney is one of the finest strikers in the League,But frankly,there have been better,in fact only this season,I feel Drogba performed much better than him.

Manchester Utd are now rueing that Rooney was injured,which robbed him of the chances to increase his goal-tally to win the Golden-boot,and lead United to the title.But,Didier Drogba missed One full Month of League Football due to African Nations Cup,and he also hardly has had an Injury-free season.In fact,Drogba and Rooney made exactly same number of appearances in Premier League this seasons.Rooney scored 26 goals in 32 appearances,while Drogba scored 29 in the same number of games.Close, you say? In fact,the figures that really show who is more useful to their team is the number of assists they made to their teammates.Rooney's 4 assists are woefully short of Drogba's 13 assists,and that's where Drogba wins hands down as a Footballer.

Just after Rooney scored 4 goals vesus the likes of Hull City and AC Milan (a pretty pathetic Milan,I have to say,they even lost a match to 9-men Inter!!!),He was already being compared to Messi,as the best player in the world.But,I don't think there is really a competition between the two.Lionel Messi has proved enough at the moment to be called the Best player of this Generation,alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.Although Barca failed to retain the Champions League Crown,they are almost certain to hold onto their Spanish League title,while All Rooney has managed to lead ManUtd to is the Carling Cup.

I agree Drogba hasn't got best of the disciplinary records,but thats just because he just passionate about the game,he has been criticized so many times for Diving on the slighetst touch from the defender,but come on,we see every other striker in world football doing that,and people always end up villifying only certain individuals.Last year,Bosingwa was suspended by UEFA for calling the refree a "thief".We see people getting yellow cards for showing dissent at the referre,but how many times has Rooney been punished for openly abusing the referee with the F-word??? I hardly remember any incident.

I think Messi and Ronaldo are unmatched at the moment in the race for the best PLAYER,but I really feel Drogba is the best Forward in the world right now,just because of his versatility .He not only is an excellent Target-man,but he can anytime drift wide on the wings to produce sublime crosses for his team-mates.And the biggest advantage is he always go back to help out his defence in Set Piece situations,Most forwards just go back to make upthe numbers doing nothing else,but not Drogba.He puts himself on the line to every header,in the either half !!! Thats why Carlo Ancelloti said he wouldn't swap Drogba for any other forward in the world.

So,I really believe that It's time the world sees Beyond ony the Bad things about Didier Drogba,because only then they will find that what lies beneath is one hell of a footballer !!!

All hail the Lords of London

Chelsea won the Premier League title in the most emphatic fashion on Sunday,beating Wigan Athletic 8-0,their biggest ever top-flight win,to fend off Manchester Utd's challenge by one point,in the process breaking innumerable records.

Manchester fans are already queueing up with the excuses,ranging from missing Ronaldo,to not getting refreeing decisions(they are so used to big decisions ,whether wrong or right,going in their favour!!!). But,anyone can hardly say Chelsea didn't deserve to win the title,not surely after scoring a massive 103 goals in the League this season (no team has ever managed that in EPL History!!!)

Man Utd goalie Van Der Sar was saying that Chelsea were just lucky!! ya ya,just check out the facts yourself, Utd needed six and seven minutes of stoppage time to salvage points twice against ManCity and once against Sunderland,and they are just unfortunate that Chelsea got "lucky" to beat a stubborn Aston Villa 7-1!!! While Chelsea scored 7 or more goals in a single match 4 times this season,while second highest source of goals for Utd after Rooney was Own Goals against them!!!(wonder what 30million-man Berbatov has to say about that?) and still it's Chelsea who just got lucky to win the title,right??

So many Red Devils are moaning about Didier Drogba's winner against them from an Offside position,but the same guys conveniently forget that The only goal United managed in that match was literally punched (by hand) in the net by Federico Macheda,which is hardly "Legal" in Football.They also cry that Liverpool just rolled over to prevent United winning the title,but United had the chance to beat Chelsea for the title,and they miserably failed.Chelsea were way better than Manchester Utd and all other teams.The fact that they scored 17 more goals than the second-highest scores highlights the gap.

In the Sunday's games,the outcome was never in doubt as early as 6th minute,when Anelka opened the scoring to calm any pre-match nerves,and afterwards it was a all too familiar story !!!

I can't really understand that why Arsenal are still considered to play the most beautiful football,Carlo Ancelloti's Chelsea put some of the most sparkling performances the League has ever seen,just look at the sleek passing in any of those 8 goals they scored on Sunday,finally banishing the image of being a physical side,showing some of the best football,that even the mighty Barca would struggle to match . It was delightful to watch them celebrate wildly,after seeing Utd take the glory for last 3 years, In the end, the Roar from Stamford Bridge was very clear " All Hail The Lords Of London" !!!!

The Final Hurdle

One point......thats all that separates Chelsea and Manchester Utd going into the last week of an enthralling Barclays Premier League Season.And that one point will be enough for Chelsea to win their first title since the "Jose Mourinho" era at Stamford Bridge,if they can beat Wigan at home on Sunday.

Chelsea are the clear favourites going into the weekend,as the Blues have amassed an amazing 49 points out of 54 at Stamford Bridge,but this season has taught us to expect only the unexpected.Especially.with Wigan having nothing to lose,and and ManU clear favourites versus Stoke,we could be in for a nasty surprise.

End of the season games are always tough,with relegation threatened teams upsetting the big boys,and it can really get tense,as Sir Alex Ferguson is known to have said frequently " Football, Bloody Hell" !!! So,what are the scenarios possible on Sunday?? A Chelsea win on the evening will win them the title,irrespective of the outcome of United's match.But,a draw or a defeat,paired with a United win,will hand the Red Devils their Record 19th title.But,it will take nothing short of a miracle from Wigan to achieve that,looking at Chelsea's terrific form ,which has seen them scoring an amazing 95 goals so far in the league,just 2 short of the record in the Premier League.

Although it should be a straightforward game for the Blues,there will be immense pressure till they take the lead.Just imagine the scenario of Image of Rooney just scoring Utd's 5 th goal versus Stoke flashing at Stamford Bridge,with Chelsea leading 1-0 with3 minutes to go,imagine the pressure!!!! The ball falls to Hugo Rodallega 10 yards out,he produces a fierce drive aaaaaaaand Cech parries it away.that's what tends happen again and again anyways,but it's an absolute nightmare for Chelsea fans like me!!!!

So,I can't wait for tomorrow's game ,because as much tension I feel in the adrenaline,I can't wait to watch John Terry lifting the Premier League Title to the heavens after 4 years !!!!!!!!