Beckham...Out of the World Cup!!!

David Beckham will be sidelined from 4 to 6 months after tearing his left Achilles's tendon in AC Milan's win over Chievo this past Sunday.

This means that Beckham, 34, won't be playing for England this summer in the World Cup at South Africa. He was trying to become the first English player to play in 4 World Cups. Beckham will also miss the rest of the Serie A season and most, if not all, of the upcoming MLS season.

Beckham was successfully operated on today in Finland by Dr. Sakari Orava, who discovered the complete tear of the tendon, which was much worse that the initial diagnosis of the injury.

Embarrassed...AGAIN!!!

Not as bad as losing to a 3rd division club, but very close when you take everything into consideration.

Real Madrid is out of the running for another title, and you can bet that it's all downhill from here.

Madrid tied 1x1 with Lyon last week and have been eliminated (aggregate goals 1x2 for Lyon) from the Champions League again in the knockout stages. They started out fast with a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo at the 5 minute mark, and after missing some clear scoring opportunities, Lyon scored the equalizing goal in the 75th minute that eventually sent them through to the next round.

My thoughts?

It's only a matter of time before Madrid's coach, Manuel Pellegrini, gets kicked to the curb. Madrid is still in the fight for the Spanish League title, so as long as it stays that way, he might finish out the season, but any more slip-ups, he'll get fired for sure. Don't get me wrong...he's a decent coach, and probably the right man for this transition phase Real Madrid is going through. It's also  unfair to expect he would build a "Barcelona-like" squad in only 6 months. With that said, WHAT WAS HE THINKING TAKING OUT KAKA, OUT OF ALL PLAYERS, FOR VAN DER VAART? LAST TIME I CHECKED, KAKA IS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD, AND VAN DER VAART WAS BARELLY PART OF THE SQUAD!!! If Kaka couldn't do anything in that game, what made Pellegrini think Van Der Vaart was going to do better?

And what can I say about Higuain...PASS THE DAMN BALL!!! WHY DID PELLEGRINI INSIST ON HIGUAIN??? Soccer is a team sport, but you can blame this one on him. He had an open net chance after dribbling past the keeper, but he managed to hit the post, and then he shot the ball in a play where Ronaldo was right next to him, in front of an open net if he had gotten the ball. This is why Real Madrid will most likely transfer him after this season.

As for the other players, DON'T WRITE CHECKS WITH YOUR MOUTHS THAT YOUR FEET CAN'T CASH! All the talk about how "no one comes into the Bernabeu to beat us" and "we'll beat them 3x0" just gave Lyon the extra motivation to go out and do what they did. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Until Madrid gets a coach who will put all of the Spanish players in their place by telling them the team belongs to Kaka and Ronaldo, and that they all must play for the 2 FIFA WORLD PLAYERS, this club is never going anywhere. I'm talking about taking control out of the hands of these Spanish players, as it was done with Raul, and giving it to the coach, so he and other players can do their jobs, without worrying about these Spanish players throwing them under the bus.

As for a new coach, the names Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez are beginning to get mentioned as the next possible coach for Madrid. Mourinho is the right man for the job in my opinion. He has the guts to do whatever is necessary to win, regardless of the backlash. As he did with Chelsea, Kaka will be his Lampard and Ronaldo will be his Drogba! He'll tell everyone else to get out of the way of those two, regardless how big of a star the other players are. This is what has to happen for Real Madrid to regain their dominance in European competitions.

How much will it hurt Real Madrid to see Barcelona win another Champions League,  and this time, AT THE BERNABEU?

For Sale!!!

Every player must go!!!

Juventus is planning to transfer many, if not all, of their star players in an effort to rebuild a team that has been slumping for quite some time now.

It appears that players like Felipe Melo, Amauri, Trezeguet, Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Tiago, Cristian Molinaro, and even Mauro Camoranesi are all in line to be transferred over the Summer. Other players who are playing for the bianconeris, but are on loan from other teams, such as Martin Caceres (Barcelona) and Antonio Candreva (Udinese), have very few chances of securing a permanent moves to Turin.

With the World Cup and all the big names being thrown out there for the 2010 Summer transfers, it should be an exciting Summer for soccer fans around the world!

Robinho is moving on!

After recovering from an injury that kept him off the field for 3 months, Robinho hasn't been able to find a spot in new coach Mancini's starting 11. Robinho says Mancini told him he would start every other game for Manchester City, but that was just not good enough for the player, so he wanted out.

Robinho will be playing for Santos, first club in which he played for as a professional, on loan for the next 6 months. Also, it appears Robinho has no intentions of returning to Manchester after his loan is over on August 4th, as he was never able to find his game in the Premier League. The move will allow Robinho to get some much needed playing time before the World Cup in June. This is also good for Manchester City as they hope Robinho can regain his form so his value increases for a potential transfer this Summer.

Due to his high salary (160,000 pounds/week), Manchester City will still pay part of it as long as they get first choice in the potential future transfers of Santos' star players Neymar and Paulo Henrique. This will allow City to match any offers of either player.

I don't particularly like Robinho, and with Ronaldinho Gaucho back in form and Diego waiting in the wings, I really think Dunga should not make Robinho part of Brazil's squad for the World Cup. At the very least, Robinho should not be starting for Brazil.

Winter Transfers and Rumors

A few deals have been done already and there are quite a few rumors out there about player transfers this Winter. Some people even started speculating what will happen when the Summer transfer window opens.

Winter Deals:

David Beckham - LA Galaxy to AC Milan (Loan)
Patrick Vieira - Inter Milan to Manchester City
Tiago Mendes - Juventus to Atletico Madrid (Loan)
Andrea Dossena - Liverpool to Napoli (Loan)
Cristian Molinaro - Juventus to Stuttgart (Loan)
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy to Everton (Loan)
Goran Pandev - Lazio to Inter Milan
Marius Stankevicius - Sampdoria to Sevilla (Loan)
Felipe Caicedo - Manchester City to Malaga (Loan)

Winter Transfer Rumors:

Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid to Chelsea
Maxi Rodriguez - Atletico Madrid to Liverpool
Mancini - Inter Milan to Marseille (Loan)
Fran Merida - Arsenal to Atletico Madrid
Kevin Kuranyi - Schalke 04 to Chelsea
Nani - Manchester United to Benfica

Summer Transfer Rumors:

Franck Ribery - Bayern Munich to Real Madrid/Barcelona/Chelsea
Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal to Real Madrid/Barcelona
Steven Gerrard - Liverpool to Inter Milan
David Villa - Valencia to Real Madrid/Chelsea
Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid to Chelsea/Real Madrid
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United to Real Madrid

Good moves, or bad moves? You tell me...

He's back!

Just where he belongs...European soccer, playing in front of fans who actually know what kind of player he is!

David Beckham started training this week with AC Milan after players returned from their Christmas break. He'll give them the extra boost they need to stay on top in the Serie A and advance in the Champions League. Playing for Milan will also help him be in better shape to make Capello's 2010 World Cup squad.

Just in time to play against Manchester United...Welcome back!

The secret is out!!!

This explains why Real Madrid let Arjen Robben go to Bayern Munich!

Many sources say the transfer of Robben to Bayern was the first step to get Franck Ribery in a Real Madrid uniform next season. Madrid has yet to collect the 25 million Euros from Robben's transfer, meaning this is part of what will cost Madrid the transfer of Ribery, estimated between 50 an 60 million Euros.

Apparently, there's already a verbal agreement between the two clubs for this transfer to be made after this season is over. The 25 million that Madrid has not received serves as a "deposit", so Ribery, if transferred, could only be to Real Madrid. In the event Ribery signs an extension with Bayern Munich, they will be required to pay Real Madrid the 25 million, plus interest for this season.

It's only mid season, but there are also rumors Real Madrid will be going after Andre Santos, Nemanja Vidic, and David Villa, Kun Aguero, or Wayne Rooney next summer. There seems to be an agreement already in place for Santos to be transferred next summer, if not this winter.

Real Madrid for sale?

Not quite.

Spanish media reported over the weekend that Manchester City's owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is preparing an offer of 1 billion Euros to purchase Real Madrid. That's right, 1 BILLION!!!

There is speculation that the offer might even exceed that amount. Mansour is a member of the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, and since they own pretty much all the oil in the world, he has the money to spend.

It seems that Manchester City is just not enough for Mansour and his petrodollars. The problem is that Real Madrid is not a privately owned club. It's an entity made up of tens of thousands of members who would have to agree to such a deal. Basically, everyone you see at the Santiago Bernabeu every weekend during Real Madrid's games, those are the people who own the club. The word "Club" here really means a club, not just a soccer team. They have many other sports' teams such as basketball, handball, and indoor soccer, and many other arenas, so I think this would all have to be included in the deal.

Not only that, these members would have to first change the club's legal statutes and amend the article that states the club cannot be sold. With that said, this purchase will be impossible to say the least.

Today, a source close to Mansour has denied these reports made by Spanish media, saying he's focused only on Manchester City and trying to improve the team so they can be one of the best teams in Europe.

Man City has a new boss

Manchester City fired coach Mark Hughes after the team's 4-3 win over Sunderland this past Sunday. The club hasn't played well lately and they've had some unfavorable results in their last few matches. Man City's new owner, Sheikh Mansour, spent millions of his petrodollars to bring top players to the club such as Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor, and Touré, but Hughes just wasn't up to the job of taking the team to the next level.

On Monday, chief executive Garry Cook announced the hiring of former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini. This is a good signing for the club and following his previous experience at Inter Milan, Mancini hopes history repeats itself. "In Milan there are two big teams there fighting for supremacy and silverware and here it is the same. I like the challenge of that," he said.

Mancini will bring his own staff to the club after Man City cleaned house by also firing all of Hughes's assistants. With all the players in the team, Mancini might be the man who will take the fight to the big 4 in the Premier League. He's experienced, understands talent, and he's a players' coach, unlike Hughes. There was even a rumor of players rebelling against Mark Hughes if he continued to coach the team.

I think Mancini will put Man City over the top, meaning more success in the Premier and European competitions, which in turn will attract more big name players who would want to play for the club. This is the same process Chelsea went through before they became the powerhouse club they are today. Has Abramovich and Chelsea finally met their match?

Lionel Messi and Marta...FIFA World Players 2009!!!

Lionel Messi was named the 2009 FIFA World Player!!! Messi is the first Argentine player to win the award for the best player in the world.

After winning the Balon d'Or, it was expected that Messi would also win the world player award. Not only did Messi win the award, but he won by a landslide! After the vote from coaches and team captains from 147 national teams, Messi took the award with 1,073 points, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 352 points, Xavi (196), Kaka (190), and Iniesta (134).

I think this will be the first of many, and possibly consecutive, player of the year awards Messi will take home in the future. Cristiano Ronaldo is probably his main rival for the award in the years to come, but he's nowhere near the player Messi is. That's right, I said it!!!

And a bit of history was also made on Monday night. Marta was awarded the FIFA World Player trophy for the best female soccer player in the world, and this is the 4th consecutive time the 23 year-old Brazilian international has won the award! No other player in the history of soccer, male or female, has won this award 4 times, much less winning it for 4 straight years. She's so good and so much better than any other female player (and even some male players if you ask me), that you can bet she'll be the winner of this award for the next 5 years, at the very least!