What Should He Do?

Luka Modric is in a position that most footballers have been in. He wants to leave a club but the club is steadyfast that they don't want him to go anywhere. In fact the club is willing to let him rot on the bench or in the stands if he does not want to comply. From the outside view, it seems very tough to deal with. His heart belongs somewhere else but yet his wife doesn't want to sign the divorce papers unless a large fee is put up.

Just a little background: Chelsea has made a couple of offers to Tottenham midfielder, Luka Modric. Tottenham has rejected every bid for the player even though the player wants to go to West London.

Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham, had a meeting with Modric where he basically just said, "Stay here and play or rot." Modric feels disenchanted now because they had a "gentlemen's agreement", right before he signed an extension that if a big club (i.e. Chelsea) comes calling then he was allowed to leave.

Luka now has had a transfer requested denied and we are in this situation now.

So what should Luka do?

He can play good soldier. Work hard in training sessions and games. Play as the good professional as we know he is. And after another season and if they aren't in the Champions League, they can reward him by sending him away to the club he prefers. Somewhat like what C. Ronaldo did (except Man Utd was always going to be in the Champions League), his heart was in Madrid but Sir Alex got one more decent year out of him and actually was a game away from winning Man Utd's third Champions League under SAF.

Problem with this is that he seems to be working with two stubborn men (Redknapp and Levy). They promised him that if he were to sign a new contract with Spurs then after a year (last season), he would be able to go to the club of his choice if they came calling. Obviously smucks make promises like that so they can get you to sign the dotted line. We all know people who tell you that they are going to give you the world and then disappoint you.

Yeah, he can play good soldier and do well for the club but how is it going to help him go to where he needs to. His club doesn't want him to go anywhere and feel he is obligated to complete his contract. By that time, none of the teams like Chelsea will probably pursue him then.

He could also take the bluff and rot on the bench. I know these players are ultra-competitive and if they weren't they wouldn't be where they are now. However, knowing me, if I were in his shoes. I would come to training, if they don't want to play me then fine. I will still make my money and you can't do much about that.

Probably the wrong way to go about it but hey right now I would be trying to make the most out of the pay-days as possible.

I digress.

I think this would have a major impact on star players on the team. Think of Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. What must they be thinking about? Well if they do not plan on giving up Luka Modric, then what hope do I have towards making it to a bigger club if we continue to be a 5th to 10th place club not making the Champions League?

Also morale around the club would be down. I think from player to player, everybody respects each others decisions to go play on the best teams in the world if they get the chance. If someone wants to go to another club, then most players would not begrudge them on their decisions. (Unless the move is a lateral one based soley on money). The players would look at this situation and plead with the club to just move on because even one player could balance the mood and morale of a team.

If I was in Modric's situation, I would play the decent solider, not good soldier, but decent.

The difference: I remember when Modric said that he came back from injury earlier then he should have last season. If I was in that situation, I would take a wee bit more time to make sure I am 100% healthy. If he gets re-injured trying to come back earlier, then he knows that the club won't have his back as he has been proven. So I would make sure that I am 100% fit before I step on the field again.

Obviously I would continue to play as hard as possible because the wages will go down if you don't play well.

And not play to lose but just play well enough NOT to get a Champions League spot. In this case Tottenham would have to sell off players then, they aren't getting that CL money coming in to give extensions or buy better players. More players like the aforementioned will say they want to leave for Champions League football because they are at that caliber. So Tottenham would have some decisions to make. Should we keep these players and possibly go into some debt and have more disenchanted players? or should we rebuild and go with younger players and try to make another run with a different generation of players?

Those are the questions that Tottenham have to ask for themselves and Luka is definitely asking himself some questions if he has to stick around White Hart Lane.

My Opinion: I think Chelsea has to go around 35mil to about 38mil to get this deal done. I see Tottenham valuing the player around the 30 to 32mil range. I think if they are able to up it getting close to 40mil. Then Tottenham will look to let the player go. Are Chelsea willing to get up that much money? We will see.

All I know is this saga will make a heck of a month and a half...

Neymar, Look at another Country. Or here's another thought...

After last weekend's game against Scotland, Neymar has been in high demand for Chelsea and Manchester City in England. Probably many more teams in other countries are looking to make him a wealthy man also.

My Opinion:
STAY AWAY FROM ENGLAND!! How many South American attackers have been successful in the Premiership? Alright there is Carlos Tevez, but I will give you time to go through all the almanacs, wikipedia, and google to find other successful attacking players from South America (namely Argentina and Brazil). Even Tevez is an anomaly because he isn't in the mold of most South American strikers. He doesn't mind defending and pressuring from the front which for most players they would not be bothered to do such a thing. Robinho has been a hit with AC Milan but could not crack the side at Manchester City. Probably not given the chance to shine. He could not handle the weather and the life in Manchester wasn't suitable to him like most other players.

English clubs do have a prejudice of South Americans. They are too flashy and too individualistic. Managers often tell these players not to do the things that got these players signed in the first place. Plus the rough and tough English Premier League style doesn't seem to favor players like Neymar. Especially in the winter where it is very foreign for most players coming from South American countries.


A Wild Idea:
If Santos is able to pay the money? Why doesn't he stay in Brazil? There is a thought. Many players go to Europe and find out that it isn't there cup of tea. They want to go back home (ask Carlos Tevez). When Robinho left for Europe, he did not play up to his billing. Then he went back to Santos and started playing some of his best football and got himself back in the National Team. I do not think that playing overseas has the same standard in places like Brazil or Argentina than it does in Australia or the United States for example. Most Australian players are encouraged to go to Europe to improve. Most South Americans don't need that training.

I have to take into account that most of these countries don't have the money to pay the players and it isn't entirely up to the players to go to Europe. However I think if Santos can pony up the money, then why not keep him there. Pele never made the jump to another country until his career was coming to an end. Neymar is a hot commodity but as we seen in a couple of international games, he can hold his own to European competition without the European training.



Maybe he wants the challenge of the European game or his agent wants to cash in on a huge pay-day. I cannot fault him for wanting to scratch that itch, however I hope he is being counseled the right way and doesn't make a decision that stunts his growth. If he does go to Europe, I'd rather see him in Spain or Italy because they won't try to mold him into a robot.

However, I could be wrong about this decision as I've been wrong about many other things. That is why this is just a blog and it is just my opinion...

Wayne, You know what has to be done...

JT- "Hmm, this is pretty awkward..."


Chelsea and Manchester City go against each other on Saturday afternoon (early Sunday morning for me) And one wonders what will Bridge do when they go for the customary handshake. If you have been living underneath a rock for a month then I'll briefly tell you what happened. John Terry had an affair with Wayne Bridge's babymama. Now Wayne Bridge is obviously upset about the deal.

What should he do? People say that he should take the high road and shake his hand even if it doesn't mean anything.

Me? I only think of causing trouble so what I think he should do is not shake his hand. Spit on him even when they are in the tunnel and just go for his legs and risk a possible season-ending suspension. Hey, he doesn't plan on playing for England anytime soon according to reports. So why not take the Roy Keane route and try to end a players career. But that's just my thinking, I wouldn't feel sorry for JT at all.

I think Bridge should set-up a bounty on JT's head. It would be obvious if he would recklessly tackle Terry in the game but if you get a guy like Craig Bellamy to do it then, well obviously they would expect that you set it up, but you couldn't prove it unless you got it in writing or on tape. That would be the more reasonable response in my mind.

Then again, I don't like seeing anyone's career being over due to a serious injury but whatever happens to JT in just under two hours, he'll probably deserve it...

Manchester United-Chelsea this saturday

The key matchup for this coming up Saturday. And when I first started watching European soccer I had much respect and love for Sir Alex Ferguson and now that respect has turn into loathe and possible hate of the Man Utd boss. He claims that if John Terry was a Manchester United player he would not have his red card overturned and that he got it overturn because he was a Chelsea player. He continues about the director of refereeing being bias to Chelsea and all that nonsense. Now I've seen the game and I thought that the red card was wrong. There was two guys behind him so he wasn't fouling Jo's clear path to goal. And they talk about foul serious play, It isn't like he football tackled him and spat on his face or anything. Alex is just upset that he can't get his guy Vidic on the field because they are smart enough not to rescind his double yellow because he fully deserved it (and probably should have gotten a straight red after fouling Dirk Kuyt before he was steaming towards net.)

I have another beef with Alex. He continues to run players out who doesn't care for or disagree with his beliefs. Most notably, David Beckham, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, and Roy Keane. He ran those players away and even kicked a boot at one of his players (Beckham). He just seems like a guy with a lil man complex... Probably wasn't the greatest player in the world or anything so he wants all the control and he wants all his players to be his robots. I just fear that Christiano Ronaldo will fall into the same trap and will be hung out to dry. Everytime I hear him talk I just want to strangle him.

So let me just get to the point. Who is going to win the game. It is in Stamford Bridge, Christiano Ronaldo is suppose to be back by then so that should make things interesting, but I feel like he will play a bit part and I think he might be working on a sabotage plan sorta like Manny Ramirez (i'll write about that later). I just don't see the bite in the United side. There's no Vidic which is a big lost for the side. I don't think the center midfield duo that United will bring out will come close to out-manning a midfield team of lampard, deco, obi mikel, the list goes on. I don't think Manchester has much of a match in this game. Rio is my "cultural" aggin but he isn't a match for Anelka, Malouda or maybe even Drogba who will probably make a 20 minute appearance like he did last week against Man City. It will be a 2-0 victory for Chelsea with Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda (yes that guy who was trash in euro 2008) scoring the two goals. I can't wait to see what excuse Sir Alex has for this week. Freakin weasel.

Last Week: "Yo I'm trying to cop that Robinho Chelsea Jersey"

I don't know if you know already but on Monday it was revealed that Robinho is heading to Manchester City instead of heading to Chelsea in which everyone thought last week that he was going, in fact aaron told me that they actually were selling Robinho Cheslea Jerseys. Plus the fact that Fox Soccer News was saying that Robinho could actually be in the lineup against Tottenham for Cheslea. But something must have happened between me going to sleep on sunday and me seeing that Robinho is heading to Manchester City. There are two people that I'm disappointed in.

Robinho: It is said that you still have to agree to this deal. I find you a primetime player even though you weren't able to show all your ability in Real Madrid, but still Manchester City? Is that were you want to be? Sounds like Carlos Tevez all over again. I would like to know why you would choose that. Were you that desperate to leave Madrid? Or was it for the money because this is a new EPL transfer record. Or you wanted to be in the same lineup with a fellow Brazilian Jo. I don't know if you're friends or anything which could influence your decision. This could end up two ways. You could A. be a success and lead this team to a possible top four spot by the next couple of years or you could B. be a failure and start with this journeyman tour that you don't really deserve to be in my opinion. I don't know maybe you need to think about this.

Real Madrid: The King of hypocrites. Okay you slam Chelsea for their pursuit when you have tried desperately to unsettle C. Ronaldo in Manchester United so he could move to your club. Chelsea is not the blame of your problem, you were the one trying to offload Robinho to Chelsea to begin with. I remember when the season was over, you were going to let him go to Chelsea and all summer you were trying to hard to get rid of him, so you can use the money for Ronaldo. But then when he decided to stay in Manchester, you decided to be like "oh Robinho is a key part of our team and we would like to keep him" and Robinho tired of your bullshit decided to say bump this, I want to go to Chelsea. So then you felt like you were wronged and Chelsea is to blame. You can't have it both ways buddy. (how ironic that I decide to wear this Real Madrid jersey, i need to burn it)

I don't know what to think really. Maybe he will be a big success in City, I don't want to take that away from him or just say that he can't pick them up. I just find it very strange about this type of sleazy behavior that let's be honest all big and rich clubs go through but It kinda gets me to scratch my head.