And The Favorite To Win the Premier League Is..........

Luis Suarez riding high this season
with 19 goals

Well, Christmas is here and in the English Premier League it traditionally means that at this point we sort of know who the favorites are to win it all. Seventeen games have been played and six points are the difference between the league leaders and the 7th place team and Manchester United are in 8th place. Who would have picked Liverpool and Arsenal being tied for 1st place in December? Surely the big spending team like Manchester City as well as defending champions Manchester United were heavily favored along with the return of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Well, the surprising teams thus far have been Arsenal, Liverpool (with the resurrection of Luis Suarez's career-breaking form) and their rivals Everton who are led by former Wigan manager Roberto Martinez as well as the emergence of young Gascoigne look-alike Ross Barkley.

Everton sensation Ross Barkley
having a great season thus far.

Manchester United are also a surprising team, but for all the wrong reasons. Typically Manchester United have always had slow starts, but this season has been a bit different. With the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of last season, David Moyes was the hand picked successor in the summer. "The Chosen One" has had a rough start beginning in the summer transfer market where he had to fend off Jose Mourinho's Chelsea attempt at luring Wayne Rooney away and not being able to effectively upgrade his current roster due to Rooney's uncertainty. His only signing was former Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini and thus far it hasn't really panned out as he hoped it would. With crucial losses at Old Trafford to West Bromich Albion, Newcastle and his former team Everton, they currently sit in 8th place.

Arsenal had a rough season opening game with a loss at home to Aston Villa that sent shock waves to all their fans which forced Arsene Wenger to pull the transfer trigger. This resulted in their only summer purchase of German international sensation Mezut Ozil for a reasonable price of 42,500,000 pounds. In retrospect it was the most significant signing of the Premier League as Arsenal never lost another game until a 1-0 loss on November 10 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. That was quite a remarkable run and it continued until a 6-3 drubbing at Etihad Stadium to Manchester City and their 100 million scoring machines. After a goalless draw against Chelsea at the Emirates, they sit tied at the top with Liverpool with 36 points. They also have a very difficult draw against Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of Champions League.

Manuel Pellegrini has City fired up at
the right time

Manchester City have by far the most potent offensive players in the Premier League. With over 100 million spent in the transfer market in the summer, their ambitions are nothing short of multiple titles this season. As a result they are already in the semi finals in the League Cup and look set for a showdown their Red Devil rivals. They are also in the round 16 in the Champions League for the first time in their club's history with a much anticipated draw with four-time champion FC Barcelona.

Tim Sherwood taking over for just
sacked Andre Villas-Boas

Tottenham Hotspurs made a blockbuster sale of the century by selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a record fee of 85 million pounds. However this wasn't able to save Andre Villas-Boas from being sacked due to massive losses against Manchester City and Liverpool with a combined score of 11-0. Many critics viewed the sacking as harsh because of the lack of time at the helm. But others also believed that AVB's inability to manage star players was his ultimate downfall. His replacement former player Tim Sherwood hopes to save the Hotspurs' season by trying to finish in the top four.

Eto'o, Torres and Ba have only accounted
for four premier league goals this season.

The January transfer are upon us and it will be a crucial time for the title chasers. Clubs will be looking for difference makers to open the gap in the table. This season more than any other seasons, all eyes will be glued to teams in need of that special player to take them to glory at the end of the season. Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Totteham will be shopping for much needed goal scorers. Manchester City and Liverpool will be looking to shore up their defense. Manchester United are in need of creativity in the midfield. While these teams are looking to upgrade their roster, they must also be aware of the possibility that they might lose players to the transfer market due to certain players fighting for places in World Cup teams. How will this affect the roster depth of these clubs? My guess is we'll wait and see, but nevertheless it will certainly be an exciting season.

What's the Mata with Chelsea and Mourinho?

Chelsea fans making their opinions known

You've heard all the pundits and commentators talking about this issue countless of times. Juan Mata, Chelsea's Player of the Year two years in a row can't seem to find any room in the starting eleven. Is Jose Mourinho crazy? Well, not exactly. Roman Abramovich brought Mourinho back with one goal in mind and that is to re-capture the magic that led Chelsea to back to back Premier League titles and more. But on one condition: play a beautiful style of football. The roster inherited by Mourinho now is completely different than the one he enjoyed from 2004-2007. It features play-making stars like Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Schurrle and Willian. Gone are the days of 4-3-3 featuring a defense with 72 clean sheets and offensive players like Damien Duff, Sean Wright-Philips, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Solomon Kalou a younger Frank Lampard and the legendary Didier Drogba terrorizing opponents defenses. This new Chelsea is built on speed and creative plays. So what's the problem? Well, the style that Abramovich craves so much is one similar to Barcelona. It's a style built on possession play and defensive pressure.

Juan Mata waving goodbye perhaps?

Juan Mata has many qualities. He's an intelligent player with great vision that can create opportunities in tight areas that few other players can. He also can score at will with his instinctive style and nose around the goal. He has a deadly left foot that can pick out the top corner of the goal or the head of John Terry and Ivanovic in set plays. In three season with Chelsea Mata has compiled 33 goals and 68 assists which has led him to be Chelsea's Player of The Year the last two years. A player of Mata's caliber is a dream for any manager. So what's the problem? Well, all players have certain weaknesses. Mata's weakness is not being able to track back on defense as well as being in love with the center half part of the pitch. In the style Mourinho has been instructed to play, Mata is required to put pressure on the opponents to regain possession. Why does Barcelona always have a possession advantage over their opponents? Because it all starts with Messi upfront tracking back to gain possession. Then it's up to Iniesta, Pedro, Fabregas and now Neymar to do their part to track the ball back. Unfortunately for Mata, Oscar has had a great start of the season netting six goals in total. The main reason why Mourinho prefers Oscar at his number 10 is mainly because of Oscar's ability to track back opponents.

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink was a popular
player shown the exit door by Mourinho in 2004

When a new manager comes in he must re-evaluate his roster by watching tapes from previous seasons. He must also shape the roster to his philosophy of play. Naturally new players will come and some players who do not fit the profile must be let go. This is also true for Mourinho. When he arrived at Chelsea in 2004 he let fan favorite players like Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink Juan Veron and Marcel Desailly go because they didn't fit his profile. It's possible that Mourinho might do the same as Chelsea transitions into a new style of play. Popular players like Mata, David Luiz and Ashley Cole may see the exit door as soon as January mainly because they don't the Mourinho recipe for success.

Fan favorites Cole, Luiz and Mata may be
looking for new residence in January.

So far this season has been a frustrating one for Chelsea and Mourinho. However, despite having lost six matches in all competition, they sit only three points behind the league leaders. The inability of Chelsea attacking players to score more goals to "kill opponents" as Mourinho like to say combined with the defense giving up late goals, it's just a matter of time before Mourinho pulls the trigger to buy players that best respond to his and most important Roman Abramovich's new philosophy.

World Cup Samba in 2014? Not so fast!

 Brazilian phenom Neymar and Brazil captured its fourth 

consecutive Confederations Cup title at this years tournament.

For the first time ever the land where soccer aka futebol is worshiped is finally getting its biggest attention on the world stage. FIFA World Cup is coming to Brazil in 2014. I can already picture all the fanfare that should make for a very colorful and festive Opening Ceremony. The Confederation Cup tournament is supposed to be a preview of the World Cup and if that was so, then what we saw on our television screens was not something to look forward to. Thousands of people protesting against the government for its lack of investment in healthcare, education and infrastructure. Brazilian newspaper o Estado de Sao Paulo estimated that  over 353 Brazilian cities were affected by protests. It is impossible to describe the average protester since it would be a task similar to describe the average Brazilian, whatever that means. Although it is virtually impossible give a face to these nationwide protests, A Folha de Sao Paulo published a portrait of the protesters in Sao Paulo:

- 84% backed no political parties

- 77% have higher education

- 22% students

- 53% aged under 25

- 71% first-time protesters

To understand the frustration of Brazilians is to closely analyze the government's handling of the preparations. In May 2012, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce  Brazil expected to invest about R$27.1 billion to prepare stadiums, transportation and other infrastructure for the 2014 World Cup. Brazilian ministers claimed that Brazil had already started work on 60 out of the 101 projects it had planned for the global soccer championship, with five projects completed. 

In terms of investment, the 60 projects account for R$17 billion. But with many projects still in the planning stages, and many others awaiting licenses or the start of construction, the total value of investment is likely to increase.  The government expects 85% of projects to be completed by this year, with the remaining projects being finished in 2014. 

 

According to the government, work on stadiums for the event are "on schedule." Public financing will account for about 40% of the projected costs, public-private partnerships will contribute another 40%, and private investment chipping in the remaining 20%. National development bank BNDES alone has provided more than R$1 billion in financing.  Renovations of five airports, meanwhile, already have been completed, and another five are under way. However, that still leaves three airports considered a "priority" for the Cup that have yet to start construction on needed improvements. So the question is where is all this money coming from and where has the money been spent? 

Brazil is the 7th largest economy in the World, but the biggest plague in Brazil is the constant existence of political corruption. Brazil's mensalão trial has brought many historic moments, and on November 12th, 2012 José Dirceu, who served as chief of staff for former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from 2003 to 2005, was sentenced to ten years and ten months in jail for his part in the huge vote-buying scheme. Two other prominent members of the Workers' Party (PT) also received stiff sentences: Delubio Soares, its former treasurer, got eight years and 11 months in prison, and José Genoino, its former president, six years and 11 months. This tells me that Brazil is taking serious steps to end this common standard practice.

One common problem is the delay tactics used by Brazilian politicians in order for more money than necessary to be allocated for these projects. Many football Clubs are also part of the problem as stadiums get renovated Clubs begin competing for more money to be spent for their own needs. Many Clubs have their own stadiums. Some privately owned and others public property. Privately owned stadiums don't want to spend their own money and instead want the State or Federal funds to cover the renovation costs furthering the delay in construction. In the meantime the public sees little progress in healthcare, education and most important public transportation as well as infrastructure. The protests during the the Confederations Cup stemmed from the increase in public transportation fares that brought outrage to the protesters. Brazilian current President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating sank by 27% points in less than three weeks as Brazilians took to the streets all over Brazil calling for a wide-range of reforms.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

Come June 2014, I'm sure all these issues will be addressed to prevent further embarrassment to the country where the beautiful game is surrounded by its beautiful people as well as its nature. Brazil is still evolving as a nation and around the corner is another big event, the 2016 Summer Olympics. Hopefully by then the television sets will be focused on the actual games instead of the protests by its people crying out for change. 

The Measure of Success

After three European trophies and seventeen domestic cups in four different countries over a span of the last eleven years, one can say that such an accomplishment makes for a Hall of Fame career. Well, that's if your name isn't Jose Mario dos Santos Mourinho Felix also known to many as "The Special One." In 2010 Mourinho was brought to Real Madrid from Inter Milan for one reason and one reason only: Win la Decima, the tenth Champions League trophy of Real Madrid successful history.

Three years later and three exits in the semi-finals, the Spanish media has turned their venomous attention on the only person whom they never liked in the first place. It's no secret that Mourinho's ways have rubbed the media the wrong way throughout the manager's stint at the Club, but their dislike for the man goes a bit deeper than that. The media in Spain feel entitled to dictate everything from coaches tactics and game plan to where the coach goes to dinner. Every move is scrutinized more closely depending, of course, on the results on the field. Mourinho is his own man. In his career he has never been persuaded by media perception of him about anything. Why start now? 

The media is responsible for the ouster of many managers before him. Case in point the current manager of Bayern Munich, Jupp Heynckes, who with Real Madrid was fired after winning the Champions League. Others like Manuel Pellegrini, who took Malaga to new heights of success, was also ousted by the media. It's no different with Mourinho. Which brings me to my point of how success is truly measured in this sport. In his three years at Madrid, Mourinho has led his team to three domestic cups. How many other managers have had this kinds of success? Roberto Mancini (EPL, FA Cup and Community Shield), Alex Ferguson (2 EPL and Community Shield) and Juventus manager Antonio Conte (2 Serie A, an Italian Super Cup) come to mind. If Jupp Heynckes wins the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, he will overtake all the managers I mentioned with four cups in the last three years with two Bundesliga and a German Super Cup already in the bag. Yet Heynckes is being replaced at the end of the season by Pep Guardiola. 

We live in a new generation of soccer where a manager is no longer as good as his last trophy. That's not how things are done in the US at least. Continuity means a great deal in a country where sports is a year round business (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL). Soccer in Europe at least has taken a turn for the worst. We have billionaire owned Clubs (Manchester City, Paris St. German, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg) who spend ridiculous money on transfer to acquire a boat load of players like an art collection. We have clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid who are in serious debt, but continue to spend borrowed money. When will this madness stop? Maybe the rest of the world need not look further than the two German clubs who are in the Champions League finals, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. These two clubs have achieved success by not spending massive amount of money, but by sticking to their principles of building from within and only using transfers to complete missing pieces. Borussia Dortmund's success of recent has been led by a young and motivated manager who understand the history and philosophy of the club.  

In Italian Serie A league, managers are ousted sometimes before the season even begins.  It could be a philosophical disagreement or a specific interview that the manager gave that displeased the owners. It's very strange and comical of the status of the once prestigious Serie A, who once housed successful managers like Arrigo Sacchi (retired), Giovanni Trapattoni (Rep. of Ireland), Marcello Lippi (Guanzhou Evergrande, China), Carlo Ancellotti (Paris St. German) and Fabio Capello (Russia). Where are they now? Not coaching in Italy. Coincidence? I don't think so! 



So now we hear that Mourinho is rumored to be going back to Chelsea FC at the end of the season where yet another impatient and unpredictable billionaire owner awaits his return. Since Mourinho's departure in 2007, Roman Abramovic has employed ten different managers which has resulted in six trophies of which only one is the Barclay's Premier League cup in 2009. It appears that Abramovich is finally ready to commit to one manager for a long-term relationship. Who better than the manager who brought the club world stage notoriety with the results on the field?  If so, Chelsea has the potential to dominate European football for as long as Mourinho decides to manage. At least we know that the British media as well as Chelsea fans will forever love him for it, which is something that he lacked in Madrid.