Kaka' and Ronaldo Record-Breaking Transfers

What a whirlwind of a week. In less than 1 week: Real Madrid gets Ricardo Kaka' for a transfer fee of £65million! And then yesterday, it was announced that they have retained the services of Cristiano Ronaldo for a record £80million transfer fee. Keep in mind - these are only transfer fee figures (the $ that goes to AC Milan and Man Utd for rights to these players). It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks what they negotiate for their actual player contracts.

Kaka' is my favorite footballer and I am sorry to see him leave ACM. But I guess it IS a business. I like players like Paulo Maldini - those where it would appear that loyalty has at least just as much importance as the $. Big money transfers are just part of the game now I guess.

Summer Pre-Season Tours

I have not really followed closely the pre-season summer tours that several international clubs (Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, etc.) schedule in U.S. cities. I think these are great opportunities for the American public to have the opportunity to see the cream of the crop when it comes to football. I hope that these tyoes of matches receive enough media coverage so that the beautiful game reaches more people. H told me about a match in July between Inter and Club America (Palo Alto) and the AC Milan friendly with the LA Galaxy (I think also in July). I just read information about Chelsea's US summer tour schedule (the closest for me would be the match in Seattle - Chelsea vs. Sounders FC. I think this is where any discussion of the Q's being involved disappears (...no venue). I think the Stanford stadium looks like a great place to watch football - Palo Alto is close enough to San Jose, right? Sure would be nice for the Q's to have a summer friendly against the likes of Club America, Chivas, Inter, AC Milan, Chelsea, Celtic, etc. These certainly would draw more attention than those season ticket holder "bonus games" we had last season (vs. Sounders and vs. FAS).




Chelsea Expand Summer Tour To 4 U.S. Cities
by The Gaffer on March 25, 2009

Chelsea Football Club have expanded their preseason tour of the United States for the summer of 2009 to include friendlies in the following cities: Seattle, Pasadena, Baltimore and Arlington.
Chelsea kick off their tour on July 18 when they play Seattle. On July 21, the Blues will play Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (the original destination was going to be San Francisco, but this has changed). Then on July 24, Chelsea play AC Milan in Baltimore. And, on July 26, Chelsea concludes their U.S. preseason tour with a game against Club America at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Chelsea’s matches against Inter Milan, AC Milan and Club America are part of the inaugural World Football Challenge tournament, which pits the four teams against each other in matches around the United States this summer.

For each match, supporters will be glad to know that there will be home and away ends for all teams, so if you want to get a seat in the Chelsea end, you can order those tickets online. Ticket prices are affordable, too. At least 50% of all tickets will be $35 or less.

“We are delighted to be in the United States again for pre-season,” said Peter Kenyon, Chelsea FC chief executive. “This is our fifth pre-season out of six that we have toured here and it is always a pleasure to see our fans and train and play in excellent facilities in great cities. Chelsea, of course, will bring a full-strength first team squad and with the quality of the opposition, and the backing of our partners, this series of matches will be the best preparation and the most high profile we have played in America.”

All of the matches will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN 360. The TV schedule is as follows:

Sunday, July 19 Club America vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Stanford Stadium (Palo Alto, Calif.)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Tuesday, July 21 Chelsea FC vs. FC Internazionale Milano at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)11 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Wednesday, July 22 AC Milan vs. Club America at the Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Friday, July 24 AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC at M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)8 p.m. EST on ESPN

Sunday, July 26 AC Milan vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)5 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Sunday, July 26 Chelsea FC vs. Club America at Cowboy Stadium (Arlington, Texas)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

What’s most impressive about the TV schedule is that Chelsea against AC Milan will be shown in prime-time on a Friday night on ESPN, which definitely shows the strides that the sport has made in this country and the opportunity for huge TV ratings as well as the chance to win over new soccer fans in this country.

The tour is fantastic news for Premier League fans in the United States. The last time a tour of this size was organized was five years ago, in 2004, when Manchester United, Liverpool, Roma, AC Milan, Celtic and Chelsea played across the United States and one game in Canada.
This time it’ll be interesting to see how many seats are sold for the games. The new Dallas Cowboys stadium will open in June with a capacity of 80,000. The Rose Bowl, site of the 1994 World Cup final, has a capacity of 92,000, while the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore can hold 71,000 people. Qwest Field in Seattle, meanwhile, has 67,000 seats. The opportunity for Chelsea and organizer CAA Sports to make this tour very lucrative is immense.

Two areas of concern for football traditionalists and Chelsea fans will be (1) how many of the above stadiums will feature artificial turf when Chelsea play, and (2) whether Chelsea are over extending themselves. They were originally scheduled to participate in the 2009 Barclays Asia Cup Trophy in late July in China.

For the latest schedule of preseason friendlies for all 20 Premier League clubs, visit EPL Talk’s preseason friendlies page which is updated as soon as fixtures are announced.

Success

History. Success. Championships.

The Dust is Settling....Finally

Well, Mr Spice will be staying with the Rossonerri through the end of the Serie A season and then will (or at least is supposed to) return to LA in July. Part of the deal includes Milan coming to LA for a friendly in July at the Home Depot Center.

I wonder if people will start seeing jerseys on sale like the one above (just like those A's/Giants baseball caps - the ones that I HATE).

...despite all of this earth-shattering news, life goes on here on earth. Despite all of our economic woes, at least Mr Spice is happy - that is what matters, right? Geeeeez.

Bend This!

Well AC Milan couldn't come up with enough money to compensate the Galaxy (and the MLS) for the services of Becks....so Mr and Mrs Posh will be returning to LA LA Land for the 2009 season. I guess it just wasn't in the cards.

Better order your Becks Milan shirt while they are still around...

Dora, uh I mean, David the Explorer

Well, there is so much conversation out there with regards to David Beckham's desire to stay with AC Milan rather than return to the LA Galaxy & the MLS. In these discussions, there are the questions, "Is it only about the $?", "He is doing all of this to just be a strong candidate for England's Nat'l team for the 2010 WC?", "The MLS was not what he had hoped it would be?"

From the perspective of the "Zone". I see all of these questions as valid. I think the answer is pretty straight forward. You just have to put yourself in the boots of

Beckham. No matter how much he is known by his work off the pitch, at the core, he is a footballer. When he left Europe, I am sure he thought that this American adventure would be his career finale. I think he really believed he would become the soccer ambassador to a country that quite honestly needed one. At the same time, he knew he and Posh would be perfectly comfortable in LA with all the $ and celeb friends.

The one thing I believe he did not expect was how much he would miss playing at the highest level. This "loan" to the Rossoneri opened up his eyes to (1) his competetive nature (2) his love for the game at the highest levels and (3) his abilities can still contribute at this level. Just the fact that a team like AC Milan was interested in a loan must have been exciting for Becks. If the same thing happens to Hucks - I wouldn't be surprised if his decisions were similar. Look at Rickey Henderson - he was hanging around and hanging around with the hope of a MLB team to become interested in a 40+ yr old outfielder that still had tools. He sure didn't keep playing in the minors for the money. He loves baseball. I really think that Beckham now realizes how much he loves football. Also, Beckham doesn't have to be "the" player at the San Siro - he'll just be one of the boys. He can just focus on his part to help this great team (I am a biased AC Milan supporter). A bonus: I think Becks can learn alot from Kaka :)

Was his short stay in the US beneficial to football in this country? Sure, maybe a little bit. The long-term impact might be significant if other overseas stars see that the MLS is a valid alternative depending on where you are in your career.

(*One thing H pointed out - now I have to figure out another marketing approach to sell my group seats for the Q's vs Galaxy game later this summer..."

Kaka' to City??????????????

ESPNsoccernet: Transfers
Friday, January 16, 2009

City deny Kaka deal is done
Soccernet staff

Manchester City have rejected claims that they have signed Brazilian superstar Kaka. Reports had emerged in the United Arab Emirates that the 26-year-old AC Milan star has agreed to join City during the current transfer window.

But City have been quick to dismiss the story, citing its origin as the same source that claimed on Thursday that the deal was off. In fact, discussions will continue next week when Kaka's father, who is currently on holiday in Brazil, will meet City officials to discuss their proposals.
Earlier, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the Eastlands outfit had made a bid, which was now being considered by the Serie A giants.

The sum involved - £108million - would smash the world record transfer that saw Zinedine Zidane leave Juventus for Real Madrid in 2001. It is thought Milan will accept the bid, leaving City to persuade Kaka of their worth. Manager Mark Hughes is confident Kaka will be impressed, with the Blues also lodging a bid with Hamburg for Holland international Nigel De Jong as they look to address the other clear deficiencies in their squad.

The Season Finale

The Q's take on Toronto FC tomorrow night - the final game of the season. It will be nice to complete this campaign at the SB San Siro. Even though this game does not have any playoff implications, it will certainly determine whether the Q's have a chance to overtake the Galaxy in the standings. LA currently has 32 pts and the Q's have 30. LA plays FC Dallas @ the Home Depot Center (noon time kickoff). If FCD can win, it will all be up to the Q's to win and move up in the table.

Gridiron and Football "Double" Again

Cal Gridiron is taking on UCLA (Univ. of California for Lower Achievers) at 12:30pm in Berkeley. Shouldn't be too bad a rush to get to the Q's game at the SB Siro @ 7pm.

Beckham on loan to ACM

I don't have many thoughts on this subject. He can do what he wants. What does bother me is the issue of his mission to break the record for England Nat'l Team caps. So many people are saying he is getting "cheap" caps for basically token appearances. That is BOGUS. His impact in the MLS this year was mediocre at best. He should use his off-season resting his tired body.