Luka Modric Bound For The World's Best League?

It seems the answer to this is yes. Either to Chelsea (I hope to Cesc not) or Arsenal (please). I have taken a small interest in Dinamo Zagreb because of the array of young talent they have recently had/still have. The 3 names that spring to mind are Vedran Corluka, Luka Modric and Eduardo Alves Da Silva (Eduardo for short). All these men are in their early 20's and are supremely talented footballers. Corluka has adapted to the pace and power of the EPL in impressive fashion and done it quickly and is now fast becoming one of the best right backs around. His tackling, tactical knowledge, tackling, passing, calmness and confidence have all fallen into place nicely to make him a very complete right back. Eduardo, now with Arsenal FC, is taking longer to adapt, mainly by the fact he has been on the bench a lot but I have great hopes he will become the box predator Arsenal are so desperatley lacking and have been for a long time. Only time will tell. Lastly I shall discuss Luka Modric, the most talented of the 3. He is in his very early 20's, two-footed, can play anywhere across the midfield, is agressive, can tackle, pass creativly and works hard. He also seems to be able to strike a ball quite accurately and powerfully on goal. He is very much a complete midfielder one would think perfect for ANY team because of these qualities. Modric seems to like to involve his team mates a lot too, he seems humble and has the ability to dictate a game. I think if he moves to Arsenal (his footballing style is perfect for there) under the tutelage Arsene Wenger he could flourish and become one of the world's most respected midfielders. I hope this happens for both himself and my club but regardless of this hewill be successful wherever his career takes him.

The English Premier League

Is by far the best competition in the world. This is proved by the new European club team rankings. Allow me to list the top 20; 1 (1) Arsenal - 27.692 (2) Manchester United - 25.713 (3) Internazionale - 22.924 (4) Barcelona - 22.885 (5) Real Madrid - 21.156 (6) Porto - 20.557 (7) Chelsea - 208 (8) Roma - 19.179 (9) Milan - 19.0810 (10) Liverpool - 18.7211 (13) Fenerbahce - 17.9212 (14) Rangers - 17.0913 (11) Sevilla - 16.9614 (12) Valencia - 16.7315= (15) Shakhtar Donetsk - 16.6115= (16) Rosenborg - 16.6117 (17) Lyon - 16.5718 (18) Benfica - 16.3019 (19) Werder Bremen - 16.0720 (-) Celtic - 13.82. As we can see Arsenal and Manchester United are number one and number two. Chelsea are seventh and Liverpool tenth. 4 of the top 10 European clubs are from the English Premier League (not to mention number one and two). No more reasons to doubt which is the best league in the world. The best part of all this? English football also produces the most exciting football in the world too, doubling my delight. Football is entertainment and business and the EPL combines these two aspects to perfection to make the most aesthetically pleasing and quality football around. I am fully aware teams like Bolton and Derby are around still but every league around the world has rubbish clubs who don't know the first thing about how to play football properly and these teams usually play dirty longball because they lack the skill to keep up with the other teams in the EPL or their respective league. This is why so many players across the globe dream of playing in England because it is the best league around and probably pays better than any of the others (this would not be an inscentive personally for me but for others it may well be). Lets not forget Arsenal have never won the European Cup (closest being losing the final in '06), Manchester haven't won it since '99 I believe, Chelsea haven't won it but Liverpool won it in '05 and lost the final in '07 and are the lowest ranked of the English sides! This just goes to show winning the European cup doesn't make you the best side in Europe, consistency does and the 4 English teams all deserve to be in the top 10. Many may disagree that Arsenal are the best side in Europe but surely their style and swagger ranks them atleast in the top 4 or 5. I don't think you can argue Manchester United's position (unless you were saying they should be number one) and Liverpool and Chelsea I think are also fair. Liverpool consistently come 3rd or 4th in the EPL (no shame in coming behind the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and/or Arsenal) so they surely are a top 10 team, especially considering their European strengths. So in summing up, English football is the best because of their lack of limits on foreigners. David Dein recently pointed out England haven't won the World Cup (their last major trophy if I am not mistaken) since 1966, way before the foreign "invasion" had occurred. Foreigners make English players want to be better and help them by making them play with and against the best the entire world has to offer. Platini and Blatter should fuck off, EPL will go from strength to strength without limits and the English national team should too.

The man photographed here in my post is one Nicklas Bendtner. He is currently 19 years of age and a I think will become a raging success at any club he goes to (hopefully he will stay at Arsenal for his entire career though) because he is very tall, quick feet, can pass, cross, head and finish. He is a complete striker who has the potential to become the best "target man" around for some time to come. He will tell you he is much more than just a target and I think he is very much correct. He is a very, very confident young lad who, given more chances, will score and set up loads of goals. He has set up 2 of Arsenal's last 3 goals and been heavily involved in the other. Perhaps within a year or two he will threaten Emmanuel Adebayor's position in the starting line-up which is scary really seeing how much Adebayor has improved. To give you a view of how talented he is, Inter Milan offered Adriano as a straight swap for him. While Adriano may be going through a rather large rough patch, it wasn't all that long ago he was valued at well over 20 million pounds. AC Milan and many other clubs were also interested in his services but, thankfully, Arsene convinced Nicklas to sign a new 5 year deal.

This post was brought on from last night. I was at a local pub for an Inside Sports model search competition. The last contestant was probably the best looking woman I have ever seen, in real life or on my internet and magazine searches. I was awestruck by her perfection. Anyway, earlier in the night I had been impressed by a fellow male who looked exactly like Nicklas Bendtner (not impressed sexually but I was jealous of his likeness to Nicklas). When this amazing lady earlier mentioned left, she left with fake Nicklas. Fake Nicklas is now a hero of mine, whoever or wherever he is, I salute him for looking like Nicklas and fucking a woman worthy of a rich professional footballer like this 19-year-old wunderkid (wunderkid spelling is retarded I know).

ESPN Coverage

Well I am currently watching a replay of Tottenham v Aalborg on ESPN. It gets to half time and there are advertisements for about 10 minutes then another one comes up saying "due to time constraints we will skip further into the program after these messages." What the fuck is that? I missed Tottenham's first goal due to these "constraints" but they still have time to whore off all their programs rather than show the current one in full. Get fucked ESPN, your picture quality is poor, your commentators enragingly shit (especially the Americans who cannot pronounce a name or know what a throw-in is called, one of them calls this a "toss-in") and then you go and shorten replays for more advertisements? Thank Cesc (God) for Setanta Sports because it shows more football with a lot better picture. The commentators still may be poor but they atleast know what a throw-in is. ESPN can suck the fattest and hairiest part of my arse.

A Turd Who Doesn't Pass

I know many people admire this little turd and I am one who admires his ability but not him. He is undoubtedly talented and at only 20 years of age he certainly has a long time to get even better. I just wish someone would tell him football is a team sport and that passing is essential. Everytime I see him play for club or country I see him create wonderful oppurtunities where he should pass the ball but instead he tries to be a hero and beat too many players or shoots. For Barca, I see time after time where he can give it off to Henry who is unmarked in the centre (he is also a lethal finisher) and instead he tries to be a hero. van Persie once suggested to players who don't pass the ball that they should play tennis, I definatley agree. So Lionel go and play exhibition matches against Roger Federer or Pete Samphras (whatever the spelling may be) because you obviously want to be seen in the spotlight by yourself. You are a turd.

The Most Talented Footballer Around

This man here is the most talented footballer on the face of the planet in my opinion. This is an image of Francesc Fabregas Soler equalising at Anfield in the 07/08 (current) season. This shot may not show his good looks however, it does show his amazing passion for the shirt he plays in. Cesc this season has shown himself to be the most complete of complete midfielders around. He is 20 years old and is absolutely unbelievable. He creates goals, scores even more (this season), tackles, works hard and lets nothing or nobody intimidate him. Take for example in the Champion's League third round qualifiers this season, Cesc came up against renowned "hardman" Tomas Repka who plies his trade at centre half for Sparta Prague. The story goes as follows; Repka tells the Arsenal team in the tunnel that he will kick them all game and then tries to hack Cesc during the game. Cesc moves and stomps Repka's knee, in the same motion, and in the process sends the "hardman" down the tunnel nice and injured. He then goes on to mock Repka by limping while Repka tries to give him a verbal spray being helped off the pitch. The morale of this? Don't fuck with Cesc, he WILL rip you to shreds with his silky footballing or his not-so-silky studs. This at the age of 20. I cannot believe I am only 3 or so months younger than this MAN. He just shows how self-belief, the belief of the manager and hard work can make you amazing. This of course needs talent to go with it but talent means nothing with out these ingredients. I love Francesc Fabregas Soler and I would die for him to be able to live on. AFC until I die. Cesc Fabregas until I die.

International Football Games And Breaks

Why are these so often and so compulsory? These rob club teams of their finest talents for extended periods of time and often from games that mean little or nothing. For example, Arsenal have now lost Aliaksandr Hleb for around 21 days playing for Belarus in a qualifier which meant nothing to them. Why make him play? Give the young players a go so they can get prepared for the next round of qualifiers. The break before this robbed Arsenal of Robin van Persie who is still yet to return.

I will start this next point off by saying I have the greatest of respect for African footballers and their countries but the African Cup of Nations is a joke. It is so unfair on the players and clubs it is ridiculous. How is a player supposed to choose between missing around 10 games for his club (and it even goes upwards of that!) or staying being viewed as a traitor in a place where most countries are in poverty which makes football like religion? I respect the that trying to hold such a tournament in Summer in Africa would be in smoldering heat but it would be easier on the players with that rather than choosing between club and country. I have also become aware that this is a rain season (Summer) in many parts of Africa. This still needs to be moved to accomodate for club football. This brings me to the clubs. A club asking players to not attend the African Cup of Nations is disrespectful and could (and probably should/would) upset most players as Africans seem to all be very proud of their origins.

Anyway all this said, Platini and Blatter are so keen to see international football improve it seems hopeless to think that clubs will ever wield enough power to refuse to release their players for international games (I know this can be wrong too but where is the line drawn on the powers of the nations???) as to protect some of their most prized players (think Barca with Eto'o and Yaya Toure, Chelsea with Drogba, Essien and Kalou and then Arsenal with Kolo Toure, Eboue and Adebayor, who will not be attending this time because of Togo's failure to qualify). Blatter and Platini are both obviously whacked out of their minds and moves for foreign quotas and the increase, or even staying, of the current power of nations over clubs will only serve to bring down the mighty game of football.

England's National Football Team

What a joke! No qualification for Euro 2008 for them. Lampard is a waste of space and Wayne Bridge is just inept. One Scott Carson also proved England lack a good goalkeeper and have done since David Seaman. Well done Croatia, you have probably done English international football a huge favour as McClaren SHOULD and probably will lose his job for a below-par performance. Suddenly Sven doesn't look like such a bad manager, does he?

I look forward to a Euro 2008 without the usual hype about an overrated English team who usually resorts to long ball because they lack creativity throughout their midfield. Funnily enough I wasn't much of a Guus Hiddink fan for what he did for Australia but I am a fan of him helping ruin England. I believe the term "LOL" or "ROFLcopter" would be appropriate to direct towards all Englishmen at this point in time. Have fun getting burnt easily at the beach next summer boys!!!

I Am Dumb

Please forgive any errors in spelling and grammar in the last blog. I am fucking tired.

Fuck It I Got Gee'd Up...

I was just discussing with Rafa The Gaffer the state of the Australian game. The A-League is better than this old NSL shit but it is still rubbish. The recently sacked (aaaaaaaahahahaha) Branko Cullina (if I got that spelling wrong I don't care, he doesn't get or deserve my respect) not so long ago called Sydney FC the "Manchester United of Australian football." Who the fuck does Cullina think he, or for that matter, Sydney FC is/are? Manchester United are a club filled with a mighty tradition of winning and doing it in style. Winning the inaugural A-League doesn't constitute such a tradition. I wish more people in Australia would understand the state of the game here is nowhere near what it could and probably should be. It is no secret Aussies tend to get good at sport when we try, we are born winners I suppose. The technique of most Australian footballers (myself very much included here) is absolute toss. This needs to be addressed and quickly.

Staying with this theme, what about the World Cup 2006 and Australia's supposed acrimonious circumstances of elimination. How is this for acrimonious? Public enemy number 1 in football, Materazzi, being sent off for what was at worse a yellow card. Italy playing from around the 50th minute onwards, wrongfully, with 10 men. Now for Grosso's "dive." I still to this day, as an Australian, maintain that it WAS a penalty. The exceedingly arrogant Lucas Neill slid in the box, missed the ball, clipped Grosso and he did what any other person would, go down. Italy won. Italy won the World Cup. Grosso is a genius. Mr Grosso also took down Mr Neill a peg or two which was excellent. Lucas Neill now, at West Ham, thinks he should have wages on parity with Freddie Ljundberg. HAHAHAHAHA. Surely this is bullshit. Freddie has won so much and is classy, two things Lucas cannot lay claim to.

This rant is over simply because I am so damn tired and want to go to bed. Have a good one all, Tim Cahill will be feeling the wrath of my blog sometime soon. He isn't missing out.

The First Of Many Views/Rants...

Why have I started blogging? Well Rafa The Gaffer gave me the brilliant idea of sharing my sometimes controversial football views/ideas with the rest of the world via a blog. The name "Ringhio" is Italian for something along the lines of "snarl" or "grunt"; this is the nickname of Gennaro Gattuso. I admire him greatly and think he is one of the best defensive midfielders around. The number 4 represents Francesc Fabregas Soler, the most amazing 20 year-old I think anyone will ever see. He is doing things at 20 that Zidane couldn't at 23.

Anyway, I suppose the first thing I should speak about in the blog is where my loyalties lie; English football and, more specifically, Arsenal FC. I have a very big admiration for Manchester United and Pompey too because of their brands of football. Style of play is what attracts me, not trophies. I also have respect/admiration for teams like Bayern Munchen, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, the Spanish national team, the Argentinian national team, most African national teams and, to a lesser extent, Brazil (mainly Kaka). Now this may just look like a list of most of the football's super powers but these are the teams who come to play (perhaps AC and Inter not all the time though). Teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus etc piss me right off. They seem incapable of producing good football conistently even with an amazing array at talent at their expense. Chelsea, under new manager Grant, may be improving but the Fat One in midfield (Frank Lampard) makes my blood boil. He is about as good of a human as van Nistelrooy. These teams and their managers need to realise that football is in fact entertainment, as well as a results driven business. How else could Arsenal fill a 60000 seat stadium with phenomenal ticket prices week-in and week-out during a "trophy drought" by their own high standards? They couldn't.

Now onto this foreign quota shit Platini is trying to introduce. This is blatant racist behaviour and will only serve to make football less competitive and fair for guys trying to get a break in one of the "big leagues" (these being the Bundesliga, La Liga, EPL, Serie A and Eeredivisie). This will serve to help international football but international football, realistically, is nowhere near as important as club football. Would you rather see your club team play good football for anywhere from 40-60 games? Or watch your national team in a tournament every two years play well for 10 games at best? I know which I would choose. Besides, there is a certain element of beauty seeing people from all corners of the Earth work in tandem to score a team goal.

All this said, please stop by and check out my sometimes firery rants and my sometimes sympathetic views. Hopefully I can update this atleast weekly. Enjoy kids.


AFC Until I Die.