Categoría: Fútbol Internacional

After losing the Player of the Year award (Ballon d’Or) to Lionel Messi for four consecutive years Cristiano Ronaldo won the accolade in 2013. This and the great start Ronaldo has made in the new season have livened up an old debate as to whether he is a better player than Messi.

The discussion has focused on a particular set of statistics, namely, goals. To the extent that the data can help us to hazard an educated guess about player performance, Messi is the better of the two at club and international levels.

However if goals are used as the criteria to compare players it is not sufficient to look only at the number of goals scored. You also have to break down the conversion rate into such things as whether the shots are from inside or outside the area, the goal expectation i.e. whether an average player would score given the chance presented and the quality of the opponents.

CLUB LEVEL

The findings of a recent mathematical study were published in the Washington Post which showed that in 2009 to 2013 Messi’s average chance quality (i.e. quality of chances created) was higher than Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo had more shots but were mostly from long distance and he only scored 30 goals from 587 such shots whereas Messi scored 28 goals from his 287 long distance shots. Messi was more efficient because a higher percentage of his shots were converted i.e. 9.75 % to 5.11%.

The study found that Messi is better at getting into goal-scoring positions since he had 29 danger zone shots (from inside the area) to Ronaldo’s 20.

Messi is also a better finisher. In the period 2009/10 through 2013/14 Messi averaged 40% more goals than expected goals compared to Ronaldo’s 20% (see WASHINGTON POST – Despite great season, Cristiano Ronaldo is not better than Lionel Messi; by Michael Caley, November 7, 2014).

Last season Ronaldo broke the norm and outscored Messi. This propelled him to win the Ballon d’Or in 2013. But this has to be looked at in light of the fact that Messi missed a part of the year through injury and when he resumed playing he almost caught up with Ronaldo’s tally of 31 by scoring 28 by the end of the 2013/14 season.

Also, in the current season Ronaldo has made a great start by scoring 12 non-penalty goals to Messi’s 7. A plausible explanation for this is not that Ronaldo is now a better player but it is attributed to the changing roles of both players at their respective clubs.

With the addition of Neymar and Luis Suarez on the flanks of Barcelona’s 4-3-3 formation Messi now plays a deep-lying playmaking role which has led to his goals trending down while his assists are going up. His goals per game fell from little under 1.50 in the season 2012/13 to 0.86 in 2014/15 while his assists in 2013/14 was little under 0.50 and rose to 0.86 in the current season.

At Real Madrid the trend was the opposite. With the recent addition of Gareth Bale and James Rodriques in the midfield Ronaldo is now more of a striker and less focused on distribution. He now takes more shots from inside the penalty area and in the current season his 12 non-penalty goals except for 2 were from inside the box. His goals per game rose from 1.00 in 2013/14 to 2.20 in 2014/15 while his assists in the same period fell from 0.25 to 0.17 (ESPN FC GLOBAL- Realigning Stars: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face changing roles; by Michael Cox, October 23, 2014).

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Messi has a better strike rate than Ronaldo. The all time stats for all competitions show that Messi has 44 goals from 95 caps (0.46 goals per game) whereas Ronaldo has 51 from 116 caps (0.43 goals per game) (INTERNATIONAL STATS – November 8, 2014).

World Cup – Messi also surpasses Ronaldo with 5 goals from 15 caps (0.33 goals per game) to Ronaldo’s 3 goals from 13 caps (0.23 goals per game) (INTERNATIONAL STATS etc.).

Messi’s record is very impressive. In 2014 he led Argentina to the final, was voted Man of the Match in 4 games (the most of any player in the competition) and won the Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament.

Contrary to what some critics say he was the most deserving of the latter award. He had the most impact on the competition as Argentina would not have progressed to the final without him. He was the joint highest goal scorer with 4 goals and assists, created the most chances, had the most successful dribbling runs, made the most deliveries into the box and produced the most through balls of any player.

In contrast, Ronaldo has a sorry record. He has only scored thrice and against weak opposition, namely, a penalty against Iran (2006), the sixth goal in a 7-0 win against North Korea in 2010 and a late goal against Ghana in 2014. In the last tournament his only real contribution was an assist against the USA.

QUALITY OF OPPONENTS

Messi has more career goals for club and country. He has a total of 420 goals in 564 games (or 0.74 goals per game) while Ronaldo has 449 goals in 702 games (or 0.63 goals per game).

The important difference is that the Argentine has more game changing goals and against stronger opposition. His goals are directly associated with winning titles in La Liga, Champions League victories, Olympic gold medal matches and Youth and Club World Cups.

For example, as at March 24, 2014 for Barcelona he has scored against the best teams namely, 21 against Real Madrid (Barcelona’s fiercest rival), 20 against league champion Atletico Madrid and 18 against Sevilla (most successful club in Andalusia). In the Champions League he has 12 against German teams, 8 against English teams and 5 against Italian teams. And in the World Cup 2014 he scored 4 match winning goals.

Ronaldo on the other hand has failed to score in decisive matches and succeeded in scoring multiple goals against weak teams not only with his club but with his country. For example, in the English Premier League for Manchester United he only scored 2 goals in 9 games against Liverpool (United’s fiercest rival) and scored 1 goal in 15 games against stalwart Chelsea.

In the Champions League for United he failed to net in his first 26 games and although he scored in the final in 2014 for Real Madrid he had little impact in the other final in which he played in 2009 in a 2-0 loss to Barcelona.

In Spain in his first 9 games against Barcelona (Real Madrid’s main rival) he scored just 3 goals.

In the World Cup he has a sorry record which was discussed above and in the European Championship he has 6 goals against minnows Greece, the Czech Republic and a weak Holland team and underperforms against strong teams like Germany and Spain.

All in all the stats show that Messi is the better player because he is better at getting into goal scoring positions, is a better finisher and is a more efficient goal scorer. Messi has an age advantage because he is 27 and Ronaldo is 29 and though it is likely that both will still be playing for a few more years the Argentine will have more time than Ronaldo to extend his record of achievements. In the meantime the debate goes on.

Victor A. Dixon

November 20, 2014

With the World Cup now having been and gone we could have expected an influx of summer performers to the Premier League clubs as has happened following recent World Cups and European Championships. This summer though, movement has been slow. The highest profile move to a Premier League club thus far was the recent announcement that Chelsea’s Joe Cole is transferring to Liverpool. Whilst Cole fits the criteria of a World Cup performer this move was likely to have been initiated before the World Cup and based on reputation rather than World Cup matches.

The financial climate of the Premier League has changed considerably with public records of large leveraged debt at Manchester United and Liverpool, Arsenal have never been traditional big spenders under manager Arsene Wenger and the situation at Chelsea is uncertain but it is clear that Roman Abramovich has slowed his spending in the last two seasons. This leaves Manchester city has the obvious candidates to spend big on World Cup stars whilst Spurs may want to consolidate there new standing as a top four side with some new faces.

With many of the fancied players (Kaka, Messi, Drogba, Rooney, Ronaldo) relatively under performing this summer the World Cup the hottest property is Germany’s Mesut Ozil. The speedy 21 year old is contracted to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. With Michael Ballack gone from the Chelsea midfield they may see his replacement at International level this summer as the man to fill the gap at Stamford Bridge, however Chelsea interest in a player is likely to stir attention at Manchester City who have so far spent big money on Spain’s David Silva, Germany’s Jerome Boateng and Ivory Coasts Yaya Toure. However Ozil is likely to attract interest from mainland Europe too. Whilst he may not fit into the Barcelona midfield with their interest firmly on Fabregas he may be a target for fellow giants Real Madrid or closer to home Bayern Munich.

Uruguay surprised many this summer with the stand out performers being strikers Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan. Forlan is tried and tested in the Premier League when he found life tough to cope with at Manchester United scoring just 17 goals in near 100 appearances, he may get a second chance with another club if he can be tempted to leave the Spanish league that seems to suit his style of play. Suarez netted a phenomenal 49 goals for Dutch side Ajax and should Ajax manager Martin Jol make the rumoured switch to Fulham then don’t be surprised to see his star striker follow him to Craven Cottage.

World Cup’s gone by have been an opportunity for African players to showcase their talents to the watching football world, however this time around with the exception of Ghana, African performances were subdued so a minority of players are likely to have stirred Premier League interest. Of course, a large majority of Ghana’s squad already feature in European leagues so are likely to carry the inflated price tags that has Premier League chairman running scared of.

So to conclude, a slow start to the transfer window (with the obvious exception of Manchester City) and don’t expect things to change too quickly, it is likely to be a pre-season of consolidation and looking within teams own youth ranks rather than a vast period of recruitment.

Liverpool have successfully signed Maxi Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer. Rodriguez has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with the club. He may make his debut for Liverpool in the weekend game against Stoke. This is Rafa Benitez’s first signing in this transfer window. He has already sold Andriy Voronin and Andrea Dossena.

Liverpool FC’s performance in this season is worst among the so called «top four» clubs. They are out from the champions league, they are out from Carling cup and most recently they are out from FA cup. Seeing the current position and performance one can easily think of Liverpool not finishing in top four this season in the premier league, so they can be out from next year’s Champions league also.

Why so many problems to a club who were second in the league last season? In fact their performance was very good in the premier league last season. Some snapshots of their performance are as below:

o Liverpool lost only two matches in the premier league in 2008-09 season.

o They got double (won both home and away games) against Manchester United (league winners) and Chelsea.

o They were on the top of league for more than six months.

o Liverpool won 4-0 against Real Madrid in Champions league.

Now in this season Liverpool have not shown any sign of being a threat to the league winners. Seeing Manchester City’s and Spurs’ performances it will be very difficult for Liverpool to finish in top four.

The club’s problems are not only on the field but also off the field. They are in huge debt, team boss Rafa Benitez has already said that they may sale Torres and Gerrard for the future of the club. Team’s ace striker Fernando Torres is also very much concerned about the team’s bad performance this season and he has told the owners to buy some quality players. He said «If we want to compete with United and Chelsea we need a much, much more complete squad. We need more genuinely first-class players and we can’t let our best players leave.»

The main reason behind Liverpool’s bad run in this season can be the absence of Xabi Alonso. Liverpool have sold their midfielder Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid during the summer transfer window. They bring Alberto Aquilani for the Spanish Alonso.

Liverpool’s recent game against Reading has added a lot to Liverpool’s problems list. Liverpool lost the game 2-1 in extra time, moreover they lost three first team players in this game. Striker Fernando Torres will be out from action for six weeks, while Steven Gerrard will be sidelined for two and Yossi Benayoun is set to miss a month.

The battle for ultimate supremacy will begin on August 16th. But there are a few questions raised on the champions of yesteryear. With last year’s title hunt lasting till the last match played, this year’s title promises nail-biters even before the season starts. Now, let us see what we can expect from this season of Barclays Premier League :

The Champions : Manchester United

Chasing their third straight EPL title, ManU has been in news all this summer (thanks to the transfer saga regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid.) And with the news that Ronaldo is staying for atleast another season, the fans and Sir Alex Ferguson can expect that their double title treat can continue this season also.

ManU’s attacking has to furious this season if they have to beat Chelsea and Liverpool. They are in desperate need of a striker who will round-up the formation (Ronaldo-Roonay-Tevez.) Maybe Tootenham striker Dimitar Berbatov is the right choice that ManU will opt for before the transfer session ends. And this season may also witness the genius of Wayne Rooney taking the center stage this time.

Equipotential Challengers : Chelsea

Missing both Champions League and English Premier League to ManU with slight differences, Chelsea has undergone a massive change this summer to be the perfect team this season. Avram Grant’s failure to bring glory to Stamford Bridge made his way out of Chelsea. And then came the Portuguese flavor.

They signed «Big Phil» Luis Felipe Scolari as their new manager. Chelsea also bought Barcelone playmaker Deco and Jose Bosingwa from FC Porto. Rumors had it that Ronaldinho, Eto’o were to join the Blue team. But they had to settle with Didier Drogba’s extended contract and now they are not sure if Frank Lampard is committed with them for long-term. However they are equally matched favorites for this season with a strong midfield presence of Michael Ballack.

Battle for third : Arsenal

Arsenal saw a big change in the team formation as Jens Lehmann, Mathieu Flamini, Alesander Hleb and Gilberto Silva left the club. Their replacement for Hleb is French international Samir Nasri. Welsh teenage Aaron Ramsey’s sign is a big step for manager Arsene Wenger.

Midfield is still a challenge for the manager. Cesc Fabregas needs a good companion in the segment for the team to be a consistent and good performing team. Emmanuel Adebayor remains the key player for the team. This season they have to play really hard to secure their third spot. Truth be told, any title win is still a mile away, but with miracles happening all around, they need a lot of luck.

Waiting for History : Liverpool

It is always hard to write them at the end of any list. Because they were once the king of kings. Liverpool is still looking to end their 18 year long for the title. The difference this season could be Robbie Keane, their new 24 million pound striker from Tottenham Hotspur. This makes their forward (along with Fernando Torres) a lethal one. But the team as a whole needs to play their 200 percent if they can expect of any title this season.

Whose our money on : ManU are still the best in the game. But soccer is not about one team and that makes it a interesting sport to watch. So support your team (whichever) and enjoy the game more than anything else.

The formal name of the club is Blackburn Rovers Football Club, and they known by many nicknames, the most popular among which are Rovers, the Blue and Whites, and the Riversiders.

Founded in 1875, the squad host matches at their home venue of Ewood Park, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which has a capacity of just over 31,000.

The owners are the Trustees of the Jack Walker 1987 Settlement.

The chairman is John Williams, while the manager of the club is Sam Allardyce.

Blackburn won the Premier League in 1994-95, beating rivals Manchester United to the post, a year after they had ended in second place on the Premiership rungs.

Barely four years after winning the championship the Riversiders were relegated. Three years later they were back.

In two matches played this season, Rovers have a win and a loss; they won 1-0 in their opening match against Everton, and lost 2-1 to Birmingham City on the second weekend.

Pre-season Review:

Blackburn finished in 10th place, in last season’s Premiership campaign. They also got to the semi final at the League cup.

This relative good showing will put a weight of expectation on Sam Allardyce.

Transfers have been conspicuous by their relative absence at the Blackburn headquarters.

The following players comprise the Blue and Whites:

Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Olsson, Jones, Nelsen, Givet, Kalinic, Dunn, El-Hadji Diouf, Pedersen, Emerton, Bunn, Nzonzi, Hoilett, Andrews, Chimbonda, and Mame Diouf.

Their goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, got called up to represent England in a friendly against Hungary, and Blackburn called on Frank Fielding, who had never played for the Ewood Park side, to stand in for him.

The generously built Christopher Samba’s all-round skills as a goal scoring defender must make him Blackburn’s man for every occasion.

Alan Judge is back from Plymouth Argyle where he had been on loan over the past 18 months. Judge could get several starts this season in the absence of signings.

Manchester United’s Mame Biram Diouf is in on loan and expected to add to the goal count.

Yildiray Basturk has departed after an all too short tenure at Ewood Park after a less than impressive outing.

Steven Reid has left for West Bromwich Albion.

Blackburn will try to top last year’s good performance, and you can expect some Allardyce moves to strengthen that resolve while the transfer window is still open.

I expect Blackburn to do as well or even better than last year, with the black cloud of possible relegation lifted.

We have reached the climax of the 2010 FIFA soccer World Cup in South Africa, and the moment of glory is fast approaching, when the winner of the tournament would be declared. The battle is between two European nations – Spain and the Netherlands. Each of the teams has given a very good account of themselves since the tournament began on the 11th of June; and come 11th of July, we shall all know who emerges champions.

When the tournament started on the 11th of June, not too many soccer enthusiasts beamed their satellites on Spain or the Netherlands. Their satellites had been directed toward Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, Italy and France. All six countries have won the world cup at least once; and looking at the strength of their teams and the quality of players they came with, it was logical for them to have concluded that one of them would win.

However, thoughts, logic and wishes soon got separated from reality as some of the big names like Italy (defending champions) and France were eliminated in the group stage. England followed in the second round; Brazil and Argentina took their exit in the quarter finals stage, leaving Germany as the clear favorites after they bundled out Argentina 4-0.

On Wednesday 7th July, Spain ensured that the remaining favorite, Germany, was sent home, leaving only Spain and the Netherlands to decide where the world cup goes to this time around. It is now very clear that the world is expecting a new champion because the two teams remaining have never tasted world soccer glory before; none has ever kissed the FIFA soccer trophy.

But who wins this year’s edition?

The two sides have done remarkably well; they have shown class, discipline and technical efficiency. On paper, the Spaniards have an edge over the Dutch; they are the reigning European champions and the bulk of the team is made up of former UEFA champions, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Considering what they did to Germany in their semi finals match, they are surely not a push over.

The Spaniards have got a potent striker in the person of David Villa, with 5 goals in 6 matches; and also a good mid field and defense supported by Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Pedro, Charles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. They also have a goal keeper (Casillas) who has not conceded many goals from the commencement of the tournament.

The Dutch on the other hand, have a reliable striker, Wesley Sneijder, who has so far scored 5 goals; and a dependable mid field marshalled by Bronckhorst. They also have reliable attackers like Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie and Kuyt.

We therefore expect a very fluid, attacking football, balanced with tactical discipline from both sides. The outcome of the game would be decided by the technical crews, and also by the number of opportunities utilized by both sides. Wastage has to be minimized by anyone who hopes to emerge as the crowned champions. Selfishness on the part of the strikers has to be checked as well. Temperaments must be controlled, and all kinds of diving and false alarms must be avoided if they are to give their teeming fans something to enjoy; and they should be ready to win the match convincingly to the delight of all spectators.

We earnestly await the crowning of a new world champions come Sunday 11th July 2010. We wish the finalists best of luck in their quest to win the trophy for the very first time.

Twice a year when the transfer window opens, the soccer world goes crazy with players changing clubs and newspapers and soccer websites all over the world speculating on the latest superstars playing the game of musical chairs.

While some big name transfers such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s move from Manchester United to Real Madrid finally came to their expected conclusions, one transfer caught my eye this season. That of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s move from Italian champions Inter Milan to Spanish and Champions League winners Barcelona, with Samuel Eto’o going the opposite direction.

Now, Ibrahimovic is not a bad player and on his day can be one of the best players on the planet. But he has failed to live up to his massive hype in my opinion. Who can forget the 2 Champions League matches against Manchester United last season where he was virtually anonymous?

Samuel Eto’o on the other hand has proven himself to be one of the most lethal strikers in the world. Only 28, he has his best years ahead of him and unlike Ibrahimovic, doesn’t choke on the big stage. Don’t forget, it was his goal in last season’s Champions League final that started Barcelona on the road to victory.

On top of the player exchange, Inter Milan also received a transfer fee of 45 million Euros. I have no idea how it was done, but Inter manager Jose Mourinho must surely have negotiated the best deal of the season. Or does Barcelona know something that we don’t? Only time will tell.

For the best part of the last decade, two names have dominated world football (soccer) more than any others; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These great rivals have broken countless football records, scored insane number of goals and pushed each other all the way to greatness despite the fact that they are two very different football players, playing two very different styles in two very different roles for two different clubs. The only thing that really connects the two is the ocean of ability that separates them from the rest of the players in the world. There can be no question as to whether the duo belongs in the pantheon of football all-time greats anymore. Although any effort to determine the greatest footballer of all time is subject to generational bias, it should be noted that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not individually or collectively the greatest football player[s] of all time due to the following reasons;

Cristiano is not the best ‘Ronaldo’ to play the game: Despite his unparalleled achievement in and off the field of play, Cristiano Ronaldo is still not considered the best Ronaldo to have played the game. Ronaldo de Assisi (also known as Ronaldinho) and Ronaldo de Lima (the phenomenon) are the other ‘Ronaldos’ whose legendary attacking prowess is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo de Lima was a more explosive and complete striker who would have probably been the ‘World’s Best Striker Ever’ if he had stayed injury-free in his footballing career, while Ronaldinho was the entertainer who, at his peak, constantly wowed the footballing world. Cristiano Ronaldo is better than other ‘Ronaldos’ in terms of constituency over the years, phenomenal goal-scoring rates, overall fitness and prolonged career (due to low rate of injuries) but for sheer skill, explosiveness, superior technical ability, and the ‘wow’ factor, the two ‘Ronaldos’ are better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi is not the best ever Argentine player: It is a well-known fact that for a footballer to be the best ever in the world, he has to be the best ever footballer in his country and sadly, Lionel Messi isn’t both. Lionel Messi is not the best football player Argentina has produced. That honor goes to Diego Armando Maradona. Maradona (widely regarded as one of the best football players ever) is a footballing legend that inspired Argentina to a world cup victory and S.S.C. Napoli (in the Italian Football League) to its first and second League title [Scudetti] in its history. He is the scorer of the world’s most dubious goal (the ‘Hand of God’ goal) and the FIFA Goal of the Century. There is virtually a cult around the player in Argentina. Diego Maradona (and Pele) is the benchmark for the illustrious South American nation when a new star comes on to the block. So, while Messi has dazzled on the European stage, passing milestone after milestone and picking up loads of awards, his countrymen regard him as the country’s second best football player ever.

Both players have never won the World Cup: Although the latter rounds of the modern-day UEFA Champions League would rival the FIFA World Cup in terms of quality, with talents from around the globe increasingly concentrated in the hands of an elite few, the World Cup still retains substantial symbolic value as a quadrennial competition which pit the best of one nation against the best of another. It is no secret Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have never won (or inspired their respective countries to win) the FIFA World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo has won an European Cup (The Euros) with his home country, Portugal but has never been to the semi-finals or the finals of the World Cup while Lionel Messi was underwhelming in the 2014 world cup semi-final and final with his home country Argentina eventually losing to Germany. The World (and Messi) was shocked when he was named the best player and awarded the Golden Ball of the tournament. Lionel Messi is also a three-time runner-up in the Copa America competition with Argentina. Most football players such as Zinedine Zidane, Pele, Diego Maradonna, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo de Lima etc. often touted as the world’s best ever football player all played dominant roles in the World Cup tournament they eventually won. The same cannot be said presently of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

They are not Football’s best Goal-scorers ever: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are efficient, effective and phenomenal goal scorers boasting amazing goal per match ratio but they aren’t among the five best goal scorers in football history. Neither of them have scored up more than 700 goals in their respective careers so they cannot be in the company of great players such as Pele, Romario, Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskas (he has a FIFA goal-scoring award named after him), Gerd Muller. The rate of scoring of these legendary players is more impressive than that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo given they ended their footballing careers with goal tallies well into the 800s. So if scoring goals are what makes footballers great, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, having better players boasting better goal tallies ahead of them, cannot be the greatest footballers of all time.

Both players have been accused of being criminals: They both have tax payment issues with the Spanish authorities (the country they reside and play in) and so have been accused of being criminals. After a lengthy trial that attracted so much publicity due to his status as a supremely gifted sportsman, Lionel Messi (and his father) was found guilty of not paying his taxes to the Spanish government, fined heavily and sentenced to two years in prison (he has since agreed to pay an increased fine rather than have a 21-month suspended prison sentence). His trial, guilty verdict, fine and (suspended) sentence damaged his credibility as a morally upright athlete who could do no wrong and that of his football club (FC Barcelona). Cristiano Ronaldo is also being investigated for tax evasion by the Spanish authorities, might be tried (or not), heavily fined and get a suspended prison sentence.

Their overall goal tallies are padded with too many penalties: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the greatest goal scorers of their generation. They score obscene number of goals in a football season but almost half of the total goals scored both players have come from the penalty spot. In football, penalties are the easiest way to score because it involves only the designated penalty-taker and a goal keeper to beat. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, being the designated penalty-takers of their respective club sides, always take every penalty kick awarded them or their teammates thereby increasing their goal tallies. In 2013/2014 Football season in England, Luis Suarez of Liverpool FC (before he moved to FC Barcelona to become a teammate of Lionel Messi) won the highest goal scorer award in the English Premier League and shared the European Golden Shoe award with Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring 32 goals in 33 games in open play without taking a single penalty. That is a record Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not yet hold.

They play for football’s most valuable clubs: Messi and Ronaldo play for super-clubs in Spain where the top sides score goals by the hatful. The second millennium’s new financial order unfortunately gave birth to the modern super team essentially creating a certain form of predictability in both domestic and continental leagues. Lionel Messi plays for FC Barcelona in Spain while Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid CF also in Spain. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF are extremely rich and dominant football clubs that can afford to buy and stockpile the best and most expensive football talent anywhere in the world and so Messi and Ronaldo are always surrounded and assisted by world-class players to aid in dominating continental club football thus raising their international profiles. Both clubs always have a slew of world-class players at their disposal which leads to utter domination in domestic (Spanish La Liga) and continental (UEFA Champions League) football competitions.

The benefit of playing in the Modern Era: It is almost impossible to compare players of different era in a game that has changed so much over the years. Great footballers like Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano played in an era when the game was played at a tempo unrecognizably slower than in the modern era. That does not make them less great than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The game played presently has changed because of changes in rules governing the game and the quality of footballs produced and used. Players in the modern era are also fitter, faster, and stronger than they have ever been, but players (especially defenders) are technically weaker than they have ever been. The Champions League’s expansions of the nineties is also an advantage to the modern player: having a group stage allows a margin of error that simply did not exist in the knock out style pre-1995 tournament. It has never been easier for attackers – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo probably would never score 40-60 goals a season in the 1980s when the rules governing the game and footballs used didn’t benefits attackers (strikers), and defenders/defenses were littered with world-class talents.

They are a part of football’s rich history: We view the history of the game through our own national experiences, or at least we did until the modern era, where we can watch the Spanish league, Messi and Ronaldo every weekend. It is worth remembering that in the 1970s and even into the 1980s, most of Europe just watched the European Cup and UEFA Cup games of their own national teams. So, here is a little suggestion; the next time Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score a breath-taking goal and someone on Twitter suggests the debate (on the greatest football player) is over, head to YouTube and spend ten minutes watching goals from Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Pele, Ferenc Puskas, Roberto Baggio, Eusebio, Alfredo di Stefano and so on. There have been plenty of geniuses in the game, and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are part of that rich football history.

Generational and positional bias in football: The hunt for the greatest football player in history is like that of the Holy Grail. All footballers (sportsmen) are products of their time. Due to football’s developmental stagnation relative to other sport and because there are so many different positions, and so many roles within those positions, it is hard to have a worthwhile conversation about who the best football player of all time is. Since the main objective of the game is to score a goal, the best goal scorers such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will always be near the top of any list about the game’s best players.

Conclusion; Don’t kid yourself that there won’t be another player like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, no-one thought they would see another player like Diego Maradona.

Note that this article is about who we can realistically buy, not who I want us to buy in fantasy land. Liverpool Football Club have been strongly linked with Turkish whiz-kid Arda Turan recently, and I see this as an ideal move. Reportedly Arda (Turkish players are commonly known by their first name rather than their surname) would be available for around £10m, and we could easily raise that amount of cash with the sale of Andriy Voronin, Ryan Babel and Andrea Dossena. The Turk often plays on the right wing but has been known to play in central midfield before, making him a highly versatile player (the kind that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez likes).

The second player that could really benefit our team is veteran Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistlerooy, who, at his peak was one of the top marksmen in the world, but sadly now can’t get a game for Real Madrid (his current club) due to their heavy squad redevelopment in the summer (where they spent over £200m on new players).

Another player that could be quite handy is Simon Kjaer. The Danish defender is one of Europe’s hottest defensive talents, and the 20 year old who currently plays at Palermo would be a great addition to our squad and would certainly help to sure up our uncharacteristically leaky defence. Despite this, I think buying Kjaer might be a step too far for us, as we probably don’t have the funds and our money would be better spent on quality attacking players.

The football transfer market came to live once again this week with Spanish giants Barca announcing the capture of Arsenal’s Midfielder Alexander Hleb and the release of Brazilian Ronaldinho to Ac Milan of Italy.

The Release of Ronaldinho is interesting because of the simple fact that his transfer means the end of an era at fc Barca and most importantly it makes the return to football of one of the greatest talents and personality in the game after a long time out due to injury, thirdly it leaves my dearest club ( yes I am a gunner fan ) Arsenal and we the fans wondering whats going on with our dear club , fourthly it ends Ac Milan’s interest in Arsenal’s Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor and also leaves Manchester City Fc ruing their miss after a long and interesting struggle for the signature of ever smiling Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho by Ac Milan despite the fact that he has not seen action for a very long time due to injury confirms the fact that he is one of the best players to have ever played the game of football.

Ronaldinho 28, still look very young and on his way to greatness in the game of football ( Americans call it soccer ). Barcelona spotted and signed the then 23 year old from French giants PSG five years back. He was supposedly the number 2 to David Beckham before the Briton decided to join Barca’s Arch rivals Real Madrid.

He joined Barca at a time when things was tough as they have just managed to qualify for the Uefa cup after finished 6 in the La Liga that year. He joined new coach Frank Rijkaard in the job of the transformation of the clubs dwinding fortunes.

Of course he succeeded in his mission as Barca finished second place behind Real Madrid the following season and went on to win back to back titles and the Uefa champions League beating Arsenal in the final a year after.

His feat did not go unnoticed as he was courted by Real Madrid and Fifa could also not ignore his brilliance as he was name the FIFA world footballer of the year.

But ever since things have gone from good to bad and from bad to worst for the Brazilian but now he has a great chance to start a revival of sort with Ac Milan.

As for Dear Arsenal, the news of the departure of Alexander Hleb adds to the growing list of the departees after Ac Milan had earlier stolen Mathieu Flamini right under our nose and the departure of Brazilian Gilberto Silva to Greece .

Although Hleb’s transfer to Barca does not seem to surprise any one as it is very obvious but whats a surprise is why does the players who almost won the league for Arsenal in a breath taking way suddenly hate the club. It doesn’t even end there as it is very possible that Emmanuel Adebayor may be also on his way out of the Emirates as he has declared his intention to join some other clubs if Arsenal can not agree to his ridiculous and selfish demands although one wonders if Milan who are the clear favorites to sign the Togolese will still be interested after the capture of Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho leaves Adebayor hoping Barca will regnite their interest in him. But Unfortunately media reports has it that Barca have decide to abandon their pursuit of the Togolese preferring to sign Tottenham hotspur’s Dimitav Berbatov instead. Barca’s interest in Berbatov will sure be a thing of concern for Manchester United’s Manager Sir Alex as he was also hoping to add the tall striker to his striking force.

With Gilberto also gone and Adebayor one leg in one leg out, it does confirms Arsene Wenger’s concern earlier in the summer when he said his greatest concern was not to buy new players but to keep the ones he already has. It does also looks as though as he is losing the battle to keep his players as the players seem to look elsewhere for other challenges in their careers.

As for Manchester City FC and their new Manager Mark Hughes who were hoping to lure Ronaldinho to the eastland stadium are now shocked to know Ronladinho prefers to sign for Milan for a reason that is very obvious- Champions League football. Even though Milan will not be contesting in the Champions League this term but then they have a greater chance to qualify in the future than does Manchester City who can only struggle and hope for Uefa cup appearance.

Now that Ronaldinho has signed for Ac Milan, it will be interesting to know who Manchester City and their ever ambitious manager Mark Hughes will be signing with the £25 million that was rejected by Ronaldinho and Barca.

The transfer of Hleb and Ronaldinho to Barca and Ac Milan respectively could lead to a large scale moment of players from one club to another as it looks as though Milan and Barca mean business after the bad season the last time out. Hleb’s transfer leaves Arsene Wenger with the headache of looking for a replacement for Hleb even though he has got Nasri and as for Manchester City it will be difficult to attract the kind of players who will get them breaking into the big four in the English Premiership in the coming season though they are ambitious but I still do not believe they will be attractive enough to get players of the capacity of Ronaldinho at least not for this season.

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