Liverpool as expected annouced the signing of Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid for 26.5 Million Pounds. His arrival will hasten the departure of Craig Bellamy, who besides the goal against Barcelona hasn’t performed upto the expectations of Rafael Benetiz. Torres will partner Peter Crouch in attack.

It remains to be seen if Torres is the guaranteed 30 goals a season player that Liverpool have missed for seasons now. He has flown under the radar of critics at Atletico Madrid scoring just 82 goals in 214 games for the Castille team. His team was often blamed for his lack of goals. With the 26.5 mill pound capture, and the hopes of a club who are waiting for their first league championship since 1990, he will no longer have that luxury.
Rafa has not had the best luck with his Spanish signings. Only Xabi Alonso has been able to lock in a starting spot in his team. Ex Pool Morientes had a horrid time at the KOP and Rafa will be wishing that those mistakes don’t repeat with Gillette and co breathing down his neck.

In my opinion, Torres has taken far too long to translate potential into goals and doesn’t look like a player capable of solving Liverpool’s inadequacies. Liverpool have taken a huge gamble on this former prodigy, who showed all but flashes of brilliance during his time at the Vicente Calderon. From what I’ve seen, his off the ball movement is top class but his finishing isn’t. I expect him to score not more than 15 goals per season (in the league) at Liverpool, in keeping with his scoring record at Atletico Madrid.

Torres Videos:

Torres Compilation 

Torres Interview (subtitles in English)

It’s done. As an Arsenal fan it’s hard not to feel the numbing pain that envelopes the entire body. Even as late as last night, I was clinging on the hope that all this was tabloid generated fiction. Its like a failed marriage, you fail to see the signs and when a defining moment comes, it hits you and it hits you hard. For every Arsenal fan this must have been a dagger to the heart.

An open letter from the great man himself. And I say great man because he gave us umpteen moments of joy. The man who put a smile on all arsenal faces every time he played. For all his posturing and pouting, he genuinely loved the club and the fans adored him. Adulation that was second to none. He undoubtedly gave us some of the best memories of Arsenal, goals like the chip over Barthez, the Real Madrid one, the list goes on… There is no denything that he gave the best past of his career to Arsenal. He peaked at Arsenal.He will be missed. Sorely.

Saying all that, its time to move on, Arsenal existed before Henry and will exist after him. He was dangerously close to becoming bigger than the club. And no one should ever be bigger than the club. Even last season the warning signs were there. Even from the sidelines when he was injured, he was always in the limelight, whether it was making statements or doing that silly dance with Adebayor.

 At the risk of sounding bitter, what has the departure of David Dein got anything to do with his career. And in his letter he cites Arsene Wenger not signing a new contract also a possible reason. Wenger has always left re-signing of contracts late and that has not prevented Henry from re-signing prior contracts. Though, he has said all the right things those two statements are damning indications that he had made up his mind regardless of AW or DD.

There is a school of thought that he inhibited the young gunners from playing, whilst not totally subscribing to that view, its not entirely incorrect. He was the go to guy, perhaps rightly so, but last season showed signs that the team will not entirely be lost without Henry. The young guns have to step up and take the mantle.

More intriguing is the question on who Wenger will sign as a suitable replacement. Those are some very big boots to fill. Does Arsene have enough money to sign another quality player? Does Arsene know some injury to Henry that we dont know? After all he held all the aces, 3 years to run on the contract and only 16 million pounds? Its all irrelevant now i guess. He certainly has my “Best wishes”, thats the very least he deserves from Arsenal fans. But for feck’s sake I sincerely hope that he doesn’t and make stupid statements(ala Vieira) whilst at Barcelona and reduce his legend points.

The courtship with Barcelona is now over, now begins the romance. Is it going to be a long term love affair or is it going to be case of lust turned sour? Does Henry ,30 this august, have the hunger, the fire, and more importantly the fitness to do the same things that he did for Arsenal? I have my doubts. Sour grapes maybe, but hey i have them in truckloads.

Thank you Henry, you have moved on. So will we and so will the club. Au Revoir!

Well, United’s summer has certainly started in an explosive fashion. According to a statement on the official website, it looks like the club has signed two young starlets from FC Porto- Nani and Anderson. Definitely looks like two potential replacements for Scholes and Giggs. And Sir Alex has always been exceptional in the way he has handled potential superstars. It is going to be interesting to see how he handles the two next season.

You can read the rest here- Guardian Football

Videos:

Nani Compilation- Click Here
Anderson Compilation- Click Here

After 120 minutes of football that bordered on the tedium, we had a winner, and quite fittingly it was Chelsea’s man of the season who finished Manchester United off. The setting, the new Wembley , was spectacular but the football played sadly wasn’t, it hardly justified the occasion.

It was the case of who could wear out the other faster. I guess both team had their moments and neither team deserved to win it. The game had very few talking points, may be the Giggs incident is the only one. Ronaldo has proved the big game bottler again. Giggs had some sloppy moments. Rooney was better than the other two. But in a game in which cried out for the flair players of Manchester United to do something, they failed miserably. Chelsea used their usual power play game and got their result. Fair play. A word on Essien, I mean what a player! Not a club in Europe would not want his service.

Its bit of an anticlimax for Manchester United who could rightly feel that they have let things slip in the fag end of the season. As for Chelsea and Mourinho, I think Jose would do very well if he went inside and gave Drogba a big hug. Drogba has been the difference between a trophy less season and one with 2 cups. Whether it was enough to keep Jose’s job? I have my doubts.

< Video of Droba's Goal:
Video of Drogba’s Goal

Its time to look back at some of my predictions and how they went haywire. Seriously, I suck at these! The original post is here: Predictions

Arsenal (My Prediction- Fourth)

I got this one right. Arsenal ended the season at fourth place. A very disappointing season for the club and a poor start in the new stadium. Thierry Henry contributed practically nothing this year (due to a series of injuries). Ditto for Robbie Van Persie. They were pretty competitive against the the big teams (they took 6 points off United!) but poor away form and the inability to convert possession into goals resulted in a title no show.

A very disappointing run of form in the Champions League also resulted in getting knocked out by PSV Eindhoven. (how I relished that result!) A glorious run in the Carling cup was probably the only bright spot in an otherwise nothing season.

Expect the take over saga to run through the summer resulting in Kroenke winning full control and then promising a number of big signings for Wenger. Whether this team ever comes out of the “transition” period remains to be seen. A top quality striker is an absolute must during the transfer window.

Possible Transfers:

Arsene Wenger is expected to find his summer transfer budget this week. The club is doing well financially so Wenger would definitely be able to go after two or three players. And he needs some big signings to convince the likes of Fabregas and Henry. What will happen to Henry this year? Rumours are on that Barcelona are interested in getting Henry to Nou Camp. Samuel Etoo now seems certain to leave Barcelona and Arsenal’s style would suit him a lot more than those of Chelsea and Liverpool. Julio Baptista is definitely moving back to Madrid but whether Reyes will move in the opposite direction remains to be seen.

Liverpool (My prediction- Second)

>

My original prediction was that Liverpool would run Chelsea close for the title. I expected Rafa Benitez to get it right in England after two attempts. But both haven’t happened. The Reds have lacked firepower up front and also creative wingers. That said, they are in the final of the one trophy that both Ferguson and Mourinho wanted more than anything else- the Champions League. Benitez will be looking to add one winger and one more striker during the summer. I expect him to offload Craig Bellamy to any team that will take him.

Benitez has proved his mastery in Europe but the fans want the league title more than anything else. Its close to two decades since Liverpool and have been crowned Champions of England and fans will undoubtedly be disappointed that the team is not even challenging for the title. But, the Champions League title could prove to be very sweet compensation.

Possible Transfers

Liverpool are expected to sign Brazilian youngster and Lucras Leiva. Funnily enough he is a holding midfielder. Liverpool really lack players in that position! But he has got to be one for the future, whether he adapts to life in England remains to be seen. It is very possible that Liverpool’s best signing of the season came in January when they signed on Mascherano from West Ham United. Liverpool have also signed Andriy Voronin from Bayern Leverkusen, he is expected to add much needed strike power to the squad.