Now I was once in the position where I did not know which colleges/ coaches to contact.  Which ones were a complete waste of time and which ones to focus my energy on.  Now, there are obvious ones that are harder to get on then others, UCLA, UCSB…the list goes on and on.  However, there are teams that I have analyzed and know that actually need players.  I will highlight each one in my future posts: the goods, the bads, and the cities are in.  After each one, I would contact each coach immediately for next season.

Important: I don’t want people wasting these coaches valuable time and valuable recruitment time, so you must be a valid candidate to play college soccer.  Here is a list of requirements:

3-4 year varsity player/ starter

club soccer team starter in mid-upper division

First School: San Diego Christian College

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Maradona’s Resume

-Player

–1986 World Cup Champion-Captain of Argentina

–FIFA Player of the Century

-Coach

–Mandiyu de Corrientes(Argentina League)

–Racing Club de Avellaneda

His career as a player is not being disputed.  Everyone in the world knows that Diego Maradona, the player, was a force to be reckoned with.  His career as a coach for a mere, two seasons, has been brought up in many arguments though.  In both seasons with two different teams, one team faced regulation and they both had losing records.

The Team

The Argentinian National Team is one of the most powerful teams.  All around the team does not have many holes.  In the back the goalkeeper position is set for at least the next decade if not two.  Roberto Abbondanzieri is getting old but young Oscar Ustari is ready to take over.  I like both keepers and they are some of the best in the world right now.  The defense has three names that come very fast: Heinze, Milito, and Zanetti.  Midfield has Mascherano and Gago.  Forwards: Aguero, Tevez, and Messi, just some to mention.

My Analysis

My feelings on Deigo Maradona are mixed; he was a beautiful player to say the least, but he also had a drug and alcohol problem.  Drug and alcohol problems are not something that I can respect.  However, I think he is making a turn-around in his life and I think he legitimately lives his country and his team.  Having said this, Diego Maradona deserves to be Coach Maradona.  I think his knowledge of the game will contribute to the team.  Also, on a final note, the team is so powerful, nobody could drive it that far off course.

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FIFA 09:

The best addition to the game is the “realistic” game play that EA Sports has added.  The players actually do moves like in real life.  I remember the early versions( before 09) would allow a player to run full blast down the line then, cross the ball in the box.  This is obviously unrealistic.

Overall, EA has not added anything else besides making the game play and how we play soccer, more realistic.  The moves are realistic and how we move is added to the game.

My Analysis:

Overall, I think this is a good game.  They have added the realistic part to the game, that I like.  However, I would like to say that besides roster updates, the game did not add anything else.  The “Be The Keeper”, was sadly removed from the game.  Apparently, the Xbox 360 version never had the add-on.  Since I play goal, I was really looking forward to that mode in the future.

Buy this game, but here after, don’t buy this game again.  I don’t see what else they will have to offer besides what they have done already.  I will always buy the latest edition but, keeping economics in mind, the future editions will be a waste of money.

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Recap:

-Chelsea fired 15 of their scouts.

-David Beckham is set to move to AC Milan in January on loan.

-Diego Maradona is named coach of the Argentina National Team

-Rafa Benitez wants to keep Agger and Kuyt, as their contracts are set to expire at season end.

-Ashley Young inks 4-year extension w/ Aston Villa.

Upcoming Pieces:

-Diego Maradona as Argentina Coach: Speculation, Analysis, and Thoughts

-David Beckham move to AC: Thoughts on Becks, AC, Galaxy, and MLS

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Tevez’s contract is set to expire after this season ends which will signal the time for both parties’ decisions.  Lets look at this in the view of three different perspectives to stay objective and give a little bit of all sides.

Man U:

Loosing Tevez would not be the worst thing in the world for Fergie and company.  He has Wayne Rooney as his primary stirker and Dimitar Berbatov.  I recently covered the acquisition of Berbatov and how it is a plus for The Reds.  I suppose, in the even of a Tevez departure, Man U could acquire a younger forward to back up both Rooney and Berbatov.  The rotation of all three of the current Man U players is hard  to not get used to.  I say that Man U would lose out here if Tevez leaves.

Tevez:

He has a very interesting decision at the end of the season, stay with his current club or leave for the Galacticos of the world.   Its like deciding to play for the Yankees or the Red Sox.  I think the draw, the money, and the ability to get playing time will influence his decision the most.  Real Madrid seems to have all of these.  With the recent departure of Robinho, Madrid has a spot available for a talent like Tevez.

Real Madrid:

With the departure of Robinho, the club will be looking to replace his stardom with another type.  Tevez would fill that role perfectly.  I think that they want him, end of story.

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Milan had a good midfield before acquiring Flamini with Seedorf, Jankulovski, Pirlo, and Kaka in the ranks.  Like many other teams that I have covered, adding Flamini was merely to add depth.  He may become a starter someday or in different lineups used by Milan throughout the season, however, like many other teams, not all of these stars can play at the same time.  If it were up to me, I would use Seedorf sparingly as he adds veteran depth and can be a good sub.  He also, can play multiple positions and this versatility can come into good use when a certain starter needs a day-off.  Milan is paying Flamini 5.6 million euros per year.

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Arsenal has truly revamped its midfield with this addition.  The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, Denilson, and Rosicky had already been on the midfield depth chart for Arsenal.  By adding Nasri, Arsenal can go in many different directions in their strategy and give them a deeper bench as all of these very talented players can not take the pitch together.

All in all, I like this move by Arsenal because it was one of the most cost effective moves in the Premiership.  Arsenal spent 12.7 million pounds on Nasri which is very cheap considering that the likes of Chelsea and Man U spent more, at times double, to revamp their respective sides.

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Sir Alex Ferguson now has a lot of depth at the striker position in returning players Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney.  Tevez is used primarily as the second striker while Ronney is used as the primary striker.  Berbatov will probably not start over either player as they are incumbents, but he should receive a fair amount of minutes through substitutions and to give either of the aforemetioned a rest.  Man U opened up the bank for Berbatov by shelling out 30.75 million pounds.

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The transfer costed Chelsea a pretty penny, 16.3 million pounds, which is a pretty large amount, however, Jose is worth every penny.  This gives Petr Cech more assurance that he will see less shots on goal and better protection coming from the right side of the pitch.

The signing of Bosingwa signaled the closing of the checkbook for Chelsea as they had already opened it to acquire midfielder Deco.

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While I was away, a very big move occurred, Robinho moved from Real Madrid to Man City on the last day of the Summer Transfer Window.  The fee for Robinho was 42.5 million euro, netting ‘binho a very nice, 160,000 pounds a week.

The move to the Premiership should be a good one for Robinho.  The strength of Spanish soccer and La Liga is comparable to the Premier League in that they both have a bevy of powerhouses and play very competitive soccer. Also, Robinho will be among friends in Brazil National Team teammates, Jo and Elano.

Right before the transfer was made official, Real President, Ramon Calderon, made some very interesting comments.  He stated, that he would rather end Robinho’s career than see him play for Real.  There was speculation all summer long that a Robinho move was in the works and it was only a matter of time before ‘Binho found himself off of Real.

Finally, we should look at Man City’s outlook for this season.  To be quite honest, the powers of the Premiership will be in front, Man U, Arsenal, and Liverpool, but look for Man City to make a run at a higher place than last season.  They also have a good future ahead of them in a new striker, Robinho and summer acquiree Gio Dos Santos.

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