Life After Ronaldinho: A New Barcelona

By Jason | July 23, 2008 7:57 am |
Categories:
La Liga, Soccer Central


On 19 July 2003, Barcelona acquired Ronaldinho from Paris Saint German beating out Manchester United. An interesting fact to note is that Barca had their sights set on David Beckham who signed with rivals, Real Madrid. After that he began an amazing career with many ups as well as downs. In 145 games/ appearances he amassed 70 goals. The gifted play maker elevated the game of Barca as well as his own. Among his many other awards, he has been named the FIFA Player of the Year, twice in 2004 and 2005.

When a person thought about Barcelona, Ronaldinho was the first player that came to mind. Maybe captain, Carlos Puyol, entered some people’s minds however the fantastic play maker is hard to resist. When Barca started signing and selling players, Ronaldinho’s name was attached to almost all the rumors out there. Now that he is truly gone, a new Barcelona must find a replacement or change the way that they play. Barcelona has brought in many talented players that some could say are ‘dinho’s replacements. However, are these players future World Players of the Year? I think these players have some big shoes to fill. Here are the possible replacements:

  • Xavi
  • Iniesta
  • Yaya Toure
  • Martin Caceres
  • Marc Crosas
  • Aliksandr Hleb
  • Seydou Keita

Out of the list above, 3 players are incumbents and 4 are new comers. The list is a very solid one and any manager would love to fill an attacking midfield position with one of them.

In the end, I question a lot of the decisions made this season. The biggest decision I would have to criticize is Gio Dos Santos‘ departure. By selling him, Barca sold off a potential replacement for ‘dinho. I thought at such a young age, Gio has shown immense talent and has truly proved himself on the field. Another decisions that is arguable, is letting Deco walk. While his sights were set on a return with Chelsea coach Felipe Scolari, he has played with Barca for four years, so he surely does have something in him for the Catalan side. Alas, that obviously did not change his decision. So Now that the Ronaldinho era for Barca has ended, we shall see a new, revamped side. One that does not need a single play-maker but relies on many different play-makers. I am very hopeful for both parties and wish the very best for my two favorites in Europe, Barcelona and AC Milan. Farwell ‘dinho and thanks for the memories.

Ronaldinho To AC!

By Jason | July 16, 2008 4:53 am |
Categories:
Serie A, Soccer Central

The Ronaldinho era in the Camp Nou has come to an end. Barca’s play-maker will now be playing at the San Siro. This is a very happy moment for me and for all fans of AC!

The Low-Down:

  • Ronaldinho and Barca agree to send him to AC just a day after announcing that some form of an arrangement would occur 72 hours from then.
  • Ronaldinho agrees to a 3 year contract that will end on 30 June 2011. He will be 31 when the current contract ends.
  • AC Milan agree to pay 20 million Euro in exchange for ‘dinho and his services.

Analysis:

Ronaldinho is now the eighth new comer to join Milan. They have been really busy and they should be. While they are one of the top teams of the Serie A, they finished in 5th place. That means that they will not be playing in the Champion’s League this year, instead they will compete for the UEFA Cup. All in all, not bad, but for a premier club like this, the best is expected of them.

‘dinho should fit in nicely with a team that already has quite a few Brazilians. Digao, Kaka, Dida, Emerson, and the young Alexandre Pato will now be his teammates, so adjusting will not be that hard. Also, Gianluca Zambrotta came over on a free transfer. He has played in the spotlight of the Camp Nou and being at the top of La Liga, so the San Siro should not be any different. I think he will do very well here.

AC Milan’s Other Additions:

  • Matheu Flamini
  • Gianluca Zambrotta
  • Luca Antonini
  • Christian Abbiati
  • Marco Borriello
  • Ignazio Abate
  • Marco Storari

A fine pick up for the Rossoneri and something that I will really look forward to.

Ronaldinho Update

By Jason | July 15, 2008 9:02 am |
Categories:
Uncategorized

So it seems that Ronaldinho and Barca have come to an intersection about him staying or leaving. They both have 72 hours to decide what to do. If no agreement is reached, then ‘dinho will begin training with the team. I personally like Ronaldinho, as he is a valuable asset to any team. The good thing with the Barca situation is that there is a new coach and they have brought in a lot of new faces. Already last year’s side has been shaken up with additions and subtractions.

Plus(4):

  • Seydou Keita
  • Gerard Pique
  • Martin Caceres
  • Dani Alves

Minus(7):

  • Edmilson
  • Zambrotta
  • Gio Dos Santos
  • Thuram
  • Ezquerro
  • Deco
  • Eto’o

A possible reason for a ‘dinho departure could be team chemistry. Since Ronaldinho has caused so much media commotion and so on and so forth. One might say that the team chemistry might decrease however, since so many have left and been replaced, this probably won’t be an issue caused by ‘dinho. Also, with the departure of Gio Dos Santos, who would be ‘dinho’s replacement? I can not say what Pep Guardiola and company will do with Ronaldinho. But I can speculate on their decision come 72 hours from the start of the deadline.

Updates and Quick Hits

By Jason | July 8, 2008 7:30 am |
Categories:
Rumors, Soccer Central
  • A source from inside the AC Milan front office has stated that Milan has a 90% chance of acquiring Ronaldinho.  This is a huge update and we will see how this occurs.  You can only imagine a team that already has Kaka, Pirlo, Pato, Maldini, and now ‘dinho.
  • Barca’s 15 million euro bid for the services of Andrei Arshavin have been denied.  Zenit St. Petersburg may see keeping him as a better choice than taking the 15 million euro or 11.91 million pounds.  One possible reason for keeping the very talented play-maker is Russia’s popularity may raise.  Since going as far as the semis in the Euro 2008, something that no one expected, more people may flock to Russia’s professional ranks.  We shall see how this one plays out.
  • Liverpool has just sold English striker Peter Crouch to Portsmouth.  He will surely see more playing time without the likes of Fernando Torres and Kuyt on the same team.  However, there is one even that will unfortunately not occur next season for Crouch and that is the UEFA Champion’s League.  He will be playing for the Cup instead.
  • Brazil’s  Olympic National Team has two new additions, Ronaldinho and Robinho have been selected to represent their country.  As I have stated before, there can be two “over-age” players on the Olympic team roster.

Robinho Situation

By Jason | April 23, 2008 7:55 am |
Categories:
Site News, Soccer Central, Soccer Tips, Transfer Central

Recently I was combing through my email when Soccer America, put out an article concerning Brazilian striker, Robinho.

As some of you may know, I put out an article myself about one of his National Team Teammates, Ronaldinho. It seems both ‘Inhos, have fallen out of favor with their respective clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid-how ironic. Both rivals, are sure to be losing key players if they so choose to let go both guys.

Furthermore, the Robinho situation is quite interesting. He has been benched by Bernd Schuster, the Madrid boss. Supposedly Robinho has ditched training sessions rather sneakingly which has not impressed his coach either. He has taken a rather nice liking to jumping out of a dressing room window during training sessions while avoiding the team, the press, and of course Schuster himself.

The general consensus is that Manchester City, who has been in the market for sometime for a big name, is interested. Also, Manchester City has been included in the discussion for Ronaldinho’s services if they become available.

We shall watch these situations very closely to see what ends up happening. By the way, Robinho was the proposed front-runner for the FIFA World Player of the Year award but has fallen out of this race due to these occurrences.

Drogba’s Dream

By Jason | February 14, 2008 2:15 am |
Categories:
Soccer Central, Transfer Central

As of recently Didier Drogba of the Premiership’s Chelsea has been asking for a transfer to Barcelona. He has even gone as far as telling his Ivory Coast National teammate Yaya Toure of his hopes and intentions.

The real question to ask is: Does the Camp Nou have any room for another striker?

With seasoned players with as much experience and talent as Drogba himself, who does he remove from the lineup as even a possible substitute? Barca already has the likes of Henry and Eto’o not to mention Lionel Messi in this role as well.

Also, the youth forwards in the Barca system should also have plenty to object about as well as another will only take away time from their development. Victor Vazquez, Bojan, and young Mexican future star Giovanni Dos Santos will surely wonder how much playing time they will all get with the addition of Drogba plus themselves.

However a counter argument to summarize and finalize this argument should be considered: If in-fact Ronaldinho is transferred away from The Nou, and even Eto’o. Then we probably will see a Drogba addition to the Barca side. Time will only tell.

The Ronaldinho Question

By Jason | January 30, 2008 8:08 am |
Categories:
Site News, Soccer Central

The Big question is: How much longer will Ronaldinho be with Barcelona. I have much respect for ‘Dinho, but he lately does not show true class and ‘Soccer love and devotion’. He has been out late at night clubs and his late showings at Camp Nou and this current season have been very bad.

There are however possible reasons for this kind of behavior as can be seen with certain superstars that “could have been” or “were thought of have been”.

  • Some players come from poverty
  • Fame gets to their head
  • The team stops putting normal pressure on them

Analysis: Due to some players coming from literal poverty, the sudden fame and money that is at their hands goes to their head. Since they get this way, sometimes their level of play declines(sometime A LOT). Often these players will flaunt their wealth, not that this is a bad thing, but sometimes it is unnecessary. Sometimes their careers or expectations go down the tube…literally.

Anyhow: What will happen to Ronaldinho, will Barca keep him and next season he will be back and re-focused? Or will he get better in mid-season? Or will he continue these ways and end up on the transfer block?


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