Monday, July 4, 2011

Transfer saga

Lonrach seemed to need the run after being one-paced to finish a disappointing fifth. I expect improvement from her in her next race and would not discount her despite this poor run.

The Summer football transfers are gathering pace and so far Man Utd have shown the greatest activity with the comings of Phil Jones, Ashley Young and goalkeeper de Gea. Ashley Young is a winger that I like a lot and I think the Red Devils have done a great piece of business acquiring him. Being the most active does not always transcend into immediate success however. Chelsea is embarking on a major managerial revolution with the coming of Villas-Boa. He seems polished and keen to stay away from mind games and confrontation with other peers. A Mourinho without the bad bits, a gentleman. I respect that a lot. I always thought Guus Hiddink was the front-runner for the job, but the upcoming Portuguese coach certainly seems to have a longer-term appeal. It will be interesting to see how quickly success will come for him, given an aging Chelsea squad that needs serious overhaul.

One transfer I do not quite understand is Man City's acquisition of Gael Clichy today. When I first saw him during his first season at Arsenal about 5 years ago, I was impressed by his athleticism. However, his development at left-back has been somewhat lackluster and he hasn't made the breakthrough that was expected of him. In fact, he's been making high-profile mistakes that haven't added to his stock. His problem seems to be maintaining focus during the entire game. City have been making the habit of acquiring world-class players lately, and the Frenchman is certainly not one of them. It's very likely Arsene Wenger is more relieved of having an extra left spot to fill than losing his first-team left back. Bad piece of business for the Citizens in my opinion.

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