Ronaldinho, The Great

Picture by - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Darz_Mol

It has been revealed recently that Ronaldinho has agreed terms with boyhood club Gremio and will be saying goodbye to europe.

Anyone can easily talk about the good, bad and the ugly sides of Ronaldinho's career, but I'm going to remind myself and everyone about the good... the great.

Not much of a mainstream name whilst he was at Paris St Germain, his first European club, but he exploded onto the world stage in 2002 helping his country win the World Cup in Korea/Japan.

Of course I will always remember his goal vs England in the Quarter-Final (which was an accident!) which left me a stunned 10 year old boy. Even though I was young I could still see the talent that we would later see a lot more of.

After his impressive World Cup eyes turned and the bigger clubs in Europe started their bidding war. He was close to a move to Manchester United if you believe reports, but his destination was to be Spain and a great shame that the Premier League missed out.

Like most Brazilians you could see how much he enjoyed his football, the smiling assassin just never stopped smiling. He played samba football at it's brilliant best, a truly remarkable player who did so much in his 5 years with the Catalunya giants.

Two La Liga titles, two Spanish Super cups, a Uefa Champions League and lets not forget all those individual awards including FIFA World best player two years running in 2004 and 2005. He couldn't be touched by any player in those two years, the undisputed best player in the World.

He now says goodbye to Europe as a fading talent, in a similar fashion as most Brazilians before him. He is one of my personal favourite players and I don't think I am the only one.

I don't think we can forget the passion he had for the game, his celebrations alone show his enjoyment and also the passion he has whilst playing football and he was a better player for it. We shouldn't forget how great he was. I certainly won't.

Make sure you watch the video below!

How important is the FIFA World Club Championship?

Picture by-Tales.ebner

On Saturday Internationale Milan won the FIFA World Club Championship. This completed a great year for Inter, but how important is this title?

On their website they display the title of world champions and rightly so as this short tournament declares the world champions, but there are those who are basically not bothered.

Is it just for the simple confirmation of the title that teams take it seriously or is it becoming the most important title. Is it more important than winning the Champions league?

There has been the Intercontinental championship in the past, but it was never considered seriously as a major trophy. Scenes for each winner of the new trophy shows the importance to teams.

Tears and celebrations that only suggest that this is a prestigious prize and the top of club football. I personally remember Pepe Guardiola's tears of joy as Barcelona completed their perfect season and year.

It maybe attitudes of different countries, particulary England where it seems its not catching on. Well for fans besides Manchester United when they won the trophy in 2008. In my opinion it is becoming a bigger deal, and the more the competition is around the more important it will become.

Teams that win it will in the future be able to look back at winning the FIFA World Club Championship as big as an achievement in Europe as winning the UEFA Champions League.

the best league in the world?...

The debate continues over which league is the best league in the world. However not everyone can agree to what factors matter when deciding.

It maybe the quality of football, how entertaining it is, or which league contains the best players and all these link to value for money. What I notice is that there isn't a league in the world that can claim their best for each category. Lets break it down.

1. Entertainment- Now this leads to the question what makes a league more entertaining? I think pace, how competitive each match is and also the quality of football being played.

I don't think there is any doubt that when it comes to entertainment the Bundesliga is right up there. Quick paced like the Premier League but a better quality of football with more technical ability on display. This ticks almost all the boxes for entertainment.

No doubt that La liga has some fantastic football throughout the league rivaled by no other league and for the majority the games are competitive. Besides the top 2 the league is quite competitive aswell. It is also relatively quick paced.

The Premier League is a very fast paced league and the games are almost always competitive even when it comes to the top teams. The quality of football is up for debate, personally I don't think it is up there with the best. If you compare the recent Man United vs Arsenal tie with El clasico, it just doesn't come close. However it was a lot more competitive.

2. Talent on display- Is the best league in the world simply the one which attracts the best players? Or is this just a small factor in a bigger picture?

La Liga in the last couple of years has surpassed the Premier League when it comes to attracting the best players. More and more are preferring life in sunny Spain than England. The 3 finalists for this year's Ballon D'or are from La Liga, then you have the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema (who both chose Real Madrid over staying or moving to Man United), Villa, Kaka... the list just goes on.

Italy used to be a popular destination for star players, but although there are still some like Ibrahimovic and Sneijder it has fallen behind in the past decade. As for the Bundesliga they have their own to shout about, but like Serie A it falls short in comparison to the Premier League and La Liga.

3. Value for Money- An important factor which is fed by the talent on display and the entertainment.

The Premier League is often criticised for its prices and probably rightly so. You watch matches from leagues like La Liga, Bundesliga and sometimes even the lower leagues in England you wonder why the prices are so high.

Borussia Dortmund are currently top in Germany yet a ticket in the Yellow Wall, the biggest stand in the world, costs on average only £13.This kind of pricing leads to the highest average attendance for a football league and the 3rd highest of all sports at 41,904.

So I don't think there is any doubt here that Bundesliga is the best value for money.

4.Best Teams- Who has the consistently best teams up and down the league? the quality of the teams must be a factor.

La Liga's top 2 are undoubtedly better than any top 2 in  Europe. The standard of the Premier League is in decline, so the top teams just don't seem as threatening. As for the Bundesliga that has been turned on its head this season, and its not the only league.

However if you look up the down the leagues in each it becomes complicated. Is the Europa League an indication of who has the best teams just below the top 3 or 4? I think so and for that reason in my opinion Spain and Germany beat England.

But possibly the mid-table teams are better, or they seem it because they give a good go at the top teams, however that could be another indication on top teams becoming less difficult to beat. Tough one to answer but I think overall Spain wins in the quality of teams catergory.

So to conclude I think it is down to opinion. Is it entertainment? then what entertains you. For me if you're going for entertainment then the Bundesliga is the best, fast pace and good quality football whats not to like. Bundesliga is the best value for money aswell.... and best run.

Best quality in football, players and teams then its La Liga. Watch a Barcelona game and you won't want to go back to the Premier League, saying that watch a Bundesliga game it will be difficult to go back. Think what      I can confirm is that in my opinion the Premier League is NOT the best league in the world.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/11/bundesliga-premier-league - Bundesliga vs Premier League.

Victory from co-operation...

Frederick Manligas Nacino (Opusdeiphotography)

UFC 124 saw George St Pierre face-off against Josh Koscheck with GSP's Welterweight title on the line in Montreal. It turned out to be an MMA fight like no other.

The video above tells the whole story of the fight, a dominant striking performance from probably the P4P best fighter in the world, GSP. What is different about this fight is how controlled it was by the jab of the champion. Something never seen as much as this in MMA.

What made GSP's jab so good? some might say like a boxer. Pierre has always been seen as one of the great  strikers in the UFC so surely he didn't need much          work. Only a boxing mind such as the great Freddie Roach could see shortfalls in George's stand up.

Too stiff and square to be a totally effective stand up so GSP worked with Roach and the results are there to see. This shows that boxing and MMA do not have to compete, they can work together because the results can be great.

As for GSP himself, it shows he is still growing as a fighter which for the rest of the MMA world is a frightening prospect. Who can challenge GSP now? This also shows that MMA is still growing as a sport and is a sign of things to come. You can expect the jab to crop up more frequently from now on.

Déjà vu - further proof of owners causing the problems

Picture by - John Dobson











Chelsea have been here before with Roman Abramovich, undermining the manager leading to an implosion at chelsea. The question is why didn't he learn from the mistake the first time?

In 2006/2007 season Manchester United win the title from Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, the start of the season after showed a poor start for the blues. There were rumours of unrest behind the scenes after Abramovic allegedly bought players Mourinho didn't want, including Shevchenko. Sure enough Mourinho left shortly after the rumours started and in came Avram Grant.

2010/2011 season now and we're seeing it again, Ray Wilkins was sacked by Roman, and Anchelotti has been given an assistant hes only just met for the first time. Since Wilkins' dismissal it has gone all wrong for Chelsea's season after starting so well. You may say it is down to injuries but even without Lampard and Essien in the past it has never been this bad.

The strikers get the chances and don't put them away like against Birmingham, If you score one goals against them it is more than likely you won't lose. Not the Chelsea we've been used to since their first title winning season.

Anchelotti's job doesn't look safe and it is down to the owner undermining the manager. It shouldn't happen, manager should have control over their staff and the team. If the owner goes over the manager's head there is only one way it is going to go and thats down the pan. The fact Abramovich has done it for a second time and hasn't learnt his lesson shows he is not really football wise, and probably not the best owner for Chelsea anymore.

This is however just one example of ownership ruining clubs. You just have to look north to see the problems Liverpool and Manchester United have had. Football is a business now, and it is ruining the sport.