How Much Is Any Player Worth?

It’s that time of year again… the summer transfer market. Fans wait anxiously to see which star-studded name their manager will sign for a record transfer fee, or who will be the bargain of the season. No matter who comes through the door, there will always be the question from the fans: is he really worth that much money?

Just recently I have started reading Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. This book is the football equivalent of baseball’s 'Moneyball'. It looks at how much money teams spend and if they're getting good value.

With the FIFA Confederations Cup and European Under 21 Championships taking place, I can guarantee that managers from the top divisions across Europe and around the world will have their eye on the fixtures, to see who could be a welcome addition to their squad.

If any player has an above average tournament, you’ll be sure to see the value for his services rise. Isco for example has had a standout season for Malaga and as a result, Real Madrid have snapped him up.

Kuper and Szymanski look at how clubs are going often overpay for a player in these circumstances. Yes, the youngster has had a good season in La Liga, but should Malaga be able to cash in on an extra 10 million Euros just because he plays well in a handful of Cup games?

Arsene Wegner has come under a lot of criticism for his transfer policy at Arsenal. He has seen the likes of Robin Van Persie, Patrick Viera, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Marc Overmars all leave the Gunners and failed to really bring in players that demand a high-price tag that can improve the squad.

Kuper and Szymanksi’s take on the transfer market, is one that many people haven’t thought about before. Instead of selling players for high prices and then going out to a different club and trying to buy someone of the same caliber for just as much, if not more, why not pay your current crop of players more money?

Kuper and Symanksi’s statistics show that teams that pay higher-wages achieve higher league finishes. Just imagine how well Arsenal could have done the last 8 years, if they had offered their top players more money to stay at the club, instead of selling them and trying to buy a high-class player.

Players say they want to win trophies and that’s why they want to leave to go to a different club. But if you are getting paid more money, then it seems the trophies will follow.

Kevin Phillips right now, is in talks with Crystal Palace, saying they must meet his wage demands or he will leave the club. Nearly every team in the Championship is dying to have a proven striker like him at their club.

It may not be the most glamorous technique, but think of all the players you could still have if you just paid a bit more on wages. Of course, every player has their value, but giving players top wages and producing home grown talent is known to bring success.

So why aren't more clubs doing it?

Are Manchester City right to invest in America?

Many see Manchester City’s joint venture with the New York Yankees in creating the New York City Football Club as an excellent idea. In financial terms too, I believe that the idea of opening up football to the American audience will certainly help the City’s stature grow overseas.

But Manchester City are not only hoping to gain a bit of extra income by this business venture. They are also hoping to be able to have the first dip into the pool of young talent that is being produced in America.

But this raises the question: is investing in American football a good idea?

The United States is one of the leading countries when it comes to financially investing in youth sports. The amount of money that is pumped into sports in America in terms of coaching and facilities can’t be rivaled. Many British football teams in League 2 or League 1 would do anything to be able to have the facilities that are made available to players playing at University.

But we must take into consideration the way in which American football is set up. In England and many other countries across the world, players at the age of 16, if they are good enough, get signed to play for a club’s youth team for two or three years. In America, however, this is not necessarily the case.

Yes, Major League Soccer teams give contracts out to players at the age of 16, but many parents would rather see their child stay in school until they are 18 (the graduation age in America) and then go on to University (where they can play at the sport for another four years, while getting an education alongside playing).

The problem with this system, is the way in which the NCAA, (National Collegiate Athletic Association) the governing body of University sports, oversees football. In America, football is seen as an autumn sport, in which players playing for University teams can only play competitive matches during the months of August to December.

What player is ever going to develop if they are only playing five months of competitive football? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale would not be the players they are if they were limited to an allotted amount of competitive play.

Even after Christmas, the NCAA put a limited amount of hours on a player being able to touch the ball. Eight hours a week and no more is the time in which players are allowed to practice, with only a handful of competitive games being allowed. There are even restrictions on how long the coaches can spend with the players. This too is carried on through the summer. Coaches are not allowed to contact University players before they start their pre-season camps.

How is limiting the amount of time someone can play a sport ever going to make American players get better?

It isn’t just the Universities that are the problem though. The system in which America tries producing their young talent clearly isn’t working. When you consider the size and population of the country, you would think there has to be at least one person who can come close to the standards of the world’s best players.

The population size could actually play a hindrance though, when the pool to choose from is simply that big there are bound to be players that will fall through the net. With the MLS being the only professional division in America, it is also very unlikely that someone like the Chicago Fire or Seattle Sounders is going to see a late bloomer in the game playing at a small club. Yet, this is the way in which Arsenal found Ian Wright.

The wide variety of sporting options that football is competing with (such as American Football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey), as well as the American culture in accepting football don’t help. But, you would think that over the last twenty years they would have been able to produce more players of a higher quality than Tim Howard, Claudio Reyna and Clint Dempsey.

With all due respect, the three players mentioned are good players, but they are not ones that you would ever jump at the chance of having in your starting eleven in a top European league.

That brings me back to the point of my article: Manchester City’s business venture. Is creating a new team going to help promote football in America and maybe produce a star that will capture the imagination of many? Or is it simply designed to help sell a few more tops in a country that thinks of football as something you throw and catch?

My personal belief is that unless there are drastic changes to the game in America, the sport will never flourish and we will not see a star come from across the pond anytime soon. Sorry City fans!

Rafael Benitez... Manager of the Year

A third place finish and a Europa League final, in which they won, may not seem like much for a manager of the year contender. But what Rafael Benitez has done at Chelsea is nothing short of a miracle.

When Benitez came to Chelsea it was under a chorus of boo’s and hatred from the Chelsea fans due to Roman Abramovich’s unfair dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo and the his previous ties to Liverpool. Game after game there would be chants of Benitez out, when he was hired by the directors to do nothing other than be an interim manager and see Chelsea through to the end of the season.

That being said, his decisions to not start captain John Terry and senior midfielder Frank Lampard as much as the Stamford Bridge faithful would have liked also added to the hatred of him by the Chelsea fans.

A Champions League 6-1 win over FC Nordsjælland in his first game in charge wasn’t enough for the Blue’s to qualify for the knockout stages of Europe’s top competition, and saw them enter into the Europa League. A competition that seems to have lost a lot of “sex appeal” over the years.

Chelsea’s league status wasn’t the best either as Di Matteo had an average start to the season. Third place was a minimum requirement for the billionaire Russian owner, and one in which Benitez delivered on. His acquirement of Demba Ba in the January transfer window and glimpses of getting  back to his best slowly start to see the Chelsea fans lose that hatred for him. Fernando Torres

After his first win in the Premiership against Sunderland Benitez, questioned why the fans hate him. As he stated he was hired to do a job and that is what he will do, knowing that he would be leaving at the end of the season.

A disappointing final lost in the FIFA Club World Cup may have been a dampener on his managerial performances, along with home defeats to Swansea City and Queens Park Rangers. But making it to the semi-final of the F.A. Cup and League cup, as well as recording a club record victory of 8-0 over Aston Villa is a credit to Benitez’s managerial expertise.

A man who was subject too many chants of “out” by the fans and rifts with senior players could have easily thrown in the towel. Benitez is not that type of manager though. His tactics for the game and pursuit of perfection while still being very stern and hard to please is what makes him my manager of the season.

A man who put everything that was thrown at him to one side and went about doing a professional job at a club which he seemed distend to fail at since he first walked through the door.

The only team in the history of Europe to be both Champions League Winners and Europa League winners at the same time, as well as guaranteed Champions League football next season will all look very impressive on the Spaniard’s c.v.

Whether you agree with me or not, Benitez should be manager of the year simply for achieving the impossible, and that is winning over the Chelsea fans. It may not have been Chelsea’s best ever season, but under the circumstances he had to work through, for me Benitez deserves the award. I’m sure Arsenal; Tottenham and Liverpool fans would have taken a European trophy and automatic qualification to the Champions League if you had offered it to them at the start of the season