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

Is the Premier League still the best in the world?

We've just seen two breath-taking Champions League semi-finals in which two Bundesliga teams in Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich destroyed Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Spanish giants. The question now is, what is the best league in the world?

Since the formation of the English Premiership in 1992 and BSkyB pumping so much money into the league through TV rights, the English League has always been seen as the place to play. However, with the English teams struggling in Europe's top competition this year is there now a good reason to question which country has the superior footballing league?

For entertainment value, I don't think you can look past the Premiership in recent years. Sergio Aguero sealing the championship with the last kick of the game in 2012. Tevez keeping West Ham from relegation on the final day in 2007. Philippe Albert scoring "the chip" in Newcastle's 5-0 demolition of Manchester United. The Liverpool-Newcastle with the epic 4-3 thriller in 1996. These are just some of the reasons why the Premiership tops any other league for entertainment values.

For footballing talent however, that is a different matter.

The Premiership for so long has been a "Top 4" league. Yes, the demise of Liverpool and Tottenham and Everton's recent improvement, along with the huge money of Manchester City have seen the league become a bit more open. But besides that, the Premiership is simply becoming a business league. Sheiks and wealthy businessmen are only interested in the Premiership to turn over a profit. This is being reflected on the International stage.

Spain and Germany's football in the International tournaments is second to none. Spain's dominance at international level is beyond repute and with Germany's young team up on the rise and putting in some impressive performances in the big tournaments, it doesn't really surprise me that the four teams in the semi-finals are from these two countries.

Spain and Germany promote players from within their youth academies. If you look at the four Champions League Semi-finalists you will see that the majority of the players in their team have played for the club at youth level. Madrid may be a bit of an exception in terms of buying more players, but they aren't buying foreign talent. Mostly Spanish players play in Spain and German players are playing in Germany. This culture of trusting in youth products is, in my eyes, making the Bundesliga and La Liga start to pull away from the Premiership.

When was the last time England produced multiple world-class talents? Rooney? Wilshere? Besides that, there isn't really anyone else you could name, who is at the top level and still so young. Dortmund have; Reus, Götze, Hummels and Sven Bender. Bayern have; Müller, Lahm and Schweinsteiger. Barcelona have Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. 

                                                                          Mario Götze and Marco Reus

Out of that list, Dortmund have invested heavily in their youth and it has been proven this year. Three times they turned over Madrid in the Champions League. Was it worth it? Of course, the performances by the young German team, not just in the Champions League but in the Bundesliga in recent years, have shown that the Premiership may be more watchable, but for pure talent the Bundesliga is number one.

Some may argue that Serie A is just as good as the Spanish or German Leagues, but the days of the Italian powerhouses have gone. In the mid-90's British television use to show "Gazzetta Football Italia" when the Italian League was at it's height. Those would be the days when Italian teams would poach the best players from across the world. The Zidane's, Henry's and Viera's have all played in Serie A. Now though, it seems like Italy is more of a backwater for footballing talent and the national side is not what it once was.

There is no doubt in my mind that the days of the Premiership being the best league in the world have long gone. Germany and Spain are the new leaders. For entertainment, I don't think anything can compare to the English League, but for pure footballing talent you have to look at the Leagues on the continent.

You're Just A One-Man Team

The days of playing two strikers who complimented each other have well and truly died out. You no longer hear of classic center forward partnerships such as Shearer and Ferdinand, Bergkamp and Henry or Yorke and Cole.

Teams in the Premiership and across Europe have changed formation from 4-4-2 to make 4-5-1/4-3-3 the norm. The lack of a striking partnership and the need for goals from the midfield has left the question to be asked, how many clubs are a one-man team?

Gareth Bale has single handedly kept Tottenham’s aspiration for automatic Champions League football alive this season. Breath taking performances from the Welsh international has seen him mention in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi. I think it is harsh to call Spurs a one-man club, but without Bale I believe they would be a mid-table club rather than challenging in the top four.

Liverpool for a period of time solely relied on Steven Gerrard. The red’s captain has two finals named after him, Champions League Final in 2005 and the F.A cup final in 2006. Gerrard carried Liverpool for a number of games when he had to produce a bit of magic to get the red side of Merseyside 3 points.

This has now changed with the arrival of Suarez and co. coming to help support Gerrard. Suarez at times took over the label of one-man team when Gerrard was out through injury. But it is fair to say that Liverpool as a one-man team have started to be removed.

When Robin Van Persie was at Arsenal it certainly was a case of one-man Van. The loss of Fabregas and Nasri hurt the Gunners, and Arsene Wenger’s reluctantly to spend big in the transfer market saw the red side of London rely on the big Dutch striker more than any other team has in the past.

One of Van Persie’s reasons for leaving was because he wanted to win trophies. Something one player cannot do in Europe’s top footballing league. Depth in squad is key to winning a title.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, prolific goal-scroing partnership

It’s not just at the top where one-man teams prevail. If we look at West Ham in 2007 the only player people will remember from that squad is Carlos Tevez. The Argentinean striker scored seven goals in the Hammer’s last 10 games, including the winner at Old Trafford to keep West Ham in the premiership.

At the end of the day it is a matter of opinion and the fans who start the “one-man team” chants. But how many teams can say they would not one than one player who cannot light up a game for them. Are Fulham happy that they don’t have one player who is above the rest? Can Aston Villa shout of the rooftops because they do not have one player who can score 29 goals a season?

It’s a question that can have many answers. My personal opinion is that if one player is firing in all the goals and leading your club to glory, then what is the problem.

Does Politics Belong in Football?

With Sunderland hiring Paolo Di Canio as manager this week, his political affiliation has come into question. Di Canio, a perceived fascist has caused a lot of controversy at the historic Teesside club. Left wing politician and foreign secretary David Miliband stepped down from Sunderland’s board of directors this week because of Di Canio’s hiring.

The question then is raised does politics belong in the beautiful game?

Politics and football is not something that is new to the sport. Over the last 100 years there have been many counts of politics entering the game. Whether that be right wing fascist salutes in Russia and Greece, or politicians in Italy having control of some of the top flight clubs.

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death… I assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

When Bill Shankly made this memorable quote he may not have had politics in his mind but he certainly proves that you cannot underestimate the world of football.

In 1934 a time of heightening tension throughout Europe, saw Italy take on Austria. It is perceived that Mussolini, the Italian Dictator handpicked the referee’s for the World cup semi-final game. Italy won the game 1-0 and went on to beat Czechoslovakia in the final. But the game itself was one that the expression 12 men could truly be used, “The referee even played for them," said Austrian striker Josef Bican. "When I passed for the ball out to the right wing, one of our players, Cicek, ran for it and the referee headed it back to the Italians. It was unbelievable." Is winning really that important in a political sense?

Another example of politics in football was in 1958. Algeria was in a war of independence at the same time the World cup was taking place. France opted to give some of the Algerian players in France the opportunity of fame and glory by playing for their national team. However when the tournament rolled around the Algerian players fled the French National team, gathered at the headquarters of the Front Liberation National in Tunisia and launched an "illegal" national team, risking arrest for desertion in the process.

National Identity is something that many people feel very strongly about, whether that is political beliefs or just the pride of being affiliated with a nation of great history.

Was Di Canio’s Fascist salute towards the Lazio fans in 2005 then overstepping the mark? He has gone on record as saying “I’m a fascist, not a racist” but does that still justify him to use a salute that is infamously associated with so much evil. In his autobiography Di Canio talks of admiration for the Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini, saying that Mussolini was simply “misunderstood”.

                                                           Paolo Di Canio's Fascist Salute playing for Lazio in 2005

The Greek National team recently banned Giorgos Katidis from playing international matches for life, due to his Nazi salute in a goal celebration. This is the first stance we have seen from a football governing body in relation to political views. In a sport where racism, homophobia and sexism are not treated with enough respect, is fascism going to be added to the list of concerns not tackled in the game?

Maybe football is more than a matter of life and death, maybe it is a sport that is simply bigger than everything else. 

Snow Days

Shoveling snow of football pitches is a scene you may think of when playing against a Russian team in the height of one of their winters. Or something you would associate with apprentices and ground staff for some of the lower league teams in England.

America is seen as the leader in economy around the world and their sporting facilities are something to be rivaled. Most athletes growing up want to play at the highest level they can. In terms of playing during college there is nothing that beats an NCAA Division 1 program, the level of play, the athletic budget and the facilities.

On March 7^th there was a sight taking place at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee that you wouldn’t think of seeing when talking about the university’s soccer program. Players from both the men and women’s teams where out on the pitch shoveling 8 inches of snow in an attempt to get the men’s game under way that was scheduled for March 9^th against DePaul University. With all the money in the sport and a University at the high standards of Milwaukee, you would think that there would be a specialist snow team or student workers designated to clearing off the snow. Not in this case

After two months of training indoors in a dull and dreary gym the players could only take so much. The shovels came out with the odd snowplow and whatever else could be used to remove the snow from the pitch. The scene took me back to my days as a youth apprentice at Tranmere Rovers, when we would have to clear snow off of the training pitches for the first team. To me there is something nostalgic about seeing people shovel snow off of a football pitch. The dedication and love of the sport, just to get the game on. You see images in books and review shows on the television of people from the 70's and 80's up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday trying to get the snow off the pitch so they can see their team play. It is certainly a sight for the purist.

Three hours of shoveling was certainly a valiant effort by both sets of players, but with the weather and temperature as unpredictable as they are in Wisconsin and eight inches of snow lying on the pitch, the soccer players may have bitten off more than they can chew. In a day and age when athletes are considered spoilt rotten or only do things for money; it was good to see those pre-conceived conceptions of prima donnas blown out of the water.

Athletes at times get a bad reputation for being greedy or selfish and it seems like all the unselfish work goes unnoticed. This act by the men and women’s soccer team was good to see that athletes do care. Just this week it was made public knowledge that Bury Football Club’s players when on less than minimum wage, this all as an attempt to stop the club from going into administration. We need more and more examples of this unselfish kind act from athletes around the world. My thoughts on money in sports are that it is ruining the game. But with acts like this then there may just be a chance that not everyone is entirely corrupted. 

Photo courtesy of Swindon Town F.C