My Team of the Decade

Now since goal.com released their team of the decade today,I think it's an opportune moment to have my say on that, and what better way to have a say than to declare my own team of the decade,and just to make it a bit more original i would also list the substitutes (seven to be precise).
Now goal.com guys faced a nagging situation,they had to be politically correct (read: spot on in footballing terms),because they entertain a much larger audience as against me who's just concerned with being "whimsically correct"(whatever that means).
There is a good chance you wouldn't agree completely with my team but still give it a shot( as in read it) and you can always post your comments,you can tell me which other player you'd rather have on a certain player than the player i'm playing on that position in my team.But please understand it's almost impossible to include all the star players of the last decade in a team that has only 11 onfield players along with the 7 substitutes making it a task of selecting a total of 18 players out of a galaxy of superstars from the last decade,tough indeed.But it would be any manager's fantasy to have a team like the one i'm going to present,it's much like fantasy football that we can play on many websites or we can always try football manager(love that game!).

So without further delay here's the team.

I'd play a 4-1-3-2.

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon:- The undoubted best of this generation,except for Oliver Kahn and a certain Iker Casillas nobody even comes close to challenging him for this place.Even more so,edging out some body as revered and as respected as Oliver Kahn is no mean feat and that in itself speaks for the fact that the guy we're talking about here is the best goalkeeper of this decade.By the time Buffon retires, it's quite possible that he will be recognised as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game.Six times Serie A goalkeeper of the Year, three times UEFA best goalkeeper, and winner of the Silver Ball in 2006 says it all for this glovesman.

Right Back: Lilian Thuram:- A contender along with Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta for the world’s best defender of the past decade, as well as arguably the greatest French stopper of all time.An indomitable rock at the back, Thuram was fast, strong, unbeatable in the air, and superb tactically – he was the perfect defensive package.

Center back:Fabio Cannavaro:-The best defender in the world during his final season at Juve, as proved by his heroics at the 2006 World Cup for Juventus, which helped him win the Ballon d'Or and the nickname 'The Berlin Wall'.Despite his success, he was labelled a 'traitor' when he left Turin for Real Madrid, but he's now back in Serie A with the Bianconeri again.But that aside,he's a defender with immaculate skills with an excellent reading of the game.

Center back:Alessandro Nesta:-Probably the most cultured central defender of the century so far, Nesta has exuded an unflappable air of calm assurance ever since he joined the Rossoneri from Lazio in 2002.Nesta is an almost flawless defender, who's impeccable technique means he could have played anywhere on the pitch. But game after game, season after season, he remains forever disciplined, forever selfless, a master of the defensive arts and not someone who ever crosses the half-way line.

Left back:Paolo Maldini:- Well it would be hard to be impartial here after all he's my favourite player(keep waiting for a post on him some time soon),but i'll try.What is there left to say about the extraordinary career of the greatest left-back in the history of the game? Having spent his entire club career in the red and black number 3 shirt, Maldini spent a record-breaking 25 years in the first team. In that time, he won seven Serie A championships, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five UEFA Champions League's, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA World Club Cup.Milan may take a while to learn how to walk again without him around.

Midfielder:Xavi:-The diminutive midfield maestro is the closest to Zinedine Zidane La Liga, and in fact, the world has seen since the Frenchman’s retirement. Graceful, elegant, precise and intelligent, Xavi is neither the fastest nor the most flamboyant of playmakers. Instead, he uses his poise, his outstanding ball control and phenomenal passing range to overcome the most stubborn of defences.The player who made his Barca debut in 1998 can look back over more than a decade and be proud that he is now one of the team's most important stars.

Atacking midfielder:-Zinedine Zidane:-You don't expect him to be missing from any team of the decade no matter who's voicing his opinions,surely somebody must have been living in a cave cut off from all of the world if they didn't see or hear of the impact this guy had on the footballing world.Speaking of the myth himself, Zidane is widely accepted, without debate, as the best player of his generation and one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game.He was the undisputed creative genius of the team, with playmaking skills beyond those of Xavi and the shot from distance, though often a concealed weapon, as searing as that of Steven Gerrard and ball skills as majestic as Ronaldinho in his prime.

Winger:Luis Figo:-Mr. Galactico himself, Florentino's first signing, the mercurial, exceptionally skilled and highly controversial Portuguese winger. Figo was signed for a world record fee to be surpassed by Zidane a year later, and delivered in style for his five fantastic years in the Spanish capital.Former Barca or not, Figo took no time picking up his two Ligas, Champions League and various other trophies, playing a starring role in all, with exceptional play from either wing culminating in bags of goals and assists. In half a decade he accomplished what many never could in an entire one. Outshone by Zidane, perhaps, but it cannot be forgotten that Figo, recently retired after finishing his career with Inter, is one of the greatest wingers of all time.

Winger:Ryan Giggs:-He has played and scored in every season of the Premier League to date. Ryan Giggs is a living, breathing, running, shooting and scoring legend. He has been at the height of the game for so long that many might even argue he peaked, at least as a traditional winger, last decade. Yet he's still going.Sometimes the term ‘legend’ barely suffices to describe the contribution of a player. For Welsh wonder Ryan Giggs, the superlatives need to be piled on liberally before you would come anywhere near to a reflection of his achievements.

Striker:Ronaldo:-I bet you won't confuse him with cristiano ronaldo,but if you do let me tell you that he is the original ronaldo,the best the very best of this generation.Unmistakably one of the finest strikers and one of the best players to ever grace the game, he may not have razzle-dazzled as much at Madrid compared to his early days, but he had the most productive spell of his club career: 104 goals in 177 competitive games and four trophies in five years. If there’s one player you must have in your galactic Dream Team, it may as well be 'O Fenomeno'.Tragically, the greatest striker since Diego Maradona never even won the Champions League, with even his mid-season arrival at Milan cup-tying him in 2007 and ruling him out of playing a part in their triumph that season.

Striker:Ruud Van Nistelrooy:-The closest thing you can get to the great Gerd Muller,and that in itself does the talking.Van the Man’s’ ability to find the back of the net was unprecedented in the recent history.There has never been a more prolific striker in Premier League history than Van Nistelrooy, despite Alan Shearer being far and away in the lead on the goalscoring charts, but taking many more games to get there, and Fernando Torres having made a sensational start to his time in England, but likely to struggle to continue at the same rate as Ruud, who arrived after having been courted for several years by Sir Alex Ferguson, but only managed to make his dream move after a series of serious injuries.It was the goalscoring touch, though, that never escaped him. He wasn't able to do it in as much style as he perhaps would have liked, but in five seasons, he scored 150 goals in 219 appearances, winning each domestic honour on offer with the Red Devils.

Substitutes:

Oliver Kahn, Cafu, Roberto Carlos,Carles Puyol,Cristiano Ronaldo,Steven Gerrard,Thierry Henry.

Do post comments,and voice your opinions.

The Kaka Transfer Saga

I know it's a bit late to be commenting on Kaka's transfer , now that it's done and dusted, but one thing that perturbs me is the strange way in which it was done. Firstly we had a long drawn transfer saga which started as early as June 2008 (though it is debatable whether at that time it was a figment of some journalist's imagination or was it really on) ,with the three parties involved (namely Milan,Real Madrid and Kaka himself) coming up with strange reactions and comments some times we got to see the "Vehement denial" and on other occasions we got to hear the ever so common byline in this world of football (with ever changing club loyalties) and which was -"We'll see".
Now we all know that Kaka is (you can read "was" due to fitness issues that he has had over the past two years) among the creme de la creme of footballing superstars, is a gifted footballer who, even after a life threatening water toboggan accident, went on to live up to his "god given potential" , though the case in point is not this but something much more recent , and much more bizarre(Atleast on part of Milan).

Many of us would remember that Manchester City Were a whisker away from signing Kaka in the January transfer market of last season(2008-09), for a mammoth sum of something close to 100 million pounds.The build up and the subsequent falling through of this deal followed a script that was analogous to a Bollywood movie , what with Kaka being seen crying at the training at San Siro , emotionally hugging and bidding farewell to his team mates, Having press conferences
which featured both the pre-mentioned "vehement denial" And the "we'll see" byline.Then all of this was followed by the happy ending which featured Kaka staying at the San Siro for a further six months only to be transferred for half of the sum that City were paying, to Real Madrid.

I fail to see the reason behind Berlusconi stopping the Manchester City deal , and then subsequently settling for almost half of that sum and giving Kaka to their continental rivals.Not only does this increase the competition that Milan will face for the champions league (in terms of a stronger Real) but it also denies them the chance to cash in on Kaka's transfer with some extra cash(something to the tune of 40 million pounds).

And what we see know is even more pathetic with Milan failing to dish out even 15 million euros for one of the best upcoming left-backs or 20 million euros for a proven prolific goal scorer in Luis Fabiano,who would have undoubtedly strengthened their team.

As a Milan Fan, i find it disgusting that one of the absolute powerhouses of club football is going through such an "Abject Subsistence" .In one season we've lost Kaka,Maldini, and Ancellotti,and when you think that to make up for this we'll sign better players , we're presented with a player who is supposedly a " good defender" , but whose popularity in the footballing bylanes is as much as mine,and whose name is well "different"(to say the least).

I like Football because I Love it.

Since i've created this blog solely for voicing my footballing opinions,or so i believe, I know it'd be easy for many who read my blog entries,to think of me as a sort of moderate nihilist,one who just out of the desire to be different started following football - knowing that almost all people one gets to meet around in our country India) have strong views on cricket(The game,not the insect-Haha-poor joke, i know,don't worry you'll get used to my poor jokes when you have read some of my posts).Well if you think so you're wrong.

I like football because i love it.

Well,you'll ask, what exactly would you get to read on this blog?
Transfer News?(Naah!That'd require regular updating,the time for which i don't have.)
Football gossip?(Kind of,but minimal)
Football Critique?(Definitely,and a strongly biased one,remember this is my blog-Haha-poor joke2)

I start this blog because i'm witnessing something different in the world of football, what with Real Madrid and Manchester City bent on "destroying" the transfer market with ridiculous sums of money that they are splashing on player signings,All other teams just playing catchup( atleast in terms of the amount that they can dish out as player transfer fees).This "something different" doesn't go down well with many of the purists,the articles of whom i've read,they simply cannot understand it ( as i see it).I remember reading one article in which one such "purist" said "is the world come to this that we're splashing huge sums of money on mere humans" , now i leave it for you to decide whether it is right or wrong,but people definitely have the right to have their opinions.