If you have a contribution to make, drop us a line at theeditor@football365.com....
Nicely Done...
I was shocked when I saw the breaking news flash up on Sky Sports News last night.
"Manchester Utd complete signing of Antonio Valencia from Wigan for an undisclosed fee".
Not so much at the fact that Man Utd had signed the player, more the fact that a certain Mr Whelan chose not to disclose something.
Maybe he's finally taken the hint...
Dave, Aberdeen, Spurs
Valencia Has The Right Potential
Everyone will be looking to compare Valencia to Ronaldo and how their "stats" are so far apart. It is true that he only scored 3 goals last season but that was for Wigan and he actually works for the team and makes tackles.
I read somewhere that Ronaldo made about 15 tackles last season and Valencia somewhere in the region of 140, this is not spot on and I am open to correction but this just shows you that you are not dealing with the same player and the same job.
This is similar to comparing Palacios's goal scoring to Tim Cahill's you just can't. With one if the best defences in Europe behind him Valencia now will be able to concentrate on attacking and therefore will be able to create more and have more opportunities to score than he ever did at Wigan.
Most players who join United generally improve under Ferguson (I know there are others like Forlan etc but generally they do like Carrick and ) and Valencia is only 23 so there is time to take him to the next level. As Valencia is from South American it is generally thought that there is a settling in period to get used to the Premiership so they will also skew his goals/assists to games ratio. Now that he has had 2 full seasons in England he is fully settled and knows what to expect.
Valencia will never be a replacement to Ronaldo like Carrick will never be a replacement for Keane but he is a good player with potential to get better. Ronaldo was a selfish bastard and I suppose you have to be to score the amount that he did but Valencia can bring up everyone else's goals especially Rooney who now has to be the difference maker.
Greg (At least he's better than Nani) Doherty
Ooooh, Topical
It may seem a little insensitive, but I cant help be struck by the striking similarity between Manchester United latest signing and Michael Jackson circa 1984. Have they ever been pictured together?
Kieran
Was Henry A World-Beater Then?
From 16 Conclusions:
"It's a sobering thought that Ronaldo is unique as the only player of world-beater repute who has played in the Prem since the league's foundation almost twenty years ago."
Nice to see Thierry Henry has already been forgotten, a player who was easily a 'world-beater' during his stay in the Premier League and was constantly chased by the 'Euro Big 4'. Never mind mentioning that while he was playing at the same level or better than Ronaldo, he was far less of a crybaby and resorted to cheating on far, far fewer occasions than the Portuguese winker.
He also managed to maintain his top form over many, many seasons, something Ronaldo is yet to do.
Dan Butler, Watford
Has There Ever Been Such A Good Season To Enter The Prem?
Up here, down here, over here in the Midlands (you know, that place inbetween Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal) we Wolves fans have been lucky enough to find distraction from the job losses and swine flu in Kevin Doyle's £6.5m record transfer. Now it is important at this stage to add that £6.5m in Molinuex terms is only an Ade Akinbiyi + Kenny Miller, bargain!
This has predictably rocketed our already sky high expectations down the Golden Palace, but why not! Some horrendous teams stayed up last season notably Portsmouth and Hull City and whilst Sunderland I doubt will be hanging about near the bottom next season, there is reason to hope that either Stoke will suffer second season syndrome, Bruce leaving Wigan will dump them in it or that Bolton's fans could undermine Megson just enough to 'do a Newcastle' and relegate their own team.
In our only other Premier League season, we finished bottom level with both Leeds and Leicester on 33 points, 17th were Everton! Yes they were rubbish that season, but it was still David Moyes and Wayne Rooney rather than Phil Brown and Manucho.
So with a bit of ambition and confidence, has there been a better season to enter the Premier League???
Oli (Did that spill over into arrogance? Shiv a git. Wanderers are back!) King, Wolves
An Exciting Season Ahead...
God there's a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the Premier League at the moment. Yes, Ronaldo (best player in the world tm) has gone and one of Alonso and Macherano looks like they will join him but to be honest, I'm really excited about next season. Alex Ferguson will be building yet another team (what's this, his fourth or fifth?!) and thats always exciting. Arsenal look like they are buying some defenders to help out there fantastic attackers.
Liverpool spent silly money on a player they didn't need but a fit Gerrard/Torres is the best strike force in Europe for me. Man City are spending sensibly for once. Spurs and Everton will push on (i do worry for Villa this year). Chelsea can't seem to sign anyone which is always funny. The promoted teams have made some good purchases already so that should make it interesting lower down the league. For once I can't say who's going to win it, who's going to finish in the top 4 or who's going down (okay, I think Wigan will go down), that's got to be good.
Mark, Windsor
Off To SA...
Dear Esteemed MC,
If I was one of the three knife wielding youths who stumbled upon a (relatively) rich tourist type at 4 in the morning, especially as he was sporting a 'bling' Casio, I probably would have been tempted myself (ok, I would have been in bed...).
This is a country which houses some of the richest people in the world, and some of the poorest. David McCulloch was carrying well over R1000 in cash and cries at the injustice. Next 'summer' (yes it probably will be cold) the word will be: savvy. If you parade your riches in front of some of the world's poorest people there will be a reaction.
We are moving out in September to work in one of the townships outside of Cape Town, so Im really looking forward to enjoying the build-up to the World Cup first hand. I will be doing it however in a knackered Toyota (probably) whilst keeping my suits in the wardrobe.
Barry (best: King Kenny, worst: Djimi) Lewis, London
...Crime in South Africa is a problem - yet the greatest percentage of crime actually takes place in the townships yet nothing is made of it because it does'nt affect foreigners, but foreign journalists such as Time magazine look at stats and then decide to write a story citing the few incidents of crime that affect tourists or people with less melanin in their skin.
As for the guy who got mugged at 4am.....well that can happen to you anywhere at 4 am, besides I got mugged on a train between Hertford east station and Broxbourne in the U.K and that was at 3pm in the afternoon!
Thomas H
The Best And Worst
As a gooner, I have to say that Dennis Bergkamp has been our best signing, it raised the profile of the club, began the systematic change in the way we play our football (with Wenger ay the helm, of course) and paved the way for other world class signings to follow.
Our worst signing is a little more difficult, but I would say that die to all the hype surrounding his transfer, that the "fox in the box" Fanny Jeffers, must be up there. What do other gooners think??
Rob, Essex
....Couple of things in response to the last mailbox:
As a ManYoo fan I'd have to say that our best signing was Peter Schmeichel - proof that great teams are built on solid defences, from what i recall he was a bit of a bargain too which maskes him an even better signing!
The worst is tough....but it's gotta be Eric Djemba-Djemba really. So bad he couldn't get in a D or J team. Or even an Eric team! I can't think of a positive contribution he made - except leaving that is.
The other point regards Paul Rushen's countries piece... having lived in New Zealand for a period recently i never realised it was as unstable as Birmingham City! Glad i left now! Although it was a bit drier than it is back in Manchester...
Alex, M16, MUFC
