So that’s why I think Barca should stay clear of him.

“I actually was never worried or anxious about the whole situation. Everything was clear to me. The reports I received made clear that the negotiations would have a happy end. It was just a matter of time and waiting until the final deal was closed. And thanks to god, the news came last Friday.”

euro 2008 is a great opportunity to see some of these players and compare/contrast. for instance, why would we take van der vaart, who seems to have so much less influence than his partner sneijder, who belongs to our main adversary in la liga. van der vaart would have to be cheap and second string. otherwise, why settle for less quality than our rivals.

Abidal was staying home more, which made him a lot more effective. In the “dark days,” he was going on walkabout too much. He was used to roaming as he did at Lyon, but there wasn’t the talent in Ligue 1 that there is in La Liga, so he was getting caught out of position a lot.

When he stayed put more and relied on his pace and positioning, you could begin to see why we signed him.

I also wouldn’t really blame him entirely. The whole back line seemed to get funky, simultaneously. Everybody seemed to be covering for everyone else, leaving them all out of position and vulnerable.

The pace of Caceres and the stability of Puyol means that suddenly, our captain doesn’t have to cover ground that he can’t any longer. Alves on the right means that Abidal doesn’t have to worry as much about contributing to the attack.

Or that might just be me being optimistic.

Kxevin, what do you mean by “upside”? I usually think of upside as being a young kid with potential, but Abidal is 28. Do you mean he can play better than what we saw last season, or that he contributes on offense? Just a little confused.

There are some new (and old) names surfacing in the striker sweepstakes. Berbatov is back in the frame, for some stupid, north of 30 million numbers. (What the….?!) Then there’s this young’un who was tearing up Russia last season, Roman Pavlyuchenko. Don’t know anything about him, but people seem to like him as a player, and the price sure is right, probably about 10 million. He’s been their Pichichi for the past two seasons now. Word is fast and strong, with a rocket of a shot. He’s 26 years old, and is 6-foot-2.

And then there’s this: (note that first scene is NOT a re-enactment of the Battle of Stalingrad)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtS6JSzBbsg&feature=related

Seems very opportunistic and slick, like a big Krkic.

News that doesn’t make me happy is that Abidal is being buzzed about for a move back to Lyon. That would suck. His upside is tremendous, and he was fast improving at the end of last season. That would also mean we would have to sign a starting left back.

Trezeguet is once AGAIN in the frame. We’re trying to get him cheap, for less than the 25 million that Juventus seems to be valuing him at. Stay tuned. He wouldn’t be bad, but I might want to risk the cheap, young Russian over the more expensive Trezeguet. We already have Henry, after all.

We have a 40 million price on the head of Eto’o, which indicates our desire to REALLY part with him (low, I would say). And we are disinclined to negotiate, it seems.

Deco says Ronaldinho is Chelsea-bound, but Citeh is up to 200,000 Pounds per week, which is crazy, CRAZY dosh. Scolari also likes the Brazilian. We stand to make 30 million from THAT transfer.

Man, ain’t summer grand?

On a completely separate note, I really hope Cech doesn’t turn into Dida II. (Remember when he got hit by that flare a few years ago, and started becoming crazy?)

You know, I think I’ll find out how much the PPV match is and then decide that I’ll watch it online because that’s free. And choppy like the Argentina-Ecuador thriller today. I feel bad for Ecuador because it’s moments like those that can ultimately make or break a team’s WC qualification campaign.

Does anyone here think Dunga survives if Brazil loses to Argentina? Only 5 points back from the top and still in contention to win it, but will he?

What do y’all reckon non-sports fans do with their time?

Ciaran, the Argentines are into that single-lock thing at the back. Palacio isn’t the first player I’ve seen it on. Oddness.

Hey, is the Brazil-Argentina match on Wednesday on pay-per-view, like today’s match? This whole PPV thing is getting frustrating. I liked it better when footie was our own little thing, and every match worth seeing was on free telly.