So – Klose is off to Bayern.

Henry is off to Barcelona.

I don’t quite know why, but these two headlines got me worked up. The thing is – I just don’t get why they’re leaving. On top of that, I don’t get how both players seem to have had the feeling that they had the undeniable right to leave.

Take Klose, for example. He’s played a mediocre season, by his standards. He excelled at the World Cup (I, for one, remember chanting his name with glee many-a-time last June). He was injured, he got a bit lazy, he didn’t do well for Bremen. If he had been in form, I’m certain Bremen would’ve won the title and most probably the UEFA Cup too.

Anyway. He had a bad season. Instead of keeping his head down and working hard to have a better 2007/2008 campaign with Bremen, who stuck by him through this season (I cannot remember one single criticism directed towards him in the media uttered by the manager), he kept whinging and whining from April onwards that he wanted to go to Bayern. He had a “secret” meeting with Bayern officials 48 hours (!) before the UEFA Cup semi-final against Espanyol.

Take Henry. He was injured for a large part of the season. He didn’t exactly prove himself this year. Instead of playing for at least another season of his contract (which went until 2011!), he kept whining. He decided that Dein leaving was enough to make him want to go to Barcelona. I simply do not buy it. Even if he has “close ties” with the family. If Arsenal, the fans, the stadium, were truly “in his heart”, he wouldn’t have left. No question.

Why did they feel like they had the right to go? They had contracts. They didn’t play brilliantly recently. Not wanting to use a cliché here but…just shut up and play.

Now the elementary question though – why did they even want to leave? At the moment, it’s arguable whether Bayern is a better club that Bremen. They’ve spent big, but the new team is unproven. Klose will face stiff competition – Podolski, Toni, Makaay, even Schlaudraff if he becomes a fan favourite. And they’re playing in the UEFA Cup next season.

Arsenal didn’t do that well this season, but they’re a young team with future, with Henry being the absolute superstar at the Emirates. Henry will face some of the best forwards in Europe (save Rooney and van Nistelrooy, perhaps) in Barcelona – Messi, Eto’o, Ronaldinho. He’s 30 soon, does he really want to fight for a first-team place after being the big man with the Gunners for so long?

I repeat – I just don’t get it. If anyone has any explanations, pray tell.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Anyone who follows the German Bundesliga will know that VfB Stuttgart won the league this year. As an avid fan of this (wonderful, magnificent, gracious) team, I was naturally delighted. But from an objective perspective, how is it even possible that a team which honestly no one thought had a fighting chance of even reaching the CL this year actually wins the league? Let’s be honest about it, seasons like this can only be won if other teams have made some serious mistakes.

I’ll be the last guy on Earth to belittle Stuttgart. They played some amazing football and deserved to pick up that salad bowl at the end of the season. But are “unexpected” champions good for football, because they keep it interesting, or bad for football, because they shed a bad light on the overall quality of a competition? Let’s look at some recent “unexpected” champions and observe the long-term affects of their wins on football in general, in addition to what happened to them afterwards.

1. Greece. Won Euro 2004, then failed to qualify for the World Cup. I think we can all agree that Greece played some pretty awful football during the European Championships, truly defensive and not as pretty to watch as the likes of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and a younger (but still brilliant) Cristiano Ronaldo. Although these fairy tales are in some ways inspiring, I’d say that Greece winning Euro 2004 didn’t bring European football forward at all. The two championships before that, with the respective winners Germany and France, actually included some good football being played by the winners, especially France’s football fully justified their three- to four-year dominance of world football.

So: good for Greece, bad for progressive football, football which people besides Greeks want to watch. They might qualify for Euro 2008, but they have never, in three years since their amazing win, looked or played like European champions.

2. FC Porto. 2004 was a pretty weird year, really. A Champions League final consisting of Monaco and Porto – who would have thought? Porto’s win through some exciting football was followed by virtually all of their good players (and their manager) being taken away – not something you’d expect of a CL winner.

They have failed to make a noticeable impact on European football ever since, despite two domestic titles. No one really looked at Porto and decided to take an example from their football – they basically just bought the players.

3. Liverpool. Another CL winner, the following year. Liverpool played some inspiring football and showed great spirit in the final. They even managed to reach it again two years later, becoming a force to be reckoned with in Europe, despite their pitiful attempts at regaining the Premiership crown.

The likes of Gerrard, Alonso, Riise and Kuyt are usually always mouthwatering to watch, and if the Scousers are lucky, they’ll have some American dollars going towards some strong reinforcements soon. A good example of how surprise winners can sustain themselves.

Back to Stuttgart, though. Surprise winners, no doubt. Europe next season, with a virtually unchanged squad (Turkish international Yildiray Bastürk is coming on a Bosman transfer from Hertha Berlin, a new striker is yet to be found). The young squad played fresh football this season, but keeping it up will be hard.

It’s probably safe to say that despite Bayern’s fourth-place this season, they’d do a lot better in Europe next year than Stuttgart will. Stuttgart’s seemingly inevitable failure to do well in Europe (although the true fan remains ever-positive) will effect Germany negatively in UEFA rankings, so technically Bayern being in the CL would benefit Germany, really.

What do you think? Are surprise winners good for football? Why / why not?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News