The 3-1 scoreline should have flattered the Hungarians, but it ended up flattering the England team instead. While the ‘A’ team outclassed their opponents in all areas, they lacked the penetration to make their chances count. The fact that the first two goals came off set pieces showed that against tougher teams, goals would be very hard to come by.

The media has called the performance further proof that Eriksson doesn’t know what he’s doing, but to my mind he got things absolutely right in the second half. Remember - Eriksson already knows that Carrick can play in the holding position, and that Lennon is quick on the right flanks. What he needed to know today was whether Gerrard could pull off Rooney’s role, and whether Carragher could play in Carrick’s place.

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Some quick transfer news before the England v Hungary friendly tonight:

Salomon Kalou has finally signed for Chelsea. His is a 3-year contract and the fee remains ‘undisclosed’, although previous estimates had put it at 3 mil or so. A nice catch - falls in line with Mourinho’s desire to sign young talent as well as superstars. My guess is that he will either be loaned out or kept around in the reserves or as a sub. I don’t see him playing too much in the current Chelsea system unless they play 4-4-2, which then gives Mourinho a big problem - who will he play in the middle of the park? He has to pick 2 out of 4 (Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Makelele) if he plays 4-4-2.

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Yesterday I told you about Capello, Juve’s coach, having held talks with one of the presidential candidates for Real Madrid. Today the news surrounds Mr Arsene Wenger, who has also been approached by one of the candidates.

While I can imagine Capello leaving, I don’t see Wenger moving at all. Not after the whole drama with Arsenal managing to scrape into 4th place, getting to the Champions League final and then the Henry fiasco. After all that, Wenger cannot leave just yet.

Other hopefuls include Michael Laudrup, Vincent Del Bosque and Sven Goran Eriksson. The presidential elections will be held on 2nd July.

Read the England vs Hungary match review here.

England take on Hungary tonight at Old Trafford in the 2nd of their 3 warmup matches before the World Cup.

Nothing much to note here, except that with Rooney looking increasingly unlikely to participate in the World Cup (read United Rant’s piece on the topic), Eriksson is preparing for life without the Manchester United striker - a situation that has not been helped by Owen’s injured foot and Crouch’s poor touch.

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A very quick breeze through the football news for today:

Real Madrid have approached Fabio Capello (again) - with Capello again saying that there was “just contact” and nothing had been agreed. Capello wouldnt want to go to a poisoned chalice like Madrid, but then again Juve isnt exactly the best club to be the manager of right now, and Capello may very well be poised to move on.

I’d like to see Capello move to Old Trafford - he’s one of those few managers who will be able to replace Alex Ferguson in terms of respect and accomplishments. Maybe another year? Or maybe this summer?

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While Ruud van Nistelrooy trains with the Dutch team and Ferguson and Gill scratch their heads on what to do with him (and about Ferguson’s recent tantrums, if reports are to be believed), all credible rumors point to Inter. On the face of it, the situation is perfect. United could, conceivably, pry off Obefami Martins and Cambiasso and send Nistelrooy plus cash the other way.

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While the world waits on Sheva, Salomon Kalou on Feyenoord (the striker who could get Dutch nationality) is poised to move to Chelsea. Chelsea’s interest has been mentioned several times in the media, but this is the first time that the Dutch club has publicly stated that they are in talks with the Premeirship champions.

United fans would be interested in hearing this - Lyon have almost finalised a deal for Kim Kallstrom from Rennes, and with reports of another midfielder coming in, the stage looks set for Diarra to move on. Lyon would love to keep him, as they need his skills to make another assault on the Champions League next season. No word from United still.

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The ‘expected’ moves are starting to happen:

Arsenal offload Pires to Villareal while bringing in Tomas Rosicky from B. Dortmund. A classy player replacing another classy one. Arsenal still need a central midfielder and a defender, as Silva as getting old and Campbell is getting useless. At least Henry is still staying, and there’s always Walcott and Fabregas to cheer up the Gunners.

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“Please play Theo Walcott up front, or switch to 4-5-1 otherwise.”

Are you listening Mr Eriksson?

England’s recent streak of wins had perhaps given people the impression that Belarus, if not swept away, would be efficiently disposed of. As it turned out, Jenas’s goal and Lennon’s impressive display apart, there was little to cheer for English fans and perhaps, with Rooney almost out of the World Cup picture, little to hope for come 10th June.

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The first major rumour recently has been the transfer of Sol Campbell to Turkish club Fenerbahce for a fee reported to be in the region of 10 to 12 million Euros. Some websites, as well as papers in Britain, were reporting this transfer. They had absolutely no quotes to back it up however.

Fenerbahce quickly moved to dismiss the news, however, they did not deny that they are interested in signing the England international. Fenerbahce are one of Turkey’s richest clubs, and are in a position to offer him wages around 70,000 pounds a week, as well as matching any transfer demands Arsenal make.

The reason I feel this is rubbish is Sol Campbell himself. When he ran out his contract at Spurs, he was in negotiations with several major clubs. Only two clubs entered the final stages: Arsenal and Barcelona.

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It seems that I’m not the only one who thinks that Arsenal are bad losers (almost disgraceful considering Henry’s class) and nor am I the only one who thinks Barca preferred a goal to Lehmann’s red.

In addition, Henry’s contract details are filtering out - amongst the goodies are a 130,000 per week contract (and the rich comment by Henry - “it’s not about the money, honest”) and a two-year contract for Pires. I really, really respect Henry for the later point, if it is true. Good on ya mate.

UnitedRant talks about the player of the season (Rooney), the signing of the season (van der Sar) and the worst player of the season (Silvestre - who else?) - interested read. Not the smartest blog in the world, but fellow Utd fans are always welcome

You have to hand it to Mourinho.

The man comes out and neatly tells everyone who they are willing to sell and who they don’t want to sell. No fuss, no double-talk.

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…

or so they are saying. More as news comes in, but this one looks to be genuine folks.

After Henry’s “I’m with Mourinho on this” performance on Wednesday night, Barca was going to be a no go. Without any other decent option in sight, Henry’s staying at Arsenal.

Makes me wonder what Mourinho and Ferguson must be thinking….

A lot of interesting things were said in the media and on other blogs regarding the CL Final - my review will be up later today as well.

Update: Sky Sports confirms

36 hours on from the Champions League Final, and all that the English-language media can talk about is how Henry blasted everyone on the Barcelona team except Larsson and especially took out his frustrations on the ref.

Forget the fact that 2 major decisions went in Arsenal’s favor - three if you think that Arsenal were better off being a man down than a goal down (I’m probably the only one who thinks that). Shocking as it may sound, Arsenal lost to a better team (unlike Milan last year, who lost to their own incompetency).

So let’s stop the complaining, and look at the reality:
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And the rumors of Utd making a last-ditch attempt for Berbatov remain just that - rumors. The Spurs have signed up Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen for 10.9 mil, and subject to a successful work permit application Berbatov should be a Tottenham player from July 1.

Smashing. Good to see a team outside the top four injecting some life into the Premiership. I’ve also read that Tottenham might be making a move for Steed Malbranque (Fulham). A pre-emptive attempt to replace Carrick (whose status has remained remarkably quiet recently)? I hope so.

Source:

Spurs seal Berbatov signing

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian calls it the final of finals, a shoutout to the elite status of the European Cup but also to the hype being built around the match between Arsenal and Barcelona.

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No time to waste today, as Arsenal and Barcelona get ready for the the most important match for the clubs in over a decade.

There’s a reason I’ve kept quiet till now. For one, everyone has been talking about the pre-match hype in the media instead of discussing facts about the match and on the chances of both sides. Henry said this, Ronaldinho said that, Giovanni is an idiot, Fabregas is too good for Barca, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah….

The whole thing is sickening enough to put you off from reading the news - I’ve done exactly that for the last four days, sticking to transfer rumors and waiting for the 2006 champions league final - which, if all goes well, should be on in about 12 hours.

A quick review of both sides then:

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It’s almost non-news that Ballack has signed for Chelsea - a 3 year, 6 mil pounds a year deal (come to about 120,000 pounds a week, which is f’n good).

However, the media has gone in a frenzy on Monday with reports coming in that Chelsea failed in a 12 mil bid for Ruud van Nistelrooy - Fergie’s not lost all his marbles as he doesnt want Ruud to help Chelsea do even better in the Premiership.

12 mil for Ruud? He’s worth 15 at least. And why cant he stay? That’s too futile a question when it comes to Fergie’s ego…

Milan’s ready to pounce on Ruud as well, if Shevchenko goes to Chelsea. It’s sad seeing Ruud’s name bouncing around in the news before there’s even been a confirmation from Old Trafford on his status - he wants to stay, that’s obvious at least.

There you have it. Ballack’s come out and said that while there’s nothing signed, he is set on joining Chelsea this summer. Nothing new, but it sets a clear benchmark for what Man Utd and the other teams have to do in order to shore up their squads. Even if you allow for players like Gudjohnsen (who is probably coveted by United, although that’s doubtful), Crespo (Milan, SWP (City) and Duff (who knows?) to leave, Chelsea still have enough strength to be favorites next season.

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The man doesn’t want to play at Chelsea anymore - at least that’s what the media has been reporting, and today Chelsea came out with a statement clarifying that as Gallas was under contract for another year, he had the choice between signing the new contract they’ve offered, or staying for the remainder of his contract and walking out on a free transfer.

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Following up on ArseBlog’s excellent post on whether Henry would be going to Arsenal or Barcelona, I went through his list of ‘pros and cons’ and figured they were a bit biased (all fans are, to a great extent).

So here are my…ahem…views on where Arse got it a bit wrong.

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Not the big shock you guys were expecting (no RVN leaving or Diarra coming in yet), but a look at the future:

United sign talented twins from Brazil

The kids (Rafael and Fabio) are 15, so expect to see them at United around 2008 or so. Both are wing backs (left and right), and if anything it’s a sign that United’s long-term future is being taken care of.

That’s one thing I’ve got to respect Ferguson for - him, Wenger, these guys know how to pick out talented kids.

Perhaps the greatest news of the day was the silence from Old Trafford on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s fate. A decision on RVN’s fate was supposed to be taken within 48 hours of the Sunday match (before which, according to recent reports, RVN was asked to leave instead of leaving himself) and it was expected that Man Utd would make some sort of announcement today.

However, in a touch of class (the man has class, even if he makes huge errors from time to time), Ferguson chose to keep the spotlight focused on Keano’s testimonial, and perhaps in another tactical ploy to win the public, refused to talk about the situation on a day when the media began to question the wisdom of pushing RVN out of OT.

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And even in his moment of glory he is complaining about being unloved…

Daniel Taylor from the Guardian reports that:

• Talks between David Gill and Alex Ferguson confirmed worst fears - Ferguson does not want a player who is at odds with him.
• Manchester United are reputed to have put a 10 mil pound price tag on RVN.
• Ruud has been “asked” not to play in Keano’s testimonial today.
• Ruud has left for Holland to join up with the team for training.

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England’s provisional 23-man World Cup squad:

GK - P Robinson (Tottenham), D James (Manchester City), R Green (Norwich)
D - G Neville (Manchester United), R Ferdinand (Manchester United), J Terry (Chelsea), A Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea)
M - D Beckham (Real Madrid), M Carrick (Tottenham), F Lampard (Chelsea), S Gerrard (Liverpool), O Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), J Jenas (Totenham), S Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), A Lennon (Tottenham)
S - W Rooney (Manchester United), M Owen (Newcastle), P Crouch (Liverpool), T Walcott (Arsenal).

Five standby players: Scott Carson, Luke Young, Nigel Reo-Coker, Jermain Defoe, Andy Johnson.

What the hell???

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The last Sunday of the Premiership was, with due respect to RVN, all about Highbury and Arsenal’s tussle with the Spurs for 4th place. Arsenal got there in style, Henry fittingly getting a hattrick. With Spurs losing to West Ham (and to food poisoning), Arsenal fans had much to cheer about.

But for me (I was watching the United-Charlton game on the tele and could only switch to Arsenal-Wigan and Newcastle-Chelsea now and then), the other two games were reminiscent for all that is wrong with the Premiership - playacting, bullying the refs and, well, bad refs.

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Chelsea are trying to sign Bellamy?

While I know Mourinho’s on the hunt for a striker, Bellamy has too many issues to play for Jose (then again, Drogba plays there so who knows). It would be a cheap buy and an effective replacement for Gudjohnsen / Crespo if nothing else.

Rovers aren’t happy about it, and I’m thinking that if Jose does go for Bellamy (unlikely), Mark Hughes will point to SWP and Scott Parker as examples of good players going from small clubs to Chelsea and being wasted. Then again, Bellamy likes being the center of attention so I doubt he’d shift either, unless Roman throws money. But for Bellamy? come on…

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This was the first section suggested for Soccerlens by a friend of mine, back before I had even put together the blog.

This is how it works:

I’ll be putting up the latest football rumors and scoops in this category, as they come in. This is as real-time as it gets people. And I wont be stopping at just repeating what I’ve heard - you can expect intelligent (?) analysis of everything that comes in, and at the end of the day, you guys are welcome to comment and join in on the discussion.

And yes, only the big teams will be covered here - I’m just one guy fighting other battles as well, and it’s not possible to report on what goes on everyday behind the doors at Everton or (gasp!) Arsenal.

There. That should rile you arsenal fans up (and if you don’t get the reference, read the early posts of this blog).

What do you have to do? Link to this category, link to my blog, bookmark this category page and watch this space very closely.

Like most stories at Old Trafford, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s journey had wonderful beginnings, capped by Alex Ferguson’s faith in his ability that saw United wait for RVN to recover from his injury before snapping him up for 18.5 million pounds. He repaid that debt in spades, scoring 40+ goals in the next two seasons, tallying up an impressive 150 goals in just 219 appearances.

But with all stories involving legends and a certain knighted manager, the ending (or is there still time to turn back?) is again bitter and reeks of mismanagement. For those unaware of the details, this is what happened yesterday before and after the Old Trafford drubbing of Charlton:

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