Football Dispatch

Monday football
24 September 2007
by Jerrad Peters

AS the transfer deadline neared at the end of August, rumors swirled that Ronaldinho was about to bolt Barcelona for Chelsea. And while 01 September came and went without the completion of a deal between the former World Player of the Year and the free-spending London club, the door was never entirely closed. For starters, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has coveted Ronaldinho since he took the helm at Stamford Bridge in 2003. And as Jose Mourinho can attest, Abramovich tends to get whatever and whomever he wants. Mourinho's inability to work with Andriy Shevchenko, another Abramovich favorite who was purchased from AC Milan in 2006 for 30M-pounds, was a major factor in his sacking last week. And with Avram Grant now patroling the touch-line at Chelsea, the time appears ripe for Abramovich to make a formal offer for Ronaldinho. The latest round of speculation was set-off by the 27-year-old's benching against Sevilla on Saturday. The player claimed that he was unable to participate due to injury. Manager Frank Rijkaard, apparently, had other ideas. The Barcelona bench-boss suspected that his star player had gone on a bender, Thursday -- less than 48-hours ahead of the weekend's match. And as this is not the first time that Ronaldinho has been thought to be over-indulgent in the Catalan capital's nightlife, there may be something to Rijkaard's assertion. Whatever the case, the player's brother and agent, Roberto de Assis, is adamant that some of the top officials at the Nou Camp, and perhaps Rijkaard, are pursuing a smear campaign against Ronaldinho. De Assis, who was wined and dined by Abramovich last month in London, is now poised to kick-start the overtures on behalf of his brother. But with Ronaldinho having featured in Barcelona's comprehensive 3-0 drubbing of Olympique Lyonnais in the Champions' League last week, it is unlikely that he would join the Blues until the summer.

Tottenham Hotspur are thought to have held crisis talks regarding their managerial situation this afternoon -- a rumor the club has vehemently denied. Still, embattled boss Martin Jol has been growing more and more frustrated with the club's floundering performance and with a lack of support from the board of directors at White Hart Lane. Chairman Daniel Levy has actively sought a replacement for the Dutchman. Already, he has dispatched representatives to Sevilla and Los Angeles for meetings with Juande Ramos and Jurgen Klinsmann, respectively. And while ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was negotiating a severance package at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, Levy is reported to have called his agent five times. Jol, however, made a feeble attempt to dismiss the rumors, yesterday. "He (Mourinho) is not that special," said the 51-year-old. "This would be a hard job for him and he knows it. Daniel Levy phoned ma and said it's rubbish." Nonetheless, the fact is that at the official level, Spurs are persistently searching for Jol's successor. On Saturday, Sporting Director Damien Conalli watched Ramos' Sevilla squad lose 2-1 away to Barcelona. And despite the availabilities of Mourinho, Klinsmann, Fabio Capello, and Marcello Lippi, Ramos remains the odds-on favorite for the job. He did not deny his interest when he visited London last week for a Champions' League fixture against Arsenal. The 52-year-old would prefer to see-out the campaign at Sevilla, however. As a contingency plan, Levy would like to hire Klinsmann for an 8-month period before offering the Spaniard the long-term contract.

Meanwhile, Avram Grant's tenure at Stamford Bridge is unlikey to last beyond the spring. Already, Roman Abramovich is lining-up an assortment of permanent replacements for the axed Mourinho. Among them, somewhat surprisingly, is Marco Van Basten. The 42-year-old Dutchman enjoyed a distinguished playing career at Ajax and AC Milan before assuming managerial duties with the Netherlands in 2004. His current deal with the Dutch Football Association expires after next summer's EURO 2008 finals. Van Basten was the personal guest of Abramovich at Old Trafford on Sunday, where Chelsea fell 2-0 to Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho, as it happens, has no intent on remaining out of football for more than a few months. In the coming weeks, the 44-year-old will visit the United States for a football clinic and travel to Malaysia to do some publicity work for an Asian bank. He will also be running and swimming in order to remain in shape and has plans to learn a fifth language, either German or Italian.

Continental round-up

Even without Ronaldinho, Barcelona defeated Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Saturday. Lionel Messi scored twice in the second-half, the second coming from a penalty in the 80th-minute. Freddie Kanoute leveled for the visitors in added-time. With the win, the Catalans increase their season point-total to eight while Sevilla sit on six.

Villarreal have picked-up where they left-off at the end of last season. On Sunday, they ran out 2-0 winners over Murcia at Estadio El Madrigal. Former Manchester United striker Guisseppe Rossi scored both goals for El Submarino Amarillo. With nine points, Villarreal are second-place in La Liga.

Atletico Madrid finallo got into the win column at the weekend. Raul Garcia opened the scoring after just twelve minutes at the Vicente Calderon Stadium -- a lead which held until shortly after Racing Santander's Lopez Jordi was sent-off in the 64th-minute. Sergio Aguero doubled the lead for Los Rojiblancos in the 70th-minute and Diego Forlan added a third goal in the 77th. Former Benfica forward Simao Simbrossa rounded-out the scoring in the 86th-minute. With five points, Atletico are positioned sixth in the ledger.

Valencia are quickly improving their form after a difficult start to the 2007-2008 season. Los Che defeated Real Betis 2-1 at Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera. Defender Luiz Miguel opened the scoring in the 69th-minute and Joaquin fired the eventual winner just seven minutes from time. Rafael Sobis pulled one back before the hosts just prior to the final whistle. With nine points, Valencia trail Villarreal on goal-differential for second-place in the standings.

Real Madrid's perfect start to the season came to an end at Estadio Nuevo Jose Zoruilla, yesterday. Newly-promoted Real Valladolid appeared to have a bounce in their step as they held the champions to a 1-1 draw in the north-centre of Spain. Pedro Munoz gave the hosts a well-deserved lead in the 70th-minute. Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas had kept his side in the game to that point and the Meringues continually looked vulnerable in defense of goal. But after replacing Michel Salgado in the 83rd-minute, Javier Saviola required just four minutes before equalizing for Madrid. With ten points, Real are atop the standings after four rounds.

European champions AC Milan were held 1-1 at the San Siro by Parma on Saturday. Clarence Seedorf's opener just prior to the interval was canceled by Andrea Pisanu's second goal of the season in the 73rd-minute. Milan, with just one domestic win thus far, sit ninth in the Serie-A on six points.

Local rivals Inter Milan played to a 2-2 draw away to Livorno on Sunday. Daniele De Vezze stunned the Nerazzurri with a goal before a minute had run off the clock. Still, the Tuscans were only able to hold the lead for a half-hour. On 35-minutes, Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalized for struggling Inter. Livorno's lead was restored a quarter-hour after the break when Massimo Loviso converted from the penalty-spot. Again, however, Ibrahimovic brought his side back to level terms in the 72nd-minute. Inter were forced to hold on for the draw after Maicon was sent-off the park with ten minutes remaining.

Italy's headline fixture of the weekend ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw between AS Roma and Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico. David Trezeguet opened the scoring after just over a quarter-hour for the visitors and newcomer Vincenzo Iaquinta saved Juve's blushes with a last-gasp equalizer in the 88th-minute. In between, Francesco Totti scored twice in a six minute span late in the first half. Last season's Golden Ball winner has scored in each of Roma's past five matches and is the continent's top scorer again so far this term. With ten points, his Roma side are atop the Serie-A -- three points ahead of 6th-place Juventus.

Lopsided scorelines were the theme in the Bundesliga over the weekend. Schalke 04 pummeled visiting Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 at Veltins-Arena and both Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich won by similar spreads. Kevin Kuranyi, Gerald Asamoah, and Marcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza figured in the scoring for Schalke. Last year's runners-up sit fifth in the standings with ten points.

2006-2007 champions Stuttgart were handed a 4-1 defeat by Werder Bremen, Saturday. Mario Gomez' 13th-minute strike was the holders' lone goal of the match and came after Hugo Almeida had already scored twice within the opening five minutes. Boubacar Sanogo's tally rounded-out a whirlwind opening quarter-hour at the Weserstadion. Things calmed somewhat after Bremen went 3-1 ahead. Ribas da Cunha's last-minute goal completed the scoring. Bremen are level with Schalke on ten points but are eighth in the Bundesliga through goal-differential.

Leaders Bayern Munich dismantled newly-promoted Karlsruhe in Baden-Wurttemburg, yesterday. Luca Toni continued his good form with an early goal after just five minutes and ex-Bremen hitman Miroslav Klose doubled the scoreline on twenty minutes. Turkish international Hamit Altintop put the visitors 3-0 up shortly after the break and Ze Roberto completed the route in the 75th-minute. Massimilian Porcello scored the lone goal for Karlsruhe. With fourteen points, Bayern rest comfortably atop the Bundesliga standings.

Marseille are enduring a dismal season in Ligue-1. Their misery continued this weekend with a 2-0 loss to Auxerre in Ajaccio. With the win, the Corsicans leap-frogged 16th-place Marseille in the standings. Romanian international Daniel Niculae scored both goals for the hosts within a six minute span in the first half.

League-leaders Nancy defeated a strong Lorient side 2-0 at the Stade Marcel Picot. With just ten minutes to play and nothing separating the two sides, former Renne striker Youssouf Hadji scored two goals to claim all three points for Nancy. Hadji has now scored four times this season.

After a superb 2006-2007 season which saw them finish fifth in Ligue-1, Lens are struggling in the gutter among the relegation places. Their plight was hardly eased with a mediocre 1-1 draw away to Toulouse on Saturday. Abou Kader Mangane's sending-off in the 68th-minute ensured that the visitors were unable to build on Olivier Monterubbio's equalizer. Bryan Bergougnoux opened the scoring for Toulouse in the 23rd-minute.

Lyon, the returning six-time champions, were held 1-1 at home to Lille, yesterday. Michel Fernandes Bastos gave the visitors the lead after 17-minutes as Lyon struggled to hit their stride. It was nearly an hour before Sydney Govou finally equalized for the hosts. And although they salvaged a point, the champions have hardly resembled their former selves under new manager Alain Perrin. With sixteen points, Lyon are fourth in Ligue-1.