Post-fab Freddie Leaves Upton Park

I can't fault Freddie Ljungberg for being overvalued. The Swedish international was once one of the best wingers in the EPL, if not in the game. Unfortunately he will only be remembered outside of London as the little bald guy that posed in his underwear, or perhaps for his questionable taste in past hairstyles and animal-themed tattoos.

Or so I thought. You see, kids, you can practice your left-footed crosses and work on powerful bursts over the first ten yards, but if you need an example to follow on how to end your career, Freddie's your man. This phenomenon is known as "Make more than you're worth by doing nothing", or simply, "Andriy Shevchenko".

He looked decent for Sweden in the Euros, but past his prime. It didn't help that there was little dynamism in the side, but it looked like he'd be able to ply his trade for at least another year in the East End. Apparently not so, as West Ham have terminated the former Gooner's contract, paying him out a total of $12M to go away.

I guess Curbishley and Co. had hoped they'd get more than 25 appearances and 2 goals for $6M in transfer fees and $170K/wk in wages. In total, the club have spent almost $26M on the guy, which results in nearly a million per appearance and $13M per goal.

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Spurs Good Riddance Could be a Black Cat Revival

In the past, Roy Keane has not been shy about looking disdainfully on the quaint but ineffectual nature of Irish football. It's arguable whether or not Roy Keane will be remembered as the uber-competitive hard man of the Manchester United midfield or the rage and pride-filled egomaniac that abandoned his country leading up to the 2002 World Cup.

And Sunderland, long the quaint and ineffectual favorite of the Irish that don't devote all of their time to bleeding Celtic green, now finds Roy Keane and chairman Niall Quinn trying to break out of the old "ah, the lads gave it their all" mentality that so often accompanies failure. A proposed deal totaling $46M for Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio, Younes Kaboul and Pascal Chimbonda from Tottenham Hotspur is reportedly on the table.

Pretty big deal, eh? Especially for Sunderland, you say. Well, the number's big, but as everything is relative, a mere pittance compared to the ever-escalating transfer fees that have following the largest TV contracts in history.

$12M is a lot for any of the above individual players, but if this move goes through, it'd be hard to argue that it wasn't the biggest deal done yet in the transfer window. It is difficult to get excited about Steed Malbranque, but he adds creativity to the attack in midfield. Tainio can be petulant and inconsistent, but can play holding midfield, join in attack and perhaps play out wide. Kaboul is perhaps best known for throwing a tantrum when substituted rather than anything he does on the field, but he's still young. Chimbonda is perhaps the best out of all four, and while he carries a bit of the ego with him, he's in the prime of his career and is highly-motivated on the pitch.

$46M doesn't sound like a lot of money until you find out it's Sunderland doing the spending, but if Keano gets his men and they can follow simple directions and avoid the wrath of their manager and his standards, we'll have seen a marked improvement upon last year's squad, all done simply in one fell swoop. It hasn't happened yet, but when does the opportunity to upgrade your midfield and back line, especially with players that have played together, come along? Not often; a deal like this should bring entertainment to the Northeast, and perhaps more importantly the Black Cats.


Sunderland swooping for four Spurs [Irish Times]

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Just go to Milan, Frank

We've all learned to take pretty much anything in the media during the transfer window with a grain of salt. The summer transfer window, where most big signings take place, is three months of rumor, innuendo and outright lies. Who can blame them? Football is a year-round sport, and there are countless pages to fill when there isn't any action.

The Euros should've taken up the majority of reporting, but given England's much-maligned inability to qualify for the tournament, the typical transfer sagas began in full earnest from the UK papers. But it seems like we've been talking about Frank Lampard for years, specifically what he'll do when his contract at Stamford Bridge is up.

The debacle that ensued after Luiz Felipe Scolari's presentation as the new Chelsea manager pretty much sums up the current state of footie for me. I know that since the Bosman ruling, which transferred the bulk of bargaining power from clubs to individual players, this has been going on year after year. However, what makes this a whole new ballgame is the amount of money we're talking about.

Arsene Wenger has come out to lament the current "mercenary" state of football, but I'm not sure why he's suddenly complaining about it. Could it be that loyalty no longer matters in football? Of course, and the Arsenal gaffer will find it increasingly difficult to hang onto or mold a squad and keep all of his players intact.

The chain of events following Scolari's claim that Lampard wished to end his career at Chelsea were so transparent and buffoonish, yet so typical. As soon as Lamps saw Scolari make the claim, he rushed to the Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon to tell him he never said such a thing.

Perhaps all is lost in translation, but given Scolari's worldliness and mastery of English, I highly doubt there was a misunderstanding. Big Phil knew what he was doing, and so did Lamps. Or so he thought.

Claiming that his client wished to end his career at Stamford Bridge, but that Chelsea were "not allowing" him to do so by not giving him a five year deal vs. the four they've offered, Lampard's agent may have seen all of his typical work in deceit undermined.

I can understand Lampard trying to get all that he can at the end of his career, but if it's true that the Blues have offered $280K/wk, which would make him the highest paid Englishman (until John Terry renews his contract), he's got his priorities jumbled. Five more years would see him at the Bridge until 35, a fairly useless age in football, especially at the top level.

Shouldn't Lampard be thinking about where his best chances to win are? Shouldn't he be thinking about winning the Champions League? Is one more year of $14.6 worth missing out on that? What happens when the Blues give in, give him that fifth year and Inter lift the Scudetto and the European Cup?

I suppose the thing that bothers me the most is that the notion of an Englishman, especially one in the top-flight, does not feel motivated by challenges abroad. The days of players like Liam Brady spending half of their career in Serie A are gone. Could this one of the reasons why England stink it up on the international stage?

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