Ronaldo has a sly dig at the Premier League

Real Madrid’s new signing, Cristiano Ronaldo, has had a sly dig at the Premier League by saying that Spain’s La Liga will reach heights that English football cannot get near. Ronaldo recently left Manchester United to join the Spanish giants for a world record transfer fee of £80 million and he could not resist having a little stab as he made his exit.

Ronaldo should not forget that the English game is where he made his name and the amount of money being spent and that is available to Spanish clubs can only mean that more high quality players will go there. You would be hard pushed to find an English club that would spend the same level of money on a single player and because of this they will never join Manchester United or Chelsea.

Ronaldo never really had that many people who adored him while he was playing here, other than United fans, and now that he has left he has probably just lost the respect of a few of that group too. A lot of players bow out of a league and pay it tribute, they certainly do not turn round and have a sly stab backwards.

Ronaldo said: “The Premier League is a very good competition, but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more quality because of the players that are arriving. Both leagues are going to be very good, but I think that with Florentino Perez's signings the Spanish league is superior to the English.”

“It's going to be a magnificent competition in Spain. All the players have a lot of quality and the referees protect the players more. To win the Champions League in our stadium would be a great dream. It's possible with all the players we have. However, you need to recognise that Barcelona had a great season and played very well. They have a great team and a magnificent coach. It's going to be a very important duel for Spanish and European football.”

Well he does have a point when it comes to the money that Real Madrid are spending. If Ronaldo chose to look into the subject a little more than he would find that English clubs can’t really call on the government for a ridiculous level of money at any time that decide. Therefore English clubs can’t afford to pay over £130 million and two players and monopolise the best of the talent that is left in the transfer market.

It is only a suggesstion but maybe the main reason that so many players want to go to Madrid is due to the new found wealth they have found. Many players are not stupid and will quickly realise that if they go there, they will be paid more than a player has ever been paid and they will have a better chance of success because everyone else is going there.

However, moving back to the original argument at hand. There are a lot of differences between the Spanish and English leagues and both have their unique qualities and differences. One of the main reasons that the Spanish national side has done so well is the fact that the Spanish game is so much more technical and the players are so gifted on the ball. This gives them so much time and space to play killer passes and develop play that makes it virtually impossible for a team to defend.

These are things that not a lot of English sides can do and they are the main defintions of the Spanish game. Hence why when you watch a Spanish game it is easy to mark the quality against the English leagues as you very rarely see a scrappy goal in a Spanish league match.

On the other hand the English game is built a lot more on the physical approach as opposed to the technical. A lot of players both past and present said they hate playing against Engliosh defenders because they know they will get kicked in the air and will not be able to settle at all during a game. This is why so many foreign fans view the English game as thuggish but this is why we love it so much in this country. How many of us all cheered when ever Ronaldo got kicked in a United shirt?

The Premier League probably also has a greater pace and a stronger element of the counter attacking game. A lot of teams soak up pressure during English games because of the physical and aggressive nature of some attacking sides, this means that when they get a chance they have to bomb it to the other end of the pitch to counter attack. This makes for very end to end exciting football.

Officials have even got so used to the physical nature of English football that in the Premier League you can get away with more than you can in any other league across Europe. In a lot of European games involving English sides, so many tackles that are second nature to some players are penalised because the officials are not used to what they are seeing.

So both leagues are very different and it would be silly to try and define one as better than the other. For the purist, Spanish football would be better because it is a lot easier on the eye but for people that want a genuinely exciting game that can throw up an unpredicted result then English football will never be substituted.

Ronaldo is quite within his rights to have his say on our game because he has spent a large part of his career playing football in England, this is after all, the country where he made his name. However, it will be interesting to see next season if Real Madrid play Chelsea or Manchester United, if Ronaldo has forgotten about how physical the game can be here. I’m sure a few mistimed elbows and sliding tackles will be aimed in his direction and if he continues to come out with comments such as this then there will be a lot more people cheering as opposed to calling for the referees whistle.

Maybe now Newcastle can finally move on.

The time has come where Newcastle United may finally be able to move on from the saga that has made them the laughing stock of football over the last few months. Two groups have come up with the cash and matched Mike Ashley’s £100 million value for the club he has spent over £135m on since he arrived as owner only a couple of years ago.

The news means that the completion of a sale for the football club may only be a few days away and it would allow Newcastle to move forward, putting the past behind them and giving the club the best possible chance of getting back into the Premier League.

It is no secret that the lack of progress that Newcastle have been able to make during the summer transfer window is down to the fact that ownership is about to change hands. Therefore it would have been impossible to make important decisions such as structuring a budget and appointing Alan Shearer as permanent manager. Newcastle are set to lose a lot of players in the next two or three weeks and had this whole affair been sorted out then these players may have been persuaded to stay.

This will all come as welcome news to the fans as well who just want to get back some of the respect that they eagerly want to display and hold for their own football club. A lot of fans were falling out of love with the side because of the way the club was being run and now that there is the prospect of new ownership and a new start, it could mean that the smiles appear back on the faces of Newcastle fans.

However, everyone connected with the club should proceed with caution because the identity of the potential new owners is being kept a secret. A Singapore based group is said to have made a bid and although this may end up being financially lucrative, Newcastle will have new owners with no experience of the English game and a group of people that appear on the surface as intent on maximising the business side of the football club.

On the other hand the most realistic option seems to be former chairman, Freddy Shepherd. If it is this bid, which is the most successful, then Toon fans will shudder because a lot of them put the club’s failings down to this very man. He was the top dog when Newcastle were making progress in the Kevin Keegan era some years ago but he never showed the ambition or want for Newcastle to move forward and secure that first Premier League crown, which probably would have kept them out of the current position they are in.

Dress it up in any fashion, the main point is that Newcastle should not find themselves where they currently are and this would be a massive step forward because it means an end to the regime that got them relegated. The options for the future would then be very simple as the new owners would clearly have a sole goal of getting the club back into the top-flight and where it belongs.

They would do well to appoint Alan Shearer straight away for the simple reason that he is a very underrated manager. This is not even mentioning how much he loves the club and it would be a sensible move for all parties. Shearer would be able to create a respectful and honest club that would work tirelessly to banish the memories of the laughs and jokes that have constantly been aimed at Newcastle this year. This would have hurt and he will be intent on doing something about it.

New owners would probably be able to come in and nicely settle the finances of the club. The cost of relegation in the modern game runs into tens of millions of pounds and you do need someone in charge who has a bit of business prowess in order for the club to not run further into financial ruin. In this sense it would make sense to have owners that new how to run a large business. The limitations of what and who is available could be laid out and allow the club to perform to their maximums.

For Newcastle to have any chance of getting back into the Premier League, they need to keep the large part of their playing squad together. The Championship is a very competitive league and you need to have a strong squad that is full of quality in order to compete. Now that new owners seem to have been able to establish contact, it means that the club can focus on playing and coach staff as opposed to needless administrative tasks that should not even be contemplated.

The most important step that new owners would allow the club to take is putting a smile back on the face of every Newcastle fan in the country. For so long they have had to put up with this club being in the news for all of the wrong reasons and they must all be sick and tired of having fun made out of them and their club on an almost daily basis. If some of Newcastle’s reputation can be reinstalled that the club can come out flying at the start of next season and take to the Championship like a duck to water.

A lot of fans from football clubs up and down the country would chat to you all day long about how much they love their side but not one of them would display the same passion and affection as a Newcastle supporter. Newcastle are too big to be in their current predicament and it is encouraging that finally, after so long, someone seems to have come up with the money and is about to do something about it. One thing is for sure, the lessons that have not already been learnt certainly will be by the time all of the action kicks off again, if they aren’t then a lot of people are going to lose the sympathy and respect they still hold for this football club.

Turncoat Owen at it again

So, Michael Owen is on the verge of sealing a shock switch to Old Trafford and as a Liverpool fan, I have to admit that I’m bitterly disappointed in him.

The potential move brings up this issue of player loyalty or rather the lack of it in today’s football world. In Italy, France and in lesser cases Spain, it’s fairly common for players of Owen’s stature to switch allegiances between the country’s top clubs. But in England, with the exception of serial-mover Nicolas Anelka, it’s a rare occasion.

Owen will become the first player since Paul Ince to play for both Manchester United and Liverpool and for both players the feat was done via a spell abroad sandwiched in between. Ince, who had an indifferent experience with Inter Milan, left Old Trafford on bad terms with Alex Ferguson and was all too willing to return to the Premier League with rivals Liverpool.

Having spent 8 seasons at Anfield, the club that nurtured his talent as a youngster, Owen first turned his back on Liverpool in the summer of 2004 when he forced a move to Real Madrid.

Rafael Benitez had barely sat down at his new desk at the club before his star striker came pushing for a move. The Spaniard was powerless to stop Owen leaving and the fans were left devastated at the departure.

Some were bitter, others wished him well and didn’t blame him for leaving a club whose future was up in the air. As it happens, Owen failed to light up the Bernabeu, missed out on Champions League glory and subsequently ended up at the doomed Newcastle United after just once season in Spain.

Now, with his contract at relegated Newcastle expired, Owen was expected to decide on offers from the likes of Hull and Stoke but late this week it emerged at Premier League champions Manchester United were shock contenders.

Owen is reportedly only a medical away from completing the remarkable turnaround, but it is likely to start a hate campaign led by Liverpool fans aggrieved at Owen’s lack of loyalty and respect for his former club.

Alas, I can see the logic in the move, it makes sense for both player and club, but even Liverpudlians would prefer to see him in an Everton shirt. Owen’s loyalty to his parent club has to be questioned. Look at Carlos Tevez, a model professional who is a great example to younger players in today’s game.

Tevez spent just two years at Man Utd and will no longer play for the club after rejecting a new deal after some shabby treatment. However, the Argentine immediately refuted interest from Liverpool saying he would not play for the club out of respect for Manchester United fans.

That was after two years, Owen spent eight years at Anfield, winning many cups while always being first choice striker, something which Tevez rarely was at United. Respect must go out to Tevez for his loyalty, but should Owen betray his former Liverpool fans for a second time, then he will permanently lose a lot of Anfield hearts.