Village Idiot

Robben back to his usual injury prone self. Pity. Was thinking he was starting to get that past him after last season.

Donato, Djalminha, Mackaay, Fran, Mauro Silva, Conceiçao... that side was canny. Would easily be a top European side still today.

To be honest, I think you have been spoilt by the last twenty years. Truth is that Depor are a rather small club financially-wise and you couldn't afford to keep playing the caliber of players you've been accostumed to since the days of Bebeto and Co. You can't compete with the likes of Sevilla, Valencia, Atlético... with their stadiums and revenues they pull compared to yours. Lendoiro has done wonders to make it last as long as it did, and sure it's been a hell of a ride. League, cups, CL semis... Were you around during the times of O Bruixo?

Sucks then.

Question: just how close were you really to signing Modric?

Yes they were in pretty bad shape. Those €20m NUFC paid them for Colo/Xisco helped a lot I think... They have shed some wage fat and sold some important players like Filipe Luís and Colo, so they are light years from being the side that won La Liga early in the decade, but I think they'll stabilize as a midtable side and be able to wear off the financial storm. I guess Deporik will have a better knowledge of where they stand now.

I like Juan Domínguez and Urreta myself. Guardado is easily Depor's best player although he didn't have the best of seasons last year. Guardado/Urreta should give Depor better wingplay than most teams outside European places in La Liga. When are you dedicating a street to NUFC in La Coruña? Can't think of many people bringing more money to the city than them.

That's a good observation. I think that works in a 4-5-1 system with two holding midfielders. Madrid did that past season with the Diarra/Alonso pairing, for example (and they were a great counterattacking side). I presume ManU also tries that with Fletcher/Carrick but Carrick had a rather bad season. One of the reasons Liverpool bombed so badly, imho, is how they replaced Alonso with Aquilani (who plays further up the pitch) and then played Mascherano/Lucas as holding mids. Not a ounce of creativity there.

Yes, Touré's "problem" is that he tried to do too much. He bombed forward, tried to spray play... Busquets is far more quiet and limits himself to his job. If you look at set pieces, for example, he's always the only man that never attacks them. Puyol, Piqué... usually attack the box in turns, Busquets is always the last man, covering for them. I think Touré would be a way better box-to-box player than just a DM, imho.

Busquets is vulnerable when closed down, which not many teams chose to do (usual target is Xavi). Have to say that he's looked immense at the WC, I was surprised of how assured he looked.

I remember in the 80s when clubs published their honor lists they included stuff like the Teresa Herrera and the Ramón de Carranza. Summer trophies were special back then.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/07/16/sergio-busquets-world-cup-final/

Most summer trophies nowadays lose money unless they take in a sponsor. Deportivo cut it down from a 4-team tournament to a 2-team one like most Spanish teams have done. It's the most famous summer trophy in Spain, and the oldest that has been played continuously.

What's he on and how many years left?

I honestly can't think of a La Liga club that would pay a fee for Xisco. You probably can get another loan out to pad a squad, but he's just not worth money at this point.

Lorik Cana joined Sunderland from OM too. Biggest stepdown to me (you still have a decent brand in the continent). So it's not that strange.

I know that list is dross for the most part (although Chicharito looks pretty handy), but still can't see the Rossi link unless they make some space and get rid of a few.

Nah, we never allow buybacks on the players we buy. Don't ManU have half a million strikers? Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Chicharito, Macheda, Wellbeck, Diouf. Even if you take the youngsters out looks like a full house to me (unless they sell Berbatov).

Cigarini from Naples to Sevilla on a loan deal with a €7m buyout clause. "Almost done", according to Marca. They need a creative midfielder, have heard decent things about Cigarini but haven't seen him play much. Any of you Calcio fans can fill me in?

It's a squad game, but after buying Khedira they have four midfield destroyers (Gago, Diarra I, Diarra II and the German), and someone has to go.

"As" linking Lassana Diarra to Manchester United on a €24m deal.

As you know I watch Bolton somewhat often and Klasnic was very good when played. Great finishing and movement. Doesn't add much else to the team though, but he nails them in.

Ok, for some non-Barça and Madrid related news, we have a big scandal brewing up. Hércules president, Enrique Ortiz, is being investigated because of some real estate corruption (not terribly uncommon in that part of the country). However, after his phone was tapped by the authorities he was - unexpectedly - recorded bragging about how he fixed matches to guarantee Hércules' promotion. Today one of our newspapers is publishing an extract where he talks about buying out Córdoba's goalkeeper for 100,000€ (Hércules played Córdoba in the last day of the season, and won 5-1 to clinch promotion). Apparently he's also suspected to have fixed matches against Salamanca, Girona and Recreativo. Italy-tastic.

Another Spaniard, stick around so I don't feel so lonely. Think Florentino will sit this one out and let Mou do his thing (as seen by the no-name signings so far). If somehow Mou fails to win something I can see things getting fun though. What I'm 100% certain is that Valdano (Madrid's DoF and Florentino's main stooge) and Mourinho won't last together beyond a season.

As said they are loophole. Nominally is what clubs pay to players in order to sell merchandise and use the player's name and likeness in publicity and promotional materials. However it's subject to a better fiscality than regular wages (as it's not a salary but a sale), and lots of clubs use it as a device to pay a part of the wages to players. There was a time when more than half of the salary of a player would be paid as image rights, but they have curbed it down after the taxman started going after it, but it's still used.