Manchester United have apparently reached deals to sign Brazilian startlet Anderson from Porto, and Portuguese wonder-kid/winger Nani from Sporting Lisbon .

F*CK. SH*T. B*LL*CKS. OK, didn't need that many asterisks there, but come on. This is exactly what the Arsenal needed to do after they won in 1998/2002/2004 - strengthen. There's been no news on the transfer front apart from Robin Van Persie saying that they don't really need to sign anyone, and that Julio Baptista has decided to ship his chunky, useless self back to Madrid. COME ON! Man United have gone and signed two of the best young players in Europe (and i'd rate Anderson as one of the best young players in the world), for £35 bleedin' million pounds for the pair. That's almost Chelsea-esque.

Nani has excelled this year for a rejuvenated Sporting, and his goalscoring wingplay could see him become into one of the most dangerous attackers in Europe. Him and Cristiano Ronaldo on opposite wings might just see the introduction of double fullbacks on each side as a tactic (well Chelsea do it anyways).

Anderson is a bit more of an enigma. Back in October/November the press couldn't shut up about him, he was doing amazing things in the Champions League, Barcelona were interested, and he was enjoying his football. He's since gone off the boil a bit, but the ability is still there.

It might be a shame though if he doesn't achieve what he's supposed to at United. I know many Brazilians consider it a shame that Kleberson (one of the most talented players in Brazil at the time) never achieved his potential and ended up losing his way completely in Manchester, and I would hope that the same does not happen with Anderson, because he really is a special player. I don't really have faith in Alex Ferguson's management in this matter, but maybe Carlos Queiroz will prove crucial here.

Four years ago Man Utd missed out on Ronaldinho because they didn't want to pay a few million pounds more. Now, they're splashing out in a big way, and one or both of those players might well go on to eclipse and exceed Ronaldinho in a few years' time. 

For several years, Jim Smith, the then Derby manager (also known as the bald eagle), somehow or the other managed to keep Derby up every year. Random unknown foreigners and Britishers would arrive in, some of them would be absolutely terrible, others would be washed up underperformers or overperformers, and there would be some gems that were picked up from nowhere. Thankfully they were underpinned by the excellent goalkeeping of Estonian Mart Poom, who once was once of the best 'keepers in the league, but the rest of the squad was a hotchpotch of journeymen - Stefan Schnoor, Simo Valakari, Danny Higginbotham, Georgi Kinkladze, Fabrizio Ravanello, Malcolm Christie, Branko Strupar, Youl Mawene, Paolo Wanchope, Dean Sturridge, Deon Burton, my god... the list was endless. 

And year after year, although Jim Smith and his random signings, somehow hatched together enough points to stay up, there was never any feeling of progress. They were never building towards anything; it was all short term. The players coming in, although they did the job, were of an ever-decreasing quality, and the youth-system never produced any players of note in those years. And so it was no surprise when in 2002, Derby went down. They were a mess went they went down as well, with a large squad and wage bill to match, and almost went bankrupt and got relegated again. But they were saved - they were bought for £3, and George Burley was drafted in, and he duly steered them clear of relegation!

The new owners rebuilt the club around the philosophy of youth and development. Tom Huddlestone (now at Tottenham) and Lee Grant were building blocks of the new team, and now other exciting talents like Giles Barnes and Lewin Nyatanga will ensure they have a great future (or else a good cash-flow). They've got a great mixture of old heads and promising youngsters, and Billy Davies has done fantastically to steer them up to the Premiership again, after a long, torturous season. At won stage they looked like they would win the league outright, then they flagged badly, but they were excellent throughout the playoffs, and deserve their promotion.

Welcome back Derby! Paul Boertien will be delighted - the young defender has been there since back in the old days, and never left. Seth Johnson is back there too, although he did jump ship for Leeds in-between, but the £10m  they got for him was probaby more essential to their survival than he was.

Since Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho/Ronaldo (can't remember which one) aren't going to be at this year's Copa America, a bit of the gloss will be taken off the competition, but it also leaves room for other teams and players to impress.

So I was wondering what people's thougts were on which teams and players would impress at this year's Copa?

Wouldn't bet against Argentina winning. Last time around they outplayed Brazil in the final, but still lost. 

Well... ticket sales for this years Champions League Final (Athens 2007) seem to have ended up in a right old mess. I'm watching it on TV at the moment (as the poor and distant are wont to do), and things seem noisy enough so i'd hope that most of the loyal fans who tried their best to go have managed to, but there has been an unhappy sinister note to the way the whole thing has been handled.

* WHAT A ROULETTE FROM KAKA! *

Anyways, sorry... back to the business. The first big problem, is that forged tickets have flooded the market - there are said to be in excess of 1500 tickets, and arrests have already been made, although the number in circulation is thought to be huge. Many fans had bought tickets in advance, and some are concerned that these might now be fake , which is heartbreaking considering that the minimum paid was probably about €400.

* TYPICAL OPPORTUNISM FROM PIPP INZAGHI, MILAN 1-0 UP. STUPID HALF-TIME PANELISTS SAY HANDBALL, I SAY WATCH THE REPLAYS PROPERLY *

Fans have also been sadly let down by the system in this case. The Spiros Louis Stadium holds only 63,000, so the per club allocation of roughly 17,000 tickets was never that large to begin with. Fans have thus had to go around to all manner of touts and ticket agencies to try and find those golden tickets, and have these been very vulnerable to trouble. Many ticket agencies sold packages to clients without having the requisite number of tickets in hand, and they did so in anticipation of ticket prices falling, and subsequently making huge profits. Unfortunately that never happened, and so several hopeful fans have been left in the lurch. The majority of these agencies simply took the money and ran, and obviously since the deals were dodgy to begin with, the clients could do nothing.

Travel & sports travel companies weren't much better - most of them refunded the ticket cost (face values) to the fans, but kept the travel expenses portion of it - presumably under the argument that said fans could still have gone and had a holiday and stay in some hotel.

* SECOND HALF AND LIVERPOOL ARE 2-0 DOWN. PERFECT FINISHING FROM PIPPO INZAGHI AGAIN, AND MILAN HAVE SHOWN THEIR PEDIGREE *

Adriano Galliani didn't help things this with his statements saying that only season ticket holders should receive tickets to the final (not sure how much this affected things, especially because Italian fans are the most notorious sellers of their tickets). When you consider the fact that Liverpool and Milan are two of the world's biggest and most popular clubs, it becomes obvious that the ex-pat and international fans would probably be travelling in numbers rivalling those of the local fans.

There is also the great story of the one Italian tour operator who was selling close to 3,000 ticket packages for the final, but actually had 0 tickets. He had anticipated receiving these tickets directly from Milan, and that never materialised. I'm not sure whether the fans eventually received any money back, but I hope they did. So much for the beautiful game eh?

* MILAN WIN. 2-1 AT FULLTIME WITH A CONSOLATION GOAL FROM KUYT. HE WAS OFFSIDE WHEN CROUCH FLICKED IT ON, BUT IT TOUCHED MALDINI ON THE WAY THROUGH AND SO IT STANDS. IT WAS A SCARE FOR MILAN, BUT THEY COMFORTABLY WRAP THE GAME UP, AND IT WAS MEN vs BOYS REALLY *

You know how the saying goes.

Milan teased and tormented a pedestrian United side tonight. When it came down to the crunch, they basically lacked the requisite quality. United are back to where they were when they signed the Juan Sebastian Veron back in 2001, in an attempt to add some class and composure to their midfield because they were so often found wanting when faced up to the continent's best.

The hustle and bustle, and charge and energy of Rooneys and Ronaldos might be enough to storm the Premiership and the meeker of Europe's top contenders, but when faced by the true class of a possession game with high levels of technique, they can't contend. In 2000, Fernando Redondo pulled the strings and bewitched United's midfield into submission as Real Madrid marched on to win the cup. Three years later Zidane and Figo were also present as Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to knock them out. And in between there was their elimination by Deportivo La Coruna, when playmaker Juan Valeron was arguably the best in Europe.

Manchester United play swashbuckling, dynamic, entertaining, attacking football, but they most often pummell opponents into submission, as opposed to carving them open with guile and cunning. That's where they lose out -  they've never had that player in the middle of the park who can control games. Maybe Ferguson made the mistake of thinking that Carrick could/would be that player, but as fantastic of a passer as he is, he doesn't dominate teams with his movement of the ball.

And they were outclassed tonight. Gattuso ran and ran and ran and tackled and kicked everything and gave 100% to never let United's players rest. And in Kaka, Pirlo and Seedorf, Milan had three of Europe's most accomplished passers and thinkers.

Kaka has been a revelation this year with his finishing and general attacking play. He's been the best Brazilian for about a year and a half now, and hopefully he will receive his due credit and emerge from the shadow of Ronaldinho. Sometimes wide, sometimes central, he glides around the pitch, finding enormous amounts of space and plays the game with subtle endeavour using every possible angle to pass and move in. 

Pirlo was Italy's best player at the World Cup, and is one of the most consistent in Europe. He moves the ball perfectly at any distance to any player on the field, intelligently reads the game to fill in gaps, and most importantly he understands situations very well, and adapts to them.

As for Seedorf, he may be a bit older now, but he's won the European Cup thrice - with Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan. This will be his sixth final, and third with Milan. He can shoot, pass and run, and his movement and adaptability mean that he can take control when he needs to, or play the supporting role to either Kaka or Pirlo.

Don't forget Ambrosini as well - essentially a defensive midfielder, but with good all-round ability, he supported everyone in their efforts tonight, forming a central core with Pirlo and Gattuso, and allowing Seedorf and Kaka to run around and do their thing.

This was a top, top class midfield, with intelligence, experience, and class, and quite simply Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick are nearly men, who were not upto the task tonight. Ryan Giggs is rejuvenated in his roving role, but is still essentially a 33 year old left-winger with much diminished pace. Scholes is still bright, still classy, but he's always been a reflex player - one touch passes, hammered shots and volleys, and quick interplay.

There was no one to take charge today, no one to control things. In the first leg they escaped through an inspired performance from the team at home in front of a roaring Old Trafford. But at the San Siro, it was men versus boys.

And as for that whole best player in the world debate? Kaka showed today that Cristiano Ronaldo is a million miles away. Kaka is real, true class, a kid who arrived from Sao Paulo and immediately started to control games and make things happen. He can pass, he can move, he can finish. Ronaldo is a trickster who has after three unproductive seasons has hit great form. He is as good of a dribbler as anyone, and has improved his shooting and crossing, but he doesn't play with composure and intelligence in the way that a Kaka, Henry or Ronaldinho does. The Portuguese "kid" has failed to score against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool this season, and I would say that all the celebrations over his talent are more than a little bit pre-mature. 

Good Luck Milan.