MESSAGE TO EUROPE: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE US.

It's about the time when I begin to get really excited. I've been waiting for this for the past eight years and I have a feeling I'm not the only one. There will be 23 million people wearing yellow this coming Monday for the Romania - France game, hoping and expecting that some kind of miracle can happen and that Romania might be able to defeat les Bleus, the world finalists just two years ago. 

Nobody expects Romania to do anything this Euro. We're in "The Group of Death," the impossible group that only Italy, France or Holland could move on from.  There are two options for Romania this final tournament: either we surprise everyone from the beginning and keep surprising until we move out of the group stages and then fail under pressure later on, or we don't surprise anyone and we fail under pressure from the beginning. There is no middle ground with Romania, and a middle ground should never be expected. Either we shock the hell out of every betting man, or we make them happy. 

Point: Romania 1994

In 1994 the situation was very similar to the one we're faced with now - very tough opponents in our group, and no one expected us to do anything at all. What came out of WC94 was completely positive - victories against Colombia and Argentina, and a good run until we completely blundered it against Sweden and then lost it in penalties - a game we had in our hand. 

Point: France sucks. 

I don't see the justification for all of the big hype for the French.. I really don't. This is a team that didn't even deserve to qualify after Scotland wiped the floor with them twice in the groups. They have performed terribly in their friendlies and with all of their big name stars, managed to do fuck all in terms of scoring. Their highest scorers in the pre-Euro friendlies were Gomis (2 goals) and Ribery (2 goals, both penalties). Gomis won't play (at least against Romania), so there goes half of their attacking productivity. Their performance through all these friendlies was terrible, boring, and unproductive. Romania will need to take advantage of this.

France also has more than a hand full of players that are in the squad just because they are French glories, and not because they are in top form or will make enough impact. With them in there, surprises are always possible, but the chances are that it will work in our favor more than against our favor. 

Here are the significant games registered by France since the world cup:

France 3-1 Italy
France 0-0 Italy
France 0-1 Scotland
France 0-1 Scotland
France 2-2 Ukraine
France 2-0 Ukraine
France 1-0 England
France 2-0 Ecuador
France 0-0 Paraguay
France 1-0 Colombia

They've played one team qualified to Euro 2008, drew once and won once against Italy. They've been beaten twice by Scotland, home and away, drew and beat Ukraine, won the England friendly in an awful game with a penalty, and then struggled to barely beat and draw second-tier South American teams. 

Here are the significant games registered by Romania in the past two years:

Romania 2-0 Czech Republic
Romania 1-0 Spain
Romania 1-3 Germany
Romania 0-0 Holland
Romania 1-0 Holland
Romania 2-0 Turkey
Romania 3-0 Russia
Romania 4-0 Muntenegro

We've played against 6 teams qualified to Euro since 2006 and we've lost to one of them (Germany). However, I could excuse this by saying that we played 60 minutes of the game with no main players, and the whole 23 man squad was rolled in the game, the germans having Schweinsteiger and co. still on the pitch at the end of the game while we had our third keeper and a team made of all Romanian League players. But without excuses, we've beaten 5 teams qualified to Euro 2008 in the past two years. We're ready, and we've proven ourselves to be ready. We've scored 9 goals and received 3 goals in games agaisnt teams qualified to EURO 2008. 

If the players remain calm and colected and we play our game, we'll beat France and beat them soundly. There is an interesting tactic prepared by Piturca for the France game. Chivu will play Defensive midfield on the left side - tracking Ribery. Daniel Niculae could start the game due to the fact that he plays in Ligue 1 and is in great form. Banel Nicolita could be in the starting 11 to contain the speed of Abidal. 

Point: Injuries

Henry and Ribery have injury concerns. Vieira is just recovering from an injury. All three are said to start the game even if not 100% fit. All I have to say is thank you Colombia!

Point: Sagnol + Thuram

What makes me laugh most is the French defense. We have Mutu attacking the left side against Sagnol and Thuram. I can't wait to see this. It might be the sole reason that we win the game. We play an attacking trident, and if they give too much attention to Mutu since I doubt Sagnol can handle him alone, then openings will appear in the center of the defense. 

Point: Adrian Mutu #10

I don't care what anyone says, France don't have anyone like Mutu on the team. Since Zidane retired, there is no Mutu figure in the french squad.  He'll have more impact than the whole 4 attacking French players, because for Romania, Mutu plays all those positions. Makelele won't breathe this hard ever again.

I'll follow up with more information about this match, pre-game, during game, and post-game analysis here following Romania from every angle possible.

Everything is possible. My guess: Romania 2-1 France. 

Once more, FIFA manage to annoy me. This time dealing with Romanian player Adrian Mutu. Apparently, FIFA want Mutu to pay Chelsea 12 million euros as compensation for the cocaine incident. This is possible only with the Premier League ruling that said that following Mutu's failed drug test, he unilaterally voided the contract with Chelsea. But that ruling only happened because Chelsea wanted the contracted voided in the first place. 

Chelsea didn't have to let Mutu go. Manchester United didn't let Ferdinand go free of contract when he missed his drug test and received one month MORE than mutu in suspension and a similar fee. Chelsea said they don't condone this kind of behavior and therefore can't allow Adrian to be part of the Chelsea organization any longer. So they did everything possible to place the blame on Mutu for their release at the time.

Now FIFA expect him to pay 12 million euros for something that he didn't want to do - leave Chelsea. He was forced out instead of waiting a 7 month suspension and playing again or being sold, and now they want compensation. It's total crap and another reason to hate Chelsea. And FIFA ruling in favor of Chelsea on this case is even more annoying. They have their own interests, and not the interests of the players in mind. Crap umbrella organization. 

I hope he gets a better lawyer and keeps fighting this. It would be a shame if not.

It's always a pleasure to add new talent to the big OleOle Exclusive Designer Team, and today a great one joins us!

I'd like to announce the addition of ACM22 to the team. His real name is Jordan and he lives somewhere in New York. He's been designing for almost two years, and has been administrator of the footiearts community in the process. We've always loved his work, and it's great to have Jordan on our team.

Here are some of his wallpapers:

You can see more of his work, and work by other artists in the OleOle football wallpapers gallery. 

So maybe there is no such thing as a "profile-ee" award in the real world, but now there is a made up award by yours truly that goes to the person with the sickest profile design of the month from now on. You'll find it on my blog here on OleOle.

Sadly, you don't win anything if you win the award, but if you do win it, then you know that I think you have a really well designed profile. It's seriously really really prestigious and I'll send your gift bags by mail... but they "might" get lost. 

Anyways, I'll get right to business. The winner of the "profile-ee" award for the month of May is: Benit

Awesome profile design from the OleOle member Benit. The concept is fairly simple - it emphasizes and uses the nike tiempo boot for the design and the curves of the page. Simple idea, brilliant execution. As you'll see on his profile, Benit is also a member of the OleOle football wallpaper team.  So check out his work too, it's on his profile as well. Send me a message if you spot some awesome profile designs, I'll continue to be on the lookout too. 

This profile is a perfect example of what you can do to your OleOle profile. Everything is customizable on OleOle, you just need some imagination!

I don't usually write reviews on boots, but that's because I haven't had a new pair in quite some time. My old Nike boots started to wear down, so I figured it's about time to go for something new. I was browsing online to find something a football boot that was comfortable, light, and that looked pretty awesome. After looking around for some time, I decided that it's time to invest in a pair of the new Nike Mercurial Vapor IV red and gold boots. So here's what I thought of them, for everyone who is interested in getting some new boots and is considering this specific model.

In terms of comfort, the Vapor IVs feel surprisingly awesome. They're really light weight, they mould around your foot perfectly, and they feel ridiculously comfortable. I was a bit shocked when I put them on because I was expecting random horrible pains and discomfort. But that wasn't the case.
Initial Comfort: 9/10

The touch was also very comfortable, I felt like I could control the ball better because it felt like my foot was touching the ball, not some fat piece of leather. Gheorghe Hagi - the best player to ever live - said that he was able to control the ball so well because he played barefoot all the time when he was young. These Vapors are the closest thing you can get to feeling like you can touch the ball with your foot, and that's really important in my opinion.
Touch: 10/10

The one problem that I had with them is that after I played for about an hour, I started to get some blisters on the back of my ankle. So you need to play with a thick sock, or put some tape on your ankle. It's a problem that happens because of the lack of padding in the back of the shoe. Nike sacrificed padding for weight, but it's not a problem that can't be avoided. It's been getting better and better each time I've played with them, so don't let this keep you from buying them if you want a good light shoe.
Comfort over time: 4/10

I got my Vapors IV from my local shop Soccer Pro. They're nice guys and have great prices, and you can check out their online store at soccerpro.com. They have the Vapors I bought, and the other colors of Mercurial Vapors if you don't like red.

They didn't make me play quite like Ronaldo, but I did feel a bit more free while playing, so that's always good. So go get yourself some new boots for the summer as well!

New Cesc Fabregas Arsenal Wallpaper I made.

So I haven't made a post about the new  football wallpaper gallery on OleOle yet, so here is my introduction to how things will work for everyone who is interested. The OleOle team have been working hard to develop the best wallpaper gallery possible in terms of ease of use, functionality etc. and it has turned out amazing!

We will feature wallpapers that are relevant to current events in football, and they will change every day. For example, for the Champions League final, we featured our best wallpapers of Manchester United and Chelsea, and then just Manchester United once they won it. For now, the featured wallpapers are just new wallpapers created by the OleOle Graphic Artist team, but we will feature Euro 2008 wallpapers once it starts. 

Always go and check out what is new, what is featured, and if you make wallpapers, just upload your own!

For more updates on wallpapers and the graphic community, you can always check out Niran's blog. We'll both be updating everyone on what is happening until we put together a page just for wallpaper updates! 

Also in the wallpaper gallery you can see a disco deco, a robo ramos, champions with horns, and the country that brought you numa numa. 

Enjoy.

I was about to go to sleep and then read in interesting blog article here on OleOle. And frankly it got me thinking a tiny bit and then made me write this post.

So money in football, good or bad? That's the main question. The aforementioned blogger things it's ruined football, and I think it's done quite the opposite.

When you think about football you have to think of it as an economy -the football economy - driven by the football business enterprise.  Being the sport with by far the largest audience (2 billion people roughly), there is a lot of money involved and a lot of development. Everything is about money... war, religion, welfare programs, and even charity - because either you pay money to charity or volunteer your time (which means you can afford to take time off from working.. I mean.. do you see the mine workers in Africa volunteering at their local food bank?).

So understanding that everything is about money is essential. Then comes what ideas you have about how economies work and what the best approach would be. The way it's working right now is through sort of a trickle down - free market system. And I'll go into why I think that's working in a bit.

I never like the arguments that certain clubs have monopolized football. If there really was one true monopoly in the football industry, then we'd have only one champion every year of everything, and football would get really boring. The fact that teams fluctuate so much eliminates the possibility of even considering that any one team has an absolute monopoly. Then comes the argument that the top clubs have some kid of cartel formed, where they just dominate. But that doesn't explain how come every season there is the surprise team breaking through, and they haven't spent more money than a team they place above in the league. 

Big clubs with big bank accounts help smaller clubs more than they hurt them by "dominating". It's no coincidence that there are by far more professional footballers now than there were 50 years ago. Money that has been pumped into big teams has been spent towards transfers, stadiums, youth systems, academies, tournaments. Teams are making their living and growing because big clubs pay them money for talent they grow. The money they get, they invest in better facilities, higher paychecks, more youth, etc. For some teams it pays off, for others it does not. 

Manchester United spent the money they won from Champions League revenue and the money they got for winning the league on all their transfers. The money they spent was earned through performance, and they received so much money because WE watch their games and see the advertisements, WE go to their stadiums for the matches, and WE buy their merch. Once clubs mature and profit like United has, they invest only money they win. And that's all they need to invest to maintain or add some youth. They don't spend 100 million extra to buy one super expensive player that they don't really need.

Think how much Tottenham have stimulated the football market in the past few years. They've paid high prices for crap players and they've won nothing (well some cup) and they're just abosulte shit. But the prices they paid helped other teams, and in turn that money helped other teams and so on. 

The money invested helps the global football business grow, expand, and frankly employ more people and raise standards. We have a faster game, more exciting, and with more attention than ever before. And we still don't have a monopoly!

I can tell you when I did see a monopoly in football - during communism in Romania, at the peak in 86. No one was allowed to invest in any clubs, they were run by government organizations. The organization with the biggest budget was the Military, and their team was Steaua. They won basically every season, league and cup. And one season they won the Champions League too, with no foreign players. But they completely monopolized football in Romania and there was no money invested to make any kind of difference, making our league pure crap after those years. And we're still recovering from that now. Finally through investment and good management, a small team broke through the ranks and won the league - CFR Cluj. They spent far less money than Steaua, they spent much less time match fixing and hiring referees, but then won the league. And that to me makes a big statement. 

When you have any kind of control and you don't allow the market to do it's job and allow a freedom of flow of money through the system you can't expect progress. You might have some for a short time, but then it all starts to snowball. Money makes people want to do things... like continue playing football, because it pays as well or better than working on a farm, cleaning shit off of toilets, or for a group of footballers, it pays better than managing a big company or being a doctor.

My last example is Arsenal, who spend very little money compared to other big teams in the Premiership, and continue to do well. They don't win the league every season, but they might be able to dominate for the next few years if they can keep their players - WITH MONEY! And with Hleb, Flamini etc. leaving, it's just another bit of proof that it's hard to monopolize football even if you have a completely created team and not a bunch of 50 million dollar superstars. Barcelona are suffering from the "too many superstar" syndrome. And they're changing their ways, selling players, promoting youth, etc. 

But in the end, football has benefited from influx of money over the years. The rise of Eastern European leagues for example is due to money being invested. You've seen Romanian and Bulgarian teams in the Champions League groups for the past few seasons (though they didn't do very well.. but still..) and they were there because  of money. The industries in these countries are growing in terms of football, and it will just give more and more young kids the opportunity to play an amazing game and maybe make a living out of it and entertain us. 

Football sales and industry in Brazil also represents the amount of GDP that it cost to switch from oil to ethanol as their fuel. Eliminate the money in football in Brazil, and you would not have an energy-independent nation. Think about that for an impact.

Plus, if there wasn't so much money in football, you wouldn't have places like OleOle... and that would be no fun. ;)

So I was reading the press before going to sleep tonight and found some interesting news. More sources rumor that Kaka might be on his way to Barcelona. The "alleged" proposition from the Catalans would be Zambrotta+Ronaldinho and 20 million euros for brazilian Kaka.

It seems a little bit ambitious for Barcelona, but considering that Milan are suffering in defense and they wanted Zambrotta, and they did show a lot of interest for Ronaldinho, there is a slight chance it migh happen. The 20 million euros could come in handy as well by being put into a young defender. It's also roumored that Alberto Gilardino is heading to Fiorentina, so there is some open space in attack. Milan are also linked with Borriello whom they share a co-ownership with Genoa. He scored 19 goals this season and is joint top scorer of Serie A with Trezeguet and Del Piero. 

We'll see what materializes, and it would be interesting to see Kaka at Barcelona. Eto'o is speaking out again about his desire to be in the Premier League and Spurs are linked with him at a massive price of 40 million euros (which I think would be yet ANOTHER waste of money from Tottenham.) 

Either way, non-english clubs are being very ambitious  so far and I think it's partly due to the English domination of the club scene this season. We'll see what happens as time goes on!

Seriously. That statement is directed towards none other than Arsene Wenger. One thing that even a gypsie knows is that it takes money to survive, which is why you find them in subways and on streets picking pockets and stealing money. But they're doing it to survive. The same rule applies to football. You need money to survive in a commercialized world of football where teams spend 50 million euros in one transfer season to strenghten their squad. The rich teams should invest money in new talent, something which Manchester United did last season when they splashed the cash on Nani and Anderson. 

A team that has money and never spends any is Wenger's Arsenal. I know his philosophy is different, and I love it, but once in a while, you need to spend more money to get something great. This summer is the time for Wenger to spend some of the money Arsenal has been amassing over the last few seasons and actually win something again. There's nothing wrong with having a grown young team, but there is something wrong with being too stingy. 

To begin with, Wenger needs to look only as far as his home: France for one big solution to a big problem: ARSENAL CAN'T SCORE! For this, I recommend the signing of young French striker Jeremy Menez. 

Menez currently plays his football at A.S. Monaco and is a big prospect for the future of French football. I personally rate him above the overhyped Benzema, because of his speed and possible future growth. He won't be nearly as expensive as Benzema either. Menez was discovered and promoted by Romanian manager Ladislau Boloni - another reason for me to like the kid. If you've never seen Jeremy play, check out this youtube video.

For the midfield, Arsenal badly need a left winger because Diaby certainly lacks in the departament. Luka Modric was the perfect solution for this position, but Spurs have tied him up already (I don't understand why he would go there of all places!). So the next best solution in my opinion is Hatem Ben Arfa from Lyon. The kid is fantastic and has a lot of pace to challange the defences of opponents. Him and Walcott on the wings will make for a very strong Arsenal next season.

The defense needs a lot of work because there are far too many mistakes and far too little backups for the first team. Wenger signed an Australian central defender recently (Mark Milligan), but I doubt he's the answer to Arsenal's defensive problems.  The solution in my opinion comes in the form of two young center backs. The first one is Serdar Tasci from Stuttgart, a defender who is young and has massive potential. The other option would be Marek Suchy from Slavia Prague who is also a very sought after young prospect of Czech football. 

The goalkeeper post is also vulnerable. For this area, there are many good options. The best is Sebastian Frey from Fiorentina. In my opinion, he is the goalkeeper who has by far the best form right now, saving the weak Fiorentina defense every game. A younger option could be Akinfeev or Ustari. Either one of these keepers could improve Arsenal's situation by a big margin.

Arsenal have the opportunity to add to the core of fantastic youth created by Arsene by spending some money and landing these crucial signings. Without them, I can't see Arsenal winning something significant next season again. Chelsea will spend a reported 100 million euros this summer, United will splash the cash once more with money from the Premiership and Champions League, and Tottenham already is making steps towards more investments. Wenger needs to make a move for Menez, Ben Arfa, Tasci and a goalkeeper of his choice and spend that transfer budget he never wants to spend. He will buy young players that fit his Arsenal mould, and create a young team that is unstopable for years to come. I can't see it happening, but I hope he wakes up and does it. 

Who do you think Arsenal should sign for next season, and please don't say Didier Drogba!?

BARCELONA

The fabulous goal scored by Scholes which was born from Zambrotta's mistake could mean the transition from the past to the future. The Italian defender will be left with this, and not the neutralization of Cristiano Ronaldo in the two games against Manchester United. Even though Barcelona had their two best games of the season against United, means the final point in a a 5 year cycle, in which the Catalans won two league titles and one champions league, but also threee seasons of underperformance in the League. 

It's time for Barcelona to repopulate the team with new faces, new aspirations, and new motivations. However, the changes likely won't stop at the team level, and will include the staff.

Manager:

When Laporta went on the Rijkaard route, there was a bit problem: nobody wanted to manage that Barcelona, a loosing team with a weak budget and a depressed fanbase. Now the problem is the opposite: everyone wants to manage Barcelona who reinvigorated its finances and will have a reported 350 million euro budget for next season, with 100 million euros for transfers. A lot of names have been thrown out to replace Rijkaard. Guardiola, Ludrup, Mourinho, Ancelotti, Lippi, and Scolari are the most prominent of these names. The Catalan press is almost certain that Guardiola, 37 years old, the current manager of Barcelona B will be named the first team manager.

Players: 

At the team level, the biggest change in Barcelona history is highly anticipated. There are 13 players that could leave the team, and others to replace them. 

Like Rijkaard, Ronaldinho has closed his catalan cycle as well, and will leave. The two came together, and they will leave together. Other than Ronaldinho, the other certainties are: Thuram, Edmilson, Zabmrotta, Ezquerro, and Pinto. Deco, Marquez, Gudjohnsen, Henry, Giovani, Oleguer, Silvinho, are highly likely to be sold, and for the first time Barclelona will listen to offers for Eto'o and Xavi.

The list of possible purchases is even longer than the list of players leaving. There have been over 50 names that are speculated by the media. There also is a riddle going around Catalonia recently after Laporta's laptop was stolen and the names of 10 players were found out. There will be 2 french players, 2 brazilians, 2 spaniards, 1 dutch, 1 mexican, 1 german, and one argentinian. 

Here are the possible answers to the Barcelona riddle:

French players: Benzema, Ribery
Brazilians: Lucio, Daniel Alves
Spaniards: Cesc Fabregas, David Silva
Dutch: Huntelaar
German: Lahm
Argentinian: Garay
Mexican: Guardado

The other possible names rumoured are: Coloccini, Poulsen, Seydou Keita, Klose, Capel, Drogba.

Out of that list, Cesc will not come, Klose is almost past it, Drogba does not fit the Barcelona style, Coloccini is not always on his game, Capel would be another experiment, and Keita has promise, but I don't think it's worth the money OL will ask for him. 

The spine of the team will be Valdes, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, and Bojan, all products of Barcelona. 

The team next season could look something like this:

GK: Valdes
DF: Alves/Guarado, Garay, Puyol, Lahm
MF: Ribery, Iniesta/Xavi, Silva
AM: Messi
FW: Benzema/Bojan, Huntelaar/Bojan

That would be a pretty scary team, one that has hard working players and less superstars, but just as much flair. I personally can't wait to see how much of this happens, and I hope to see at least some of those players play for Barcelona starting this summer.