Sergio Agüero - any good?

It’s hardly news that Ancelotti has been looking at Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Agüero. Reports state that the Blues have been quoted a monster £45 million for the Argentinian superstar who is also demanding £6.5 million after tax. Or as Gullit used to say, “netto”.

It appears that the £6.5 million after tax is a big sticking point. It’s the same as £11 million before tax or, to put it into context, equivalent to Kaka’s £200,000 a week Real Madrid wages. JT, Lamps and the rest of the squad are hardly going to sit quietly when in walks someone earning that amount of wonga. Hence the deal’s stalled.

For CFCnet, the question isn’t so much how much he’ll cost but more whether he’s any good. Yes, they’re related but the key question is will he perform and knock the goals in? If he doesn’t, then it hardly matters whether he costs £1 or £50 million. After all, with a nickname like ‘Kun’ (a Japanese manga character) failure to knock the goals in will soon have the headline writers’ drooling. ‘What a Kun-t’ being the start.

Sergio’s famous for two things:

Firstly, he’s the fiancee of Diego Maradona’s daughter who had a child with him earlier this year. If Sergio comes to Chelsea you can therefore expect to see Maradona’s portly frame tucking into a pie or two in the West Stand. With Maradona being the Argentine manager, the words ‘conflict’, ’of’ and ‘interest’ spring to mind.

Secondly, Sergio was the youngest ever player in Argentina’s first division at 15 years, 35 days. Hence comparisons with his father-in-law. Indeed, Sergio’s already played 55 games for Argentina yet has only just turned 21.

But what about his scoring record?

At Independiente he played for 3 seasons but in his first full season scored 18 goals in 36 games. A return of 0.50%. Not bad.

Moving to Atletico in 2006, he subsequently struck up a sensational partnership with Diego Forlan. Sergio’s goal record: 6, 19 and 17. Assuming it took him a year to settle, his record is basically similar to his one at Independiente with a 0.51% and 0.46% goal per game ratio.

As comparison, Frank Lampard’s goal per game ratio is 0.39%.

Here are a few clips of Sergio in action:

Independiente: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzHI0rA6Bto

Atletico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4gWg0k_N5o

So, there you have it. This kid can play. Very Maradonna-esque and a tricky little player. A bit like Tevez on speed. As runner up player of the year in La Liga last year and Argentina’s player of the year for 2009 he’ll no doubt make a fantastic acquisition to our squad.

One concern remains. The tattoo on his arm uses JR Tolkein’s Tengwar alphabet spoken by the Elven people. He’s obviously smaller than we thought.

Hypocrite of the year award - Liverpool FC

Once FA Cup celebrations had quietened down and a great end to a dramatic season faded over the horizon, talk at CFCnet turned to some of the stranger events that had happened over the previous nine months. A sort of football version of the X Files.

Chief amongst these was the anniversary of the Heysel Stadium disaster on May 29th 2009. Even Mulder and Sculley would have been hard pushed to find any media coverage of this event. Just like one of the famous X Files episodes of the Nineties, it seems that grey aliens and reptilian humanoids aren’t the only thing to disappear mysteriously into the moonlit sky.

What makes the intrigue even more perplexing is that a month earlier 28 thousand fans and officials of Liverpool Football Club sombrely paid tribute to the 96 LFC fans who sadly lost their lives 20 years earlier in another calamity - the Hillsbrough Football Disaster.

There’s no question that Hillsbrough was a desperately tragic event that affected not just the dead fans and their families, but also the City of Liverpool itself. It was a defining moment that has etched April 15th into the hearts and souls of every Liverpool fan and indeed Merseyside, Blue and Red alike.

CFCnet respects the mourning and grief that surrounds Hillsbrough, not least the ongoing search for justice deftly sidestepped by the British judiciary. The Hillsbrough memorial committee has been a paragon of dignity who have campaigned for justice with great persistence and fortitude.

But hang on a minute. Wait up! What happened on the anniversary of Heysel? Err, not a lot. Whereas the 20th anniversary of the Hillsbrough disaster stole acres of newsprint and prime time media slots, the 24th anniversary of Heysel couldn’t have been quieter if the Ministry of Defence had slapped a D Notice over it. How come?

Wikipedia clarifies that the 39 fans that died in the European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool were mostly fans of Juve. Quote, “fans of Liverpool FC breached a fence separating them from rival Juve fans causing the Italians to retreat putting pressure on a dilapidated retaining wall which then collapsed.”

Any remaining doubts as to the culpable party are then dismissed with the reminder that “a number of Liverpool fans were subsequently tried for manslaughter”. UEFA said simply it was the darkest hour in their history.

With that in mind, it seems odd that Liverpool FC manage to wheel out 28,000 fans, officials, dignitaries and Government ministers for the anniversary of Hillsbrough yet the only remembrance for Heysel was one man in Stanley Park who bowed to his knees in silent prayer. Even then it’s not known whether he was praying for the departed or lamenting Liverpool’s 1-0 loss.

For the above reason, CFCnet is sad to award its ‘hypocrite of the year’ award to Liverpool FC. A life’s a life but if it’s a Scouser it’s obviously worth a little more. Very sad indeed.

Ancelotti needs our support

Whatever you think about Ancelotti, and there’s a significant minority who are against his appointment, we’ve got to get behind him. If nothing less, he deserves our respect for what’s he’s achieved at AC Milan and we should be proud that he’s chosen our Club.

Let’s go through some of the concerns:

1. His English is poor: If management is all about communication then he’s already up against his first hurdle. Scolari suffered with his English and there’s no question Mr Ancelotti needs to spend the next month sitting in a darkened room with an English teacher. Concern rating – 8 out of 10.

2. One Serie A Title in 8 years: At the elite level of European football that’s pretty poor by anyone’s standards. It would be a bit rich for us to complain when our team has historically won a title once every half century but Chelsea (post Abramovich) will expect to win a title at least once every 3 years. However, don’t forget that during Ancelotti’s AC Milan reign there was a significant period of corruption and scandal with Juve bribing referees to win the Championship in the Calciocaos affair – hardly a level playing field. Concern rating – 7 out of 10.

3. Liverpool’s Istanbul comeback: Carlo my son, if we were 3-0 up in a Champions League final against Liverpool only to promptly lose it, you’d be out on your ear quicker than you could say ‘Blue Flag’. It would be the end. Don’t even think of pulling a stunt like that on us against those Scouse idiots. It was probably the worst capitulation in the history of European football. Concern rating – 11 out of 10.

OK, let’s look at some of the pro’s:

1. Man Management par excellence: Apparently Mr Ancelotti is revered amongst his players, staff, fans and the Italian public alike. In this respect he’s similar to Guus Hiddink and it’s instructive that Hiddink told his players that Ancelotti’s ‘like me’. David Beckham spoke out last month and said, quote, “Ancelotti is one of the greats. His man-management skills are exceptional, he’s a brilliant coach.” Beckham continued, “Milan players are pleading with him to stay”, adding that “every one of Milan’s players adores him.” Pro rating – 10 out of 10.

2. European pedigree: Unlike Scolari, Ancelotti’s got day to day management experience in one of the toughest leagues in the world. He’s won the European Cup twice playing for one of the best sides ever to grace the world stage – the late 90’s AC Milan with Van Basten, Rijkaard, Gullit and Baresi. He’s also won two European Cups as manager. His experience at every level is perfect. Pro rating – 10 out of 10.

3. Tactical awareness: Serie A is the hardest league in the world for breaking down defences and scoring goals. Ancelotti, as a defender and manager for AC Milan, is as astute a tactician as Guus Hiddink. At the top level this is imperative – just look at Ferguson’s failings in Europe last week. Fergie was made a fool out of, just as he should have been against us last year and against Bayern in 1999. Being lucky is not great management. Pro rating: 10 out of 10.

4. English: Carlo’s no fool and his English will be OK by August. Don’t forget that he’s already been interviewed in English and one of his assistants is Ray Wilkins who already talks fluent Italian and played for AC Milan himself. Getting across his message shouldn’t be a problem. Pro-rating: 5 out of 10.

So there you have it. Concerns – 26 points, Pro’s – 35.

Welcome Mr Ancelotti and don’t listen to the fools talking about ‘Brazilian football’. Arsenal do that already and whilst it’s easy on the eye, there’s still no silver in the Emirates trophy room. As we all know, it’s about the results, the fantasy football can come later.