The Del Piero Effect

World Cup winner and Serie A’s Juventus’ all-time leading goalscorer Alessandro Del Piero arrived in Sydney today to begin what he calls “the start of my new career”, trying to put to rest thoughts of those who think he is here to collect his 2-year retirement cheque reportedly worth $2 million a season.

 

Del Piero’s decision to play in Australia is being compared with David Beckham's impact on the game in the United States when Beckham signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Many expect Del Piero to revitalise the struggling A-League, which has suffered from declining crowds and the folding of two teams in the past two seasons. Mind you, Beckham joined the MLS when he was 32 years old. Del Piero is now 37 years old.

 

Without a doubt though, Del Piero is the A-League’s biggest marquee signing and has made an impact already off the field. Sydney FC’s club memberships are on the rise and 15,000 jerseys with Del Piero’s no. 10 and name on the back have been manufactured and are selling fast not just in Australia, but around the world. There have even been accreditation requests from Italian media eager to cover Del Piero's arrival into the A-League.

 

There are expectations that he will be a crowd puller, not just in Sydney, but around Australia and this writer certainly agrees with that. After all, I personally make an effort to attend matches where marquee signings are playing as I have always wanted to see the difference in skill levels. Having seen the likes of Benito Carbone, Dwight Yorke, Robbie Fowler, Brett Emerton and Harry Kewell, all of whom have played in the English Premier League and at the highest levels in Europe, there is definitely a difference on a technical level. However, football is not a one-player sport and even these marquee signings are heavily reliant on their teammates around them.

 

Do not be surprised to even see majority of Australia’s Italian population switch allegiances to Sydney FC now that they have an Italian football legend on board.

 

Will he increase interest at a junior level? Perhaps but that effect is probably miniscule given that football, the round-ball code that is, already has the highest participation numbers in Australia.

 

Thus the key question is how will the rest of the world view the A-League? So he made 28 appearances last season in Italy and is fitter than your average 37 year old but seriously, how credible will the A-League look if he ends up dominating? The A-League will become a laughing stock, if it isn’t already, in world football because other professional players coming to an end of their careers will take it as an opportunity to earn some good coin before retirement.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I am just as excited as any other football lover about Del Piero gracing our shores. Unfortunately however, Del Piero’s arrival will not herald the success of the A-League like Beckham’s arrival in the MLS. In fact, I do not see the A-League lasting long as there is simply no money in it for the clubs. Ask yourself, would you want to own a business with little or no profits?

Transfer D-Day!

The summer transfer window has slammed shut for another year and clubs will now have to wait until January 2013 to get new players into the squad on permanent transfers.

 

The Notables

 

Roberto Mancini had been complaining all summer about EPL Champions Manchester City's lack of movement in the transfer market with Everton's Jack Rodwell their only signing to date. Then on the final day of the transfer window, City brought in the quintet of Javi Garcia, Matija Nastasic, Maicon, Scott Sinclair and Richard Wright. City got rid of their fringe players like Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Stefan Savic and Adam Johnson but the most surprising transfer out was Nigel de Jong, who only had a year left on his contract, to AC Milan. The new signings will certainly give Mancini more depth to compete in all competitions this season.

City's rivals Manchester United did not get involved in the deadline day shenanigans besides letting Dimitar Berbatov join Fulham. Sir Alex Ferguson had done his major business pre-season, signing the likes of Shinji Kagawa and Robin Van Persie, both of whom have already scored for their new club. However, Sir Alex really needed more cover for his backline as playing Michael Carrick as a central defender is clearly not working. Unfortunately, United have been unlucky with injuries given they already have five central defenders in Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones, Jonathan Evans and Chris Smalling.

 

Like United, reigning European Champions Chelsea had most of their major signings done during the pre-season and the £32 million spent on Eden Hazard alone looks like money well spent with the Belgian settling into the EPL with 4 assists and 1 goal in his first 3 EPL matches. With plenty of numbers in midfield, Roberto Di Matteo has allowed former midfield enforcer Michael Essien to join Real Madrid on a season-long loan. Cesar Azpilicueta has been brought in to strengthen the right-back position and so it looks like Paulo Ferreira’s days at Stamford Bridge are numbered. Wigan’s Victor Moses has finally joined after a summer-long pursuit and like Daniel Sturridge, he can play the forward wing position but it is obvious that these two will be Fernando Torres’ main competition for the “no. 9” position. Just because Torres wears the no. 9 does not mean he is the automatic selection! So far though, Didier Drogba’s absence has not been felt thankfully for Chelsea fans.

 

Arsenal on the other hand, look to be on the decline this year as not only have they lost Van Persie but Alex Song joined Barcelona recently as well. Only Santi Cazorla looks to have settled into the EPL with Arsene Wenger's new first team strikers Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski struggling to find the back of the net. Have Arsenal become a feeder club for the likes of City, United and Barcelona?

 

Tottenham have managed to capture one of the EPL stars of last season Clint Dempsey from Fulham along with his teammate Moussa Dembele. Together with fellow new signings Gylfi Sigurdsson and Adebayor, Andre Villas-Boas obviously feels that he has adequate replacements to have let someone like Rafael Van der Vaart leave. The new signings will be vital to the team now with Luka Modric and Van der Vaart having left for Real Madrid and Hamburg respectively. Does Villas-Boas really have the tactical nous to succeed in the EPL? He certainly has a squad capable of challenging especially with his new no. 1 Hugo Lloris, signed from Lyon on D-Day!

 

Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers is clearly making his mark on his squad, wheeling and dealing in the transfer market and letting the most expensive British footballer Andy Carroll, signed for £35 million from Newcastle United, join West Ham on a season-long loan. However, it will take a couple of years, if not a few, before Liverpool are back challenging for the title. Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson is correct in saying that Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard should leave Anfield if he ever wants to win the EPL title. At 32, he is not getting any younger!

 

The Rest

 

Queens Park Rangers have really strengthened their squad as they aim to survive in their second season back in the EPL. Having already signed experienced EPL players like Park Ji-Sung, Junior Hoilett, Robert Green, Ryan Nelsen, Andrew Johnson and Jose Bosingwa, Mark Hughes managed to capture Esteban Granero from Real Madrid and Stéphane M'Bia from Marseille. Bad boy and former club captain Joey Barton goes the opposite way to France on a season-long loan. The key though for Hughes is to have his new players integrate with his existing squad and gelling from the get-go.

 

Like QPR, West Ham have really strengthened their squad and Sam Allardyce managed to add Wolves’ Matt Jarvis, Carroll and Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun in the final week of the transfer window. Expect the Hammers to stay up also.

 

Despite the surprise signing of Gaston Ramirez from Bologna, Southampton are still one of the favourites for the drop.

 

Norwich are the favourites for the drop and although they also have a new manager in Chris Hughton this season, I think they have what it takes to stay in the EPL at the end of this season. The Canaries have added the likes of Sebastian Bassong from Tottenham, Robert Snodgrass from Leeds, Michael Turner from Sunderland, Steven Whittaker from Rangers and Javier Garrido from Lazio as well as keeping club captain Grant Holt who had submitted a transfer request during the summer when contract negotiations broke down.

 

Although Reading have signed Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was a success for Fulham last season, they are most likely to join Southampton back in the Championship.

 

So who will be the third team that will leave their fans crying at the end of the season? It could be a toss-up between Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan.

 

Villa have brought in young Belgian international striker Christian Benteke from Genk, Dutch international Ron Vlaar from Feyenoord, Moroccan international Karim El Ahmadi from Feyenoord and Australian international Brett Holman from AZ Alkmaar. Can all these internationals help however?

 

Some of WBA’s signings include Ben Foster from Birmingham, Swedish international Markus Rosenberg from Werder Bremen, Belgian international Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea and Macedonian international Goran Popov on loan from Dynamo Kiev. Steve Clarke’s men have started off the season strongly with a 3-0 hammering of Liverpool at home followed up by a respectable 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane. If they can keep up these performances then perhaps they will stay up.

 

Wigan have flirted with relegation in each of the past 3 seasons but Roberto Martinez has managed to conjure up some magic to keep them in the EPL each time. Having lost Hugo Rodallega to Fulham and now Moses to Chelsea, will his luck run out? Can the signing of Arouna Koné from Levante help Wigan get the goals they need? Will Ryo Miyaichi’s season-long loan from Arsenal be as successful for the Latics as it was for Bolton last season?

 

Keep An Eye Out!

 

As previously mentioned, Hazard looks like money well spent and if he can keep this form up, then he certainly could well be the signing of the season!

 

Other than him, Van Persie is still a sensational signing for United along with Kagawa who adds that creativity in the United midfield previously lacking.

 

Fulham will certainly not miss Dempsey with Berbatov brought in and Hamburg’s Mladen Petric having already scored a brace on debut.

 

Swansea’s Michu, signed for only £2 million from Rayo Vallecano, looks to be one of the bargains of the season! He has carried his form from last season where he scored 15 goals from midfield in a team fighting relegation in La Liga.