Manchester United target £45m David Villa

 

Target: Valencia's David Villa is among the Europe's hottest properties

Villa, the Spain striker, is expected to leave Valencia this summer due to crippling financial problems at the Mestalla.

And the Mirror claims Ferguson hopes to spend a large chunk of the £80 million United will receive for Ronaldo on Villa, the leading scorer at Euro 2008.

Should United land Villa, the fee would break the British transfer record set when Robinho moved to Manchester City last summer.

However, United will face fierce competition from Madrid, who announced last week that Villa would join Kaka and Ronaldo at the Bernabeu.

Chelsea had been monitoring Villa's situation at Valencia, with the Spanish club under pressure to strip their prized assets as they lumber under debts of around £400 million, but the former Sporting Gijon forward has always made clear his preference for staying in Spain.

Valencia are thought to have turned down an inquiry from Chelsea for the striker last week.


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Cristiano Ronaldo can learn a lot from David Beckham

She unveiled a miniature mansion for her 13 dogs, offered to become Susan Boyle's style guru, and jettisoned a Z-list boyfriend.

By an amazing coincidence she also stumbled over Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's most expensive footballer.

According to an understandably breathless eyewitness, they "swapped spit".
Niiice. Wait till Mummy gets you home, young man.

Say what you like about Paris, she's a pro.

Once she surfaced for air, she revealed her intention to name her children Victoria and David after Posh & Pecs.

"They are so hot and I want kids as beautiful as her," she trilled, unwittingly emphasising the pecking order of the world's second favourite game.

In football terms Ronaldo is arm candy, a distracting dalliance. Beckham is roses-around-the-door royalty.
It's the difference between a shell suit and an Armani suit, which for Goldenballs comes free with a £32million underwear contract.

The Winker has lots to learn from him on and off the pitch.

The Beckhams were welcomed to Tinseltown by Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Demi Moore and their other halves.

Ronaldo was a passing fancy for the paparazzi, an extra in a film that will go straight to DVD. He's another wannabe, orbiting the outer reaches of the celebrity galaxy. He might be the world's best footballer, but his move to Madrid has little to do with football.
President Perez is the Noughties' answer to Sam Goldwyn, a film studio boss in the business of selling dreams.

He wants Ronaldo to drive the e-economy, to become a salesman for a new generation of interactive internet content.

Beckham sold a million Madrid shirts in six months.


Ron must shift 30million in six years. He can do that only by building a brand capable of penetrating the favelas of Sao Paulo, the slums of Mexico City and sweatshops of rural China.

Madrid are chasing fool's gold. Since you can buy a counterfeit replica shirt for less than a fiver, revenue from official merchandise in the emerging world is relatively insignificant.

Even the marketing monolith that is Manchester United makes only £3m a year from assorted souvenir sales in Asia.

A stroll down Oxford Street, where homo-erotic images of his waxed torso dominate Selfridges, confirms that Brand Beckham is the real deal.

Ronaldo simply lacks class, showroom sheen.

Becks gives good copy, smiles on cue, plays to the gallery.

I saw him creating a minor riot in the car park of Almaty's Central Stadium.

Children crawled through our legs, pawed at him as if he were a 17th-century saint.

He was so at ease amid the madness. He never missed a beat, eulogising the potential of Fabio Capello's England. It was meaningless, but PR gold.

Don't bet against him making the World Cup squad and returning to the Premier League once he's done the chore of an 11 game spell with LA Galaxy.

Beckham makes sense of management speak, like "There's no I in team". He Walks the Talk. It's "We" not "Me".

In injury time at Wembley in midweek, he tracked back 50 yards to give away a free-kick and stop an Andorran attack.

He provided unnecessary confirmation of his work ethic.

Ronaldo lacks maturity, empathy and strength of character. He's shallow and self-obsessed.
He needs to learn the world does not revolve around him.

A few more nights in Paris should do the trick.

Gerrard backs Owen return

Steven Gerrard believes former Liverpool team-mate and close friend Michael Owen still has a future with England.

Owen has again been overlooked by Fabio Capello for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra raising further doubts about his England ambitions.

The Newcastle striker has missed all of England's World Cup qualifying campaign after an injury-hit spell on Tyneside, but Gerrard has backed Owen to win his place back in Capello's plans.

"I'm a big fan of Michael Owen, a good friend of his," said Gerrard. "I'd love to see him get a move from Newcastle to a big club and get his England career back on track.

"I do believe he can play for England again. He has suffered a lot with injuries for the past couple of years but I believe a fit Michael Owen has got the ability to be involved in the squad.
"I'm sure he will be desperate to get back playing football again, staying fit and scoring goals. That is what he loves doing."

Target

Meanwhile, Gerrard believes England need to match Spain if they are to have any chance of winning the World Cup next summer.

Gerrard has installed Euro 2008 winners Spain as favourites for the 2010 World Cup, but the Liverpool midfielder has been encouraged by the progress made by England under Capello.

Gerrard said: "How far are England off the likes of Spain? It is difficult to say how far but it is certainly clear Spain are the benchmark for this team.

"Spain have got to be massive favourites for South Africa, the way they have been playing of late, and how well they played against us.

"I think it was a good thing we played them to get an idea of how good they are so we know how much we need to improve from now to South Africa."

Winning mentality

Gerrard added: "I think that winning mentality has transferred itself to the team - but let's not get carried away."There is still a long way to go, a lot of improvement for this team to do before we can win a World Cup.

"But I'm certainly confident we can go better than what we have produced before. I think we are progressing well, getting stronger, becoming more of a team.

"We've been guilty of playing like individuals in the past but I think the manager is focusing a lot on the team.
"We've got the right mentality at the moment and we need to keep winning because it breeds confidence."


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Robinho wants Brazil to find their composure

Striker Robinho would like to see a more focused display from Brazil when they take on the United States in their second group game of the Confederations Cup in Pretoria on Thursday.The Manchester City star and his team-mates were given an almighty scare in their first game against Egypt, which looked to be heading for a 3-3 draw before Kaka netted a late winner from the penalty spot.The three points against the African champions spared Selecao's blushes as they moved top of Group B, a position they currently share with Italy."It could have been a lot easier for us but Egypt deserve a lot of credit for fighting back in the second half," Robinho said. "We maybe lost our composure for a few minutes there but the most important thing was that we won."In the next game against USA we'll be working hard to make sure we don't make those errors again, because we'll be coming up against another quality team."Dunga's team came into the tournament after back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins against Uruguay and Paraguay, games the coach said added to his players' fatigue. But the defending champions will be keen to seal their place in the semi-final with another victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.New Real Madrid signing Kaka added: "We expected it to be a very tough opening match and we're very happy to leave here having got the job done in what is a very tight group."Playing in the Confederations Cup is a great opportunity ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and as long as we remain strong during the difficult periods, like against Egypt, I think we'll be on the right track. In a short tournament with decisive matches, that's all that matters. We've got the three points we wanted and now we're in a position to reach the semi-finals."On the other hand, the Americans were left without a point after their opening game against the Italians, despite turning in an encouraging display.The CONCACAF winners lost 3-1, but were 1-0 up at half-time, despite having a man sent off.But they were stretched in the second half before eventually going down, and captain Landon Donovan knows they need a big performance tomorrow."After losing our opener, this game against Brazil is now a must-win for us," he said. "We know we can give a hard game to any team we meet and Brazil will be no different."We need to put the first game with Italy behind us and bounce back by getting it right at Brazil."Coach Bob Bradley is also hoping for a turnaround.He said: "To play against a team like Italy and be down a man takes extra strong efforts on a lot of parts, and I thought that part was good from my team. Unfortunately playing with a man less took its toll. But it's only the first game of the group, and now we move on."


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Brazil coach Dunga takes big gamble

It’s weird. Brazil arrive in Johannesburg this week and nobody’s making a fuss.

The last time Brazil dropped by, for that wonderful 3-2 friendly victory over Bafana Bafana in 1997, South Africa was practically speaking in tongues.

Since then, we’ve grown up a bit, while Brazil have slipped a floor in the elevator of world football. Spain have usurped their position as the most stylish team in world football and coach Carlos Dunga’s talent pool is strangely patchy.

Dunga isn’t even thinking about the Confederations Cup — first, he must negotiate a treacherous World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Wednesday.

And the squad that will cross the Atlantic a day later is a brave, experimental one.

For us lowly mortals, picking a national football team is a simple culinary task. Pick the two best players in each position — using cold statistics as your measure — then season lightly with one chilli-hot youngster. Stir vigorously for two weeks and serve hot. Voila!

But Dunga is no lowly mortal. Like every other guardian of the Seleçao (Brazilian team), he is mandated to make football history. That requires a visionary, not just a humdrum chef kow- towing to an easy recipe.

So Dunga craves a vindication rush: that sweet moment when a risky selection triumphs, thus proving everybody wrong but the much-maligned genius in the dugout.

Carlos Alberto Parreira also chased the vindication rush when he was in charge. He got it in 1994, when the most defensive Brazilian team in history won the World Cup, with Dunga as captain.

No cigar in 2006, though, when Parreira stubbornly persisted with Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Ronaldo — and that trio’s geriatric efforts vindicated millions of nay sayers.

Maybe it’s a Brazilian thing, this urge to gamble. Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana recently took a wild flier by snubbing an 18-goal striker in favour of a three-goal striker. Either that, or he was just taking the piss.

In his Confederations Cup selection, Dunga has done something similar by ignoring Wolfsburg goal fiend Grafite — the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season with 28 strikes — and persisting with the off-form Luis Fabiano, who has netted just eight times for Sevilla.

Dunga also gambled on the fast-fading Gilberto Silva and the ring-rusty Elano, and dumped Ronaldinho.

But the reaction in Brazil has not been hostile, mainly because Dunga called up five Brazil- based stars in Nilmar, Ramires, Victor, Kleber and Andre Santos. The homeboys have been an endangered species in the Seleçao lately, so the new blood has been applauded.

Group rivals Italy should be wary of Internacional striker Nilmar and attacking midfielder Ramires, who has just transferred to Benfica from Cruzeiro.

Nilmar had an average season with Olympique Lyon in 2005, but since returning to Brazil with Corinthians and now Internacional, he has matured into a scintillating forward.

For evidence, visit YouTube and savour Nilmar’s Maradonesque solo goal against Corinthians last month, in which he made six defenders look like donkeys in shorts.

Ramires, a dynamic, goal- scoring midfielder, is nicknamed “Queniano Azul” — the Blue Kenyan — on account of his Cruzeiro shirt, his dark complexion and his exceptional speed and stamina. He’s not a Ronaldinho or a Rivaldo, but there are no emerging talents of that calibre available.

Brazilian football is at a low ebb at present, especially in attacking positions. Ronaldinho has declined, Adriano is an emotional wreck and while Robinho has been picked, he has stagnated at Manchester City.

Much is now expected of Alexandre Pato, the AC Milan wunderkind who’s excelling in Serie A but has yet to look the business in a yellow jersey.

It would be a sad state of affairs if Dunga cannot assemble a world-class strike force from the ocean of players at his disposal.

So history beckons for Nilmar, Ramires and Pato. And for Brazilian footballers, history is a harsh judge.


Brazil squad

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur), Victor (Gremio).

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Alex (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica), Kleber (Internacional), Andre Santos (Corinthians).

Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Cruzeiro), Elano (Manchester City), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (AC Milan).

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Internacional), Robinho (Manchester City).


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