HOW can so many managers, directors, major soccer clubs get so much wrong in the transfer market? The European season isn't remotely half way through yet, but it is littered with the mistakes made by major clubs.
When for example Manchester United played and lost 4-3 at Newcastle United, it was all too plain that the strictures of the Leeds United manager, David O'Leary, had a firm basis in reality. O'Leary, though he may have been speaking somewhat out of turn, had expressed amazement at United manager Alex Ferguson's decision to sell his big Dutch centre back Jaap Stam to Lazio and replace him with the 35-year-old French veteran Laurent Blanc from Inter.
True, United pocketed some 17 million for Stam and got Blanc on a free transfer, but was it really a bargain? Certainly O'Leary didn't think so and nor would most of those people who saw Blanc struggling pitifully against the pace of the young Welsh international striker Craig Bellamy at St. James' Park. O'Leary's belief that Blanc would find the pace and hectic challenge of the Premiership too much for him seemed all too well authenticated.
So why did Ferguson let Stam go? I was wondering that when, a week before the game at Newcastle, I was in Perugia to see Stam make his debut for Lazio against the home club. His first game, yet he settled comfortably and solidly in what manager Dino Zoff decided that day would be a three-man defence. He was even highly praised by the Perugia manager afterwards for the cool way he dealt with a three against one situation late in the game.
True, it did look a few days later as if Stam might have cut out the cross whereby Galatasaray found the unmarked Unim to score the only goal of the European Cup game against the Roman team. True, Stam had looked a little shaky at times in the games he played for United. But was the real reason why Ferguson sold him was because he was incensed by the somewhat tactless statements Stam made in his autobiography which had just come out? In it he confessed that United had "tapped" him before they officially approached his Dutch club PSV. He also criticised the two Neville brothers, the English internatonal defenders, as a couple of constant grumblers, and was none too complimentary about the United midfielder and Ireland star, Roy Keane. In any event, United, far from solving their problems in central defence with the veteran Blanc, would seem to have exacerbated them.
But what of Lazio's own bizarre transfer policy? They made a dreadful start to the season both at home and abroad. But was it surprising when they had sold their two most crucial midfield men, Juan Sebastian Veron to Manchester United, Pavel Nedved to Juventus? Plus a bizarre exchange deal in which they let the Chilean international Marcelo Salas go to Juve and took the Yugoslav striker Darko Kovacevic who had a nightmarish game in Perugia, actually falling over the ball when he had a chance to score?
Such was the outrage of Lazio fans that they besieged the house of their owner-President, Sergio Cragnotti, who announced in fury that he would abandon the club. Of course, he didn't. Instead, he shelled out a huge fee for the highly gifted and influential Valencia midfielder, and Spanish international, Gaizka Mendieta. A player who did great things for club and country, but who in Perugia looked horribly out of the picture and was clearly going to take a long time to settle in.
Then, there is the question of goalkeepers. After a long spell in which it seemed that he would be joining Arsenal, the Feyenoord, Holland, and Poland 'keeper, Dudek, eventually joined Liverpool for a 5 million fee. Scarcely had he taken his place between the posts at Anfield than the club were shelling out no less than 7 million for the highly promising young Coventry City 'keeper, Chris Kirkland. Which meant that Dudek could thus become surplus to requirements! And the admittedly erratic Dutch international goalkeeper, Sander Westerveld, became wholly surplus in the circumstances.
Meanwhile at Arsenal, where David Seaman was in his late 30s and Alex Manninger of Austria had notably failed to make his mark, another 'keeper was expensively signed: Richard Wright, already an England international, from Ipswich Town. The Ipswich manager, Craig Burley, expressed his displeasure and surprise that Wright should opt for a club where he would start as a reserve, but there it is. Shades of long ago when Chelsea had both the England goalkeeper in Vic Woodley and the Scottish international goalie, John Jackson, who was forced to play in the reserves till the War, when he was lent to Brentford!
Then look at Internazionale of Milan who have so many strikers that they are virtually falling over one another. True they've not been able to deploy the Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba, suspended, much to his ire, for producing a false, very crude, pseudo Italian passport; he can, ironically, turn out for Uruguay but not for Inter. That still left Ronaldo, whenever the unfortunate young Brazilian might be fit, Christian Vieri, the powerful Italian international, the effective Mohammed Kallon, recalled from his umpteenth loan period, Hakan Sukur of Turkey (eyed by rivals Milan), and - bought for another fortune - the highly promising 19-year-old Brazilian, Adriano.
Milan themselves bought Pippo Inzaghi from Juventus; having already acquired the Spanish international striker, Javi Moreno, from Alaves. He had a fine last season with his club, scoring prolifically, but how often will he now kick a ball for Milan, even if they have let the German international, Oliver Bierhoff, go to Monaco? At this late point in Moreno's career it's a sad prospect.
Barcelona as usual are swimming in new talent. You wonder how much scope Dani, another striker who did so well with a lesser club, Mallorca, will get now that the likes of the brilliant young Argentine Javier Sayiola are there. And have Real Madrid wasted that fortune on Zinedine Zidane when they seem better without him?
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