Greece is the word for Spanish Players part 2

La Primera Division is the best league in the world, but many players and coaches from Spain find shelter in Greece. A few comments on the Super League before we get into the Spanish players and coaches who plied their trade in Greece this past season.

Two weeks ago, the bubble burst or rather a bomb exploded with a match fixing scandal erupted which involved presidents of teams! The dirty secrets were now out in the open, now the case will go to the courts.

Now, lets speak about football. Olympiakos won the championship, and AEK the Greek Cup, both teams were helmed by a Spanish coach, Ernesto Valverde (ex Espanyol, Villarreal and Athletic coach) and Manolo Jimenez (ex Sevilla coach), respectively.

Olympiakos is the most successful team in Greece and have in their ranks five players from Spain. David Fuster was one of the stars or MVPs. He scored 12 goals in 29 appearances and helped the team to win many matches! Albert Riera who has played at Mallorca, Espanyol and Liverpool, scored 6 goals, but his performance was below expectations. He wasn’t the dominated winger he was in Espanyol. It would be wrong to criticize Moises Hurtado, he was unlucky with injuries and played only 18 matches. Next season, two more Spanish players will play for Olympiakos. Javito who didn’t get playing time at Deportivo this season, and Ivan Marcano (on loan from Villarreal). Olympiakos coach Ernesto Valverde easily won the League, as he did two years prior. He is a great coach for the Greek league and I am positive he will return to La Primera in the near future.

Two Spanish players played this season at Panathinaikos - Josu Sarriegi and Luis Garcia. The first, who played in the Greek championship since 2007, is an average player who has a good work rate. The best days of Luis Garcia are past him. You might recall he won the Champions League with Liverpool. Garcia played only 14 matches this season. He will play next season at Puebla in Mexico.

The coach of AEK is Manolo Jimenez. The former Sevilla coach managed to win the Greek Cup, with a team that had many economic problems. In the middle of the season, AEK took on loan Michel from Birmingham City. He played 15 matches and was generally pretty good. Next season in the team is bringing Jose Carlos and Cala from Sevilla on loan to replenish the squad.

Victor Vitolo plays for PAOK. Maybe the level of the 26year old footballer isn’t up to par for La Primera Division, but fits in well for the Greek league. Last season he played 25 matches and scored two times.

Aris has three Spanish players in their roster, but none of them were any good last year. Oriol Lozano, who spent six years in Racing Santander, wasn’t the first choice for the center back position. He was pretty mediocre. He played ten matches.
Toni Calvo was even worse. He started the season with Aris, but he was shipped off to Parma (loan). The Greek team wants to sell him now. Cristian Portilla came in during the winter transfer market. He played nine matchesand scored one goal. His initial performances with his new team were positive.


Written by Konstantinos Efthimiadis

Transfer Targets: Liverpool FC

There is no club in England with more of a devoted following nor with a more storied past: Anfield, the Kop, 18 League titles and 5 European Cups. Yet it all seemed so far away this time last year. A group of small-market American owners with a small-market mentality instilled that lack of ambition all the way down to the famous Melwood training facilities. Players were lining up to leave a club that few had dared to reject in the past. Then Boston Red-Sox owner John Henry bought the Reds. Trading one set of American owners for another seemed cosmetic at best, but the re-emergence of a club legend like Kenny Dalglish has re-instilled pride in the club and in the badge again. They have a renewed ambition sure but they have an influx of filthy lucre which is better still. I know the club have signed Sunderland's 20 year old midfielder Jordan Henderson and they'd like to create a more typically English side by signing Blackpool's Charlie Adam and Aston Villa's Stewart Downing amongst others, but is this the time to abandon their policy of signing Spanish players to Costa del Merseyside? There are bargains to be had in cash-strapped Spain. I´d say it's time to redouble the efforts on the peninsula.

Defense: Spanish defenders aren´t usually mistaken for the sort of hard-nosed intimidators that thrive in England but there are still some around. Fernando Amorebieta of Athletic Bilbao is that sort of typically built bruiser grown on the grounds of the famous Lezama academy and would be a perfect fit alongside Martin Skrtel at Liverpool. There is however a more immediate concern for Kenny Dalglish. With Paul Konchesky on the way out and with Fabio Aurelio´s injury woes continuing, the club have got to find other options at left-back. The tabloids have pipped Arsenal´s Gael Clichy but I think a promising youngster like Jose Angel Valdez of Sporting de Gijon is perfect. He looked primed for FC Barcelona just this past week before the deal fell-through and could be had if his valuation of 15 million euros is met.

Midfield: I know this is where Liverpool are looking to find the sort of grit and determination that the 20 million pound Henderson and the intrepid Blackpool captain Adam would provide, but if technical ability is what's missing in comparison to the Liverpool sides of old, then how can you look past a comparable Spanish player? Joe Cole is out, so I think I´d rather have a similar player, Pablo Piatti of relegated Almería who is the sort of Argentine spark-plug that if I were lacking in descriptors I´d say reminded people of Lionel Messi; a bit, if you closed one eye and ruffled his hair a bit. Or made him slouch some. More centrally, Ever Banega is never going to be the sort of player that fits Unai Emery´s system at Valencia either personally or professionally, but he is the sort of player that combines the steel of Javier Mascherano with the creativity of Xabi Alonso; two players that are clearly missed in the Liverpool midfield. Come to think of it, I think I'd rather spring for Banega instead. Never mind about the Piatti thing then; Ever Banega it is. I mean if they can't get one internet exhibitionist in Young, why not bring in another one, no?
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Winger: you can forget about attracting Ashley Young now. He´s now at Manchester United. Juan Mata has been a favorite an Anfield since Rafa Benitez´s day, but he´s too valuable right now for Valencia, but I actually prefer the idea of bringing Jeffren in from FC Barcelona as is rumoured. He´s the sort of small pseudo-winger that Barcelona bake by the dozen at La Masia and whose chances of a starting place are dwindling by the minute as the club keep talking with Cesc Fabregas and Giuseppe Rossi. If real service for Andy Carroll is needed however, and they can´t prise Spanish International Santi Cazorla from Villarreal then I think Real Madrid´s Pedro Leon is a perfect substitute. He played very well for Getafe in 2009-2010, but after falling out with Jose Mourinho last year, he could be had for a song. Or maybe if they added some tapas to go along.

Now remember, this isn´t your usual transfer speculation blog, not even close by a long shot, but just a bit of light-hearted musings as to who I think would be valuable additions to a Liverpool squad. Let us know who your preferred options are at Anfield, ok?

Next stop in the Premier League gravy train: Tottenham Hotspur

A Place for Pep at Liverpool?

These sorts of stories, fairy-tales really, usually start this way. They look back to a storied past, once upon a time when we were young like that, and they predict a return if the time is right and the stars are aligned and the need is great. Well, for Liverpool, the time is certainly right and the need is immense, but unlike King Arthur who is slated to return if his kingdom is ever in need again, King Kenny is not the Scouse messiah. There is no yellow-brick road for the red side of Liverpool. Their problems are ¨too acute, too fundamental, to be solved by three or four short-term purchases.¨

Michael Calvin of the Mirror agrees with me. That´s his quote up there. He sees that the game has passed Dalglish by and rather than look towards the venerable boot-room for the very modern problems that afflict the red-side of town, he says that the new American owners should ask the same of their Spanish contingent. Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres are two of their best and brightest. They represent the changing face of Liverpool FC, Costa del Merseyside as it were, and they lived the changes that Rafa Benitez brought to the club. They know what should be done. Roy Hodgson certainly didn´t consult with them so it is imperative that any new manager bring two of your best players on board.

Up until then I was right with Calvin. Dalglish is not the answer just as much as a return for Rafa Benitez is out of the question. There is no way to bring back the magic of Istanbul in one fell swoop, but you won´t succeed by looking towards Pep Guardiola to come and save you either. ¨Guardiola has told them (Reina and Torres) he wants to come to England, when the time is right, and his work at ­Barcelona is complete. He is a principled man, a visionary. He could just be the new Shankly!¨

That isn´t realistic. Guardiola may yet leave Barcelona. He has mentioned to many in Spain that his time at Barca is limited, and he would like to try other leagues, other flavors, much like the last years of his playing career in fact, but that time is certainly not now. It isn´t realistic either to think that you can excise a bit of Catalunyan magic from La Masia and drop it on top of Melwood training ground. It doesn´t work like that. You can´t transplant an entire footballing culture to supplant another.

What you can do is bring someone in who has the experience to change the manner in which the club is being run. I think they already have. People make light of the management structure that John Henry and his group provide because they see ownership as a huge money-bag to reach into. Manchester City and Chelsea have had it, so why shouldn´t Liverpool? That fairy-tale´s over. That is not what these new owners are known for. They will take their time and rebuild their infrastructure. They will identify young players and build from within. They already have a director of football. Any manager they hire will fit into a system that is already in place. They don´t need to try to replicate Barcelona´s success, something particular to their own genetic make-up would be better.

If they want a Spanish club to emulate however, they should look to Villarreal. Villarreal have weathered the losses of star players (Juan Roman Riquelme) and star coaches (Manuel Pellegrini) and all with a limited budget competing in all competitions over the last decade against clubs with ten times the resources of a club. They have a youth-team set-up just as productive as La Masia and they get results, not with myth or fable but with and a forward thinking footballing cultured based on having practical owners who maintain a sensible economic structure.

There is no savior, no easy fix, no magic-pill for what ails Liverpool FC, and no will even after so many years in the desert, but there may still be a way for them yet. 

David Trezeguet: The Second Coming ?

Many will have been unsurprised when David Trezeguet rolled into Alicante, Valencia. Having played little in the last 2 years of his time at Juventus mainly due to injury, it was decided it was best for everyone to release him from his contract with 12 months remaining. However the shock factor was clearly that he wasn't arriving at the Mestalla but joining newly promoted Hercules.

Having recently turned 33 the promise of regular football may have been enough to persuade David to jump on the plane. His record of 170 goals in 317 games for Juve speaks for itself, becoming the highest scoring import in the club's history. At International level he fared just as prolific with a better than 1 in 2 ratio. Few players in Europe if not the World have such a scoring rate so consistently throughout the years. An ability to score with either foot comfortably and being good in the air made many defender struggle to cope with him. His partnership with Noel Gallagher's friend Alesandro Del Piero has been the envy of many a team in the last decade. With a loyalty rarely seen in modern day football he stayed in Turin even when they were relegated to Serie B for there part in what came to be known as Calciopoli (The 2006 Italian football scandal). So with all due respect to Hercules, why not a bigger club ?

From a club prospective Lazio and Roma were thought to have been interested, he was even touted to join his close friend Thierry Henry in New York. Many of the big names in English football have been linked with the Frenchman for several years most recently in the summer Liverpool as a potential back up to Fernando Torres. The player himself declared that they were in the process of sorting out Javier Mascherano's future and didn't want to start anything else.

"After 10 years in Turin, above all I needed to find sun and sea again. And the fact that my wife is from the region also played a part in my decision." he told French newspaper L'Equipe.

"I wanted to know the Spanish League, for me it was an important objective in my career," and "A new adventure" was what he told a local radio station.

The above quotes along with Liverpool's failure not for the first time to act swiftly enough in the transfer market certainly explain the decision.

Now having signed for Hercules on a 2 year deal, this free transfer is looking like one of the signings of the summer. A debut against Barcelona doesn't come much bigger in Spanish football especially as they went on to win the game 2-0. Having notched 6 goals in his opening 9 games its clear that he is enjoying his time in Spain. A self belief that ensures he thinks positively and a level head in his attitude are all contributing factors to his early success. His goals having come against Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Madrid show that he is still a player for the big occasion. But last Sunday's finish against also newly promoted Real Sociedad will be what the fans are really looking for. An ability to fire the goals against their nearest competitors could well be the difference for Hercules this season. Having thrown his hat back into the ring for a return to Laurent Blanc's France side, things are certainly on the rise. While some teams may have thought he wasn't worth the risk David Trezeguet is proving them all wrong. Providing he can stay injury free in the battle for survival he might just give Hercules the edge come May.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH FERNANDO TORRES?

I am worried about El Niño. He looks distant, frustrated and just not enjoying his game while playing with his current club Liverpool. He is normally a very positive person and a loyal player to boot. But why the sudden change in spirit and attitude?

Does he feel that he made a mistake coming to Liverpool? The recent ownership debacle at Liverpool really hasn't helped, though many believe that the players are professionals and should separate themselves from any off the pitch shenanigans. But how can the debt, lack of transfer budget, not affect El Niño? The man who brought him to the club, Rafa Benitez, appears to have left a sinking ship, just at the right time. Many of the key players that were part of the club when Fernando arrived, have left the club (Alonso, Mascherano, etc) and have not really been replaced with the type of quality player that the team needs, to contend for a Champions League place, much less the title.

And what about the wear and tear to his body that playing in the most physical, referee lenient, fast paced, league can bring? Last season Torres played injured more time than not and never fully recuperated from his injuries. The number of games with Spain and the EPL, very little breaks. I am sure that this to adds to his second guessing of his choice and change in attitude and mentality.

But what I believe, is gnawing at his brain the most, is the fact that he was a shadow of his former self throughout Spain's World Cup run and probably feels that he was more of a hindrance, than a contribution to the team. He didn't score any goals and many felt he held the team back. Sure, Pepe Reina during his post eulogy aka celebration in Madrid, really tried to point out that El Niño was a valuable part of the Spanish team and was a huge contributing factor in their World Cup victory, but somehow I feel all those kind words were heard by deaf ears.

4 years prior, he was on top of the world. He scored the decisive goal in Spain's European Cup victory. He was an essential part of Luis Aragones' group that broke the quarterfinal hex, that built that winning mentality that Spain could win, playing their way, and their style. He also initially played a brilliant couple of years at Liverpool, playing Champions League football, excelling in the league. The most notable season when they came in 2nd place and even were in the title race up until the very end, but all that is now very distant. Football can just change on a dime.

Fernando is still very young, only 26 years old. But he has played an awful lot of football. He started playing in a local club when he was 5. He was discovered by Atlético Madrid scouts at 11. He debuted with the first team at 17. I shudder to think, but maybe El Niño is getting burned out? Playing at the highest level for 9 years, he seems to be at this tipping point, and needs to find a way to invigorate his game. Recapture that spark, what drew him to love the game as a child. The modern game is cruel, and burnout is always a strong possibility. Look out Wayne Rooney, Ronaldhino, the original Ronaldo, Kaka, it is just so hard to sustain that kind of pace and intensity for a sustainable period, over the life of a career in the today's game.

So what of El Niño? Can he beat this shadow looming over his shoulder? Would a change of scenery to a more tactical league IE Serie A benefit him? Would a return back home to Spain, a more technical league, that protects marquee players, help Fernando regain his form and fitness? Or maybe just a change to different club in the Premiership, would that do the trick? A team with more finances and better players? Or is the fatigue and mental anguish just too much, and a move to less demanding league, but still playing Champions League, a better move? One step back, two steps forward, to rejuvenate the juices? Or is it just a bad patch, as Pepe Reina has said, similar to David Villa's current situation. Too many games, no chance to rest the body.

Of course, the transfer price, salary, family needs, and Liverpool demands, must all come into play, should El Niño decide to leave Liverpool.

I think he needs a move, out of England, either Spain or Italy, whomever can afford him and could use a quality striker, asap. I know he scored this past weekend, his second for the year, but the clock is ticking and a player's life span and years at the top is so very short. What do you think?

Liverpool FC Sold?

Petco Park: San Diego, California

I know this is a Spanish football website, but there are still many Spanish players playing for the Kop week in and week out, and in what was recently known as Costa de la Merseyside there is still a huge connection for anyone interested in La Liga, even with madrileno Rafa Benitez having moved on to Internazionale of Milan.

Most people know the story there. Owners Tom Hicks and George Gilette have come in, used the club as their own personal checking account, and turned the storied club into a relegation threatened shell of its former self. If I could use a baseball analogy, these guys are small-market, small-time, short-term investors. The Liverpool board however has accepted  an offer from New England Sports Ventures for the sale of the club to another set of Americans. The supporters are cautiously optimistic, but worried honestly that this is a like-for-like trade of problems. In my opinion? They ought not to worry. Based in Boston, this group owns another baseball club, they own the Boston Red Sox. Big market. Big-time and the success of the Red-Sox recently is directly tied to the rehabilitation process that NESV coordinated. As you'll see, this is the right group for Liverpool FC.

The lead guy at the firm is a guy by the name of John W. Henry. His portfolio looks the most like that of Gilette or Hicks (Wall Street guy-investment futures, etc.), but he has decades of experience owning sports teams. The other high profile name is Tom Werner. A television producer by trade (Cosby Show, Roseanne, Taxi), he also owned the San Diego Padres before joining Henry at NESV. Werner is important because his key hire at the club was a baseball executive by the name of Larry Lucchino. Lucchino was President and CEO of the Baltimore Orioles and was head of the project there to build their state-of-the art stadium at Camden Yards designed actually by the firm that built the Emirates and new Wembley Stadium. When Lucchino came to San Diego he spearheaded the effort to build Petco Park in the historic gaslamp quarter in downtown San Diego. This is a group that is interested in investment certainly, there is money to be made, but they are keenly aware of their constituency and their legacy, the infrastructure of the club and its fans. Nowhere is that more evident than in Boston. They took over a moribund team, one that hadn't won anything of note since 1918, changed their fortunes immediately with two championships in the ensuing decade and built them into true economic rivals to the almighty Yankees; and they did it while saving venerable Fenway Park.

These guys have it in them to rebuild Liverpool FC, revitalize Anfield and restore faith from the Kop. That's if the sale goes through.

An Unfair Judgement

Bear with me for a second if I step back from covering the sport, giving out the news, a bit of opinion, a sharper lens at Serie A, La Liga and the rest of World Football through that lens. That's what we do here, that's what I agree with and frankly what I will continue doing, whether or not Forza Futbol the weekly podcast ever comes back on the air or not, and as you've seen from the previous post, we are indeed coming back for the upcoming season and even expanding our coverage to two very distinct podcasts a week covering the two leagues we love the most: Spain and Italy.

What we won't give you here, on the show or on the blog, is more of the same regurgitated pablum that calls itself soccer writing in this country. We won't resort to copying and pasting other people's work like some often do, and you won't get the same opinions that get bounced around the so-called professional soccer journalists. I don't have anything against them, they have their place, but they take their cue from their bosses, the ESPN's, Setantas and Fox Soccer Channels, media outlets whose primary function isn't to report or comment on the game, but to sell you on their assets, and get you indoctrinated on their product.

No, Forza Futbol is about our opinions first and foremost. We are fans of the sport, not soccer journalists and we reserve the right to criticize and cajole as well as praise, certainly the teams we represent, but primarily the teams we don't. Especially those teams. I write about Real Madrid often, but I also write about Barcelona. I can criticize one for over-spending and the other for being hypocritical at their reaction to the other one over-spending because I do not have to be fair and balanced. Leave that for the biased pseudo-journalism that masquerades as the real thing in this country. Why, because our opinions count in this country and we have the avenue and the ability to speak them and disseminate them online. Read them, listen to them, argue with them or ignore them. That is your right.

You have no right however, to endanger my family, harass and pressure my employer, send hate filled and bigoted emails or threaten my life. And all because I disrespected your club?

Now, certainly this scenario is not real. I would hope that our listeners and our readers know that we consider you our friends and that I wouldn't say something or write something on purpose that would make light of one of the many tragic situations that have befallen players, coaches, managers and supporters in this game. But what if I did? What if I made a statement that offended Basque supporters or Catalan supporters? I have not so don't say I did, but we have all made comments that offended other people before. I called my own Dad a "blind, drunken fool" just recently and I'm not proud of it. I might even say something hurtful about your precious Milan or beloved Juve before the end of the year. I might even say how much I dislike Barcelona. I support Espanyol, so what would you do about it?

Would you endanger my family, harass and pressure my employer, send hate filled and bigoted emails or threaten my life, and all because I defamed the honor of your club or your fellow supporters? Slander or libel, well that's a big proof to contend with and the majority of it is on you. Did I knowingly harm you by what I said. Did I do it on purpose, to harm you or your own.

What I'm getting at is: today a pressure group in the United States that supports Liverpool FC succeeded in getting a show much like our own taken off the air for statements made on the air by the host that defamed the character of a group of supporters that died in one of the greatest footballing tragedies in history: Hillsborough.

It got me thinking. I put myself in the host's shoes. It's what I do. Now, I have no axe to grind. I will make no statement that supports what this other host said. I believe, as a supporter of a club that lost a vital and important member of our footballing family recently, that I am extremely sensitive to the painful memories that Liverpool supporters revisit, every year on the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths. But let's say that I was not an Espanyol supporter. And let's say that I had made an insensitive remark about Dani Jarque's death. I would expect outrage. I would expect our listeners and our readers to condemn what I said. I would expect you to stop listening to Forza Futbol or stop coming to Forzafutbol.com. It is your prerogative, as a citizen, but are you due more? How big should your pound of flesh be?

My job? My family? My career? My life? No one is guaranteed a pleasant life free of disagreeable moments. We are all offended and we all offend. We all make mistakes and when we do, it is very easy to ask for forgiveness for ourselves, but not so easy when it is someone else making that mistake, and that person he is offending is you. It stands to reason that one day even I will offend one of you, certainly not as blatantly or as idiotically as that other guy did today, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that someone will take issue with what I say or write. My answer to you would be, well, what author Fran Liebowitz said once, “Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house.” Deal with it.

Liverpool Agree Arbeloa Transfer to Real Madrid

After a slow patch to the very hectic transfer period that Real Madrid gone through with signing two of the best players in the world ( C.Ronaldo and Kaka), Today came the official confirmation from Premiership side Liverpool that Real Madrid have reached an agreement to sign Alvaro Arbeloa.

Alvaro Arbeloa (age 26) is a graduate of Real Madrid youth academy, he played only two times for Real Madrid before moving into Deportivo de La Coruña in 2006. Alvaro's Deportivo career was short lived as he only made 20 appearances. Alvaro is naturally a Right Back but is considered a Joker as he can play virtually anywhere in defense.

On 31 January 2007, Arbeloa signed for Premier League side Liverpool for a fee of 4 million € (50% going to Real Madrid). His first full match appearance was against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League at Nou Camp. Arbeloa made 66 appearances for Liverpool scoring 2 times.

July,29th 2009 saw the return of Arbeloa to Real Madrid for a fee of 4 million € for the duration of 5 years contract.

A Prayer before Firing

When Guillem Balague wrote his book Season on the Brink, a tale of the unlikely victory by Liverpool in the Champions League Final, no one expected that title to hold sway on the Reds again so quickly, and for such different circumstances.All season, Benitez has been under fire by the American owners, by the Liverpool faithful, and by pundits who generally give Liverpool a wide berth, but much of the criticism is of his own making. I won't get into his rotational policy. All European managers, or at least the successful ones, rotate players in and out for different competitions. His problem lies simply in that he has failed himself.Rafa Benitez did not beat AC Milan by himself.

He had a backroom staff that he brought over from Valencia, led by Chief Scout and ex-Merida and Albacete coach Paco Herrera, assistant and fitness coach Pako Ayesteran, and goalkeepeing coach Jose Ochotorena, who have all left since that victory in Istanbul. Ochotorena returned to Valencia to become their goalkeeping coach under apparently amicable circumstances, and Pako Ayesteran famously left under a cloud, as his friend and confidante Benitez threw him under the bus, taking away much of his authority as an administrator and trainer for the club. Ayesteran was also widely seen as a good cop to Rafa's bad cop to the players, and his presence or lack thereof has been mentioned by some as a reason why the club have underperformed, but frankly these are professionals.

They shouldn't need coddling by an understanding and sympathetic assistant.I believe the primary reason why Benitez is under fire is that he never adequately replaced Paco Herrera who left to become Sporting Director at RCD Espanyol, and with ex-Periquito Ernesto Valverde, he has taken the Barcelona club to within a breath of the La Liga leaders.Benitez on the other hand has been in charge of a revolving door of washed up players like Bellamy, exuberant workmen like Dirk Kuyt, and not-ready for prime time players (yet) like Ryan Babel. He lucked into Mascherano and had the brilliant signing of the new decade in Fernando Torres.

Now, obviously I'm no Liverpool fan, and I'll probably get the most flack I've ever gotten with this post.Just know that I've been following Benitez since before his Valencia days, as he was about to take over from Cuper, and I sided with him in his battles against Mourinho (see one of my early posts on this blog in fact), but I can't see where this will end well for him.We can blame the media for a perceived bias against Scouser Nation, or the lack of support from the new foreign owners, but ultimately Benitez has failed himself. He had a staff in place to deflect criticism and share responsibility which allowed him to do what he does best: develop tactics to defeat his opponents. Rather than continue with his winning formula, he never adequately replaced his backroom staff.

Forza Futbol Interviews - Guillem Balague

Guillem Balague is a key fixture in Sky Sports' coverage of Spanish football, appearing regularly both on live match coverage and on the weekly round-up show, Revista de La Liga. He is also the UK Correspondent for AS, the Madrid-based Spanish sports newspaper and El Larguero, Spain's most popular sports radio show, attracting some 1,5 million listeners.  His work appears regularly in The Times and in Champions magazine, where he writes a regular column on international football.  He also wrote the bestselling "A Season on the Brink", an insider's account of Liverpool's 2004-05 Champions' League winning campaign, updated later with the 2006 FA Cup victory. He has written or worked for The Observer, Talk Sport, BBC, Onda Cero radio, 442, and World Soccer Magazine.

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