One wouldn’t think Jose Mourinho takes criticism in his stride. Having called Arsene Wenger a ‘voyeur’ for offering some opinions on his Chelsea side, called affable Claudio Ranieri ‘old’ for questioning his special attitude, and told Carlo Ancelotti that he is, ‘ no friend of mine,’ after he softly questioned Inter’s style, the evidence seems fairly damning.
Enter Samuel Eto’o, who in the aftermath of Inter’s home draw with Kiev, decided to criticise Jose’s tactics:
“Things were much better in the second half with Suazo alongside me. It’s a mistake to go with one striker playing at home. We have to take more risks and have two players upfront.”
Can Jose risk dropping his main man? Or will he at last learn to tolerate a bit of criticism?
Some NSFW WAG controversy from the boot-shaped nation
Italians might just be the luckiest folks on Earth: their weather is exceptional, their lifestyles relatively relaxed and their TV stations are jam-packed full of gorgeous women who constantly break out into sexy dance routines for absolutely no reason.
Football show Controcampo (”Offside”) broadcasts on the Mediaset network owned by Italian PM /sex pest Silvio Berlusconi, so its consistently high standards of salacious Waggery is unsurprising. Prominent alumni include Elisabetta Cannalis,Federica Fontana and Chilean model Maria Jose Lopez, the ex-wife of West Ham’s Luis Jimenez.
Ms Lopez - who hit headlines earlier this year for her involvement in a violent love triangle that earned her a divorce from Jimenez - finds herself back in the spotlight this morning, as she has been sacked from Controcampo.
It’s FC Bunyodkor’s Gene Hackman look-alike Luiz Felipe Scolari!
Since arriving in Italy, Jose Mourinho’s €11m salary has cemented his status as the best paid manager in the world. This morning, however, it has been revealed that The Special One’s huge remuneration package has been eclipsed by that of another Chelsea alumnus. After signing an eighteen-month contract with Uzbekistani side FC Bunyodkor, Big Phil Scolari will now take home an annual pay packet of €13m.
Bunyodkur - who recently changed their name from PFC Kuruvchi to “reflect their success” - first came to international prominence last summer, when they claimed to have secured the services of Samuel Eto’o. Despite the Cameroonian’s passionate love for clubs who are willing to pay him more money than he is worth, the deal never went through.
Since the Eto’o spectacle, Bunyodkur have introduced several Brazilians to their side,
My my, didn’t the London clubs do well last night?
Chelsea 2/ Inter Milan 0
In front of a huge crowd at Pasadena’s historic Rose Bowl stadium, Chelsea entertained their American fans with a win over the Serie A champions. Goals came from two of Jose Mourinho’s former lovers, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.
SC Columbia 1/ Arsenal 7
Despite a very embarrassing slip up for the opener, the Gunners absolutely spanked minnows SC Columbia in Vienna last night. Braces from Nicklas Bendtner, RVP and Aaron Ramsey were topped off with an effort from William Gallas.
Ukrainian flop is back on the scene, complete with dodgy haircut
When Chelsea beat the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, a vaguely familiar gentleman took to the pitch in a blue number seven shirt. The snazzy new blonde haircut had us fooled for a little while, but when The Spoiler saw him fluff all three of his goalscoring chances we soon realised the mystery man was Andriy Shevchenko, who is set to spend the final twelve months of his four-year contract back at the Bridge.
When Jose Mourinho lost interest in putting Shevchenko in the Chelsea team - the Portuguese manager became increasingly suspicious that the Wentworth resident had moved to England to satiate his love of golf - the Ukrainian was shipped back to AC Milan, the club where he enjoyed the kind of form that warrants a £31m transfer fee. On his return to the San Siro, however, Sheva failed to live up to his reputation, netting a grand total of zero league goals.
His appearance in Washington on Saturday may suggest Carlo Ancelotti intends to put the out-of-form hitman back into rotation at Chelsea, or at the very least, give him the kind of fleeting appearances he enjoyed endured in Milan last season.
So, should the former Ballon D’or winner be given the chance to earn some of his hefty wages on the pitch in 2009/10, or will the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Franco Di Santo keep him fixed firmly to the fringes of the Chelsea squad? Perhaps they should try and cash in on him this summer before he walks away as an expensive white elephant in 2010 (if anyone will take him, that is)?
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona
Spanish paper Sport believe the Catalonians have already signed the over-rated Swede for €40m plus Samuel Eto’o and Alexander Hleb on loan. Joan Laporta and his cronies reportedly reached an agreement at around midnight last night. The Spoiler truth-o-meter: The rest of the Spanish press are saying the deal is imminent rather than complete, but it looks like it’s happening. Inter won’t be detterred by Eto’o’s greed as Mourinho loves him almost as much as he loves Drogba.
Alvaro Negredo to Tottenham
Determined to sign some sort of Real Madrid striker this summer, Spurs are set to shell out £15m for the 23-year-old. Spanish paper AS say a deal based around a four-year contract will be complete within 48 hours.
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