Talent Watch: Sergio Peter, a German in Prague

Sergio Peter is a left-winger, who plays for Sparta Prague in the Czech Gambrinus Liga. Peters was one of the most promising German talents, he played for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. Peter made his debut against the Queen's Park Rangers on January 7th 2006. He set up all three goals and was named the man of the match. He managed 25 appearances for Blackburn and a further 5 for Cercle Bruge, where he was on loan for half a year in 2005.

He was considered a top prospect at Blackburn under ex-Bayern player Mark Hughes. Injuries have, however slowed his progress and he has failed to make the first team since the start of this season, and is now looking for more playing time at the Czech side. Still the move comes as a suprise for many, the Czech Republic is not exactly the first choice for German football players. But at a closer look the move makes sense. Unlike Austria, the Czech League is a developing league for the Bundesliga. Sparta Prague is the home for many great players that moved to the Bundesliga and elsewhere, most notably Tomas Rosicky, who played for Dortmund and is now with Arsenal. Lately the young Michal Kadlec of Leverkusen has made a name for himself. Peter is hopeing to follow the path of those two players to the Bundesliga.

Sparta Prague is fourth in the current standing, and ten points behind city rival Slavia, which is currently on first place. Furthermore, the club has already exited all international competitions.

The Bundesliga Report: No clear favorite for the title.

The Bundesliga is perhaps the most exciting league in Europe right now. No other league has as many goals a game, no other league has as many clubs fighting for the title, and no other league has as much depth then the Bundesliga. It all began with Hoffenheim, the club from the province that got promoted last spring. Since then the Bundesliga has never been the same. With fast paced football, and a desire for goal, the club has transformed the league like no other team before them. Many expected Bayern to be the trendsetter. Many million euros were spend on Klinsmann's training centre. Klinsmann promised to make every player better every day better.

But the club had trouble playing its best at times this season, and Klinsmann's Bayern revolution happened elsewhere. Ralf Ragnick's Hoffenheim have played the best football this season, yes their 4-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen put a damper on their title hope, yet the team also lost their first game against Bayer on match day 3. The Bundesliga is very forgiving this season, Bayern has not been consistent, and other clubs have also failed to show week to week consistency.

2 points seperate the top 4, and Bayer Leverkusen who is fifth is only five points behind first place. This week the Bundesliga had a new table topper with Hertha Berlin. Hertha for many is a suprise team just as Hoffenheim, however their coach Lucien Favre is known for producing top results. He build a very successful side in Zürich, and is now doing the same in Berlin. He is also known for taking his time before achieving absolute success. Putting all the different pieces together in Berlin the club now seems ready to challenge for glory.

Hamburg as well seems like an honest title contender, and is perhaps the only club other then Bayern that is openly talking about the title. Hamburg has not won the title since 1983. Many in Hamburg believe that this year is going to be their year, and indeed Martin Jol's squad has a realistic chance. However, the club needs to improve their record against smaller clubs, a win against Bayern was followed with a loss to minions Karlsruhe SC.

Indeed the title race is wide open and in the end the club that plays the most consistent will walk away with the 46th Bundesliga Championship.

Scolari gone! Back to the Future with Avram Grant?

Luiz Filipe Scolari was fired after another terrible result for his club Chelsea FC. While Chelsea started promising in the season, the eventual demise of the club comes to no surprise. Throughout the season one could notice Scolari was not really up to the task. Cliques and favoritism became a problem. Frank Lampard and John Terry were particularly upset when Scolari substituted Deco besides being out of form for Michael Ballack earlier this season. Lampard and Terry also frequently attacked Scolari's training methods. The team and the players seemed not to be on the same page anymore, this was evident when viewing the teams performance against Liverpool a week ago, and also this week against Hull.

The question is what will happen next. The names Grant and Hiddink have been mentioned by the media, and return of Grant seems to be the right solution. He was the man behind Chelsea's comeback last year, and was only a couple of points shy from wining the Premier League. He also took the team within one penalty shot of the Champions League title. Many already believed that his firing was unfair and perhaps he will be redeemed by being reinstated. The other candidate is Guus Hiddink, he is the mastermind behind Russia's Euro 2008 run that was not stopped until the semi-final. Hiddink is a possiblility, because of Roman Abramovich's influence with the Russian FA. It seems unlikely though that Russia would give up a coach in the middle of a World Cup Qualification campaign.

The next few days will be interesting to watch and we will probably know soon who is going to be next Chelsea coach.

Mesut Özil a Turk for Germany.

Now it is for sure Mesut Özil is going to play for Germany. Özil who was born in Germany but his parents are from Turkey. Last week he decided that he wants to play for his birth nation Germany, after national team coach Joachim Löw nominated him for the friendly against Norway on 11. February. In an interview he said that this was a difficult decision, but that he feels German, that Germany was were he learned how to play and that Germany is his home. Özil has played for Germany at the youth level, but Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim has been trying to talk Özil into playing for the country of his parents.

Özil's decision is significant, it marks the first time that a young turkish top player has chosen to play for Germany over Turkey. Germany has been succesfull in integrating players of other national minorities into the national team. Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, or Piotr Trochowski who are all of polish origin, but were raised or born in Germany and have chosen to play for Germany. Turkish Germans have always prefered to play for Turkey instead, many do so because of family pressure, others just feel that there chances are higher when they play for Turkey.

Part of it is also the lack of integration into the German community. Özil's nomination is therefore much more significant then that of any other player. If he does well at the German national team he could set an example for other young turkish players. Such as Baris Özbek who is currently playing for Galatasaray Istanbul but has chosen to represent Germany at the youth level. Özbek (22) has won a place in Galatasaray's first squad and has won the Turkish Championship with the club last year. Özbek is a typical number 6 and could one day replace Thorsten Frings.

Özil himself, will be an important member for Löw's squad. His creativity and scoring ability have been the only bright spot in Werder Bremen's shaky season so far. Many have compared him to Diego, a comparison that is not that far off. Germany have been lacking a player of his dimensions ever since Sebastian Deisler decided to quit the game 2 years ago.

Stadium's of the World: The Olimpiysky Stadium in Kiev

Today's stadium of the world is the Olimpiysky Stadium in Kiev, which is to host the Uefa European Championships final in 2012. The stadium was originally build in 1923 as the Red Stadium to host the second All-Ukrainian Olympic games. During World War II the stadium was destroyed by the Nazis, after the war the stadium was rebuild as the Stalin Respublikanskiy Stadium. After Stalin's death the Stadium became first known as the Khrushchev Respublikanskiy Stadium and then as the Respublikanskiy Stadium.

In 1980 the Stadium hosted the soccer games of the Moscow Summer Olympics, and from then on the Stadium became known as the Kiev Olympic Stadium, which title it officially careers since 1996 when the stadium was named the Olimpiysky Stadium. During 1997-99 reconstructions the stadium was made fit to guarantee FIFA standards, and its capacity was limited to 83,000. The local club Dinamo Kiev plays some of its home games in the Olimpiysky, but due to its size Dinamo only plays games against main rivals or Champions League matches in the Olimpiysky. Most of Dinamo's games are played at the Lobanovsky Dinamo Stadium, which with 16,900 seats is significantly smaller and a much better venue for the Ukrainian Premier League.

The Stadium is also home to the Ukrainian national team, which is hoping to benefit from hosting the 2012 European Championships. The Olimpiysky will undergo a major renovation for the games. It has been in doubt if the stadium could be used for the event, because a construction of a mall close to the stadium was a major security concern. Uefa was concerned that due of a lack of space at the stadium exits, no games could be held at the stadium. But the Ukrainian FA together with the Ukrainian government have since stepped in to solve the problem by ordering the destruction of the construction side. There are plans to refurbish the stadium for the tournament, a roof is expected to be built and the capacity decreased to 83,300.

Beckham to leave the MLS. Return of normalcy of Soccer in the USA?

I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference.

-From ESPN.

This seems to be in the past now. Today the news are that David Beckham wants to remain at AC Milan. Beckham has made it clear, that he does not want to return to the Los Angeles Galaxy. This era Beckham would, therefore come to an end in the Major League Soccer. But is the return of normalcy good or bad for Football in America.

Beckham created an enormous amount of hype when he touched down in Los Angeles. He was actually hailed as the rescuer of Soccer in America. In the last two years, however, he only managed 30 appearances for his club. In his time there the LA Galaxy failed to make the playoffs, and finished 5 in 2007 and second last in 2008. Beckham often failed to make an impact for the team, because he was mostly interested in pursuing his England career. He often left the Galaxy to play for England. The MLS does not break for International games, and Beckham often preferred to sit on the England bench then to play for the Galaxy.

Beckham often seemed unmotivated when playing in the MLS. But perhaps he is not the only one to blame. Most of the players on the team did not have the international standard Beckham is used to from his former clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid. Many MLS players a mere amateurs playing for less then $ 30,000 a year. Perhaps Beckham was just to big for this league. The MLS actually now has a chance to continue the natural growth that any sports league has to go through.

Outside of LA the league seems healthy and despite the recession will continue its expansion. Players like Freddie Ljungberg will remain an attraction, but will not as much explode the wage structure of the league as Beckham did.

Senseless Premier League spending. Is a Cap necessery to save Football?

It is official Robbie Keane is back at Tottenham. After failing to make the regular squad Keane has opted to leave Liverpool and to return to Tottenham. Tottenham will pay 13 million Euros for Keane, who they sold to Liverpool for 21 million Euros 6 months ago. That makes 34 million Euros for a player in one year. Just a reminder this is not Kaka, Ronaldo, or Zidane. Keane is an Ireland international, but would probably fail to make the national team of lets say France, Germany or Italy. Keane scored 5 goals in 19 appearances as a striker for Liverpool not exactly a mind blowing statistic. Yet two teams paid the astronomical sum of 34 million Euros.

The transfer of Keane fits the picture of a transfer market spun out of control. Manchester City just paid 20 million Euros for Nigel de Jong a player, who Hamburg paid 2 million Euros for 2 years ago. Yes, Nigel de Jong is an international for Holland, but he was not even a central player at Hamburg, which compensated his loss by signing an unknown Frenchman (Mikael Tavares) for next to nothing from Slavia Prague.

Another transfer that shows the over spending of Premier League clubs is the transfer of the German super talent Savio Nsereko. The player was one of the outstanding players for the German U-19 squad that won the Uefa European Championship last summer. His transfer to West Ham for 11 million Euros comes as a shock, however, in comparison Timo Gebhardt who was more vital for the success of the Germans, and scored 5 goals in 17 matches for 1860 in 2. Bundesliga (compared to Nsereko's 3 goals in 22 matches for Brescia in the Seria B) was transfered to Stuttgart from 1860 Munich for 3 million Euros.

Seeing that there is a financial crisis going on and that Great Britain especially has been hit by the credit crunch, one should think that high risk transfers are going out of fashion. Indeed, the transfer market has slowed down but there are still many transfers that as such make no sense. Many players are brought in as a quick fix and will not make an impact at their new club. The example of Kevin-Prince Boateng comes to mind. Boateng was a highly rated talent at Hertha Berlin, he was bought by Tottenham for 7 million Euros just to be send for free to Borussia Dortmund a year and a half later. Gordon Strachan manager of Celtic Glasgow has suggested to put a cap on clubs spending. Perhaps, a cap on how many players a club can have on their squad per season might be another idea. This way clubs would have to think twice if they want to bring in a player or not. Senseless transfers that are designed to weaken the opposition would also be a thing of the past. Or perhaps one of the major clubs in England just need to go bankrupt to open the eyes of the others.

Tymoshchuk to Bayern: Klinsmann's new Ballack

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk's transfer to Bayern is confirmed for 1. July. But what is it that makes the blond Ukrainian so interesting for the Munich outfit, and what will the transfer mean for Mark van Bommel?

Many in Munich argue that Hoeneß is buying Tymoshchuk only because of Zenith St.Petersburg's stellar performance during the 2007/08 Uefa Cup, which Zenith eventually won. Tymoshchuk was the catalyst of that Zenith team, but as a matter of fact he has been a great performer for a number of years. He joined Shakhtar Donetzk at the tender age of 18 in 1997. At Shakhtar he soon became the captain and the most valuable player of a team that dethroned Dinamo Kiev as the number one team in the Ukraine. He won three Ukrainian Championships, three Ukrainian Cups, and one Ukrainian Super Cup at Shakhtar.

It was during that time that Tymoshchuk became a regular starter for the Ukrainian National Team. The Ukraine managed to qualify for the World Cup 2006 in Germany, with Tymoshchuk providing the support from midfield. Unlike Ukrainian superstar Andrei Shevchenko, Tymoshchuk is the real heart of the Ukrainian squad. Tymoshchuk's outstanding performance enabled the Ukrainians to go as far as the Quarterfinal, where they were defeated by the eventual champion Italy.

After the World Cup, Tymoshchuk became Russia's most expansive player when he was transferred to St. Petersburg for €13 million. He was also rumored to have offers from Juventus, Feyenood Rotterdam, Celtic Glasgow, and AS Roma. The transfer to Zenith came as a little bit of a shock to the established football clubs, and is seen as the entree of Russia as a football power house financially. In his first season there he helped Zenith win their first Russian Premier League Championship in 2007 and their first national Championship since the Soviet Top League Championship in 1983. The following year Zenith went one further winning the Uefa Cup.

Now the move to Bayern, in essence Klinsmann is getting a player that Bayern has been lacking since the transfer's of Michael Ballack, and Owen Hargreaves. Tymoshchuk is both defensively stable and very dangerous in front of the net. On the field he acts as an engine and can slow down or speed up a game. He also reads the game well and seems to be one step ahead of the opposition. Unlike van Bommel, Tymoshchuk has not a bad record with referees, but is instead known as a disciplined player, who leads his team by example. The transfer makes sense, seeing that Ze Roberto is not the youngest anymore, and that his future in Munich is in doubt. Van Bommel has also questioned, if he will remain in Munich. Furthermore, Van Bommel's record of having arguements with the referee and his guarantueed yellow card in every game have weakened his position. With Tymoshchuk, Bayern is not only getting a new game maker for the midfield, but perhaps also a new captain.