Opinion Post: January Transfers, Beckham and Landypants

So I guess I should start with Beckham, but I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to talk about the January transfers. They were boring. I mean, honestly, what even happened? A Keane moved from a slightly struggling team to a team that wishes they were doing well enough to even be considered struggling. Woo... Oh, and don't forget some Russian guy went to Arsenal. Right, because that's what Arsenal needs more of... attacking players who occasionally can be creative and not a stronger central or midfield. Whatever... Whine some more Frenchy, maybe you'll win games that way. Anyways, I guess I'll write about a couple of moves that actually peaked my interest.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar moved to Real Madrid, which I guess is kind of a big move. He's Dutch, so that's cool (if you don't know why this is cool you obviously don't know me). Huntelaar is a good striker and I think this might turn out to be a good pickup by Real. He's only played in the Dutch leagues until now, so unless you follow Ajax or the Dutch national team, you probably haven't heard of him. I mean, the dude had 33 goals in 34 appearances for Ajax last year, has 6 goals in 10 this year and was named captain at the beginning of this season, so he's got to be pretty good, right?

Speaking of Real Madrid, they also picked up Lassana Diarra from EPL team Portsmouth. I remember when he was a highly regarded prospect on Chelsea, deemed to be a replacement for fellow French international Claude Makélélé. However, with the rich Russians takeover and shortly after, spending, Diarra kept slipping further and further down the charts. He transferred to Arsenal in 07 for the 07-08 season, who also failed to use him. He then joined Portsmouth in 08, where he actually received playing time, and helped Portsmouth to the FA Cup title. His step-up in play led him to a Euro 08 call up and also to Real Madrid deciding to shell out 20 million pounds for him. Only 23, he's probably a worthy pick.

Oh Jermain Defoe... how overrated you are... And that's all I have to say about that. OK that's a lie. It's too bad, really, but he's never really lived up to all the hype. Here's hoping a second trip to the Hot Spur is better than the first.

Hey did you know that fat Ronaldo got transferred to Corinthians? Yea, me neither.

Another Dutchmen! Nigel De Jong, who I only know from playing Pro Evolution Soccer (or Winning Eleven, depending on what version) got picked up by Manchester City. I don't know much about him expect that he was always a good pickup in the game. So, I guess based on that, good job Man City?

Shay Given moves to Man City as well from floundering Newcastle. I know he's been Englands "best" goalie for a while, but for some reason I always liked David James more. Call me crazy. Plus Shay is a dumb name.

Ricardo Quaresma moves from Inter Milan to Chelsea. OK, you can hate on me for being a Chelsea supporter, and I'm cool with that. But even I will say this... looks like Chelsea got another diving, whiny little bitch. He's also Portuguese, so... you know... there's that going for him.

Big Bear should be happy that Tottenham picked up Carlo Cudicini from Chelsea. He's honestly a really strong goalkeeper and if not for Cech would be starting for them. In fact Chelsea voted him player of the year a few times before Cech joined up. And even though he's Italian, I guess his diving is OK as long as it's stopping shots.

The rest of the transfers I kind of don't care about, except for Altidore to Xerez. I know a lot of U.S. supporters are thinking this is a bad move and that he should be playing with Villareal and blah blah blah. But he's only 19 and he needs playing time now. He got in his training with a world class team, now he needs to get minutes under his belt. Hey, if he scores bunches of goals in the 2nd league, guess what? The yellow submarine will probably call him up right quick. Besides, the loan is just for 6 months... calm down.

So finally, I get to Beckham and Donovan. I know I know, you're all waiting with quivering anticipation. Actually I hope not, because that sounds kind of gross... Anyway, here's my take: If they want to stay, LET THEM! Bruce Arena needs to stfu (look it up) about losing his players. Guess what? If they transfer, you get lots of money to buy other players. Except you're a bad coach, so I'm sure you'll piss it away on someone(s) stupid. Beckham is still a high level player and the fact that a world class team wants him I'm sure is very flattering. No offense MLS, you know I love you, but you can't go toe to toe with a club super-power like AC Milan. Save some dignity and let him go instead of making a big stink about it. He'll be back to the states, even if it's not to play, and you can use him as a marketing tool then.

So on to Donovan. Anyone who knows me knows that I despise him. Hardcore. Being a New England Revolution fan makes me hate him to no end. And being a New England resident makes me hate him and his California-ness. Ug. I hate his stupid chest pound when he scores and I hate the kneeling on the ground before he takes penalties and I hate the fact that he's the U.S.A's leading goal scorer. THEY'RE MOSTLY FROM PK'S!!!!!!

All that being said, I wish him success in Germany. Landypants has had it way to easy in the MLS (again, no offense) and it's about damn time he stepped out of his shell and went overseas. Yes, I realize he's a great player (as much as I hate to admit it) and is worlds above most on the men's national team (Dempsey excluded) when it comes to seeing the field and making the plays that matter. Donovan needs to succeed overseas, for himself and for his country. Nothing but good can come from him being a little humbled in Germany and playing with the quality of player on that team. Donovan needs to bring that experience back to the national team. Anyways, my point is, again, MLS love you but suck it up. I know the Galaxy are your little special pet of the MLS, but for the better of the country do the right thing!!