Word on the street is that Liverpool and Real Madrid have agreed on a £30 million fee for Spanish international Xabi Alonso.  Liverpool sources confirm that there is an agreement in place but would not release the details. 

Alonso trained with Liverpool on Tuesday but as the team headed for a friendly in Norway, Alonso was on a plane headed for Spain.

Real Madrid issued a statement saying that Alonso will have a medical on Wednesday. 

If everything goes well Xabi Alonso should be a Galactico by Wednesday morning USA time.  Alonso will be Madrid’s 8th signing of the off season. 

Spanish international defender, Michel Salgado, has been released from Madrid in a mutual agreement after 10 years with the club.  The 33 year old defender has won multiple trophies with the club, including 2 Champions Leagues and 4 La Liga titles.

Does the signing of Alonso make Madrid the most talented team in Europe?  How do you think these players will mesh together?  Do you think Liverpool are fools for letting Alonso go?

by: Zach Utsler

Just last month Brazilian forward Adriano ended his contract with Inter Milan stating he was unhappy in Italy and wanted a break from soccer. The striker failed to return to the club after international duty which was actually not the first time. There was even a bit of drama since he did not contact anyone for a short while.  On April 9th he made a public statement that he was staying in Brazil and that he had lost the desire to play soccer.  Well, looks like the sabbatical is over he is back and signed a deal with his former Brazilian club Flamengo

I have to say I’m impressed with the way the Italian side handled it all.  The guy wasn’t exactly tactful and yet they didn’t make a fuss just shredded up the contract basically. Thanked him for 74 goals and expressed wishes that he find happiness.  Almost, makes me wonder if the thinking was more like “Finally, we got rid of that nightmare!”

This all begs the question “what the hell is Flamengo thinking?”  They must be dreaming that he’ll come back and bring a flood of goals with him.  The craziest part is that the club is not exactly in the best financial situation to take on a big name which comes with a large price.  Apparently, there is a deal involving a sponsor that will actually be paying him.  Probably, planning on selling a few jersey’s with Adriano’s name on them.  The club boasts a following of over 30 million people. Will it pay off for the popular Brazilian side?  Maybe being close to home will bring “The Emperor’s” game back to life. We will have to wait and see, until then let’s hope his desire holds true for at least a few months…..

By: Zach Utsler

Soccer is a wonderful sport that immediately brings to mind a healthy competition comprised of skill and determination. Unfortunately, the Beautiful game is not always so beautiful.  Throughout the world there are several cases where racism and prejudice tarnish its’ luster.  Not all of us in the U.S. are aware of the scope this subject heeds so to get a little background you can check out this link or do a little googling yourself there are even some decent videos on youtube. Racism in Football

There have been numerous campaigns, sanctions, and fines that have been applied in an attempt to curb the problem.  Yet, the issue still exists.  Most recently in Italy, Juventus was ordered to play their next home game closed off to spectators for alleged racist chants from their fans towards Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli.  This has spawned a new idea from the UEFA president Michel Platini, which he introduced just a couple days ago.  His suggestion is to give referees during a match the power to stop the game for up to 10 minutes and if the misconduct in the stands is not controlled then the game can be ended.  This seems to be a pretty bold idea and I’m sure it will be met with a fair share of praise and opposition.

It is certainly a sensitive issue and as I mentioned before there have been many attempts to figure out how best to handle it.  Personally, I do believe that there needs to be stricter punishment for these situations whether it has an affect on the team, organization, tv broadcasters, or not.  I’m hard pressed to think of a plan that would only punish the fan base, because they are such a large part of what makes an organization thrive. There really is no place for such cruelty in the game or outside of it for that matter.  I think there is a big difference between taunting an opposing team and singling out a player/players because of race, religion, or creed. Heck! Whatever happened to just cheering for your own side?

Let’s take a poll!

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Spout off:

I’m sure some of you have ideas about what can be done to curb this issue.  Maybe just adding something to what UEFA is discussing now.  Let us know what you think.