Robinho messed up at City and Chelsea puzzle
ARRIGO SACCHI
By dixon9
January 23 2009
Respected coach and football guru Arrigo Sacchi has spoken out to the media today stating that his former player Robinho knows he has messed up by signing for Manchester City and that the player has lost his happiness in football as a consequence. Sacchi´s comments won’t go down well with City fans and will be of interest to Chelsea supporters.
“He totally messed up; no one can choose to leave Real Madrid in order to go to a club like Man City!”
“A top player aged only 24 can never leave Real Madrid like he did and for those reasons.”
Sacchi is held in high esteem in the European football arena having directed a successful and tactical revolution at AC Milan and was the Italian national coach. Later, as technical director of Real Madrid he brought Robinho to the Spanish club from Santos and developed an almost father/son relationship with the player.
“He obviously lost his head looking at all those figures and let the money dictate. It wasn’t a footballing choice. And now, at City, he’s lost the happiness that football gave him."
“And just as sad, is that he’s lost the ‘fantasy’ in his football.”
The losing “fantasy in his football” could perhaps be justifiably contested by Man City fans. Since Robinho arrived at Eastlands his football has been impressive, his work-rate commendable and he always plays with a smile on his face. Equally, however, it could be speculated that obviously something is wrong – otherwise why did he walk out of the Man City training camp and catch a flight to Brazil?!
Robinho is currently with his wife and family in Sao Paulo where he will stay until he returns to Manchester at the weekend.
Hughes will probably give the player a stiff but controlled talking to – controlled because he is in a very awkward position – I can’t imagine him tolerating this sort of behaviour without extremely severe reprisals if it were any other player, but here we have the flag-ship signing and rich owners that are determined to put City on the domestic and European football map again with the aid of world renowned players.
Chelsea’s interest is obvious. We can assume that despite rejecting us in the summer, Scolari will still want to bring Robinho to Stamford Bridge to help him mould his side into his image of football.
Of course, any possibility of bringing Robinho to London would involve a fair old pound of flesh in exchange. City are rumoured to be after Drogba as well as one or two other players such as Cuducini, and any deal could well involve players + cash. There are also common transfer targets between the two clubs which might also have to be agreed over who lets the other have a free pop over the other.
There are only 10 days of the transfer window left and given the complexity of the situation I could not see anything resolved re the transfer of Robinho until the summer, if at all.
Transfer law states:
3. Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. During this period, the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs. As an exception to this rule, a player moving between two clubs belonging to associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumn as opposed to winter/spring) may be eligible to play in official matches for a third club during the relevant season, provided he has fully complied with his contractual obligations towards his previous clubs. Equally, the provisions relating to the registration periods (article 6) as well as to theminimum length of a contract (article 18 paragraph 2) must be respected.
4. Under all circumstances, due consideration must be given to the sporting integrity of the competition. In particular, a player may not play official matches for more than two clubs competing in the same national championship or cup during the same season, subject to stricter individual competition regulations of member associations.
Robinho has played an official match for Real Madrid this season – the Spanish Super Cup Final although the later Emirates Cup during pre-season does not count as an official competition. Chelsea would need special dispensation from the UEFA Sporting Committee – much in the same way as Liverpool had with Mascherano from West Ham.
It’s a delicate poker game. Don’t forget, City could well splash out in the summer transfer market and clam the nerves of their star signing.
Chelsea fans could be rightly concerned given the players history; striking at Santos to force a move to Real Madrid and then striking again at Madrid to go to Chelsea – and of course, his recent “great escape” act to Brazil.
Still, the trouble with us football fans is that we sometimes make the error of mistaking football players as mature, sensible adults – some of them are but many of them are just boys with lots of money (a dangerous mixture!) and some are unable to become accustomed to being away from their families still residing in foreign lands.
My only hope is that IF we can sign Robinho, Scolari is able to use all his man-management skills to keep Robinho on an even keel – if not, the consequences could be just as disastrous and embarrassing for us as they are for Manchester City now.
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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.
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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.
Don't Gamble, Bet Risk Free
.
"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.