Thomas Hitzlsperger is a name most football fans in the country should already be familiar with. Such a distinctive name is not going to be forgotten in a hurry in any case.
The German, born in Munich in 1982, has recently returned to the Premier League after signing for West Ham United.
Fans will remember Hitzlsperger from his spell at Aston Villa, where he began his senior career after joining from the Bayern …
The Croatian press is going beserk. Shakhtar Donesk are selling their best player to Chelsea.
Darijo Srna’s signing is expected to be confirmed/announced next Thursday. Bayern Munich and Tottenham were rumoured to have shown interest, but the player was said to have only had eyes for Stamford Bridge…
This will add further depth to an already amazing squad.
It’s incredible to think that Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko began his playing football for his youth side Zeljeznicar only a year after the ceasing of the hostilities of the Bosnian War.
Born and raised in Sarajevo, Dzeko, an unorthodox Muslim, amazingly survived the fierce confrontations and the Serbian ethnic cleansing between 1992 and 1995. “It was a hard time for everyone in the country,” he recalls. “There wasn’t much to eat, not really enough for three meals a day. I was very afraid every day. We were always having to hide when shots rang out or bombs fell. You could get shot at any time. I cried a lot in those days. Thank God the war is in the past.”
Now, remarkably, Dzeko, aged 24, is one of the most hotly touted personnel in world football.
The Bosnian continued playing for Zeljeznicar once he had turned senior in 2003 where he eventually made his debut as a midfielder. He had limited success during his first couple of seasons but a loan move to Usti nad Labern, a Czech second division club, provided a springboard to Czech Premier League outfit FK Teplice where his impressive performances brought him to the attention of Wolfsburg in 2007.
Dzeko was an instant hit. He finished his first season in the Bundesliga with eight goals and seven assists in seventeen games.
His outstanding performances along with those of his muscular strike-partner Grafite, who also joined the club in 2007, caused a rethink of Wolfsburg’s predominant 4-2-3-1. Manager Felix Magath advocated a switch to a system with two front men. The change quickly amplified the team’s efficacy: After garnering only 4 wins in 15 games before December, the reshuffle brought about 11 in 19. The following season, the combination of the Bosnian and the Brazilian Grafite (now the most successful combination in German league history), fostered a winning-streak of 10 games including a monumental 5-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich to take the German title to Die Wolfe’s for the first time in their history.
Despite Wolfsburg finishing a disappointing 8th this season, Dzeko defied the odds again by scoring 22 goals to become the Bundesliga’s top goal scorer. The striker’s astonishing strike-rate now stands at 54 goals in 94 appearances.
With Steve McClaren’s takeover of proceedings at the former German champions being greeted by a similar amount of confusion and questioning the board would have received had they appointed Keren Woodward from Bananarama, Dzeko is likely to reconsider his options this summer. AC Milan are rumoured to be his favoured choice; however, the striker, with an estimated value of around £25m, has claimed that he is willing to consider any interesting proposals. That, of course, will leave the door ajar for a Premier League transfer with Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea all rumoured to be interested.
The only presently foreseeable caveat is that Dzeko may require a robust partner for him to perform at his optimum.
If recent reports are to be believed, Everton will soon resemble a dismembered cadaver, callously cast aside, ruthlessly ravaged by passing vermin, booted about a bit, spat on and torched, just for good measure. A cheery image to commence with, you’ll agree, but it’s the kind of image the mind (a mind, a sick mind, my miserable mind) conjures up given that Everton’s prized assets are continually being linked with a …
No one, not even Arsene Wenger himself, will deny that Arsenal goalkeepers have performed like medieval jesters in recent years. By plodding up and down the goal-line like certifiable loons, flapping manically at magical, mischievous floating spheres, and by demonstrating a severe lack of any significant intelligence, Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski have sought to conspire against the Gunners title hopes.
It’s always been said that you have to be crazy to …
Not since Helenio Herrera’s La Grande Inter of 1965 has the Nerazzurri reached the pinnacle of European club football. Yet, as the dust settles following their first major European title for 45 years, the criticisms of their earlier triumph continue to echo into the present: Herrera always prioritised defensive strategy, and, as this year’s Champions League final lucidly exemplified, it appears Jose Mourinho is not too dissimilar.
Inter’s defensive approach has been …
An international survey, carried out by our friends at Heineken, has seen England claim an early success as Fabio Capello’s team prepares for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa – with football fans in this country been crowned world champions when it comes to passion for the game.
England supporters beat off strong competition from footballing heavyweights including Brazil, Spain, Germany and Holland to claim …
Wild, uncontrollable, kiss-me-quick panic as bloodthirsty sharks circle the waters of the River Mersey. But wait before you frantically flick through your contacts and wail hysterically down the blower to Police Chief Martin Brody for assistance (you won’t get a reply from that discourteous brute anyway).
This isn’t ‘Jaws Five’ – or six or seven, or whatever pointlessly prolonged number its got to – but rather a (admittedly laboured) metaphor involving …
In a matter of weeks this young waif went from being an unknown brass to a household name. Especially if you shared the same house as French International, Franck Ribery.
Miss Dehar was one of 18 girls quizzed during a French police raid on the Café Zaman, a notorious brothel on the Champs Elysee, last week. The facts aren’t to difficult to grasp. Zahia was one of a number …
Bayern Munich gave Manchester United a taste of their own medicine as they showed the English team how it feels to come from behind in a match and win it in injury time. At the Allianz Arena Ivica Olic’s late winner gave Bayern a 2-1 advantage after the first leg of the quarter-final tie.
The night will, once again this season, be associated with Wayne Rooney- but mainly for worrying reasons. The positive was …
