The Beautiful Game

I’m going on holiday. To Spain. And Belgium. But mostly Spain. Barcelona – or thereabouts – to be precise, so I will obviously be paying homage to the cathedral of football that is Camp Nou and any other footballing hotspots that I can find.

All of which means that the blog will be out of action until mid-July, when I will return for pre-season blogging.

The Beautiful Game is now five months old, and this enforced break from blogging provides a convenient opportunity to accumulate some feedback. So whether you’re a regular visitor or a first-timer, drop me a comment to let me know how you think the site can be improved. Or just give me some random abuse, which is always amusing to read.

I’m already planning to embed YouTube videos on the blog, which will remove the troublesome necessity of having to navigate away from the site every time you want to watch a video.

Until July, then. Here’s hoping that David Beckham signs off at Real Madrid with a La Liga winner’s medal around his neck, and here’s to a marvellous summer.

I leave you with highlights from Portugal Under-21s’ demolition of Israel last night. Shame they haven’t qualified for the semi-finals, but with the talent at their disposal, the future is looking bright. And in the performance of Nani, the future is looking pretty bright for Man United too…

Since leaving boyband Blue, Simon Webbe’s solo career has flattered to deceive. Glimpses of promise have given way to long, fallow periods of under-achievement, so it’s no surprise that he recently turned up at Manchester City, where he managed to pull off a commendable impersonation of a commanding French centre half.

But with City’s mid-table ineptitude beginning to reach record levels, Webbe has hot-footed it down to the south coast to join Portsmouth, whose colours will make him feel more at home than the watered-down sky-blue on offer at Eastlands.

The player touted as the man most likely to follow Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson through the door at Old Trafford is the mouthful that is 23 year-old Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella.

He scored two sensational goals on his debut for Italy in a 2-0 Euro 2008 qualifying win over Lithuania last week, but this video - combined with rather modest goal-scoring statistics - suggests he is more a scorer of great goals than a great goal-scorer.

The 45-yard half-volley at the end is the goal that really catches the eye (and bears a striking resemblance to Christian Vieri’s goal against Siena this season), but the deft left-footed chip at 1:20 is absolutely exquisite.

A twenty-first century Mark Hughes, perhaps…

It’s been a great year for long-range volleys, particularly those of a left-footed variety, but not such a great year for individual goals (with two obvious exceptions).

With an apology for an inevitable English football bias, I proudly present my goals of the season…

1. Matthew Taylor (for Portsmouth v Everton)
à Premiership

2. David Nugent (for Preston North End v Crystal Palace)
à FA Cup

3. Robin van Persie (for Arsenal v Charlton Athletic)
à Premiership

4. Paul Scholes (for Manchester United v Aston Villa)
à Premiership

5. Wayne Rooney (for Manchester United v Portsmouth)
à FA Cup

6. Francesco Totti (for Roma v Sampdoria)
à Serie A

7. Lionel Messi (for Barcelona v Getafe)
à Copa del Rey

8. Diego (for Werder Bremen v Alemannia Aachen)
à Bundesliga

9. Christian Vieri (for Atalanta v Siena)
à Serie A

10. Thomas Hitzlsperger (for Stuttgart v Energie Cottbus)
à Bundesliga

Seething at an omission? Aghast at an inclusion? Let me know.

Apologies for the lack of new posts at the moment. Exams are ruining my efforts to make the most of my last ever week as a student.

But I will return shortly, with a wide-ranging 2006-2007 Goals of the Season.

Until then, enjoy this goal from Roma’s sleek-footed Brazilian Mancini, which just missed out…

This is quite possibly my favourite YouTube video ever, in spite of the fact it features both Milan Baros and a suspiciously high amount of Pauleta.

Also look out for a young Zinedine Zidane during his time at Bordeaux.

Anderson.

Nani.

Get in.

Obviously there’s no guarantee that they’ll be successful, but those pointing to Kleberson and Juan Sebastian Veron as proof of Ferguson’s poor track record with South Americans should note that United are now perfectly set up to allow both Anderson and Nani straight into the team.

Veron had to be accommodated. Every team he had ever played for had made him the fulcrum of their attacking play. Ferguson tended to stick him in wide midfield. This was a mistake.

Kleberson, though a wonderful passer of the ball, was too lightweight to play as a central midfielder in the hurly burly of the Premiership. Anderson and Nani, by contrast, are forwards. Their instructions will be to receive the ball and attack. And whereas Kleberson came straight from Brazil, both Anderson and Nani have experience of playing in a pacy European league.

They should have no trouble adapting to the speed of the Premiership. If anything, the Premiership might have a few problems adapting to the speed of Anderson and Nani…