Europa League: Hardly The AIA Cup

Just thought I would jump in on all this Brendan Rodgers chat. In my opinion, a manager's ability to spot and sign the right player is the most important part of their skill set and is a hugely underrated quality. You can work all week on the training ground, but if the players aren't good enough you will come unstuck. There is no doubt in my mind that Brendan is a very good coach. The work he did with the Chelsea youth side was exceptional and his work at Liverpool has generally been good; for a while it was incredible, and occasionally it's very poor. Liverpool are the fifth biggest club in England; finishing above that is a fine achievement given the resources of the clubs above them. However, his ability to spot a player is nowhere near at the level it should be to compete consistently with the top managers. It is far too easy in modern football to spend mind boggling money on average footballers. Wenger always talks about money not being a good indication of quality and he, above everyone else, has proven that you can build a Champions League football team on small amounts of cash if you have the right eye. The greatest managers in the world, despite making mistakes, are all fairly gifted in this area. With that in mind here is a little game for the mailbox. Create the best team you can with £20million from previous transfers. Academy graduates can be included as there is skill in bringing through young players although they have to have given the player their debut. Also, no transfers before 2000 simply to avoid the class of 92 which was bloody 22 years ago! As an Arsenal fan I scupper myself slightly and missed out on using Vieira, Ljungberg, Anelka, Overmars, Petit, but I still came up with this lot: Lehmann, Bellerin, Toure, Campbell, Gibbs, Song, Fabregas, Wilshere, Ramsey, Pires, Van Persie Not a bad side and you can keep the change. Eleven players for a combined total of £13 million and I have a feeling this lot would get you a title or two. A waste of money 11 might be a good shout as well; wouldn't mind seeing a few of them to name and shame some poor decision makers. Tom Goldenballs
http://gustavovieites.cmact.com/data/index.php
http://houseofnarcisse.com/data/index.php
http://www.datasheet.hk/wp/index.php
http://iphone.velluminous.org/data/index.php
http://joseph.geierman.net/wp/index.php
http://jouhou11.com/wp-admin/wp/index.php
http://lrb.net/wp/index.php