Sportsbet Blog

The World Wide recession has hit us all hard. Since last year there have been thousands of  job losses, house repossessions and families going hungry. Share prices are at record lows as the boom time of the late 90s and early 21st century has well and truly come to an end. But then again try telling that to the sporting world. Despite the rest of us pinching pennies and living on beans on toast the money that is being splashed around on players, wages and sponsorships could finance most third world countries.

UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) President, Michel Platini, has slammed the recent excess in soccer labeling Spanish giants Real Madrid and English Premier League clubs a disgrace for throwing astronomical amounts of money around on players wages and transfer fees. This came after Madrid spent $117 million to secure the services of Brazilian superstar Kaka and then a world record $163 million for Manchester Utd winger Ronaldo just a week later. Add to that that they have both signed long term deals reported be worth alomst $17 millon a year you have to wonder where all this money is coming from. French great Platini feels that it is just not fair “These transfers are a serious challenge to the idea of fair play and the concept of financial balance in our competitions,” he said. Platini is also worried that unless a cap or a fairer transfer system is put in place that a lot of the clubs will go bust because they are over capitalising just to compete.

But Soccer clubs are by no means the only culprits. In American Baseball, Basketball and NFL there is no such thing as a transfer fee as there is in soccer, so all the money goes directly in to the players paypacket.  Madona’s toy boy and New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez is reportedly earning $42 million a year and Pittsburg Steelers quarterback Ben Roethilsberger is earning just shy of that at $41 million a year, while Australian basketballer Andrew Bogut scrapes by on just $13.8 million.

All of the sporting codes will argue that in these tough times people are heading  to the sporting arena to see their heroes in action just to escape their reality. And that these heroes need paying for delighting their fans and putting their bodies on the line week in week out. The only problem that I see with that is  most of the money that fills their pockets comes from the rip off ticket prices and expensive meat pies and watered down beer that the FANS have to fork out for week in and week out. This hardly seems fair to me.

If you think that Real Madrids spending spree will bring them success goto sportsbet and recieve your free $50 bet on them to win next years Champions League.

It may be hard to comprehend that a team that has just won its 18th league and 3rd in 3 years needs to do any sort of rebuilding, but with Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez on their way out of Old Trafford there is definitely going to be a lack of creative talent in the squad.

There are two games from this season that really stand out to me as showing up the cracks in the Manchester Utd Armour, the 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool and the recent Champions League defeat to Barcelona. Both times Ronaldo failed to show up and both times the Manchester Utd midfield was out classed. The likes of Carrick and Park Ji Sung just aren’t good enough and unless Alex Ferguson has some big signings up his sleeve Utd will struggle next season.

I can see all the Utd fans jumping up and and down chucking stuff at their computers as they read this saying “what about Giggs, Scholes, Rooney and Berbatov”. Giggs had a great season there is no doubt about that, he didn’t win the PFA Player of the year for nothing. But he is 36 now and there is now way he can keep it up for much longer.

Scholes is 35 and as far as I am concerned he hasn’t been the at his best for a few years now. Berbatov is already whinging about the rotation system and hasn’t been the success that many people expected. Sowing flashes of brilliance one moment and then damn right laziness the next.

Then there is Rooney. Only a few years ago he was seen as the saviour of English football, skillful, strong, ran at defenders with pace and most importantly he scored goals. He still gets his fair share, don’t get me wrong 12 premiership goals is not to be sniffed at, but it is up there with the likes of Frank Lampard (who gets his goals from midfield), Kevin Davies and Dirk Kuyt and can hardly be seen as prolific, and  we rarely see the rest of his dynamic game that made him such a devastating young talent at Everton. People will say “he is a better all round player now with a greater understanding of the game”. But it is sad to see a player that as such a natural abilty to go forward and cause problems sitting out on the left of midfield, being forced to do his turn defending.

There is a concesus among Manchester Utd fans that the young talent at the club will see them through next season and that they have a similar squad of youngsters as Arsenal, but I just don’t see it. There isn’t a Cesc Fabregas or Theo Walcott coming through, not one that looks like they will be the next superstar to come off the Utd production line.

The only plus point for Manchester Utd is that they undoubtedly have the best coach in world football in Alex Ferguson, who has built a number of successful squads over his 26 years in charge. It is because of this that betfair have them as $2.62 favourites to win their fourth straight title. But can he really do it one last time?