Bad move for the Croatian playmaker

With speculation growing that Luka Modric is off to the Bernabeu I thought I would take a closer look at this move. Modric is a great talent who is so comfortable on the ball. He is always happy to receive the ball even in tight situations and will get himself out of trouble with an easy pass. I first witnessed Modric's talents in that infamous 'Mclaren Umbrella' game where he ran the show. He controlled everything Croatia did and although Ivica Olic got a lot of plaudits for his work and goal that night it was Modric who was the star man. It cant be a coincidence that Spurs took their performances to a new level once Modric joined in the Summer of 2008 followed by Redknapp's arrival in October.

It's fairly clear that Modric has the ability and talent to play for a top club who are consistently in the Champions League every year which unfortunately for them is not Tottenham. The club did extremely well to keep hold of him last summer with the speculation he would go to Chelsea. It is quite possible that Spurs made it clear to Modric he would not be sold to their London rivals last summer but if he stayed for one more season and helped them to a top 4 finish he would be allowed to move on if the right club came in for him. Spurs would not sell him to Chelsea who had moved on to sign Hazard. It is interesting to consider that AVB was the boss at Chelsea last summer whilst they were in hot pursuit of Modric and he is of course now the boss at Spurs. If it was player he wanted to sign I would like to think he would try his utmost to persuade Modric to stay committed to Spurs as they look to step out of the Redknapp era and the team could be built around him. Either this isn't the case or Modric is so set on leaving it doesn't matter what the Europa League contenders have to say to him.

Modric was excellent against Spain for Croatia in the Euros when he operated in the number 10 role, a position I'm sure he would like to have played in more for Spurs. However, that role was predominantly occupied by Rafael Van der Vaart leaving Modric sitting deeper alongside Scott Parker. The defensive qualities of Parker allowed Modric to roam around and get forward from his central midfield position resulting in 4 goals and 4 assists in the Premier League last year. In comparison, Benoit Assou-Ekotto also managed 4 assists from left back so this is a stat Modric would look to improve upon but also reflects the role he had to do for the team.

So where does Modric fit in at Real Madrid, if in fact reports are true and this is his destination? My initial thoughts were that he would be looking to start in the number 10 role where Ozil and Kaka also like to start. That automatically puts him 3rd choice for Mourinho in that position. Ozil started 30 La Liga games last season whilst Kaka started 17 in an injury interrupted season. One of Higuain and Benzema will always start up front for Madrid, most likely Benzema after last season where he truly showed his class. This leaves 3 spots in the team for Modric to operate in an attacking position in Madrid's 4-2-3-1 system. One of those will always be Cristiano Ronaldo who started the most La Liga games for Los Blancos last season, the other 2 places will be filled by Ozil, Kaka, Di Maria, Higuain (wide right), Callejon and now Modric. In a free flowing team Modric would have no problems starting in one of the wider positions as he wouldn't need to stay wide and hug the touchline. Much like the same way David Silva and Nasri start wide left and right respectively for Man City. They also drift in and the defensive work is generally done by their full back. Ozil has proven to be first choice in the number 10 role and he won't relinquish that easily. The £50million Kaka was back to somewhere close to his best at the end of last season and so he won't be leaving Madrid. I could have seen AC Milan returning for their hero if his form hadn't picked up.

That leaves Modric back in a deeper position as a deep lying playmaker. That's fine, he can do that role and with better players around him he can flourish in it. One problem with that though, Xabi Alonso. He is the 3rd name on the team sheet for Mourinho behind Ronaldo and Casillas and is excellent at what he does. He started 35 La Liga games last season and managed 9 assists. That would put Modric 2nd choice in that position as the 2 of them could not play together in that formation, Madrid and Mourinho require a less techincal 'battler' type in the form of Khedira or Lass Diarra. Diarra is highly likely to leave Madrid this summer despite starting 15 games in the league last year. Perhaps Spurs could get him as part of this deal as he would form a formidable partnership with Scott Parker in their midfield allowing the full backs even more license to go forward. Esteban Granero can also operate in that position for Madrid and Pepe is used there in the games vs Barcelona. This all means there are limited opportunities for Modric at the Bernabeu to start at least. I see his Madrid career following the same pattern as the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Arjen Robben (although of course he is not dutch). He will spend 2 seasons at Madrid before leaving for a cut price and then playing really well for his new club with a new lease of life. None of those 3 players particularly excelled at Madrid and whether it was managerial decisions and falling out with certain other players none of them succeeded at Real. Modric deserves to be starting every game for a club in the prime of his career not sitting on the bench waiting for 20 minutes here and there when in all likelihood his team are already 3 goals to the good.

Money talks and so do trophies. He will get more money at Madrid than he did at Spurs and of course is far more likely to win trophies there but I'm sceptical whether it is the correct move for his development. I feel a move to Man Utd would have really suited him although Spurs are understandably reluctant to sell him to a Premier League rival.

Eden Hazard joins Chelsea.....but why?

So Eden Hazard has finally made his decision and it's one I was expecting all day since the bookies drastically dropped their price on him joining the Champions League winners. I had been under the impression he would go to Man Utd having stated his future was in Manchester before seeing this shift in where the money was going.

I never really saw him going to the Premier League Champions to play his football at the Etihad. It's very clear from his actions over the past couple of weeks that he loves being the centre of attention and I don't feel he could do that at City. Look at Balotelli and Tevez. They seem to have the same attitude as Hazard, one that the world and their football club revolves around them and them alone. Tevez seemed to come back with a new attitude since the infamous Munich refusal, same player and work-rate on the pitch which I can't see changing his whole career, but he has realised he should play for the team rather than play when he wants and try to force Mancini's hand. The way Mancini controlled the whole issue was excellent and in the end he got the best out of Tevez and won the league. I don't think Mancini really ever wanted Hazard, no doubt a class player but would he fully buy into Mancini's principles and the 'no star policy' they seem to have now. Aguero, Silva, Kompany and Yaya Toure are clearly the 4 best players in the City team but none of them have a ego. Listen to any post match interview with Kompany or Toure and they praise the rest of the team and focus on one game at a time, every game is just as important as the last and as the next. There is no doubt Mancini will have spoken in depth to Kompany about Hazard if he really wanted him there is no reason why City wouldn't have got him. They would have offered him the highest wage and probably bid more for him than either Chelsea or Utd. Their style of football would have suited him but a lot of what City does goes through David Silva, Yaya Toure and Ageuro so is there enough to go around? They bought Nasri last summer and even though he was hardly extraordinary in a City shirt he was part of their first choice front 4 and is a clever player who hardly ever loses the ball, his pass completion rate was 91.1% and a return of 5 goals and 9 assists is fairly good. I see City adding depth to the squad which majorly struggled in Europe last year rather than making drastic changes to their starting 11.

This brings me round to Utd. A team criticised last year for being over-reliant on the old faces in their squad as seen by bringing Scholes back. Even with this and the constant praise for the football City played Utd did finish level on points with their rivals but there is still no doubt they need to sign younger players and some more big name talents to work alongside Rooney. I always wonder how many of the Utd first choice 11 would get in the City team, I can only see Vidic and Rooney being options Mancini would take and Mancini may even think twice about Vidic with his injury problems and the partnership that Kompany and Lescott developed. Do Utd have any 'exciting' players anymore or real gamechangers? There is no doubt Hazard falls into this category, 20 goals 16 assists and 14 man of the match performances in Ligue 1 last season is reason enough to believe he is worth the hype. So Utd need someone young, check, someone with an eye for goal, check, someone who can work well with Rooney, check, someone who is an exciting talent, check....yet they fail to get their man. Why? Are Man Utd no longer an attractive enough option for a player who can choose where he will go? This may seem strong as they still remain the most valuable sports team in the world according to Forbes back in December and there is no denying they are one of the top three most followed teams in the world. So why did Nasri opt for City last season, Hazard opt for Chelsea this year and Rooney apparently ask for a transfer request in 2010? Ferguson will know when it's time to call it a day but I feel he needs to sign at least 3 top players this summer to keep up with City and bring some more excitement to Old Trafford.

Now for the team Hazard decided to join, Chelsea. The team that won the Champions league playing reactive football, allowing their opposition to constantly have the ball and then simply going long to Drogba or exploiting the pace and fitness of Ramires. I don't quite understand how a player like Hazard who likes having the ball to feet, creating chances and being able to express himself would make this decision having seen this style of football. I feel he either must not care (which seems highly unlikely) or has been assured Chelsea will be bringing in a manager who will play a better passing game. If it was solely money orientated everyone would have expected him to go to Man City. There still remain great talents at Chelsea with the likes of Torres, Sturridge, Mata and Lampard still has years at the top level of the game. The system and style they played in the Champions League didn't suit Mata but he found himself get into spaces really well and helped keep possession of the ball when Chelsea did have it. He will remain a clever threat but he isn't a goalscorer like Hazard is. The two of them plus Torres will likely be the Chelsea front 3 next season and is a sign in the right direction for them signing young talents. A lot of managers will surely be attracted to the prospect of coaching such a talent and leading Chelsea in their next stage, hopefully one playing better football and giving youth a chance. Do Chelsea fans still remember Lukaku? Their £18million signing last summer. The best young Belgian talent. It looks like Hazard is now that man but I expect him to have a better first season at Chelsea than Lukaku did.

Of course there is still no OFFICIAL word from Lille or Chelsea that this is a 100% done deal but Hazard tweeted he would be "signing for the Champions League winners". Maybe he feels he is good enough to change the way Chelsea play. So that's now 1100 words on a player I have never seen live, I haven't even seen a full game he has played in but I will be paying full attention to him in Saturday's friendly game against England when he lines up for Belgium, a team with a very bright future ahead of them. His performance away at CSKA Moscow was the most I have seen of him in a live game but in that game he was excellent. He was on the ball a lot and his pass to set up Joe Cole who hit the post before Sow finished it off is exceptional.

http://www.goalsarena.org/video/champions-league/22-11-2011-cska-moscow-lille-champions-league_en.html