Abysmal Play? It Has to Be Serie A!

At the Christmas break, Inter pretty much have the league wrapped up. This despite only scoring one goal in each of the last four games (resulting in two wins, one loss, and one tie). So not only is the league title a forgone conclusion, but the most dominant team in that league, the defending champions of Serie A, have struggled to produce substantial offensive output. It also seems as though Samuel Eto'o is suffering from the same, predictable Serie A malaise as Kaka once did..

Need a further indictment of the level of play/players in the Italian top flight? Just look to FIFA's World XI. Soccer's governing body went with a 4-3-3 formation with Iker Casillas in goal (Real Madrid/Spain), Dani Alves (Barcelona/Brazil), Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd/Serbia), John Terry (Chelsea/England), and Patrice Evra (Man Utd/France) across the back.

Headlining midfielders include Steven Gerrard (Liverpool/England) and Xavi and Iniesta (both of Barcelona/Spain).

Finally, up front Puskas Award winner Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) is joined by Fernando Torres (Liverpool/Spain) and, of course, FIFA World Player of the Year Leo Messi (Barcelona/Argentina).

Which is a round-about way of saying that not one of the World XI is from Italy or playing for an Italian team.

P [dot] S The preponderance of English and Spanish clubs is understandable, given those players' success in competitions for club and country. Nevertheless, it does seem curious that Ligue Un's Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff was left off this list (maybe in the place of Stevie G?).

Gourcuff was a true master of the midfield last season, producing the kind of displays that earned him a (justified) comparison to the great Zidane and earned Bordeaux their first title in a decade. Actually, come to think of it, Gourcuff's resurgence coincided with his Italian escape. And that pretty much sums up my point.

Champions League Draw

Fresh off the presses, here is the Champions League draw for the Round of 16, which will take place on February 16/17 and 23/24 (Round 1) and March 9/10 and 16/17.

AC Milan v. Man Utd (2/16 & 3/10)

Lyon v. Real Madrid (2/16 & 3/10)

Bayern Munich v. Fiorentina (2/17 & 3/9)

Porto v. Arsenal (2/17 & 3/9)

VfB Stuttgart v. Barcelona (2/23 & 3/17)

Olympiakos v. Bordeaux (2/23 & 3/17)

Internazionale v. Chelsea (2/24 & 3/16)

CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla (2/24 & 3/16)

La Liga Breakdown:

• Barcelona got a favorable draw against Vfb Stuttgart in their quest to become the first team in the CL era to win the competition two years on the trot.
  
• As for their La Liga peers, Real Madrid will face a tough test against Karim Benzema's old club, Lyon. But apparently the French side are pleased, as they would rather face Real than say Chelsea...or Barca.
  
• Sevilla drew CSKA Moscow in the least glamorous draw of the La Liga teams. And it seems that the Russians are comfortable with their opponents, despite Sevilla taking first place in their group stage group.
  

Prediction: We tip all Spanish clubs to progress beyond this stage.

EPL Low-down:

• Looks like David Beckham got his wish; really, who is UEFA to deny old golden balls? In any event, Manchester will be looking to improve their record against their Italian opposition, which, historically, hasn't been the best. So even though Milan would appear to be the weaker side in terms of current league position, United will only have to look to their bipolar two leg experience in 2007 to understand the immensity of their opposition.
  
• In what should be a cracking match, Chelsea got Serie A leaders, Internazionale. Beyond pitting the league front runners against one another, the draw will bring the return of Murinho to Stamford Bridge. Let the posturing begin...
  
• Finally, Arsenal drew the lone Portuguese side, Porto. Considering, the north London club will get to play the second leg at home, they should be especially happy with the draw.
  

Prediction: Arsenal and Chelsea will move on, while Man Utd will fall to a Milan side that always gets up for CL games.

The Rest:

• Olympiakos and Bordeaux will meet in the knock-out stage. While an aura of mutual respect pervades, it will be difficult for the Greeks to overcome the French champions, if only for one game changer: Yoann Gourcuff.
  
• Bayern Munich received the more favorable draw of the two German sides and are set to face Fiorentina, currently in ninth place in Serie A. The Bavarians will be looking forward to this match for a variety of reasons, not least because of their relative success last year against the Italian side.
  

Prediction: Bordeaux and Bayern will be booking their places in the final eight.

Future Phenom, Present Prodigy, Historic Hotshot: Girondins de Bordeaux

Yoann Gourcuff: Puttin' in work and counting his Bordeaux blessings

Future Phenom: Gabriel Obertan

Obertan rose to Bordeaux's attention while trianing at the famed Clairefontaine academy. After only a year on the reserves, Obertan was given a three year professional contract and handed his Ligue Un debut at the age of 17. Never really favored at Bordeaux, though, Obertan left for the greener pastures of the Northwest, moving to Man Utd this summer for an undisclosed fee.

Obertan's arrival was met with an injury set-back (a back problem he had apparently been playing with for the past year and a half!), and he is still undergoing treatment for the problem. His recent back troubles have not put United's boss off, however. Per Sir Alex, Obertan is "very quick, he can play both sides or through the middle and he brings a real versatility to us...we expect big things from him." Would this be like what your were thinking, Fergie?


Present Prodigy: Yoann Gourcuff

He's the reigning Ligue Un Player of the Year (it's got a nice ring to it, non?) and is already drawing comparisons to none other than Zizou by Zizou himself. Since returning to Girodins de Bordeaux from the crypt of AC Milan (where, as it has been previously noted, young talent goes to die [see Pato] and mature talent goes out to pasture [see Ronaldinho]), all Gourcuff has been able to manage is a famous double: the league title (ending Lyon's 7 year choke hold on the crown) and the French League Cup. You know, the usual.

Gourcuff's deftness with the ball and natural goal-scoring ability make him an invaluable part of the plans of both club and country. In regards to the latter, the embattled Raymond Domench hoping to utilize him in Zizou's former role, for which a suitable replacement has not been found (want evidence? see Les Bleus' offensive output during Euro 2008). Indeed, Gourcuff has the potential to be WC 2010's breakout star, while helping to restore France to its former footballing glory, just as he did with Bordeaux.

Historic Hotshot: Zinedine Zidane

Conceivably a case could be made for putting Eric Catona here, but we're going with Zizou because if our Present Prodigy selection is based on his qualifications as "Petit Zizou," then we obvi have to give (deserved) props to the original.

Just on accolades alone, Zizou's up there with the best of them. He lead Les Blues to the 1998 World Cup title (and the finals in 2006 with an altogether different, though no less memorable, ending), while also helping France win Euro 2000. As an original galactico, he won the 2002 Champions League with Real Madrid. Individually, he is a three-time FIFA World Player of the Year winner in 1998, 200, and 2003, making him one of only two players to be so honored (the other being fat Ronaldo...oh, how far they fall...). In 1998, he was also named European Footballer of the Year and Ballon d'Or winner. Perhaps, best of all, Zizou was included on Pele's list of all-time greats (really, who better than the best to tell you how good you actually are?).

Zizou will surely be best remembered for the exceptionally graceful play warranting those awards, rather than any UFC style on-the-pitch infamy. Zizou was the perfect combination of ballet-like on the ball skills with an aptitude for scoring goals. The beautiful game is rightly called such, when Zidane plays it.