Brackett: The Best and Worst of the Summer Transfer Season

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By Ben Brackett
As any good soccer junkie knows, the transfer season is like a quick fix for the summer. For those of us who are jonesing for some football, the time is now. But before we let you loose on the season ahead, we’d like to make sure you’re up to date with all of the summer transfers.
So, without further ado, we present to you a lovely list of awards and superlatives for all of the biggest and most controversial signings of the summer.
THUMBS UP
Best Overall Performance - Bayern Munich
After losing their talisman in Michael Ballack, along with other big names like Owen Hargreaves and Roy Makaay in the past year-plus, Uli Hoeness has done a magnificent job in resurrecting the German footballing giants. Three games into the season they have yet to concede and have scored a total of 10 goals themselves. Led by Bundesliga Player of the Month (and brand new signing) Franck Ribery, Hoeness and Bayern fans alike should be very pleased with themselves. The ugly Frenchman is all but that on the pitch. His speed and strength with the ball and his ability to breakdown opposing defenses is exactly what other new signings Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, and Lucas Podolski will be falling in love with all season. The combination of strikers has already linked up to score some important goals -- it’s scary to think that we’re not even into September yet.
Best Managerial Performance - Real Madrid
Looking at what Los Merengues accomplished over the summer leaves many coaches across the globe scratching their heads. And it’s not simply the summer that leaves many questioning, it’s the fact that Real Madrid are the reigning La Liga Champions after basically stealing the title right from underneath Barcelona‘s nose. Not only that, but they have effectively disposed of legendary players by the truckload. But what really has coaches shaking their heads is the culture change that Bernd Schuster has instituted. Gone are the days where an overweight Ronaldo and a disgruntled Beckham will be stealing the headlines. Gone are the days of Los Galacticos. Barcelona may have the “fantastic four,” but Schuster just may have the upper hand. This is officially a younger group, most likely a better group and most definitely a more balanced (key word here) team.
A brief overview: a new backup goalkeeper in Jerzy Dudek; a big, strong German centerback to pair with Fabio Cannavaro in Christoph Metzelder; a versatile defender/midfielder in Royston Drenthe; a bolstered midfield in Wesley Schneider, Arjen Robben, and Pablo Garcia; some serious energy and life up top in Javier Saviola; and finally some significant youth in players like Roberto Soldado and Javier Balboa.
Best Overall Pickup - Liverpool (Torres)
The debate of attractive football versus effective football will go on forever. A great example of the latter is finally going to gain a little perspective. Liverpool’s Cinderella run to the Champions League Final and insignificant league finish was a hint that the boys of Anfield could use a little insurgence. Enter Fernando Torres, the Spanish striker whose style and speed cannot be welcomed with more open arms. Torres’ impressive strike rate (75 goals in five seasons with Atletico Madrid) has already been demonstrated. Oh yeah, and he just turned 23 this year. Look to see El Nino make a big impact this season and in the future.
Other notable pickups: Youthful Dutch winger Ryan Babel and former West Hammer and Isareli virtuoso Yossi Benayoun,
Best Supporting Cast - Manchester United
If the transfer season were a homework assignment, Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson would be the geeky kid who handed his work in early. Just as the month of July began, Ferguson had already spent a fortune on his team, which was coming fresh off winning the EPL. But with a team whose stronger players were heading into over-the-hill territory (Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes), and with a shortage in strikers (Louis Saha injured and now with the retirement of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer), the Red Devils were in need of some saviors. So Ferguson’s shopping list looked a little like this: a couple wingers, one central midfielder, and at least one big name striker.
And Sir Alex was, of course, successful. By signing Portuguese winger Nani, who has already tallied this season in dramatic fashion, and Anderson, who is only 19 years old and quite the little Brazilian playmaker, Ferguson had picked up his wingers. Owen Hargreaves came back “home” to England right around the same time. His talents should complement players like Michael Carrick in the middle of the park. With all the attacking talent that lives in Manchester, someone is going to need to hold things down through the midfield.
And finally, there was the controversial coupe of Carlos Tevez. As the second ugliest player (only to Ribery) in the game, his attacking abilities and goal scoring tendencies couldn’t have come at a better time. With Saha injured, Solskjaer retiring, and now Wayne Rooney’s broken foot United have really been put in a bind. It will be important to get these new guys integrated quickly and even more interesting to see how the new and significant youth in the team works itself out.
Spiciest Signings – Atletico Madrid
And by spicy we mean red-hot. For a team that could have been spent their summer sulking at the loss of prolific goal scorer Fernando Torres, they went through a list of “good attitude” clichés and went out and bought a whole new rack of spices. After picking up Diego Forlán, Simão, José Antonio Reyes, Luís García and Raúl Garcia (only 21) they capped off their summer with the habanero of chili peppers by signing Juan Roman Riquelme. For those of you unfamiliar with these attacking experts, a short review: Simão, after an impressive World Cup for Portugal, is a diminutive winger with big talents; Reyes, is a Spanish combination of pace, skill, and youth should make an immediate impact; Luis Garcia is versatile in the attack and smart with both feet; and finally Raul Garcia, a 21 year old midfielder that won’t see tons of time, but will certainly develop under the tutelage of the wide range of attacking prowess on the team.
Oh, and don’t forget about the last minute pickup from Barcelona. Thiago Motta’s flowing locks and crushing tackles will be exactly what Atletico will be looking for as the rest of the team forays forward in full attack mode.
Biggest Influence on a Team - Sven-Göran Eriksson (Manchester City)
The former England boss, whose decisions have long been questioned, seems to have made some noise in a positive fashion. After taking the helm of a troubled City squad, United’s cross-town rivals are moving on up. Finding themselves one point back of league leaders Chelsea, the boys in blue have been getting results and it would be blasphemous to do anything but praise their manager.
The big name is Elano. The 26-year-old Brazilian playmaker will pull the strings, and despite wearing the number 11, we all know that the number 10 would suit him just as well. Elano’s new attacking buddies include other new signings Martin Petrov and Rolando Bianchi. A wily veteran, Bulgarian Petrov will sit in behind the strikers, hoping to free up Elano and Bianchi, whose debut included a goal against West Ham. But what Eriksson did that should truly be commended was sign young defenders in Vedran Corluka and Javier Garrido. Both have played in all four premiership matches while the team has conceded only once
By picking up some smaller names, Eriksson’s buck is banging big time. Whereas United’s money spent could have fed a small country, City took the conservative approach. And as a reminder, City sits a point back of Chelsea while United have all but eliminated themselves from the title race only four games in.

Most Underrated Signing - Juventus (Iaquinta)
To say Juventus’ past year has included a lot of transfer news would be an understatement. After having arguably one of the best teams in Europe forcefully disbanded due to, ahem, cheating, the Old Lady returns to the Serie A, post Serie B domination. Only now they won’t be competing with the Sisters of the Poor. They will also be without the majority of players that turned them into an Italian powerhouse. So this summer, Juve was expected to spend money, money, money to bring back the talent they have missed. This did not happen, however. But don’t get discouraged yet, for there was still the pickup of Vincenzo Iaquinta. The former Udinese striker, whose strike rate was far from unimpressive and will be a staple in the Juve attack. Look for him to pair well with Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet and help Juve to a top four finish in the Serie A.
THUMBS DOWN
Most Overrated Signing - Barcelona
Without a La Liga title, Frank Rijkaard was pressured to bring in THE big name. And despite the high-profile signing of the great Thierry Henry, questions arose well before any answers. Barca did do well by bringing in Gabriel Milito to pair with Carles Puyol thus freeing up Rafa Marquez to step into the midfield. This will allow the young Yaya Toure a slight adjustment period. And by signing Eric Abidal as the main presence on the left side of the field, the defense should be in good shape. But as we’ve seen in the past with star-studded teams like the New York Yankees or the Brazilian National team, it’s the stars that usually bring the team down.
With the “fantastic four” of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Leo Messi, and now Henry -- and don’t forget Deco, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Dos Santos, and Eidur Gudjohnsen -- how on Earth is Rijkaard going to line up, not to mention keep all the egos happy?
Most Boring Signings - AC Milan
When you win the Champions League, you have two options: up the ante or simply call. And who can blame Milan for calling. While they did pick up versatile Brazilian midfielder Emerson and the young prodigy (who probably won’t play) Pato, Milan was quiet for the most part. Despite being linked with some of the big names, they kept their money in their wallets.
Worst Short Term Signings – Arsenal
The average age for the Gunners this year is anything but old, as Arsene Wenger stuck with his tendency to sign new, young talents. Brazilian Eduardo Alves joins the squad from Dinamo Zigraeb where he scored 73 times in 104 appearances and the hopes are that he can bloom into a nice strike partner for Robin Van Persie or Emanuel Adebayor. Wenger has also brought back 19-year-old Nicklas Bendtner from his loan spell with Birmingham City where he tallied 11 times in 40 appearances. Despite the opportunities to snag a more impressive short-term talent, Wenger has opted for youth. Also, while Johan Djourou goes on loan, the Gunners have picked up Bakari Sagna who has played in all four games this season while Arsenal has maintained a decent run of form.
Worst Long-Term Signings – Inter Milan
In what seems to be some sort of trend, Inter Milan has, too, kept their summer signings to a minimum. And to go along with a few disappointing results in their preseason, there is the Adriano dilemma that is continuing to plague the team. So for a team that effectively waltzed through a watered-down Serie A last year, one has got to ask a few questions.
By bolstering their defensive ranks by picking up Romanian and former Roma center and left back, Chivu, they have taken at least a half step forward. Other than that, Internazionale has brought in the likely-to-disappoint David Suazo, whose Honduran citizenship is one of his only interesting attributes. He did score a fair bit for his former club Cagiliari (100 times in 255 appearance), but when you’re coming in behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz, and a disgruntled Adriano, you might be fourth-choice at best. The only other interesting news on the Inter side of Milan is the departure of Uruguayan stud Recoba, who left his departure late to join Torino. While his recent contributions have mostly been to video gamers across the globe that enjoy his set piece skill and tidy technique on PS2, Inter will not much miss the playmaker.


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