Player to Watch: Alexander Merkel

"What’s happened over the last few weeks hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s a wonderful experience." The 19 year-old German midfielder currently at AC Milan in Italy, Alexander Merkel, is this week's player to watch. At only 19 years of age he has already experienced a lot for someone his age.

He made his professional debut in December of last year with AC Milan in their defeat to Ajax Amsterdam. A month later he scored his first goal against Bari in a Coppa Italia match. He is under contract at the Italian club until the summer of 2013. Merkel has appeared in 17 matches so far with I Rossoneri starting in 13 of them and is on pursuit of his first trophy which would be the Serie A title if they can hold on to the two point lead they have on inter-city rivals Inter Milan.

The youngster featured in Germany's U-19 national team in November and has shown a lot of promise and talent since then. His abilities on the ball allow him to play central midfield but can also push up into a more attacking role. He is considered the new blond German angel and may be the future of a very talented German side. With very little experience at the time, he will only continue to grow and mature into a better player, and this makes him a player to watch. At the moment, his market value according to transfermarkt.de is at €3,000,000. Within the next several months and certainly as time passes by, this number will only increase.
                                                         

Spurs Sign Bale to New Deal

Gareth Bale, a 21-year old left midfielder for the Tottenham Hotspurs in the English Premier League, has signed a new 4 and-a-half year deal with the club. Bale's market value is currently around €25 million, which has more than tripled in the last year and a half. He is currently the second highest valued player on the team behind only Luka Modric who is only €3 million more than Bale.

So far this season for the Spurs he has played 24 Premier League matches and has managed to score 7 goals and also assist on 2 additional goals. In only 7 UEFA Champions League matches he has scored 4 goals and assisted on 4 more. To say the least, he has been instrumental in Tottenham's success so far this year. Bale said in an interview after the contract extension was announced, "I am enjoying my football at Tottenham. I want us to keep going forward as a team and hopefully we can achieve big things." Tottenham has not only qualified for the Champions League this year but they have made it far enough to become one of the final eight clubs left in the competition. In the Premier League, they are currently in 5th place only 2 points behind 4th place Chelsea and 7 points ahead of 6th place Liverpool, however with 9 games remaining... anything can happen.

The contract extension was announced only days after some sources said that Spanish club FC Barcelona was willing to spend more than €40 million for the left midfielder who Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said is "one of the top left-sided players in the world, he is really an amazing talent and can only get better." It is reported that he will be making £68,000 a week to stay at the club.

New York Red Bulls Win Season Opener

Red Bull New York's 18 year-old super striker Juan Agudelo finds back of the net in the 70th minute to lift the Red Bulls over the Seattle Sounders in the opening match of the 2011 season. Agudelo was played a ball down the middle of the field by Teemu Tainio and then shouldered away a Sounders defender before slotting the ball with the outside of his right foot past Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Beginning in the first several minutes of the game, the Red Bulls were off to a great start with many good chances to score and most of the possession for the first half. In the 8th minute, Juan Agudelo was played into the box where he attempted to turn the ball but was taken down by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, which resulted in the official pointing to the spot for a penalty kick. Thierry Henry stepped up to take the penalty however former US international keeper Kasey Keller made a great save on the shot that went to his right. The Red Bulls saw several other good opportunities to score, however could not manage to put the ball in the back of the net before the half. Seattle could be considered lucky to have made it to half-time in the Red Bull Arena in a scoreless game.

New York came out in the second half more focused on the attack and it was obvious that the Sounders would have been more than happy with a single point against the Red Bulls. It was just a matter of time before Kasey Keller would be beaten and then it was a pretty easy final twenty minutes for the Red Bulls to hold on to the 1:0 lead.

Red Bull New York started with the following line-up:

Sutton

Marquez - Ream - Miller

Solli - Richards [Borman (93)] - Ballouchy [Tchani (68)] - Tainio (A) - Lindpere

Henry - Agudelo (G)



PSG Star Mamadou Sakho extends contract

French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain has resigned their most important player in Mamadou Sakho until June 30, 2014. Sakho is a 21 year old French international who has come up through the PSG youth academy, and has been with PSG since 2002. The centerback is widely regarded as one of the best young players at his position, and his decision to stay in France has shocked many people. His current market value according to Transfermarkt.de is a team-high 13.5 million Euros.

He had opportunities and offers to play in other countries where he would be able to play against some of the best players in the world. Teams including Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City, and AC Milan had made open bids for the youngster while others had shown interest, but not placed bids to PSG.

Mamadou is known for his eccentric hairstyles and unique personality. More importantly, he is known for his leadership skills, tireless work ethic, and great tackling ability. His successes with the club include the French League Cup in 2008 and the Coup de France in 2010. As reigning Coup de France champions, they hope to soon add the 2011 Ligue Une title to their trophy case with the solid defense anchored by Sakho. At the moment, they are in fifth place sitting only 5 points behind first place. Sakho is a player to watch for the next several years. Although he has just resigned a contract keeping him in Paris for now, be sure to look for a heavy transfer sum to be shipped to Paris from either England or Spain within the next couple years.

Frankfurt's Drought Continues

It has been a little over 724 minutes since Eintracht Frankfurt has last scored. In those 8 games, they have been 0-6-2. It has been a rough ride for not only the team but the supporters as well. Last week was also the thirteenth time this season that Frankfurt has been shut-out, and was only the second time they have managed a point in the second half of the season.

The majority of the Frankfurt fans up to this point had been very content with the performance of the team and the management, however that has quickly changed. The dreams in the beginning of the season of seeing the team in some European competitions have dwindled away to hopes that the team can remain in the top flight of German soccer.

Heribert Bruchhagen will evaluate the performance of the team and trainer during next week's match against FC Schalke 04. This may be Michael Skibbe's last week with Eintracht Frankfurt before he is released if the team cannot pull off a favorable result.

"Goalless, Winless, Hopeless," the most recent title of an article by German media source Kicker. This sums up the struggle for the Hessians for the last 8 weeks of competition. Will this continue and will Frankfurt's hopes of remaining in the Bundesliga diminish? Or will Frankfurt find a way to get some points and steer clear of the relegation battle?

Sabres: Push to the Playoffs

Tim Connolly (Buffalo Sabres)

We are already just about three-fourths of the way through the NHL regular season, it's time to start seriously thinking about the playoffs. There are so many questions to be answered and not much time left to answer them. What are some of the transactions that will be seen over the next few weeks leading up to and including the NHL trade deadline? The deadline this year is February 28, 2011 at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and some major trades may be brewing as many teams will be looking to acquire the missing links to secure their playoff positions.

With the Buffalo Sabres new ownership, there is expected to a be a flurry of trades and transactions that would see the club make an even stronger push into the playoff hunt. Still a few points out, they need several pieces to the puzzle that would help make them a much stronger team. Some reports say that D Craig Rivet, F Tim Connolly, F Rob Niedermayer, F Mike Grier, and F Jason Pominville are all on the trading block and may be on their way out. There are many different trade rumours dealing with the Buffalo Sabres, however the most common theme sees Tim Connolly (pictured) on his way out of Buffalo. This will not come as a surprise to many Sabres fans, as anyone who has looked at salaries and performance can see that Connolly makes too much money for producing too little. At the moment, he makes $4.5 million a year and eventhough his contract will end at the end of this year and make him an unrestricted free agent, that would open up some room to perhaps bring in another player that would help in the push to the playoffs.

Currently, the Buffalo Sabres are making a push to join the hunt, and they have been quite successful lately with the exception of yesterday's matinee game against the Washington Capitals. Let's hear some trade rumours and your opinions on who should go and who should stay. I think we all can agree on the fact that the Sabres need to make a move if they want to not only make the playoffs, but be a contender to get past the first round.

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