The best transfers after the Euro's...

So a few days back we looked at some ridiculous signings after the Euro’s, so it’s only fair we give credit to the managers who made the right choice after these enthralling European Championships. 

Thanks for the previous feedback on who else was rubbish…..try and add to our list of good signings made after a Euro competition. 

Petr Cech - One of the best keepers of our generation. He's won over 25 individual awards since moving to Chelsea, including last season's Champions League. Czech footballer of the year 4 times in a row, 3 time UEFA Club Football's Best Goalkeeper, 2 time Barclay's Golden Glove winner & IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 2005. Although, probably his strangest award is the "Chelsea Special Achievement Award" given to him by Chelsea for recovering from a head injury. His talents were spotted during Euro 2004 by mad-man Ranieri, and we've managed to spot his talents at being in funny pictures (see more at the bottom of the article).

He looks monstrous in Chelsea's new gear

Team: Chelsea

Duration: 8 seasons currently

Cost: £7 million

Trophies: 12

Juventus boys - Juventus picked up 2 of the best players after Euro 2004; Zlatan & Fabio Cannavaro. The pair were with the club until they were relegated for the match fixing scandal (Calciopoli scandal) in 2006. They won titles in 2005 & 2006, although, due to the scandal, I don't think they're legally allowed to brag about it. Great players though!

Teenage Zlatan reading his porn.

The new away gear suited Fab well

Team: Juventus

Duration: 2 years

Cost: €19 million (Zlatan) + €swap deal (Cannavaro)

Trophies: Legal trophies?

Davor Suker - 2nd highest goal scorer & in the Euro 96 Team of the Tournament, Suker was bought by Real Madrid & scored 24 goals in his first season, including 3 hattricks. He was Madrid's top scorer in his first season and also helped them win the La Liga. The following season he went on to win the Champions League with Madrid. He's following spell at Arsenal was less prolific, but Suker will always be remembered as THAT Croatian guy who could score at will. Legend.

Team: Real Madrid

Duration: 3 seasons

Cost: £9.7 million

Trophies: 4

Alan Shearer - from the 2nd highest scorer or Euro 96, to the top scorer. After topping the charts at the Euro's, Shearer was wanted by Man United. Keegan got involved & persuaded Shearer to move to Newcastle. His first season saw him top the EPL goal scorers charts & win PFA Player of the Year. He never won the league again, but scored a ton of goals & celebrate every one in the same way. If you don't  think Shearer wasn't one of Newcastle's best buys ever, than I dread to hear what you think of Obertan. On the United transfer move - the rumour suggests Blackburn would've sold him only to United, if they would trade Scholes also. Good for all parties that this move didn't happen.

Team: Newcastle

Duration: 10 years

Cost: £15 million

Trophies: 0 (this doesn't do justice to his awesomeness)

Luis Figo - Yes, it was after Euro 2000 that Figo left Barcelona for Real Madrid. While we're sure Madrid were aware of Figo before the Euro's, that chap did reach the semi-finals in 2000 & made the UEFA Team of the Tournament also. He spent 5 years at both clubs but managed to score more goals at Madrid as well as earning a Champions League medal. He's become such a legend that Ford have named a car after him (although this car is complete shit in comparison to Figo). Here he is enjoying his favourite beer, Tysk7enle - hmmm yummm. Oh look, it's his closest of close mates, Marco van Basten (not Portuguese) and Zbigniew Boniek (definitely not Portuguese).

Team: Real Madrid

Duration: 5 years

Cost: £37 million

Trophies: 7

Now I go on for a while talking about the lovely pilsner which is Tyskie. I can probably name a couple of other players who were signed after a good Euro competition, but I'd like to hear some of your suggestions so drop some names in the comments box below these awesome pics.

Euro 2012 Preview Group D

Group D...D for deadly!! More like D for disaster. 2 of the "I have a big name but I under-perform" teams can be found in this group and there's a strong possibility that one of them will be out before the knock-out stage. Sounds sexy. That aside, there are some hidden gems to look out for in this group as well as some key players.
Predictions:

1. France
2. England
3. Sweden
4. Ukraine

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England

The only team to win the World Cup but not win the Euro's. We wont say they are the most overrated team in the world because I'll be offended if we do say that. We've previously expressed our thoughts on this England team - here! However, England should have enough strength (a nice version of luck) about them to qualify from this group. We expect epic "0-0" battles with the odd "1-0". Rooney's early absence will put the team under pressure to find another outlet for goals. Currently England have managed to injure half of their squad and they haven't even left home. A positive is that this team is made entirely of England based players, who know, play, fight with each other & occasionally play wife-swap. The ability to perform is there, but will the team be able to produce this quality when under pressure?

Prediction: 2nd - #2

Key man: Joe (Joseph) Hart
England will need Hart to be at his best in this tournament. He'll need to do more than just a fireball. He has a great record for England and this will help keep things tidy at the back:
18 games, 13 wins, 9 clean sheets.











My "one to watch": Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The young man has the potential to be one of the brightest young talents in Europe, let alone England. If he gets game-time, he'll perform. Footiecall officially rates him as better than Theo Walcott.








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France

France are the only team in this group to actually have won the competition, yet possibly the most erratic team in the group. France have been World Cup winners and have followed that success up with an awful exit in the group stages. Similarly, they've gotten progressively worse in the Euro's since winning it in 2000. The 2004 exit at QF stage & a 2008 exit at Group stage show they're due a good run.
This year, however, the French have come to the party! Alors on Danse, France!!

Prediction: The cock will be on top - #1

Key man: Franck Ribery
Can you believe he is the 2nd most capped player in this French team, behind Malouda? His mix of guile & experience will serve France well & many of the younger members of the squad will look to him as the decision-maker.






My "one to watch": Mathieu Debuchy
The right-back isn't a youth anymore (26 years old), but few people know of this super-talent. He made everybody's Ligue 1 team of the year & is rated as one of the best RB's in the world. Currently at Lille, the EPL & La Liga may soon come calling.
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Sweden

The poor Swedes. A long history of semi's....they just can't go all the way. They pop before the end. Are they not hard enough? Well it seems they are since they are the tallest team in the competition with the tallest player - Andreas Isaksson (GK). Being tall doesn't win you trophies. It's about time Sweden put their foot forward as a European powerhouse & this is a group which they can qualify from if they play to their best. The Swedes have amassed a large 31 goals for the Euro's, which is more than anyone else in the group. Only the Spanish & Dutch have a higher cap average than the Swedish team (an average of 41 caps per player). This speaks to the continuity of this group of players. It also speaks to the fact that this might be the last chance for many of these players. It's do or die, now or never, shit or get off the pot.

Prediction: #3

Key man: Zlatan "the man" Ibrahimovic
If Zlatan is not everybody's key man, then he will be annoyed. Annoying Zlatan makes him angry. An angry Zlatan scores goals! A furious Zlatan wins leagues!! A RAGING ZLATAN OF INFERNO WINS THE EURO...ALONE...WITH AN ALICE BAND OF POWER & WOW!!!

My "one to watch": Emir Bajrami
The FC Twente winger has won leagues, cups & U21 caps. He hasn't featured much for the top team but we believe he should be given a chance. At 24, he is the youngest member of the ageing Swedes. A new Freddy Ljungberg? In pictures maybe.
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Ukraine

The folk at Footiecall love pronouncing the Ukrainian names. We struggled with the one in the badge above though. MS Word 97 says it's a spelling mistake and we agreed. We carried on to find more mistakes....with the team. The history of Ukrainian football is littered with "Did not qualify" or "Did not enter" notes. Once fooled by the name "Shevchenko" and their only appearance in an actual tournament (World Cup 2006), it now appears that Ukraine would have struggled to even enter this competition if they weren't co-hosts. In fact, Poland & Ukraine have never won a game at the Euro Tournament, ever. Perhaps the Soviet Union (winners in 1960, 3 times runners-up & 4th best Euro Champs team in history) should have stuck together for footballing reasons (Footiecall has no opinion on the political disbandment of the Communist state formerly named the USSR). We do, however, look forward to commentators struggling to pronounce names like: Olimpiysky Complex, Chygrynskiy and of course ex-manager, Mykhaylychenko.

Prediction: rock bottom - #4

Key man: Anatoliy Tymoschuck (Анатолій Олександрович Тимощук)
The midfielder has been a wonderful servant for Bayern Munich since 2009. Used in various positions, he found himself in defense in the 2012 Champions League final. Ukraine will be looking towards him for stability. We'll be looking at his lovely blonde locks.



             My "one to watch": Andriy Voronin (Андрій Вікторович Воронін)
If you've never seen his "highlights" package then you haven't lived. Watch it here!! When I have a bad day, it cheers me up. The possibility of more laughter is something we cannot turn down.