Nani, Defoe and Brazil - By Kalimo Leboela

After talking about his team Manchester United starting Ashley Young over Nani and possibly signing Jermaine Defoe something just snapped inside Kalimo Leboela. Maybe it’s also because of Brazil’s recent Copa America performances but something just wasn’t right with Kalimo. So he went to see the football shrink Ausi Tholoana to get some things off his chest…

Nani and Jermaine Defoe

Young over Nani is not a bad option actually because he and Rooney can keep interchanging.

But still, even though Nani can be a bit erratic sometimes there’s really little I can fault him with after the season he’s had. Maybe he just has to improve psychologically – the most important part in top-level football in my opinion…

Jermaine Defoe, in red

Ferguson! I wanted United to sign Defoe ages ago, probably more than five years ago. I really rate him highly.

When he’s fit he’s one of the best to me. I watched him at Wembley two years ago and you could really see he was quality – high speed dribbling. That’s not the quality I look at most though, I think his finishing is excellent...

The “top four”…

As a fan of United I’d like them to break the bank and sign Modric but as a neutral I’d like to see him stay at Spurs, provided Spurs do strengthen considerably in the summer. The Premiership is truly the toughest league now and teams like Spurs have to act now. I think if they don’t spend this summer they have missed their opportunity to break into top four.

Chelsea and United are there. City are there too. Fourth will be between Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Spurs have a good player in Dos Santos and they can’t even see it. They need to offload these slackers like Jenas.

Liverpool have to take action.

Arsenal... I fear for that team. Their best and only world-class striker can only play half a season and their captain is leaving. They have no centre-backs and they’ll be playing Song who seems to think he’s a superstar. We all know Wenger never does anything in the market but even the most avid of fans would have to agree that if nothing happens in this window then Wenger has to see a psychologist. How many times can you possibly say ‘we’re nearly there’?

Oh yes, people are telling me City are winning the Premiership next season. I just can’t see Mancini as a Premiership winning manager. I can’t see a player in that light blue jersey holding that trophy. For God’s sake!

Manchester City, winning trophies

The possible signings everybody’s talking about…

Why don’t Chelsea sign Aguero already?! United even. He is truly world-class. I’d pick that man over Neymar any day of the week, he gets things done. And I think he can be successful in the Premiership. But if he isn’t careful he’s going to end up as these Joaquin-like guys who just stay at a lower team for too long and don’t realise their true potential. I can’t see it though. Aguero’s too good.

I can’t get my head around why Sanchez is worth £45mill and Barca are putting in £35mill for Cesc… probably because he wants to leave I guess. But despite my arguments in the past I have seen that Fabregas is truly one of a kind. Effective is the word. I think that himself, Wesley and Luka are the best central midfielders out there right now. Of course I’ve left Xavi and Iniesta, Stevie G out of the equation because they aren’t moving anywhere.

I’m saying, of the players likely to move clubs this summer Cesc and Wesley would be my record signings. If I was a United manager I would contemplate spending 30mill on Wesley. It’s just that there’s something about United. I can’t see a foreign player being the engine of a United midfield. It has always been someone who grew up knowing what Manchester United is. The fellas from mainland Europe will always have a complex when playing in the Premiership (be it for United or Chelsea or Arsenal) as they want to play for Madrid.

If Sniejder moved to United and let’s say he played as well, as we know he can do, then every summer would be filled with talk about him moving to either Madrid or Barca or Milan. That’s just how it is.

De Gea is going to play really well for United. United will make him one of the greatest keepers we have seen – judging by the rave reviews about him – then in five or six years time he will simply want to replace Casillas. That’s why I don’t cry if these European players don’t go to Old Trafford. They see it as a stepping stone to Madrid, which quite frankly is an insult to United.

Brazil…

Brazil are an example that it’s easy to destroy Samba Football but it’s incredibly hard to build it again.

To me The Fantasy Brazil we grew up watching died some years ago, when Kaka became the hero ahead of the step-over guys.

Brazil, when they were good...

Kaka is a talent… a tremendous talent, but he isn’t that ideological/romantic Brazil playmaker we grew up watching. When Brazil adopted this new formation of the stale, unimaginative holding midfielders you sort of knew that whole Samba tradition was over.

I hope it’s not over but we’re definitely in a period of less flamboyant Brazilian footy. I don’t know what’s up. Maybe there aren’t enough hot women there anymore.

This has the potential to be a huge long discussion and there are many factors to consider but I think the main thing is that Brazil have let themselves conform to European methodologies, even though they were already brilliant. It’s what happens a lot in life. We are born with brilliance, creativity and know-how passed down from our ancestors over centuries and then we come into the world and get sucked into the social teachings/acceptabilities and what is considered right, and it messes with our psyche a little bit (well, a lot actually).

The true essence of who we are is oppressed and the results/consequences/outward behaviours/internal feelings are no longer pure – we second guess everything we do and we’re afraid to live… so that’s what’s going on with Brazil.

Maybe they should watch the women’s team…