Arsenal are not going to take up the option to turn Julio Baptista's loan deal from Real Madrid into a permanent move, the Brazilian attacking midfielder has said.


"Arsenal have told me they are not able to buy me and so all I can do is return to Real Madrid," Baptista told sports daily Marca on Thursday, in a telephone interview from New York.


The 25-year-old international moved to London last August in a one-year loan swap, with Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes moving in the opposite direction.


The deal included an option for the clubs to buy the respective players at the end of the season but neither man has consistently impressed during the loan period.


"I have enjoyed my season with Arsenal and in England. I adapted well. I didn't play much at first but finished much better. The first year is very difficult," Baptista said.


"The English league is very strong and very competitive with great teams. Manchester United and Chelsea are very strong and it is difficult to compete against their great squads."


In Baptista's absence, Real have come from behind to grab first place in the Primera Liga and with three games left are on course for their first major trophy in four seasons.


"I speak a lot with Robinho and Roberto Carlos and I have wished them all the best for the league. If I am honest I am a little jealous I can't be with them playing for the title," he said.


"I am keen to know what happens in the last three games and hope they go on to win."


Baptista joined Real from Sevilla two years ago in a deal worth $24.2 million (12.2 million pounds) but failed to make it into coach Fabio Capello's plans when he took over last July.

Born and raised in Flamengo, this 19-year old boy has shown people in Europe that he could be the new Kaka.In fact, Renato Augusto is much closer in style to Rivaldo than to Kaka, although he is right-footed. His only taste of a tournament was an Under-17 World Cup in Peru in 2005, where he played f...

According to the press gossipers Benitez looks to have made his decisions with regard to the formation and line up. We are in disagreement with a few of them.


As we have argued in our previous posting “Rafa’s line up and formation” Liverpool should place particular attention to the midfield by flooding it with five players but allowing the more attacking player the freedom to support the striker.


According to reports coming out of Athens this is what is likely to happen and we are happy with that. It’s the choice of personnel we have a problem with.


It is mooted that Crouch will not start and Kuyt will play up front with Gerrard supporting him in a withdrawn, Kaka type, of role.


But one major weakness of the Italians is their vulnerability to high balls especially Dida. Surely Benitez should exploit this by playing Crouch there! What is the point in starting with Pennant and Zenden if you don’t have someone in the penalty area capable of exploiting their deliveries. Crouch should start up front with Kuyt supporting him.


Our second disagreement concerns Gerrard’s role. We would prefer to see him start in central midfield as he is a much more robust tackler and energetic runner in covering spaces than Alonso is. And this will be particularly important as it is in the midfield that Liverpool will have to fight to nullify their opponent’s particular strength.


Our third concern is that if and when Rafa needs to change Liverpool’s game plan he is really deprived of what we believe is his best Plan “B” which would involve moving Gerrard in a forward position.


Ok he wants to start with Kuyt up front instead of Crouch so as to exploit another perceived weakness of the Italians which is their relative lack of mobility at the back. But surely this should be part of the Plan “B” referred to above where it will be better deployed in the latter part of the game when you would expect tiredness to set in.


If in the end Gerrard and Kuyt start up front then Liverpool will not be exploiting the opponent’s weaknesses to the full.


And what is likely to happen is that Kuyt will not be able to hold the ball up front that well. Thus more pressure will be placed on Liverpool’s midfield, as the game will be mostly concentrated there, sucking Gerrard in the process.


Is this what Rafa is aiming for? Another stalemate and hopefully penalty shoot out?


We would like to believe that the rumours coming out of Athens are just “Greek lies” to smokescreen the opponents!


by Arsenal Analysis

OK, we all know how classy Milan are. They can knock the ball around more slickly than other team because they know each other better than any other team.Possession is the first principle of play and theyre so good at possession that they can play keep-ball blindfolded.Indeed, AC Milan 2007 demonst...

After a disappointing season by our recent standards, Or was it just like some expected? There se...