Tal Ben Haim Spurns Newcastle, Heads to Chelsea

After making 110 appearances for Bolton over three seasons, 25-year old Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim has agreed to personal terms on a four-year contract with Chelsea. Ben Haim rejected the outreaches of former manager Sam Allardyce to join the Blues at Stamford Bridge instead, and one can't help but second-guess this choice.

The best move for him as a player seemingly would've been to go to Newcastle because he would have immediately been plugged into their center of defense and gotten a start nearly every game. Chelsea already have their captain and England's captain John Terry in the same position, so you know he won't often come out of the lineup, talented Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho, and Brazilian international Alex, who featured prominently in the central defense for PSV Eindhoven for the past three seasons. At best, I can see Ben Haim fighting for second-choice at that position.

Of course, that would mean a starting spot, but he would probably be in a rotation with Carvalho and to a lesser extent, Alex. Chelsea most likely offered Ben Haim more money than Newcastle, but for me, it would have had to be a substantial amount more because I would rather start every game and make less money than play for a team where I may not play all the time but make more money.

Here is Chelsea's official press release concerning the move:
http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea180706/index.html#/page/Homepage/article_1053189

New Jerseys for West Ham and Chelsea

West Ham have released images of their new home jersey, which, according to the club's official website, is "exclusively available online and in store. New shirt. New beginning." It is available through pre-order and will be officially ready for purchase beginning June 16. It's not much of a change from last year's edition; the jersey designer is now Umbro instead of Reebok, but the colors remain the same. In addition, the home shorts are white with a bit of claret and blue at the bottom, and the socks are white with claret trim. All-in-all, I like this new uniform, my only complaint lies in the size of the sponsor's logo on the shirt. The full away kit is scheduled to be unveiled July 26.

Jersey designer-Umbro

I wish I could say I liked Chelsea's new away shirt, modeled here by John Terry, Didier Drogba, and Michael Ballack, but that would be a horrendous lie. The only thing it has going for itself is the fact that it's unique, but this is more of a testament to the wise judgement of other clubs who understand that fluoresecent yellow makes little sense for a soccer jersey. Fans may purchase it for the novelty and from that perspective, the jersey could be successful but if I played for Chelsea, I think I would request a transfer simply so I didn't have to wear this day-glo yellow away from Stamford Bridge. Last year's away jersey was a nice, conservative white and blue which simply reversed the colors from their home jersey. If Chelsea intend to make a statement, this is it, although I don't know if it's the right one. This jersey will make its match debut July 17 when Chelsea come to the Home Depot Center in suburban Los Angeles to play a friendly against the LA Galaxy. The match is expected to be sold out as is it scheduled to be David Beckham's MLS debut, though with all these rumors flying around that have him staying in Europe, you never know. Preorders are set to be delivered June 28. Here is Chelsea's official press release explaining why this jersey, but one word can sum it up: Bull----

http://www.chelseamegastoreusa.com/chelsea_away07.tem

Jersey designer-Adidas