As I sit down to try to type something pithy about the weekend's Premier League action I find myself relating to many of the clubs up-and-down the table -- searching for inspiration. So apologies up front, this won't be the most life-affirming thing you've ever scanned on the Internets. (Not enough kitties, for one thing.)
Maybe this is because I'm starting to key-in my thoughts following a thoroughly forgettable 0-0 draw between Liverpool and Manchester City. ... Premier League fourth place, catch the fever! ... And also, I've purged the match from my memory so I won't bore you with the details. Yay! Fernando Torres. Okay, happy
Yet we press on.
Again, like most of the teams in the league there isn't a Plan B.
We saw that early Saturday morning when Manchester United lost to Everton 3-1. Pressing for first place, or at least to keep the pressure on Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson's men were bereft of ideas considering Wayne Rooney played a rare, by his lofty standards, off game at Goodison Park. (The idea he was pressing against his former club is borderline moronic.)
It seemed, in the second half, Manchester United simply expected either a) Everton to roll over or b) Rooney to pull something out of nowhere.
The lack of options presented at the top of the attack aside from Rooney are jarring. Dmitar Berbatov seems to drift in-and-out, but can at least get on the end of a Luis Valencia cross, when needed. Michael Owen, are we sure that's still him or did he swap bodies with a lookalike like Elvis in the underrated 2000s indie, "Bubba Ho-tep"?
If you're a United fan, you have to possibly begin to worry, too. They play West Ham on Tuesday, then have the Carling Cup final this weekend. Throw in the Champions League and the fixture list could get very crowded. This team's depth isn't what it once was. And if Michael Carrick is as invisible as he was Saturday, well, the Carling Cup might be all the spoils the Red Devils net this season. (Where are this year's Kiko Macheda, etc.?)
On the other hand, Everton -- unlike its second half recently vs. a 10-man Liverpool side -- passed and probed and the hard work payed off when Steven Pienaar's cross found teenage sub Dan Gosling. Funny, how there's already "stories" of David Moyes hoping he'll be able to retain Gosling and Jack Rodwell. (Well said, Rev, he and Jermaine Jenas could star in Boogie Nights 2: Electic Bugaloo.)
This performance once again proved that this year is unlike the last couple in the Premier League. The "Big" teams aren't able to step onto the field and wait to collect three points at the end of 90 minutes. Other teams are playing more attack-minded games and at least willing to challenge, instead of dropping 10 men behind the ball.
Chelsea never needed to revert to another option against Wolves. The Blues kept battering away, with the door at Molineux finally bursting through the bluntest of blunt objects -- Didier Drogba for a pair of goals in a 2-0 win, which pushed the lead back up to four.
In short, beating Chelsea by 1-0 scorelines isn't happening too often. To beat the Blues, you're going to have to score.
And Arsenal, which now finds itself in at least arm's length from the top, came out playing its usual champagne brand of football Saturday vs. Sunderland. The Gunners probably could have been up 3-0 in the first 20 minutes, but couldn't finish. Eventually they cracked the door through Niclas Bendtner, but from there it got dicey and if Kenwyne Jones was a bit sharper, the game would have been 1-1 with about 30 minutes to go. Arsenal hung on and got a late Cesc Fabregas penalty to make it 2-0.
Going forward, Arsenal isn't like opera or the symphony and anything else high-falootin' where you might need to done a tuxedo. If the Gunners are serious about the title, they need to grind down, get dirty and get results. No style points, just three points.
So what does all this mean?
Just another weekend in the Premier League, frankly. There's just so much mediocrity and inconsistency at the top, middle and end to figure out anything.
Chelsea gains a little breathing room, but do we really think its a comfortable margin? Nothing seems automatic anymore. Haven't we collectively learned not to annoint any team with so many weeks left to play?
I've made that mistake numerous times, I won't let it happen again.
It's going to be nip-and-tuck and back-and-forth all the way. Calling this race until we smell the finish line? Not happening. The games might end up as duds, from time-to-time, but that doesn't diminish how compelling they'll end up being.
Plight of Portsmouth:
Hindsight is always 20/20 right?
Think back to the second half of the 2006 season. Remember how Harry Redknapp guided Portsmouth's "Great Escape", bringing in players like Pedro Mendes, Andrés D'Alessandro, etc. to stave off relegation.
What if that happened? Suppose Pompey fell into the Championship? Would its current plight have happened?
Do you worship Redknapp for his success or vilify him for leaving the club facing the abyss due to all the players he brought in?
No, it wouldn't have an FA Cup in its trophy cabinet, or a trip into Europe under its belt, but the club wouldn't be seeking its 45th owner this season, facing the brink of extinction.
Sounds like it's only a matter of time before the Premier League authorities call the time of death on Pompey.
So far back, why would any outsider want to step in and buy/rescue the team at this point?
The problem probably boils down to the fact that Fratton Park is nearly a century old with only 20,000 seats. The chance to increase revenue to match the ambitions of the club never happened.
It'll be beyond surreal if Pompey goes out of business, rendering all its results from 2009-10 moot, pushing the league down to 19 clubs. Somehow the league needs to have an emergency fund or something to that effect to avoid this type of calamity. If the lesser clubs are ever serious about American-style revenue sharing or, gasp, salary controls, now is the time when the public sentiment is high.
Other stuff:
It's getting a little distressing that Stuart Holden isn't even making the squad to at least sit the bench for Bolton. Ricardo Gardner has been at the club since 1998, but have you ever seen the Jamaican do anything that impresses? Bolton is stumbling further and further down to the bottom, so Owen Coyle might have to mix things up sooner than opposed to later. Next week vs. Wolves could be a spot to let Holden dip his toes into the Premiership waters. ... There are high school fields in better condition than the surface at the DW Stadium these days. ... What's with the uber-low budget ads at Goodison Park? Alcoholic ginger beer? "Bargain Booze"? Pukka Pies? What, Chico's Bail Bonds wasn't available? ... Ricardo Fuller doesn't get a lot of ink, but he's not a terrible striker. The guy can do work for Stoke City. ... Aston Villa is sneaky. Hadn't won in seven games until Sunday's 5-2 thrashing of Burnley. Now Villa is only a point off fourth place. Something tells me their mild-mannered approach works the best. ... West Ham and Blackburn are two teams starting to look a lot better, if only at home. ... Roman Pavlychenko lives. Who'd have thought's he'd be notching a brace in late February, whilst Robbie Keane was out in Siberia, err, Celtic? ... Nice late winner from a deadball by Bobby Zamora, but frankly if Joe Hart is seriously being considered for England, you have to make that save. Check out this angle if you don't agree. (Oh to live in England and attend this matches from the stands each weekend. Sigh.)
Fantasy Team O' the week:
I'm very happy to report that Jonathan Chaltain's Amish Rakefighters posted 69 points behind Cesc Fabregas, James Milner and Didier Drogba.
If you got a chuckle from the team name, I commend you. If not, go rent or NetFlix "Upright Citizen's Brigade." Stellar stuff.
Bonus Tuesday Pick:
* Manchester United 2, West Ham United 1 -- (Live, Setanta, 2:45 p.m.) United are back to looking wobbly, but not enough at home. Not sure if West Ham is the kind of team that can take the proverbial fight to them at Old Trafford.
One other thing:
Beyond the whole Jose Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge thing, Chelsea/Inter Milan has the chance to be an epic Champions League affair. Call it a mini-World Cup. Of the probable 22 starters on the field Tuesday at the San Siro, how many won't be playing this June in South Africa? Petr Cech and Yuri Zhirkov? Iván Córdoba?
You'd be hard pressed to find a higher caliber of players on the same field outside of a full, top-level international.
Here's a question, which club will send the most players to the World Cup? My short list is Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Assuming they have club football in North Korea, a team from there could conceivably field the entire national side. That could throw a monkey wrench into things.
** I'll likely have some USMNT thoughts ahead of the highly anticipated El Salvador friendly in the Wednesday a.m. range. Maybe that'll atone for this mediocre post.
Maybe this is because I'm starting to key-in my thoughts following a thoroughly forgettable 0-0 draw between Liverpool and Manchester City. ... Premier League fourth place, catch the fever! ... And also, I've purged the match from my memory so I won't bore you with the details. Yay! Fernando Torres. Okay, happy
Yet we press on.
Again, like most of the teams in the league there isn't a Plan B.
We saw that early Saturday morning when Manchester United lost to Everton 3-1. Pressing for first place, or at least to keep the pressure on Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson's men were bereft of ideas considering Wayne Rooney played a rare, by his lofty standards, off game at Goodison Park. (The idea he was pressing against his former club is borderline moronic.)
It seemed, in the second half, Manchester United simply expected either a) Everton to roll over or b) Rooney to pull something out of nowhere.
The lack of options presented at the top of the attack aside from Rooney are jarring. Dmitar Berbatov seems to drift in-and-out, but can at least get on the end of a Luis Valencia cross, when needed. Michael Owen, are we sure that's still him or did he swap bodies with a lookalike like Elvis in the underrated 2000s indie, "Bubba Ho-tep"?
If you're a United fan, you have to possibly begin to worry, too. They play West Ham on Tuesday, then have the Carling Cup final this weekend. Throw in the Champions League and the fixture list could get very crowded. This team's depth isn't what it once was. And if Michael Carrick is as invisible as he was Saturday, well, the Carling Cup might be all the spoils the Red Devils net this season. (Where are this year's Kiko Macheda, etc.?)
On the other hand, Everton -- unlike its second half recently vs. a 10-man Liverpool side -- passed and probed and the hard work payed off when Steven Pienaar's cross found teenage sub Dan Gosling. Funny, how there's already "stories" of David Moyes hoping he'll be able to retain Gosling and Jack Rodwell. (Well said, Rev, he and Jermaine Jenas could star in Boogie Nights 2: Electic Bugaloo.)
This performance once again proved that this year is unlike the last couple in the Premier League. The "Big" teams aren't able to step onto the field and wait to collect three points at the end of 90 minutes. Other teams are playing more attack-minded games and at least willing to challenge, instead of dropping 10 men behind the ball.
Chelsea never needed to revert to another option against Wolves. The Blues kept battering away, with the door at Molineux finally bursting through the bluntest of blunt objects -- Didier Drogba for a pair of goals in a 2-0 win, which pushed the lead back up to four.
In short, beating Chelsea by 1-0 scorelines isn't happening too often. To beat the Blues, you're going to have to score.
And Arsenal, which now finds itself in at least arm's length from the top, came out playing its usual champagne brand of football Saturday vs. Sunderland. The Gunners probably could have been up 3-0 in the first 20 minutes, but couldn't finish. Eventually they cracked the door through Niclas Bendtner, but from there it got dicey and if Kenwyne Jones was a bit sharper, the game would have been 1-1 with about 30 minutes to go. Arsenal hung on and got a late Cesc Fabregas penalty to make it 2-0.
Going forward, Arsenal isn't like opera or the symphony and anything else high-falootin' where you might need to done a tuxedo. If the Gunners are serious about the title, they need to grind down, get dirty and get results. No style points, just three points.
So what does all this mean?
Just another weekend in the Premier League, frankly. There's just so much mediocrity and inconsistency at the top, middle and end to figure out anything.
Chelsea gains a little breathing room, but do we really think its a comfortable margin? Nothing seems automatic anymore. Haven't we collectively learned not to annoint any team with so many weeks left to play?
I've made that mistake numerous times, I won't let it happen again.
It's going to be nip-and-tuck and back-and-forth all the way. Calling this race until we smell the finish line? Not happening. The games might end up as duds, from time-to-time, but that doesn't diminish how compelling they'll end up being.
Plight of Portsmouth:
Hindsight is always 20/20 right?
Think back to the second half of the 2006 season. Remember how Harry Redknapp guided Portsmouth's "Great Escape", bringing in players like Pedro Mendes, Andrés D'Alessandro, etc. to stave off relegation.
What if that happened? Suppose Pompey fell into the Championship? Would its current plight have happened?
Do you worship Redknapp for his success or vilify him for leaving the club facing the abyss due to all the players he brought in?
No, it wouldn't have an FA Cup in its trophy cabinet, or a trip into Europe under its belt, but the club wouldn't be seeking its 45th owner this season, facing the brink of extinction.
Sounds like it's only a matter of time before the Premier League authorities call the time of death on Pompey.
So far back, why would any outsider want to step in and buy/rescue the team at this point?
The problem probably boils down to the fact that Fratton Park is nearly a century old with only 20,000 seats. The chance to increase revenue to match the ambitions of the club never happened.
It'll be beyond surreal if Pompey goes out of business, rendering all its results from 2009-10 moot, pushing the league down to 19 clubs. Somehow the league needs to have an emergency fund or something to that effect to avoid this type of calamity. If the lesser clubs are ever serious about American-style revenue sharing or, gasp, salary controls, now is the time when the public sentiment is high.
Other stuff:
It's getting a little distressing that Stuart Holden isn't even making the squad to at least sit the bench for Bolton. Ricardo Gardner has been at the club since 1998, but have you ever seen the Jamaican do anything that impresses? Bolton is stumbling further and further down to the bottom, so Owen Coyle might have to mix things up sooner than opposed to later. Next week vs. Wolves could be a spot to let Holden dip his toes into the Premiership waters. ... There are high school fields in better condition than the surface at the DW Stadium these days. ... What's with the uber-low budget ads at Goodison Park? Alcoholic ginger beer? "Bargain Booze"? Pukka Pies? What, Chico's Bail Bonds wasn't available? ... Ricardo Fuller doesn't get a lot of ink, but he's not a terrible striker. The guy can do work for Stoke City. ... Aston Villa is sneaky. Hadn't won in seven games until Sunday's 5-2 thrashing of Burnley. Now Villa is only a point off fourth place. Something tells me their mild-mannered approach works the best. ... West Ham and Blackburn are two teams starting to look a lot better, if only at home. ... Roman Pavlychenko lives. Who'd have thought's he'd be notching a brace in late February, whilst Robbie Keane was out in Siberia, err, Celtic? ... Nice late winner from a deadball by Bobby Zamora, but frankly if Joe Hart is seriously being considered for England, you have to make that save. Check out this angle if you don't agree. (Oh to live in England and attend this matches from the stands each weekend. Sigh.)
Fantasy Team O' the week:
I'm very happy to report that Jonathan Chaltain's Amish Rakefighters posted 69 points behind Cesc Fabregas, James Milner and Didier Drogba.
If you got a chuckle from the team name, I commend you. If not, go rent or NetFlix "Upright Citizen's Brigade." Stellar stuff.
Bonus Tuesday Pick:
* Manchester United 2, West Ham United 1 -- (Live, Setanta, 2:45 p.m.) United are back to looking wobbly, but not enough at home. Not sure if West Ham is the kind of team that can take the proverbial fight to them at Old Trafford.
One other thing:
Beyond the whole Jose Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge thing, Chelsea/Inter Milan has the chance to be an epic Champions League affair. Call it a mini-World Cup. Of the probable 22 starters on the field Tuesday at the San Siro, how many won't be playing this June in South Africa? Petr Cech and Yuri Zhirkov? Iván Córdoba?
You'd be hard pressed to find a higher caliber of players on the same field outside of a full, top-level international.
Here's a question, which club will send the most players to the World Cup? My short list is Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Assuming they have club football in North Korea, a team from there could conceivably field the entire national side. That could throw a monkey wrench into things.
** I'll likely have some USMNT thoughts ahead of the highly anticipated El Salvador friendly in the Wednesday a.m. range. Maybe that'll atone for this mediocre post.
Labels: Chelsea, manchester United, Monday recaps, Premier League, Soccer, Wayne Rooney
Another insightful post. Your point that "Other teams are playing more attack-minded games and at least willing to challenge, instead of dropping 10 men behind the ball," is spot on. And because the second tier teams are more willing to go after the big boys, the lesser squads are obviously more likely to get a result than if they parked the bus, so that motivates the other mid-level teams to launch their own attack next week.
I think that there is a chicken or the egg thing with how unsettled the top four has been this season. Most pundits seem to think that Chelsea and United (and def Liverpool) are not as strong this season - thus the greater number of losses for the big boys in 09/10. But the fact that Everton and Aston Villa (and even Fulham and Brum) are trying to WIN against Man United and not just play for a 0-0 tie is also driving the way the points are being spread around more this season. So are the top teams more vulnerable this year, or is the willingness of the teams below them to actually, I dunno, play soccer just revealing the weaknesses that have always been there?
Right now there is that whole cluster of teams on 45 or 46 points fighting it out for that fourth place Champions League spot. I think I speak for all non-Liverpool fans when I say that I sincerely hope it is City, Spurs or Villa that make the CL next season and NOT Pool. That kind of disturbance in the same old, same old would really drive more teams next season. Hopefully not drive them into Pompey like debt, however.
Grant Wahl seems to think the MLS work stoppage is a serious threat to the season starting on time. Would that extend Lando's time at Everton without a permanent transfer fee being paid? How happy would that make Donovan, Moyes, et al?
Wow, I had four topics to discuss and you kind of covered them all, but not enough that I can't go over them again:
1 - Chelsea took care of business but didn't look too impressive. The rest of their schedule is compartively brutal. This is the main reason that Arsenal are a legitimate title contender - the rest of their schedule is cake. Here's what the three main challengers have left:
Chelsea - home vs. City, West Ham, Villa, Bolton, Stoke, Wigan; away to Blackburn, Portsmouth (maybe), ManU, Spurs, Liverpool
ManU - home vs. West Ham, Fulham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Stoke; away to Wolves, Bolton, Blackburn, City, Sunderland
Arsenal - home vs. Burnley, West Ham, Wolves, City, Fulham; away to Stoke, Hull, Birmingham, Spurs, Wigan, Blackburn
2 - What kind of impact would Portsmouth going out of business have on the various races? Man United would lose six points and +8 goal differential. Arsenal would lose six points and +6 goal diff. Liverpool, Wolves, Wigan, and Burnley all lost to them. Each of them would gain back those dropped points (theoretically). Could have a serious impact on a lot of races, unlike a couple of years ago when that club in Scotland went under - I think they had only one win or something.
3 - What the hell is Owen Coyle doing at Bolton? He came in planning on bringing his fluid, attacking style from Burnley, brought in players he thought could help with that, and leaves them out of his squad. Vladimir Weiss has made 0 starts, 5 sub (90th, 66th, 71st, 70th, 59th), and 0 unused sub appearances. Jack Wilshere has made 1 starts (off at the 78th), 1 sub (87th), and 3 unused sub appearances. Stuart Holden has made 0 starts, 0 sub, and 1 unused sub appearances. I know it's been about a month that each of them have been with the team, but I would have thought one of them would force his way into the side.
4 - I am getting really nervous about Chelsea - Inter. I'm limited on vacation time so I was going to work through the first round, but I think I'm going to have to take a half day on Wednesday to watch this game. Possibly while drinking heavily. I think Carvalho was rested and not hurt on Saturday, but Chelsea could be without (from most likely to least likely to miss) Essien, Ashley Cole, Bosingwa, Deco, Alex, Zhirkov and Lampard. I haven't found anything on any of these guys yet, so I'm anxious to hear who is fit and who is not. I might cry if the back four is Ferreira on the left, JT and Ivanovic in the middle, and Jeffrey Bruma on the right.
That being said, I still expect Chelsea to roll through. Maybe a 1-1 draw here and a 2-0 win at the Bridge. I don't think it will be as epic as you think, unless you thought the Chelsea-Liverpool CL ties (excluding the last two) were epic.
As to your World Cup point, I think Chelsea will be the most represented. I have no idea where a lot of guys rank on their respective country's rankings on other teams, but a quick survey has Chelsea with 15 guys who would go if they are fit: Ivanovic, A Cole, Essien, Carvalho, Lampard, Drogba, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Bosingwa, Deco, Kalou, Terry, Anelka and Stoch. I wouldn't be surprised to see Joe Cole make England and Alex crack Brazil's lineup. Also, you might see Paulo Ferreira crack Portugal's side with all of their injuries.
Arsenal have about 11 definites, United and Liverpool aren't close to double digits. Real Madrid will probably end up with 9-11, Barcelona with 11-12, Inter with 12-14, Bayern with 9-12. Wouldn't be surprised to see some side from New Zealand or one of the Asian / African countries with a large contigent also.
Everton are surprisingly well represented with internationals (given their stature relative to the giants you mentioned) with:
Howard, Donovan, Cahill, Yobo, Aiyegbeni, Senderos, Pienaar, Saha, Heitinga and possibly Jagielka.
That's nine definites, (two on loan), probably the most of any non-Champions' League club.
A quick glance suggests that the Asian and Oceana national team players are well distributed in their respective domestic leagues.