Hey, what do you know? 2010 is over.
And what a busy 2010 it was.
No sense to recap everything I've written here over the last 365. It was plenty. If you're inclined for such things, here are a couple of the tags you might want to delve through:
For all things USMNT, Bob Bradley specifically and for everything from the 2010 World Cup.
It would be almost remiss not to devote a little time re-hashing a few topics from 2010. So here they are, since as a writer I am required to submit these sort of end-of-the-year lists or face expulsion from the fraternity. Either that or lose access to typing with my right hand for six weeks, the pen being mightier than the sword and all.
* A Star is (Re)Born -- Did anyone in 2010 change their image, in a positive way, like Landon Donovan? Michael Vick? Maybe.
Donovan, for the last four-plus years, had been derided by nearly every U.S. fan, or at least fans that go on the Internet and don't buy posters or No. 21 replica t-shirts. Everyone pretty much had the same assumption -- Donovan wasn't tough, instead a whiny SoCal kid who couldn't hack it in Europe.
Beginning in January that all changed with his brilliant run on loan in the short term at Everton. Donovan jumped in the EPL feet first, tearing up the Arsenal flanks in his first game with the Toffees in January. His time in England ended with a victory lap at Goodison Park after a beatdown of Hull City in mid-March. All-and-all, none too shabby.
That positive momentum carried to the World Cup, where the new and improved Donovan shined on the world stage, bearing no resemblance to the laughably bad player four years ago in Germany. It culminated with great goals vs. Slovenia and Algeria, translating into this first U.S. soccer player with an actual Q-rating, who other celebs were happy to be associated alongside. Sorry Alexi.
Maybe this isn't the biggest deal in the world, but now at the end of 2010 Donovan is being mentioned among guys like Drew Brees in the pages of GQ as one of the best athletes of the year on the endless parade of media clip shows, such as "SportsNation." It's an unprecedented step for an American player, though a small baby one in the big picture.
* Half Empty? Half Full -- Six months have passed since Asamoah Gyan put an abrupt end to the USMNT's run, well, entry into the 2010 World Cup. It's still hard to put an accurate, concise ribbon on the team's foray in South Africa. (Writing in June was full of confusion, even with six months of perspective, still unsure how to frame it.)
On the plus side of the ledger, the U.S. handed England a humiliating blow via Clint Dempsey's knuckleball, which chumpatized Robert Green. (A belated thanks to Steven Gerrard for allowing Dempsey two full spins on the ball to set up the shot.) The U.S., too, showed moxie to rally to tie Slovenia from down two goals and also had an apparent winner called off for a phantom call. It's convenient to forget the U.S.'s maddeningly consistent ability to concede early, thus needing the rallies to salvage points.
Nothing, though, approaches the touchstone moment of Landon Donovan's golden moment in the 91st minute vs. Algeria, which gave U.S. fans across the nation a moment to call their own.
The problem, though, is that goal did place the U.S. atop its group, it turned out to be the only time in the World Cup the U.S. actually held a lead in a game. Bob Bradley's team had a path carved out for a possible run to the semifinals, to keep the wave of goodwill growing and propel soccer to another level in the public consciousness.
Ghana, again and four years later, had other plans.
The World Cup was the best and the worst of U.S. soccer. It displayed the rah-rah, moxie of quintessentially American teams. At the same time it showed the American's lack of critical tactical and mental nous when it comes to winning in major international tournaments.
In the end, we'll probably look back at June 2010 as a fond memory and positive, but all the YouTube clips and replays of Donovan's goal -- which still do render goosebumps -- don't mask over the fact the U.S. had as golden opportunity as it'll ever have in a World Cup and whiffed in the Round of 16.
This end of the year saber rattling around the Donovan goal does seem, increasingly, like an opiate for the masses, taking our eyes away from the real issues at hand. Donovan's goal certainly made the biggest cultural impact American soccer has ever witnessed, it did little to change the long term future of the U.S. team on the field, though.
Either way, the agony and the ecstasy in a matter of days.
* Deja vu all over again -- Hi, Bob!
For better or worse or more accurately, continued flirtations with mediocrity, Sunil Gulati found it his infinite wisdom to retain Bob Bradley as U.S. National team coach for another four years. Hoo-ray.
Back in August this hardly inspired any confidence, as four years of the same (sometimes boring) Bradley roaming the sidelines was about as exciting a prospect for U.S. fans as a ski trip to Kansas. (I wrote extensively about this at the time in August over a series of posts.)
At least there's a sense of hope, or freshness, heading into 2011 coming from the final U.S. match of the year, a friendly victory over South Africa which included new players like Juan Agudelo and Mikkel Diskerud. The bigger hope for Bradley going forward with the USMNT is he figures out a way to transfer Stuart Holden's sterling form with Bolton in the Premier League to international success.
Oh, and finding a way to unseat Mexico at the top of CONCACAF in the Gold Cup will be huge, especially with the proposed tweaks in the qualifying cycle where the two rivals might not play each other.
* Hot Chip -- No, Clint Dempsey's Golazazazazazaz-o for Fulham in the Europa League vs. Juventus never, ever, gets old.
* Still Special -- Honest question: Is there a bigger rock star on the planet right now than Jose Mourinho? Or maybe more specifically does anyone possess that steering, self-centered, cocksure posturing of an old-school frontman like the Portuguese legend? Factor in the surreal delight that is "Special1 TV" and there is literally no one else on the planet anywhere near Mourinho.
In 2010 we watched Mourinho lead Inter Milan to the Champions League title, besting mighty Barcelona along the way, in a match that probably made people cry considering the way Lucio, Maicon, Walter Samuel and the rest of the Nerrazzurri muscled around the Angel of Football -- Lionel Messi.
Mourinho's year didn't end on the best note, as Real Madrid were stomped 5-0 by Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
At least we'll always have this classic celebration.
Shine on your crazy diamond.
* Boom, boom ... lemme hear you say, Bale Baaaa-le -- Just like the Four Loko craze came literally out of nowhere to wreak havoc on American college campuses, the same could be said of Gareth Bale's sudden rise to become the most exciting player in the Premier League in 2010. Okay, that's not exactly the best example of all time considering Bale is a noted teetotaler, but you get the point.
Maybe there is a massive overreaction to Bale, being a goofy looking Welshman and all, yet the guy continues to bring the goods, even as recently as Wednesday against Newcastle with a dance-and-shake up the sideline for a goal. There's nothing quite like that audible gasp at White Hart Lane these days when the ball touches Bale's feet and the crowd expects a galloping, 60-yard knifing run through the defense.
Is Bale realistically going to remain in the Top 10 of the World come 2011? If he does it'll be something to behold considering how magical his 2010 was.
The Taylor Swift inspired heart shaped celebration? Guess everyone has a weak spot.
* Teams Fight Back -- Perhaps the most noteworthy trend for the Premier League in the 2010-11 season was teams deciding it made more sense to put up a fight against the supposed best teams in the league, as opposed to sitting back and taking their medicine.
Is it the only reason the table is as bunched up as it is right now, with five teams within five points of each other at the top? Not necessarily, but it's a factor.
It's definitely a good thing to enter the new year with no idea who's going to win the title, instead of the same, boring, static two-horse races of which we've become accustomed.
* Xavi & Iniesta ... best. teammates. ever? -- About the only thing the Barcelona/Spain duo hasn't done at this point is film a slow motion high-five sequence like those old NFL "Teammates" ads of yesteryear. Now, admittedly, I'm in the about roughly 0.00000004 percent of soccer fans who aren't totally gaga for every single touch of the ball by Barca.
Nor did Spain's World Cup triumph fill me with rosy feelings.
Still, you have to respect greatness and the tic-tac, E.S.P.-passing by the pair is the best thing in soccer going right now. Nobody seems to know how to break it up or slow down the possession. The kind of chemistry these two have with each other is what LeBron James and Dwyane Wade can only dream about.
In theory short range, one-touch passing shouldn't be so hard to master. It's the second nature between Xavi and Iniesta that allows all those little dings back-and-forth to slowly gain momentum into a swirling maelstrom, sucking up and destroying everything in its path.
A vow to improve -- There is shame in daily life. Like clicking on a dreadfully stupid Yahoo! Top News story featuring Snooki. Or stealing a grape at the supermarket. Or admitting you might actually like Katy Perry solely based on her music.
Then there is predicting that Joe Cole would be the best summer transfer in the Premier League back in August. Yup, I wrote it. Can't live it down. Couldn't have been more lost. Atrocious job out of me. That awful decry, along with my picks make me feel awful sheepish trying to tweak professional athletes.
Having said that, as always, major appreciation for everyone who's stopped by to drink at the trough of this little ol' splash in the Inter-nets waters. Wouldn't be carving out time on a weekly basis to do this without you. Also, a special set of thanks to everyone that decided to follow me on Twitter. Entered 2010 leery of the service and instantly became addicted to it, as it became a quick, easy and (mostly) snarky way to complement the blog.
Onward, 2011!
Round 21 EPL Picks:
* West Bromwich Albion v. Manchester United -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) In a strange way, Manchester United is probably the most responsible for the Premier League being as wide-open as it currently stands. If United get the job done and hold out at Fulham, Everton and Birmingham City, the Red Devils are six points clear at the top with two games-in-hand over second-place Manchester City. In fairness, the goal Birmingham City scored to draw the match Tuesday at St. Andrews was ridiculous with Nikola Zigic climbing over Rio Ferdinand's with about as much grace as Shaquille O'Neal going for a rebound these days. Oh, it hit his hand, too, but nobody is going to cry for Sir Alex Ferguson. West Brom actually drew United at Old Trafford, the team's only blemish at home, thanks to a Patrice Evra own-goal and a gaffe by Edwin van der Sar. The Baggies have lost three straight heading into this match, though the way this season is going that note means nothing. Still ... West Brom 1, Manchester United 2
* Tottenham v. Fulham -- Too bad ESPN couldn't flex its schedule to air this, because, really who's getting up at 7:30 East Coast time on New Year's Day for Manchester United? This is the game to watch. Who needs NCAA Bowl Games when you've got Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey? Not sure which impressed me more in the midweek, Fulham getting two goals from Chris Baird to win a road game at Stoke City or Tottenham winning its second straight match with only 10 men? For some reason Spurs seem due a "rocking chair" game, well, without a clean sheet of course. ... Tottenham 3, Fulham 1
* Sunderland v. Blackburn Rovers -- It's fairly safe to say that Sunderland isn't a team that deals with success too well. Nor is it a club very well equipped for two matches in three days, as evidenced by dropping the first game of the season on Tuesday at the Stadium of Light, losing to Blackpool. Blackburn comes in off a 3-1 win at West Brom and have gone from crisis to top half of the table in 90 minutes. Yay hyperbole. When Rovers actually show up and play, they can be tough to handle, or at least a bit of a pest. Guess Sunderland deserves some credit for maintaining it's seventh-place position despite the fact Darren Bent hasn't scored since Nov. 27. ... Sunderland 1, Blackburn 0
* Liverpool v. Bolton -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) On the plus side for Liverpool, this match will be played in 2011. Maybe that brings a change. Hard to believe we live in a world where the mighty Reds go down limper than a early 1990s WWF jobber at Anfield to Wolves, while Bolton puts up a tough fight only to lose 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea. Roy Hodgson has been King Midas in reverse at Liverpool, while Owen Coyle has been a godsend to Bolton. At least Liverpool fans have had ample practice of jeering and protesting at matches lately, as many might be rooting for a loss to finally ease Hodgson out the door. Crazy, too, where re-inserting Steven Gerrard into the XI ends up being a problem. ... Liverpool 1, Bolton 2
* Manchester City v. Blackpool -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Fun game for FSC to pick up for broadcast. Isn't it crazy that nearly every touch of the ball, every facial expression, every sneeze by Manchester City is analyzed like it's the modern day Zapruder Film? Halfway through the season it's pretty clear City can win the title, but it'll more likely be they'll zip to the top if Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham falter. City, as constructed, will have hiccups but they'll also have spurts in games for five, 10 minutes where they can score two or three goals, allowing them to sit back and defend the lead like Roberto Mancini wants. Coincidentally enough, City have five home wins this season, while Blackpool has five road wins. That's why this will be a good test for City, since Blackpool isn't going to sit back and allow them to pick them apart. If City ever develop the ethos Ian Holloway has cultivated at Blackpool, the rest of the world better watch out. ... Manchester City 3, Blackpool 1
* Stoke City v. Everton -- Congrats to Stoke City. Halfway through the year, the Potters are the median of the Premier League. Tenth place, 23 goals scored and 24 goals allowed. The very definition of average. Everton could make a solid claim for this illustrious position, too, sitting in 11th place with a similar -1 goal difference. The Toffees even own a joint division-high 10 draws, which makes them all the more average. Flip at coin for this one, though expect a headed goal from one of the sides. ... Stoke City 2, Everton 1
* West Ham United v. Wolves -- You know what this is? RELEGATION SIX-POINTER!!! Both teams have played better, giving their supporters hope for 2011. West Ham are unbeaten in three, with a win over Fulham, while Wolves have won 2-of-3, including Wednesday's historic victory at Anfield. The problem for these two to get out of the relegation jail, is it'll be difficult to role doubles, nor can they afford to pay the $50 fee. Monopoly jokes aside, is there's a lot of teams ahead of them to leapfrog, without a hapless, dead 3-point ATM behind them. Avram Grant and Mick McCarthy need to hope that Fulham and Aston Villa can't get their acts together, since Wigan Athletic has that knack for survival and 17th place. Recall, Wolves won last season at Upton Park. ... West Ham 1, Wolves 2
* Birmingham City v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Let's hope Alex McLeish rolls the dice and plays Zigic from the start. The thought of the 6-foot-8 Serb leaping, elbowing and shoving around the Arsenal backline has unlimited comedy potential. Arsene Wenger didn't out-and-out admit he might have the wrong defensive player policy, but after Wigan snatched a 2-2 draw Wednesday due to atrocious set piece defending, the Frenchman admitted the lack of leadership and communication in the Gunners back four. The English media love to use the fact Arsenal has an entirely Francophone defense and a Polish keeper as the reason for the yearly foibles and inability to protect leads. That seems like a pretty easy excuse. What Arsenal need is a presence back there. You can tell opponents don't fear the Arsenal defense and relish the chance to go at them. In short, Arsenal's defense is soft and everyone knows it. Laurent Koscielny seems to have gotten worse, or at least his confidence has waned. Sebastian Squillaci is nothing more than a stopgap. Johan Djourou is solid, when he plays, which seems to be on the Ledley King once-a-month plan. Imagine how much screaming Tim Howard would do on a game-by-game basis if he played keeper for Arsenal. It'd rival those old Vince Lombardi clips. If Arsenal are going to win the title, they'll need to score two or three goals a match. No easy feat. Then again, when Andrey Arshavin is scoring like he did against Wigan on Wednesday, it makes you think it might be possible. ... Birmingham City 1, Arsenal 2
Sunday:
* Chelsea v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Wednesday vs. Bolton, Chelsea looked like Chelsea, at least, for a few spurts. Teams have clearly gone to school on the Blues, trying to cut down those deadly, odd-man counter attacks triggered near midfield. Bolton played a little too high, Didier Drogba got behind the defense and played a perfect ball for Flourent Malouda to tap-in. That's Chelsea's "A" game. The Blues only other options seem to be set pieces or Frank Lampard penalties. If Aston Villa decide they actually want to put up a fight as they slink toward the Championship, sit back and defend in numbers it should be able to frustrate Chelsea. Ashley Young (if he plays) and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has one Premier League goal this season. It would make some sense, in this crazy season, for Villa -- losers of 5-of-6 -- to go to Stamford Bridge for a result. This team, however, is lacking serious guts. At least we can see how Eric Lichaj handles the trickery of Ashley Cole. ... Chelsea 2, Aston Villa 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Wigan ought to replace the tree in its crest with a banana peel. The Latics just have that innate knack for being a thorn in everyone's side. Nobody embodies that more than Hugo Rodallega who is a walking, corn-rowed spoiler ... and a pretty good player. If I'm an MLS team I keep my eyes on him for four, five years down the road. His style of play would bring a team plenty of goals, assuming he was motivated. Newcastle United gave Tottenham a game on Tuesday and even dusted off Alan Smith in the old fashioned "hard man" role. Fortuantely he's ditched the bleached blonde look, since it's hard to be a tough guy looking like that, unless you're a pro beach volleyball player. Andy Carroll has likely unfit for the match, knocking it down a major peg in the viewing priority list. ... Wigan 1, Newcastle United 1
Last round: 3-7
Season: 82-108
And what a busy 2010 it was.
No sense to recap everything I've written here over the last 365. It was plenty. If you're inclined for such things, here are a couple of the tags you might want to delve through:
For all things USMNT, Bob Bradley specifically and for everything from the 2010 World Cup.
It would be almost remiss not to devote a little time re-hashing a few topics from 2010. So here they are, since as a writer I am required to submit these sort of end-of-the-year lists or face expulsion from the fraternity. Either that or lose access to typing with my right hand for six weeks, the pen being mightier than the sword and all.
* A Star is (Re)Born -- Did anyone in 2010 change their image, in a positive way, like Landon Donovan? Michael Vick? Maybe.
Donovan, for the last four-plus years, had been derided by nearly every U.S. fan, or at least fans that go on the Internet and don't buy posters or No. 21 replica t-shirts. Everyone pretty much had the same assumption -- Donovan wasn't tough, instead a whiny SoCal kid who couldn't hack it in Europe.
Beginning in January that all changed with his brilliant run on loan in the short term at Everton. Donovan jumped in the EPL feet first, tearing up the Arsenal flanks in his first game with the Toffees in January. His time in England ended with a victory lap at Goodison Park after a beatdown of Hull City in mid-March. All-and-all, none too shabby.
That positive momentum carried to the World Cup, where the new and improved Donovan shined on the world stage, bearing no resemblance to the laughably bad player four years ago in Germany. It culminated with great goals vs. Slovenia and Algeria, translating into this first U.S. soccer player with an actual Q-rating, who other celebs were happy to be associated alongside. Sorry Alexi.
Maybe this isn't the biggest deal in the world, but now at the end of 2010 Donovan is being mentioned among guys like Drew Brees in the pages of GQ as one of the best athletes of the year on the endless parade of media clip shows, such as "SportsNation." It's an unprecedented step for an American player, though a small baby one in the big picture.
* Half Empty? Half Full -- Six months have passed since Asamoah Gyan put an abrupt end to the USMNT's run, well, entry into the 2010 World Cup. It's still hard to put an accurate, concise ribbon on the team's foray in South Africa. (Writing in June was full of confusion, even with six months of perspective, still unsure how to frame it.)
On the plus side of the ledger, the U.S. handed England a humiliating blow via Clint Dempsey's knuckleball, which chumpatized Robert Green. (A belated thanks to Steven Gerrard for allowing Dempsey two full spins on the ball to set up the shot.) The U.S., too, showed moxie to rally to tie Slovenia from down two goals and also had an apparent winner called off for a phantom call. It's convenient to forget the U.S.'s maddeningly consistent ability to concede early, thus needing the rallies to salvage points.
Nothing, though, approaches the touchstone moment of Landon Donovan's golden moment in the 91st minute vs. Algeria, which gave U.S. fans across the nation a moment to call their own.
The problem, though, is that goal did place the U.S. atop its group, it turned out to be the only time in the World Cup the U.S. actually held a lead in a game. Bob Bradley's team had a path carved out for a possible run to the semifinals, to keep the wave of goodwill growing and propel soccer to another level in the public consciousness.
Ghana, again and four years later, had other plans.
The World Cup was the best and the worst of U.S. soccer. It displayed the rah-rah, moxie of quintessentially American teams. At the same time it showed the American's lack of critical tactical and mental nous when it comes to winning in major international tournaments.
In the end, we'll probably look back at June 2010 as a fond memory and positive, but all the YouTube clips and replays of Donovan's goal -- which still do render goosebumps -- don't mask over the fact the U.S. had as golden opportunity as it'll ever have in a World Cup and whiffed in the Round of 16.
This end of the year saber rattling around the Donovan goal does seem, increasingly, like an opiate for the masses, taking our eyes away from the real issues at hand. Donovan's goal certainly made the biggest cultural impact American soccer has ever witnessed, it did little to change the long term future of the U.S. team on the field, though.
Either way, the agony and the ecstasy in a matter of days.
* Deja vu all over again -- Hi, Bob!
For better or worse or more accurately, continued flirtations with mediocrity, Sunil Gulati found it his infinite wisdom to retain Bob Bradley as U.S. National team coach for another four years. Hoo-ray.
Back in August this hardly inspired any confidence, as four years of the same (sometimes boring) Bradley roaming the sidelines was about as exciting a prospect for U.S. fans as a ski trip to Kansas. (I wrote extensively about this at the time in August over a series of posts.)
At least there's a sense of hope, or freshness, heading into 2011 coming from the final U.S. match of the year, a friendly victory over South Africa which included new players like Juan Agudelo and Mikkel Diskerud. The bigger hope for Bradley going forward with the USMNT is he figures out a way to transfer Stuart Holden's sterling form with Bolton in the Premier League to international success.
Oh, and finding a way to unseat Mexico at the top of CONCACAF in the Gold Cup will be huge, especially with the proposed tweaks in the qualifying cycle where the two rivals might not play each other.
* Hot Chip -- No, Clint Dempsey's Golazazazazazaz-o for Fulham in the Europa League vs. Juventus never, ever, gets old.
* Still Special -- Honest question: Is there a bigger rock star on the planet right now than Jose Mourinho? Or maybe more specifically does anyone possess that steering, self-centered, cocksure posturing of an old-school frontman like the Portuguese legend? Factor in the surreal delight that is "Special1 TV" and there is literally no one else on the planet anywhere near Mourinho.
In 2010 we watched Mourinho lead Inter Milan to the Champions League title, besting mighty Barcelona along the way, in a match that probably made people cry considering the way Lucio, Maicon, Walter Samuel and the rest of the Nerrazzurri muscled around the Angel of Football -- Lionel Messi.
Mourinho's year didn't end on the best note, as Real Madrid were stomped 5-0 by Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
At least we'll always have this classic celebration.
Shine on your crazy diamond.
* Boom, boom ... lemme hear you say, Bale Baaaa-le -- Just like the Four Loko craze came literally out of nowhere to wreak havoc on American college campuses, the same could be said of Gareth Bale's sudden rise to become the most exciting player in the Premier League in 2010. Okay, that's not exactly the best example of all time considering Bale is a noted teetotaler, but you get the point.
Maybe there is a massive overreaction to Bale, being a goofy looking Welshman and all, yet the guy continues to bring the goods, even as recently as Wednesday against Newcastle with a dance-and-shake up the sideline for a goal. There's nothing quite like that audible gasp at White Hart Lane these days when the ball touches Bale's feet and the crowd expects a galloping, 60-yard knifing run through the defense.
Is Bale realistically going to remain in the Top 10 of the World come 2011? If he does it'll be something to behold considering how magical his 2010 was.
The Taylor Swift inspired heart shaped celebration? Guess everyone has a weak spot.
* Teams Fight Back -- Perhaps the most noteworthy trend for the Premier League in the 2010-11 season was teams deciding it made more sense to put up a fight against the supposed best teams in the league, as opposed to sitting back and taking their medicine.
Is it the only reason the table is as bunched up as it is right now, with five teams within five points of each other at the top? Not necessarily, but it's a factor.
It's definitely a good thing to enter the new year with no idea who's going to win the title, instead of the same, boring, static two-horse races of which we've become accustomed.
* Xavi & Iniesta ... best. teammates. ever? -- About the only thing the Barcelona/Spain duo hasn't done at this point is film a slow motion high-five sequence like those old NFL "Teammates" ads of yesteryear. Now, admittedly, I'm in the about roughly 0.00000004 percent of soccer fans who aren't totally gaga for every single touch of the ball by Barca.
Nor did Spain's World Cup triumph fill me with rosy feelings.
Still, you have to respect greatness and the tic-tac, E.S.P.-passing by the pair is the best thing in soccer going right now. Nobody seems to know how to break it up or slow down the possession. The kind of chemistry these two have with each other is what LeBron James and Dwyane Wade can only dream about.
In theory short range, one-touch passing shouldn't be so hard to master. It's the second nature between Xavi and Iniesta that allows all those little dings back-and-forth to slowly gain momentum into a swirling maelstrom, sucking up and destroying everything in its path.
A vow to improve -- There is shame in daily life. Like clicking on a dreadfully stupid Yahoo! Top News story featuring Snooki. Or stealing a grape at the supermarket. Or admitting you might actually like Katy Perry solely based on her music.
Then there is predicting that Joe Cole would be the best summer transfer in the Premier League back in August. Yup, I wrote it. Can't live it down. Couldn't have been more lost. Atrocious job out of me. That awful decry, along with my picks make me feel awful sheepish trying to tweak professional athletes.
Having said that, as always, major appreciation for everyone who's stopped by to drink at the trough of this little ol' splash in the Inter-nets waters. Wouldn't be carving out time on a weekly basis to do this without you. Also, a special set of thanks to everyone that decided to follow me on Twitter. Entered 2010 leery of the service and instantly became addicted to it, as it became a quick, easy and (mostly) snarky way to complement the blog.
Onward, 2011!
***
Round 21 EPL Picks:
* West Bromwich Albion v. Manchester United -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) In a strange way, Manchester United is probably the most responsible for the Premier League being as wide-open as it currently stands. If United get the job done and hold out at Fulham, Everton and Birmingham City, the Red Devils are six points clear at the top with two games-in-hand over second-place Manchester City. In fairness, the goal Birmingham City scored to draw the match Tuesday at St. Andrews was ridiculous with Nikola Zigic climbing over Rio Ferdinand's with about as much grace as Shaquille O'Neal going for a rebound these days. Oh, it hit his hand, too, but nobody is going to cry for Sir Alex Ferguson. West Brom actually drew United at Old Trafford, the team's only blemish at home, thanks to a Patrice Evra own-goal and a gaffe by Edwin van der Sar. The Baggies have lost three straight heading into this match, though the way this season is going that note means nothing. Still ... West Brom 1, Manchester United 2
* Tottenham v. Fulham -- Too bad ESPN couldn't flex its schedule to air this, because, really who's getting up at 7:30 East Coast time on New Year's Day for Manchester United? This is the game to watch. Who needs NCAA Bowl Games when you've got Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey? Not sure which impressed me more in the midweek, Fulham getting two goals from Chris Baird to win a road game at Stoke City or Tottenham winning its second straight match with only 10 men? For some reason Spurs seem due a "rocking chair" game, well, without a clean sheet of course. ... Tottenham 3, Fulham 1
* Sunderland v. Blackburn Rovers -- It's fairly safe to say that Sunderland isn't a team that deals with success too well. Nor is it a club very well equipped for two matches in three days, as evidenced by dropping the first game of the season on Tuesday at the Stadium of Light, losing to Blackpool. Blackburn comes in off a 3-1 win at West Brom and have gone from crisis to top half of the table in 90 minutes. Yay hyperbole. When Rovers actually show up and play, they can be tough to handle, or at least a bit of a pest. Guess Sunderland deserves some credit for maintaining it's seventh-place position despite the fact Darren Bent hasn't scored since Nov. 27. ... Sunderland 1, Blackburn 0
* Liverpool v. Bolton -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) On the plus side for Liverpool, this match will be played in 2011. Maybe that brings a change. Hard to believe we live in a world where the mighty Reds go down limper than a early 1990s WWF jobber at Anfield to Wolves, while Bolton puts up a tough fight only to lose 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea. Roy Hodgson has been King Midas in reverse at Liverpool, while Owen Coyle has been a godsend to Bolton. At least Liverpool fans have had ample practice of jeering and protesting at matches lately, as many might be rooting for a loss to finally ease Hodgson out the door. Crazy, too, where re-inserting Steven Gerrard into the XI ends up being a problem. ... Liverpool 1, Bolton 2
* Manchester City v. Blackpool -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Fun game for FSC to pick up for broadcast. Isn't it crazy that nearly every touch of the ball, every facial expression, every sneeze by Manchester City is analyzed like it's the modern day Zapruder Film? Halfway through the season it's pretty clear City can win the title, but it'll more likely be they'll zip to the top if Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham falter. City, as constructed, will have hiccups but they'll also have spurts in games for five, 10 minutes where they can score two or three goals, allowing them to sit back and defend the lead like Roberto Mancini wants. Coincidentally enough, City have five home wins this season, while Blackpool has five road wins. That's why this will be a good test for City, since Blackpool isn't going to sit back and allow them to pick them apart. If City ever develop the ethos Ian Holloway has cultivated at Blackpool, the rest of the world better watch out. ... Manchester City 3, Blackpool 1
* Stoke City v. Everton -- Congrats to Stoke City. Halfway through the year, the Potters are the median of the Premier League. Tenth place, 23 goals scored and 24 goals allowed. The very definition of average. Everton could make a solid claim for this illustrious position, too, sitting in 11th place with a similar -1 goal difference. The Toffees even own a joint division-high 10 draws, which makes them all the more average. Flip at coin for this one, though expect a headed goal from one of the sides. ... Stoke City 2, Everton 1
* West Ham United v. Wolves -- You know what this is? RELEGATION SIX-POINTER!!! Both teams have played better, giving their supporters hope for 2011. West Ham are unbeaten in three, with a win over Fulham, while Wolves have won 2-of-3, including Wednesday's historic victory at Anfield. The problem for these two to get out of the relegation jail, is it'll be difficult to role doubles, nor can they afford to pay the $50 fee. Monopoly jokes aside, is there's a lot of teams ahead of them to leapfrog, without a hapless, dead 3-point ATM behind them. Avram Grant and Mick McCarthy need to hope that Fulham and Aston Villa can't get their acts together, since Wigan Athletic has that knack for survival and 17th place. Recall, Wolves won last season at Upton Park. ... West Ham 1, Wolves 2
* Birmingham City v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Let's hope Alex McLeish rolls the dice and plays Zigic from the start. The thought of the 6-foot-8 Serb leaping, elbowing and shoving around the Arsenal backline has unlimited comedy potential. Arsene Wenger didn't out-and-out admit he might have the wrong defensive player policy, but after Wigan snatched a 2-2 draw Wednesday due to atrocious set piece defending, the Frenchman admitted the lack of leadership and communication in the Gunners back four. The English media love to use the fact Arsenal has an entirely Francophone defense and a Polish keeper as the reason for the yearly foibles and inability to protect leads. That seems like a pretty easy excuse. What Arsenal need is a presence back there. You can tell opponents don't fear the Arsenal defense and relish the chance to go at them. In short, Arsenal's defense is soft and everyone knows it. Laurent Koscielny seems to have gotten worse, or at least his confidence has waned. Sebastian Squillaci is nothing more than a stopgap. Johan Djourou is solid, when he plays, which seems to be on the Ledley King once-a-month plan. Imagine how much screaming Tim Howard would do on a game-by-game basis if he played keeper for Arsenal. It'd rival those old Vince Lombardi clips. If Arsenal are going to win the title, they'll need to score two or three goals a match. No easy feat. Then again, when Andrey Arshavin is scoring like he did against Wigan on Wednesday, it makes you think it might be possible. ... Birmingham City 1, Arsenal 2
Sunday:
* Chelsea v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Wednesday vs. Bolton, Chelsea looked like Chelsea, at least, for a few spurts. Teams have clearly gone to school on the Blues, trying to cut down those deadly, odd-man counter attacks triggered near midfield. Bolton played a little too high, Didier Drogba got behind the defense and played a perfect ball for Flourent Malouda to tap-in. That's Chelsea's "A" game. The Blues only other options seem to be set pieces or Frank Lampard penalties. If Aston Villa decide they actually want to put up a fight as they slink toward the Championship, sit back and defend in numbers it should be able to frustrate Chelsea. Ashley Young (if he plays) and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has one Premier League goal this season. It would make some sense, in this crazy season, for Villa -- losers of 5-of-6 -- to go to Stamford Bridge for a result. This team, however, is lacking serious guts. At least we can see how Eric Lichaj handles the trickery of Ashley Cole. ... Chelsea 2, Aston Villa 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Wigan ought to replace the tree in its crest with a banana peel. The Latics just have that innate knack for being a thorn in everyone's side. Nobody embodies that more than Hugo Rodallega who is a walking, corn-rowed spoiler ... and a pretty good player. If I'm an MLS team I keep my eyes on him for four, five years down the road. His style of play would bring a team plenty of goals, assuming he was motivated. Newcastle United gave Tottenham a game on Tuesday and even dusted off Alan Smith in the old fashioned "hard man" role. Fortuantely he's ditched the bleached blonde look, since it's hard to be a tough guy looking like that, unless you're a pro beach volleyball player. Andy Carroll has likely unfit for the match, knocking it down a major peg in the viewing priority list. ... Wigan 1, Newcastle United 1
Last round: 3-7
Season: 82-108
Labels: English Premier League, EPL, EPL picks, Soccer
As we dip our toes into the crowded holiday slate of games in the English Premier League, it's fairly clear the powers running the league figure that the players have the same super-human, tireless, work ethic as the elves in Santa's workshop.
The slight irony here, is that in the early days of football in England the players were drawn from the working class. The miners. The textile workers. The laborers, err, labourers. Playing professionally for the players, at least, was a slight respite from the drudgery of day-to-day life.
In turn, the crowded holiday slate of games gave the proletariat some slight cheer ... or at least a couple hours away from breathing in coal soot.
Nowadays there's so much to do, daily information overload as it were, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the EPL shutdown for two weeks. It would do plenty more good than harm. Fans wouldn't forget the league existed. Everybody would be back tuning in when the games resume. Let folks play with their new XBox or PS3s. Head to the cinema for some delightful fare like "Yogi Bear" or "Guilliver's Travels."
A little absence would let the heart grow fonder, allowing the players some much needed-time to heal their aching bodies instead of taxing their tendons, ligaments and sinew even more than usual. Wouldn't you rather the players -- and not to get too sensitive to them since they're paid handsomely -- get a little rest so the quality of play, including the pitches themselves, is more aesthetically pleasing?
More in this case of crowded games, more might prove to be much much less.
Yet like the elderly couple starting at the "Velvet Kramer" ... we cannot look away.
* * *
So, despite my best Ebeneezer Scrooge impression, did we learn anything from the weekend, aside from the fact that the Premier League encroaching on the NFL on Sundays isn't the best idea in the world. Here are my observations in easily digestible nugget form.
Home Star Gunner -- Arsene Wenger, for one night, can channel his inner Hannibal Smith, sitting back, kicking up his feet and loving how a plan comes together. Arsenal deserves a victory lap after disposing an utterly abject Chelsea Monday, 3-1, at the Emirates.
Arsenal did it their way, call it "Barcelona-lite," passing the ball around the slower, ball-watching Blues, utilizing the wide area with Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, essentially running circles around Chelsea, who were left chasing at shadows.
Robin van Persie made it through the match unscathed and brought a different kind of creativity in front of goal, allowing others to pivot around him as he held up the ball, playing passes to his teammates. Walcott re-emerged as a pacy threat on the outside, capitalizing on two Chelsea errors to put the game out of reach in a quick five-minute blitz after the break.
It wasn't a total five-star effort for Arsenal, as Branislav Ivanovic leapt over Laurent Koscielny as if he wasn't there, to at least get Chelsea on the scoreboard cashing in Didier Drogba's free kick. Chelsea barely had the ball, so Arsenal's usual defensive frailties wasn't put under the microscope.
All-and-all, a fine win for the Gunners who can at least quiet some of the talk they can't hang with the top of the league. The bigger question is if Arsenal can keep it up over the winter (sigh, repetition) to keep the pressure on Manchester United, which it trails by two points having played one more match. Arsenal faces Manchester City on Jan. 5 then doesn't have a "top" matchup until the end of February with Tottenham, so there's plenty of water that will be under the bridge until the April 30 assumed showdown against United at the Emirates.
Not to be a total skeptic, but Arsenal have to back this win up. The Gunners didn't break their nearly five-year (and counting) trophy-less spell on Monday, but they did offer hope.
We'll see it, yet again, it's no more than false hope. Beating Chelsea, however weakened the Blues might be at the moment, certainly signals this might not be the same old Arsenal cock-tease.
Dagger in Chelsea? -- The bigger revelation from Monday is the total disaster that is Chelsea, yet again reinforced for all across the world to see it's once-mighty body slowly atrophying.
Cue up the Karen O, because heads will roll. Maybe.
Roman Abramovich isn't going to sit by and watch this club fritter away the season, although he might not want to do a total shake-up with the team very much alive in the Champions League -- the Russian's Holy Grail.
It's fairly clear Chelsea's summer plan isn't working, this season at least. Nothing wrong with jettisoning Michael Ballack, Deco, et al., though it hurts in a match like Monday when you're down a goal and all you have to bring on to create a spark is Gaël Kakuta. It's smart long-term planning, but in games like Monday it can come back to bite you, although it's not the reason Chelsea lost. Nor is the dismissal of Ray Wilkinson a couple weeks ago.
There are a couple ways to look at Chelsea's malaise, which began with a Nov. 4 loss at Anfield to Liverpool. The Blues are a mere 1-3-4 (W/D/L) since then in the Premier League, with the lone victory a 1-0 at Fulham on Nov. 10. That's a miserible run of form. If not for the amazing start, Chelsea might be sub-Liverpool at the moment.
The Chelsea problem is two-fold. The players are all the same, at least they look similar to the group that was destroying the League in August-October routinely by 6-0 scorelines. How did a system that was laying the opposition to waste go so thoroughly off the rails? How did this team all of a sudden become a zombie version of itself? Do you just keep trying the same thing? Sticking the same 4-3-3 and hope to restart the fire?
For me, Chelsea's decline -- specifically a lack of response by the players -- is akin to the first round of the NCAA tournament where a top seed is struggling against some unknown Southwestern State so-and-so in a half-empty area at 12:31 p.m. We've seen it a million times. The favorite is dazed, looking around the court for answers, hoping to have it all click for them. They came into the game expecting to win, the underdog had other ideas and the favorite doesn't know how to fight back. Sometimes the upset is avoided and the favorite snaps out of it, otherwise they're left wondering what went wrong.
Playing the old, "off-and-on" switch game in sports is a dangerous game.
Chelsea, you expect, to turn it on eventually. With Frank Lampard and Michael Essien returning to fitness you almost expect it ... but it still hasn't happened. The road gets much easier for the Blues in January, with home games against Aston Villa and Blackburn with road trips to Wolves and Bolton. The Blues are only six points off the pace, too. Perhaps Flourent Malouda -- awful vs. Arsenal -- regains his early season form. Maybe Salomon Kalou contributes something meaningful, instead of his usual tack-on goals.
Still, there's a lingering sense that Chelsea as we know it, the team assembled by Jose Mourinho, with the backbone of Petr Cech, John Terry, Lampard and Didier Drogba -- who clearly can't carry this team every 90 minutes any more-- might be on its last legs. We'll probably look back at last year's title run as the last hurrah. The group had a great run, three Prem titles and that oh-so-close night in rainy Moscow.
Chelsea, at least for the next five months can try to apply some band aids and limp into the station in May. Long term, this team needs a serious blood transfusion.
In the words of George Harrison, "all things must pass."
Is Manchester United, "good"? -- Still can't answer this accurately. When Dimitar Berbatov guided in Wayne Rooney's lofted cross inside of five minutes, it figured to be a romp over Sunderland on Sunday... except it wasn't. Yes, the game ended 2-0 thanks to Berbatov's brace. And true, United looked pretty good on the ball in the first half, playing without Nani no less.
United are indicative of the League. They don't do anything especially great, but they don't have any glaring weaknesses either. Sir Alex Ferguson has the Red Devils chugging along like one of those Neilsen rating chart-topping CBS procedurals, which don't win the hearts of critics, but have the numbers where it counts atop the table.
Call it CSI: Manchester.
Manchester City's AYSO Approach -- It's hard to accurately acess any match when one team is up 2-0 inside of five minutes. That was what happened in Manchcester City's 3-1 at Newcastle, started by Tim Krul gifting a goal to Gareth Barry set up by a head's up play from Carlos Tevez, who shortly there after scored himself.
Up 2-0, City had the game taken to them by Newcastle. It almost got interesting, too, when Andy Carroll made it 2-1 with 20 minutes left. Before it could, Adam Johnson made a nice feint, threaded a pass to Tevez, who shot it off the back of compatriot Fabrico Colocinni. Game over.
City continue to baffle and confuse, playing almost two different games at times. Roberto Mancini seems to have the defense figured out. The Italian manager still wants to shoehorn Yaya Toure into the creative midfielder role, not sure it's a great long term plan.
More often than not City seem to be like that local youth team at the park which has one super awesome kid, who's better than everyone else. You know the teams. Everyone else stands around and waits for that kid to take over the game and make a play. Most of the time it works when the team names are Ladybugs or Wildcats. Remember that old Fernando Torres youth clip from Atletico Madrid?
In the EPL? We'll see. Tevez has been able to come through more often than not.
Eric Lichaj has balls -- Unfortunately for Aston Villa, he's about the only one on the team that seemed to play with them for any stretch of time in Sunday's 2-1 home loss to Tottenham. Not worried if his long term future for the USMNT is right back or in the center. The kid looks like a player with some moxie, with the skills to back it up. Maybe this is just a simplistic American, rah-rah, go get 'em way to look at it, but there's nothing wrong with a little fire.
Lichaj did a good job tracking Gareth Bale, too, a job that's about as easy as catching sand falling through an hourglass.
Bale just waited for the young American to move away from him, as he latched onto a pass from Luka Modric, cut inside -- leaving Carlos Cuellar with his pants on the ground -- laying it off to Aaron Lennon, who one-touched it over to Rafael van der Vaart for his second goal of the day.
Lumps of Coal in the Underwear -- Tough Christmas in order for Blackburn, Wolves and Fulham. Each club lost at home on Sunday to less than imposing opposition. Each club now has the fans openly questioning if the manager is the right man for the job.
Blackburn lodged a limp, indifferent performance losing to Stoke 2-0 as about 50 fans protested the new Indian owners outside Ewood Park. Rovers will be an interesting test case. Sam Allardyce did assemble a side that should be competitive in the Premier League, but if the players are reading the writing on the wall that their services might not be required much longer there's a good chance they mail in the rest of the season. Venky's didn't extend Allardyce any loyality, so perhaps the players are following suit. If I'm a team with a little cash available in January, I'd start sniffing around about Morten Gamst Pedersen.
Wolves? The team, at least for a while, was trying hard. Problem is Mick McCarthy assembled a group of Championship-level scrappers. Eventually talent is going to win out, and there's not a ton to go around in the mustard colored shirts. Teams that want to stick around and cash in on the Premier League millions don't go down to Wigan 2-0 in the first half hour at home. Wolves would be smart to retain McCarthy, since who exactly is going to whip this collection into shape? It's a risk, but take the relegation and try to bounce right back like West Brom or Newcastle.
As for Fulham? A 3-1 loss to West Ham? At Craven Cottage no less? Really hope my Internet amigo "30f" didn't wake up at 4 a.m. West Coast time to watch it live. There's a lot of regret swirling around Fulham. Roy Hodgson probably wishes he stayed. Mark Hughes probably wishes he waited a few weeks for Martin O'Neill to leave Aston Villa. Problem for Fulham, you can't go home again. The bigger regret is that the club probably peaked last May in the Europa League final, only to be undone by Diego Forlan. A club in a crossroads, which needs to get on his war armor and figure out a way to grind out a 17th place finish and regroup over the summer.
"Passing" it into the net must stop -- Bring back the stodgy English manly-men snickering about snoods. This obsession with pundits now saying players are passing it into the net to finish off movements is getting out of hand. Or maybe everyone is in teenage puppy-style love with what Barcelona is doing every couple days in Catalonia.
Fantasy Premier League Needs Work -- In fairness, it's impossible to predict the cancelled fixtures due to weather. At the same time, it's going to get especially confusing down the road with teams doubling up in a particular Gameweek. Oh, and just forget about head-to-head leagues in this scenario. As someone that's played fantasy/rotisserie sports for the last 15+ years -- back to the backs of Excel spreadsheets and the USA Today -- I'd be more than willing to offer my services to help improve the format.
Game in Hand -- Set to the tune of The Smith's "Hand in Glove." In short, this is going to get confusing, especially when every commentator is just going to assume Manchester United is going to take full points from it's rescheduled, make-up matches. Fun.
Round 20(ish) Picks:
Tuesday:
* Stoke City v. Fulham -- Stoke is a little bit like Fulham last year. Not flashy. Everybody knows their role. Hell, even Kenwyne Jones can fill Bobby Zamora's Trinidadian hitman shoes. Stoke is rolling off a road win. Fulham is reeling off a home loss, and stinks traditionally on the road. If that form doesn't hold, never bet on a result in this league again. ... Stoke City 2, Fulham 1
* West Brom v. Blackburn -- Nothing says holiday cheer like this one. ... West Brom 2, Blackburn 0
* Tottenham v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) On paper, at least, this ought to be the most entertaining game of the year, especially the competing comedy shows between Tim Krul and Gomes. Hope Rafael van der Vaart is fit to play on the quick turnaround. This match alone makes the crowded holiday fixture list worth it. ... Tottenham 3, Newcastle United 2
* Sunderland v. Blackpool -- File this away for Blackpool. The club now has three fixtures to make up at home. Squad depth isn't exactly the strength of the Tangerines. Blackpool is also the third-best away team in the league. Is that enough to trigger a backslide? I'm done betting against Ian Holloway, though, in the long term. Sunderland is still great at the Stadium of Light, unbeaten in nine matches, conceding only five goals. ... Sunderland 2, Blackpool 1
* Manchester City v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Can Manchester City ever put together a string of impressive, quality results? City almost took flight at the end of September, beating Chelsea, then winning two more League games before being stomped by Arsenal. Aston Villa shouldn't put up much of a fight. Richard Dunne used up all his revenge juice last season. Stephen Ireland probably couldn't even spell revenge if you spotted him the "venge." ... Manchester City 2, Aston Villa 0
* West Ham United v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Let's call West Ham's win over Fulham what it is, a dead-cat bounce. This is the time of the season Everton begins to shine. ... West Ham 1, Everton 2
* Birmingham City v. Manchester United -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) Could this be the first banana peel for United? One thing to give credit for is Sir Alex Ferguson is doing a first-rate job managing his entire squad and juggling in players for the right conditions. Seems like he's putting the correct midfield out there more often than not, saving the legs of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs and riding the unexpected resurgence, well more accurately "surgence" since he never really did much for United until now, of Anderson. Maybe this could be a trap for United, but since they could be looking up at Manchester City in the table, Ferguson won't let it happen. ... Birmingham City 0, Manchester United 2
Wednesday:
* Wigan Athletic v. Arsenal -- Channeling Ben Kingsley from "Sexy Beast." Nononononononononononono. No way Arsenal stubs its toe at Wigan. None. When have we ever seen that before? (Wait, what's that in the distance, preemptive complaints about an awful pitch?) ... Wigan 1, Arsenal 3
* Chelsea v. Bolton -- Pretty simple for Chelsea. Must. Win. Game. ... Chelsea 1, Bolton 0
* Liverpool v. Wolves -- Driving home Christmas late Christmas night from a night at the bar, the Pink Floyd song "Fearless" came up on my iPod. Definitely the most underrated song in their back catalog. If you've never heard it, it features the Anfield Kop singing, "You'll Never Walk Alone." Until hearing this I kind of forget that Liverpool, the football club, still existed. Weird, pointless stories aside, this is the type of match at home why Liverpool is mired in the middle of the table. Wolves might have a little more grit in them after losing Sunday, but those should be some tired legs and heavy heads. Liverpool is as fresh as it'll be. Hodgson ought to turn the dogs lose and get to get a goodwill result before the New Year. ... Liverpool 3, Wolves 0.
Last round: 4-4
Season: 79-101
The slight irony here, is that in the early days of football in England the players were drawn from the working class. The miners. The textile workers. The laborers, err, labourers. Playing professionally for the players, at least, was a slight respite from the drudgery of day-to-day life.
In turn, the crowded holiday slate of games gave the proletariat some slight cheer ... or at least a couple hours away from breathing in coal soot.
Nowadays there's so much to do, daily information overload as it were, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the EPL shutdown for two weeks. It would do plenty more good than harm. Fans wouldn't forget the league existed. Everybody would be back tuning in when the games resume. Let folks play with their new XBox or PS3s. Head to the cinema for some delightful fare like "Yogi Bear" or "Guilliver's Travels."
A little absence would let the heart grow fonder, allowing the players some much needed-time to heal their aching bodies instead of taxing their tendons, ligaments and sinew even more than usual. Wouldn't you rather the players -- and not to get too sensitive to them since they're paid handsomely -- get a little rest so the quality of play, including the pitches themselves, is more aesthetically pleasing?
More in this case of crowded games, more might prove to be much much less.
Yet like the elderly couple starting at the "Velvet Kramer" ... we cannot look away.
So, despite my best Ebeneezer Scrooge impression, did we learn anything from the weekend, aside from the fact that the Premier League encroaching on the NFL on Sundays isn't the best idea in the world. Here are my observations in easily digestible nugget form.
Home Star Gunner -- Arsene Wenger, for one night, can channel his inner Hannibal Smith, sitting back, kicking up his feet and loving how a plan comes together. Arsenal deserves a victory lap after disposing an utterly abject Chelsea Monday, 3-1, at the Emirates.
Arsenal did it their way, call it "Barcelona-lite," passing the ball around the slower, ball-watching Blues, utilizing the wide area with Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, essentially running circles around Chelsea, who were left chasing at shadows.
Robin van Persie made it through the match unscathed and brought a different kind of creativity in front of goal, allowing others to pivot around him as he held up the ball, playing passes to his teammates. Walcott re-emerged as a pacy threat on the outside, capitalizing on two Chelsea errors to put the game out of reach in a quick five-minute blitz after the break.
It wasn't a total five-star effort for Arsenal, as Branislav Ivanovic leapt over Laurent Koscielny as if he wasn't there, to at least get Chelsea on the scoreboard cashing in Didier Drogba's free kick. Chelsea barely had the ball, so Arsenal's usual defensive frailties wasn't put under the microscope.
All-and-all, a fine win for the Gunners who can at least quiet some of the talk they can't hang with the top of the league. The bigger question is if Arsenal can keep it up over the winter (sigh, repetition) to keep the pressure on Manchester United, which it trails by two points having played one more match. Arsenal faces Manchester City on Jan. 5 then doesn't have a "top" matchup until the end of February with Tottenham, so there's plenty of water that will be under the bridge until the April 30 assumed showdown against United at the Emirates.
Not to be a total skeptic, but Arsenal have to back this win up. The Gunners didn't break their nearly five-year (and counting) trophy-less spell on Monday, but they did offer hope.
We'll see it, yet again, it's no more than false hope. Beating Chelsea, however weakened the Blues might be at the moment, certainly signals this might not be the same old Arsenal cock-tease.
Dagger in Chelsea? -- The bigger revelation from Monday is the total disaster that is Chelsea, yet again reinforced for all across the world to see it's once-mighty body slowly atrophying.
Cue up the Karen O, because heads will roll. Maybe.
Roman Abramovich isn't going to sit by and watch this club fritter away the season, although he might not want to do a total shake-up with the team very much alive in the Champions League -- the Russian's Holy Grail.
It's fairly clear Chelsea's summer plan isn't working, this season at least. Nothing wrong with jettisoning Michael Ballack, Deco, et al., though it hurts in a match like Monday when you're down a goal and all you have to bring on to create a spark is Gaël Kakuta. It's smart long-term planning, but in games like Monday it can come back to bite you, although it's not the reason Chelsea lost. Nor is the dismissal of Ray Wilkinson a couple weeks ago.
There are a couple ways to look at Chelsea's malaise, which began with a Nov. 4 loss at Anfield to Liverpool. The Blues are a mere 1-3-4 (W/D/L) since then in the Premier League, with the lone victory a 1-0 at Fulham on Nov. 10. That's a miserible run of form. If not for the amazing start, Chelsea might be sub-Liverpool at the moment.
The Chelsea problem is two-fold. The players are all the same, at least they look similar to the group that was destroying the League in August-October routinely by 6-0 scorelines. How did a system that was laying the opposition to waste go so thoroughly off the rails? How did this team all of a sudden become a zombie version of itself? Do you just keep trying the same thing? Sticking the same 4-3-3 and hope to restart the fire?
For me, Chelsea's decline -- specifically a lack of response by the players -- is akin to the first round of the NCAA tournament where a top seed is struggling against some unknown Southwestern State so-and-so in a half-empty area at 12:31 p.m. We've seen it a million times. The favorite is dazed, looking around the court for answers, hoping to have it all click for them. They came into the game expecting to win, the underdog had other ideas and the favorite doesn't know how to fight back. Sometimes the upset is avoided and the favorite snaps out of it, otherwise they're left wondering what went wrong.
Playing the old, "off-and-on" switch game in sports is a dangerous game.
Chelsea, you expect, to turn it on eventually. With Frank Lampard and Michael Essien returning to fitness you almost expect it ... but it still hasn't happened. The road gets much easier for the Blues in January, with home games against Aston Villa and Blackburn with road trips to Wolves and Bolton. The Blues are only six points off the pace, too. Perhaps Flourent Malouda -- awful vs. Arsenal -- regains his early season form. Maybe Salomon Kalou contributes something meaningful, instead of his usual tack-on goals.
Still, there's a lingering sense that Chelsea as we know it, the team assembled by Jose Mourinho, with the backbone of Petr Cech, John Terry, Lampard and Didier Drogba -- who clearly can't carry this team every 90 minutes any more-- might be on its last legs. We'll probably look back at last year's title run as the last hurrah. The group had a great run, three Prem titles and that oh-so-close night in rainy Moscow.
Chelsea, at least for the next five months can try to apply some band aids and limp into the station in May. Long term, this team needs a serious blood transfusion.
In the words of George Harrison, "all things must pass."
Is Manchester United, "good"? -- Still can't answer this accurately. When Dimitar Berbatov guided in Wayne Rooney's lofted cross inside of five minutes, it figured to be a romp over Sunderland on Sunday... except it wasn't. Yes, the game ended 2-0 thanks to Berbatov's brace. And true, United looked pretty good on the ball in the first half, playing without Nani no less.
United are indicative of the League. They don't do anything especially great, but they don't have any glaring weaknesses either. Sir Alex Ferguson has the Red Devils chugging along like one of those Neilsen rating chart-topping CBS procedurals, which don't win the hearts of critics, but have the numbers where it counts atop the table.
Call it CSI: Manchester.
Manchester City's AYSO Approach -- It's hard to accurately acess any match when one team is up 2-0 inside of five minutes. That was what happened in Manchcester City's 3-1 at Newcastle, started by Tim Krul gifting a goal to Gareth Barry set up by a head's up play from Carlos Tevez, who shortly there after scored himself.
Up 2-0, City had the game taken to them by Newcastle. It almost got interesting, too, when Andy Carroll made it 2-1 with 20 minutes left. Before it could, Adam Johnson made a nice feint, threaded a pass to Tevez, who shot it off the back of compatriot Fabrico Colocinni. Game over.
City continue to baffle and confuse, playing almost two different games at times. Roberto Mancini seems to have the defense figured out. The Italian manager still wants to shoehorn Yaya Toure into the creative midfielder role, not sure it's a great long term plan.
More often than not City seem to be like that local youth team at the park which has one super awesome kid, who's better than everyone else. You know the teams. Everyone else stands around and waits for that kid to take over the game and make a play. Most of the time it works when the team names are Ladybugs or Wildcats. Remember that old Fernando Torres youth clip from Atletico Madrid?
In the EPL? We'll see. Tevez has been able to come through more often than not.
Eric Lichaj has balls -- Unfortunately for Aston Villa, he's about the only one on the team that seemed to play with them for any stretch of time in Sunday's 2-1 home loss to Tottenham. Not worried if his long term future for the USMNT is right back or in the center. The kid looks like a player with some moxie, with the skills to back it up. Maybe this is just a simplistic American, rah-rah, go get 'em way to look at it, but there's nothing wrong with a little fire.
Lichaj did a good job tracking Gareth Bale, too, a job that's about as easy as catching sand falling through an hourglass.
Bale just waited for the young American to move away from him, as he latched onto a pass from Luka Modric, cut inside -- leaving Carlos Cuellar with his pants on the ground -- laying it off to Aaron Lennon, who one-touched it over to Rafael van der Vaart for his second goal of the day.
Lumps of Coal in the Underwear -- Tough Christmas in order for Blackburn, Wolves and Fulham. Each club lost at home on Sunday to less than imposing opposition. Each club now has the fans openly questioning if the manager is the right man for the job.
Blackburn lodged a limp, indifferent performance losing to Stoke 2-0 as about 50 fans protested the new Indian owners outside Ewood Park. Rovers will be an interesting test case. Sam Allardyce did assemble a side that should be competitive in the Premier League, but if the players are reading the writing on the wall that their services might not be required much longer there's a good chance they mail in the rest of the season. Venky's didn't extend Allardyce any loyality, so perhaps the players are following suit. If I'm a team with a little cash available in January, I'd start sniffing around about Morten Gamst Pedersen.
Wolves? The team, at least for a while, was trying hard. Problem is Mick McCarthy assembled a group of Championship-level scrappers. Eventually talent is going to win out, and there's not a ton to go around in the mustard colored shirts. Teams that want to stick around and cash in on the Premier League millions don't go down to Wigan 2-0 in the first half hour at home. Wolves would be smart to retain McCarthy, since who exactly is going to whip this collection into shape? It's a risk, but take the relegation and try to bounce right back like West Brom or Newcastle.
As for Fulham? A 3-1 loss to West Ham? At Craven Cottage no less? Really hope my Internet amigo "30f" didn't wake up at 4 a.m. West Coast time to watch it live. There's a lot of regret swirling around Fulham. Roy Hodgson probably wishes he stayed. Mark Hughes probably wishes he waited a few weeks for Martin O'Neill to leave Aston Villa. Problem for Fulham, you can't go home again. The bigger regret is that the club probably peaked last May in the Europa League final, only to be undone by Diego Forlan. A club in a crossroads, which needs to get on his war armor and figure out a way to grind out a 17th place finish and regroup over the summer.
"Passing" it into the net must stop -- Bring back the stodgy English manly-men snickering about snoods. This obsession with pundits now saying players are passing it into the net to finish off movements is getting out of hand. Or maybe everyone is in teenage puppy-style love with what Barcelona is doing every couple days in Catalonia.
Fantasy Premier League Needs Work -- In fairness, it's impossible to predict the cancelled fixtures due to weather. At the same time, it's going to get especially confusing down the road with teams doubling up in a particular Gameweek. Oh, and just forget about head-to-head leagues in this scenario. As someone that's played fantasy/rotisserie sports for the last 15+ years -- back to the backs of Excel spreadsheets and the USA Today -- I'd be more than willing to offer my services to help improve the format.
Game in Hand -- Set to the tune of The Smith's "Hand in Glove." In short, this is going to get confusing, especially when every commentator is just going to assume Manchester United is going to take full points from it's rescheduled, make-up matches. Fun.
Round 20(ish) Picks:
Tuesday:
* Stoke City v. Fulham -- Stoke is a little bit like Fulham last year. Not flashy. Everybody knows their role. Hell, even Kenwyne Jones can fill Bobby Zamora's Trinidadian hitman shoes. Stoke is rolling off a road win. Fulham is reeling off a home loss, and stinks traditionally on the road. If that form doesn't hold, never bet on a result in this league again. ... Stoke City 2, Fulham 1
* West Brom v. Blackburn -- Nothing says holiday cheer like this one. ... West Brom 2, Blackburn 0
* Tottenham v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) On paper, at least, this ought to be the most entertaining game of the year, especially the competing comedy shows between Tim Krul and Gomes. Hope Rafael van der Vaart is fit to play on the quick turnaround. This match alone makes the crowded holiday fixture list worth it. ... Tottenham 3, Newcastle United 2
* Sunderland v. Blackpool -- File this away for Blackpool. The club now has three fixtures to make up at home. Squad depth isn't exactly the strength of the Tangerines. Blackpool is also the third-best away team in the league. Is that enough to trigger a backslide? I'm done betting against Ian Holloway, though, in the long term. Sunderland is still great at the Stadium of Light, unbeaten in nine matches, conceding only five goals. ... Sunderland 2, Blackpool 1
* Manchester City v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Can Manchester City ever put together a string of impressive, quality results? City almost took flight at the end of September, beating Chelsea, then winning two more League games before being stomped by Arsenal. Aston Villa shouldn't put up much of a fight. Richard Dunne used up all his revenge juice last season. Stephen Ireland probably couldn't even spell revenge if you spotted him the "venge." ... Manchester City 2, Aston Villa 0
* West Ham United v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Let's call West Ham's win over Fulham what it is, a dead-cat bounce. This is the time of the season Everton begins to shine. ... West Ham 1, Everton 2
* Birmingham City v. Manchester United -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) Could this be the first banana peel for United? One thing to give credit for is Sir Alex Ferguson is doing a first-rate job managing his entire squad and juggling in players for the right conditions. Seems like he's putting the correct midfield out there more often than not, saving the legs of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs and riding the unexpected resurgence, well more accurately "surgence" since he never really did much for United until now, of Anderson. Maybe this could be a trap for United, but since they could be looking up at Manchester City in the table, Ferguson won't let it happen. ... Birmingham City 0, Manchester United 2
Wednesday:
* Wigan Athletic v. Arsenal -- Channeling Ben Kingsley from "Sexy Beast." Nononononononononononono. No way Arsenal stubs its toe at Wigan. None. When have we ever seen that before? (Wait, what's that in the distance, preemptive complaints about an awful pitch?) ... Wigan 1, Arsenal 3
* Chelsea v. Bolton -- Pretty simple for Chelsea. Must. Win. Game. ... Chelsea 1, Bolton 0
* Liverpool v. Wolves -- Driving home Christmas late Christmas night from a night at the bar, the Pink Floyd song "Fearless" came up on my iPod. Definitely the most underrated song in their back catalog. If you've never heard it, it features the Anfield Kop singing, "You'll Never Walk Alone." Until hearing this I kind of forget that Liverpool, the football club, still existed. Weird, pointless stories aside, this is the type of match at home why Liverpool is mired in the middle of the table. Wolves might have a little more grit in them after losing Sunday, but those should be some tired legs and heavy heads. Liverpool is as fresh as it'll be. Hodgson ought to turn the dogs lose and get to get a goodwill result before the New Year. ... Liverpool 3, Wolves 0.
Last round: 4-4
Season: 79-101
Labels: Arsenal, carlos tevez, Chelsea, EPL, EPL picks, Liverpool, manchester city, manchester United, Soccer
"America, fuck yeah." -- "Team America: World Police" as co-opted by fans (ironically or not) of the U.S. National Team.
In the year 2010 -- particularly duringChristmas Holiday Season -- it's pretty easy to take some cynical, snooty shots at the good ol' red, white and blue and all things American. About 35 seconds in a Wal-Mart confirm this. North American scum as it were.
For whatever ills America might possess in a broad geopolitical sense, at least we can handle the elements, well, unless you live in SoCal. Parts of the Midwest, the Rust Belt and Northern New York have been crippled by unrelenting, piles of snow. Life goes on. Americans break out their shovels, grab handfuls of rock salt and go on with life. Go watch "Fargo" if you must.
Part of me has always wondered why some savvy politician doesn't run on a "Roads" platform. As in, your one major running point is improving roads. Who doesn't use roads? Who can actually take a position for potholes? Granted the downside of this campaign would be the inevitable "Road Warrior" headlines and since it's not 1986 any more, being associated with Mel Gibson isn't exactly a selling point.
But I, as usual, digress.
Flash across the Atlantic to England, where snow and ice basically seem to have shut down the country and its network of transportation, and as a result the Premier League. It's getting managers to think, hey, perhaps playing games during the worst weather months of the year isn't exactly the brightest idea ever conceived. Consider when the calendars for playing league football were drawn up -- cue the droopy Victorian mustaches and rugged masculinity team sport represented back then -- and it makes more sense, though with guys like Steve McManaman snickering at every chance for playing wearing gloves and "snoods" things might not be all that much different.
Any rational person would see that from a weather and player health position, the Prem would be best served to shut down for a week or two at the end of the year. Rationality and television contract don't seem to mix, hence the crowded holiday fixture onslaught we're about to witness. And really, what could go wrong cramming 11 percent of the season's games in 10 days?
Hey, it's still better than the Gator Bowl.
Since yours truly hasn't enlightened you with his usual esoteric pop culture references and third-grade level syntax in a couple days, here are a few odds-and-ends before this weekend's EPL picks. Call them stocking stuffers, if you like.
In the City there's a 1,000 things I want to say to you:
I threw this out there on that Twitter thing the kids are using during Manchester City's 2-1 home loss to Everton: Why is it so fun to see City fail?
Is it all about big spenders coming up short? Does your body, like a transplanted organ, reject the notion of an inauthentic, artificially created team? Are City too much of a Frankenstein team, hence our natural inclination to chase after it with torches and pitchforks?
Perhaps it lies more with the players.
It's hard to fathom how City, with all the money at its disposal has courted so many unlikeable players. Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli, Nigel de Jong, even James Milner since he looks like a jerk-y high school football linebacker with a cro-magnum forehead created by unchecked HgH use. (He just, unfortunately, looks that way.) Carlos Tevez could go entire way. His beyond-bizarre transfer "saga" made him a tinge more unlikeable, yet Tevez is sly as a fox since he apparently never says more than two words so he's never done anything completely damaging, he's an idiot savant on the football field.
This might be a little unfair, but in theory it would be fun to root for a team with the ambition of breaking up the established order at the top of the Premier League, yet City's cold, emotionless exterior make it difficult for the team to be embraced.
Easier question: Who on City is there to like? (I'll wait for an answer.)
City, as currently constructed, just sort of is. So that being the case it's easier to root against it's nouveu riche success than it is to cheer for it to win.
Follow me into the desert as thirsty as you are:
Nevermind the current La Liga table. This is still Jose Mourinho's world, we're all just living in it.
Rafa Benitez should have known not to follow in the shoes of "The Special One" at Inter Milan. The Spaniard was doomed from the start, lasting barely six months in Northern Italy.
Guess you could say Inter batted about .500 this summer, post Champions League-triumph. They whiffed on Benitez, but made the best bit of football business -- selling Balotelli to City for almost $40 million. (Err, umm, this assumes you're on the same wavelength as Sepp Blatter and believe FIFA is above board and beyond corruption and Qatar and Russia won their World Cup bids on merit alone, not oil-dollars.)
This week's firing puts Benitez in the middle of Jose's successors' wake.
When Mourinho left Porto in 2004 for Chelsea, his replacement, Luigi Delneri never even coached a match before he was fired. Avram Grant did a little better at Chelsea, leading them to a runner-up showing in the Premier League and Champions League, though his penance for trying to fill Mourinho's shoes has been potentially back-to-back last place finishers in the Premier League with Portsmouth and West Ham. Delneri has finally emerged from the Mourinho shadow after a few years with middling Serie A team to lead a mini-revival at Juventus this season.
Bottom line, Rafa, take some time off. Enjoy the tapas around the holiday table. Get some sun. Put your feet up. Relax. Go through some hypo-therapy to purge the word "Liverpool" from your vocabulary.
Beware the Ides of January:
We're barely a week from the wild, wacky January transfer window. Always fun times. Remember how Manchester City signed Adam Johnson last year? I'll always know where I was when that happened. Oh right ...
One thing to pay attention to is Sir Alex Ferguson. To his credit he snared two of United's most important players in the January 2006 transfer window, snaring Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic almost entirely under the radar. Maybe this is a coincidence, and Ferguson's recent work in the transfer market has been spotty, but the old Scot certainly has his eyes on a few players across Europe who we all have no idea about.
Of the 20 teams in the Premier League, Chelsea seem the most in need of an injection of somebody, most likely a forward. Neymar is not that player. One thought, why not make a short-term play for a guy like John Carew, whom Aston Villa would drive to the gates of Stamford Bridge? Not sure how long is contract is for, but he's a proven scorer in the Premier League, who'd fit in with Chelsea's muscular style of play.
Any team that goes after Adebayor is asking for trouble, or at least more trouble than the Togolese giant is worth. Sure, he'll probably score on his debut, but that's about it.
Everton are in the most desperate need of a striker. David Moyes seems smart enough to avoid Adebayor. If Moyes is smart he'd make a run for Nicklas Bendtner from Arsenal.
Consider me leery, too, on Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko. He almost seems to good to be true, be it for Manchester City or Chelsea or whomever. My skepticism is from the fact the it seems the Bundesliga has become a drunken sailor on shore leave, with teams scoring at ease. Through 17 matches the German top flight has produced an astounding 481 goals.
This isn't to say Dzeko is destined to be a flop like Mateja Kežman, who did next to nothing for Chelsea after scoring about 814 goals for PSV in Holland, but the 24-year-old Bosnian isn't a slam dunk, especially since for the past two years his "dream" was to go to Italy and now it's Eastlands?
Sunday:
Like nearly everybody, not crazy about the uber-crowded holiday slate, especially with games bumping up against NFL football on Sunday. C'est la vie.
* Fulham v. West Ham -- (Live, FSC+, 7 a.m.) As turgid as West Ham's seasons has been, a win at Craven Cottage would put the Irons even on points with Fulham, albeit with one more game played. Maybe this is a little America-centric, but really the difference in these two teams is Fulham at least has a match-winner in Clint Dempsey this year, while West Ham has ... don't answer. Underrated Dempsey stat, he's been involved in over 60 fouls, giving and taking this season. Not sure he's going to have a lot of juice left in the tank for this summer's Gold Cup. Factor in Fulham might be strapping up for a relegation fight and Dempsey's going to be needed even more, unless the return of Bobby Zamora in February eases his burden. Since this has all been about Dempsey, let's hope his personal whipping-boy, Robert Green plays, as opposed to Ruud Boffin. ... Fulham 1, West Ham 0
* Newcastle United v. Manchester City -- Who'd have thought in a line-up, Andy Caroll might be judged less insane than either Balotelli or Tevez. One thing I've never been a fan of is sportswriters trying to moralize. Having said that, maybe one of his teammates can buy Balotelli a biography of Jackie Robinson for Christmas. Yeah, Balotelli is a arrogant, unlikeable, spoiled brat, but let's not forget too he's been jeered, whistled and in some quarters reviled in Italy for the color of his skin and wearing the Azzurri shirt. A little of the dignity of Robinson used while breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier certainly might help Balotelli. Of course this is pie-in-the-sky thinking, since Balotelli seems to openly court controversy, this week pretending not to know who Jack Wilshere is, then proclaiming himself the second-best player in the world behind Leo Messi. Oh, right, this came when he accepted the "Golden Boy" award. Think that says it all. I will now get off my soapbox. ... Newcastle United 2, Manchester City 1
* Manchester United v. Sunderland -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Sunderland is a nice little team. That's a compliment. Steve Bruce is building a nice side with a decent amount of depth. You'd have to like the Black Cats chances much more were Danny Welbeck available to play against his parent club. Welbeck might be the best striker Manchester United has to offer at the moment, with five goals in his last seven matches. Sunderland did win at Stamford Bridge and it would be one hell of an accomplishment to end Chelsea's massive home winning streak, then hand United its first loss of the 2010-11 season. Bruce has the team pointed in the right direction, but not quite yet. ... Manchester United 2, Sunderland 0
* Everton v. Birmingham City -- Smart move, personally and more importantly physically for Landon Donovan to slam the door shut on a month-long rumor mill of him returning to Everton for a couple months before the start of the next MLS campaign. Donovan's in great shape, so no sense grinding him down just to play in a couple more European matches. Lost in this discussion is that Everton could have dearly used his injection of attacking nous. Even with Monday's 2-1 win at Manchester City, Everton might be in trouble since Tim Cahill will miss most of January on Asian Cup duty with Australia in, yep, Qatar. Cahill, who might be the best header of the ball for goals in the world, has nine of the Toffees 19 league goals. Don't see anyone on the roster stepping up to fill in. Gulp. Meanwhile, Brum is being linked heavily to a different striker currently employed by the Los Angeles Galaxy -- Edson Buddle. Not sure he's the kind of guy who can save their season, but at least he's an option not named Cameron Jerome. If I'm Buddle, though, unless I'm hell bent on playing in Europe, I'd wait to pick a more inviting spot than a team gearing up for a relegation battle. ... Everton 1, Birmingham City 1
* Wolves v. Wigan Athletic -- With nothing to say here, let me offer you the warmest Lane Pryce, "Happy Christmas" as possible. ... Wolves 1, Wigan 1
* Bolton v. West Brom -- Nice achievement for Stuart Holden to be voted, by readers of the Guardian, as the best player in the Premier League for the first half. Then again, Blackpool's Richard Kingson was voted the best keeper, which sort of made me raise an eyebrow about the entire list. Damn. Sometimes being such a cynic sucks. ... Bolton 3, West Brom 2
* Blackpool v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Ian Holloway is the sanest "crazy" person ever. Caught a segment late night on Sky Sports of Blackpool's visit to a local children's hospital. Unprompted Holloway started ranting against all the people stuck in airports in England trying to go on holiday, telling them basically to suck it up, go home and be happy they're well-off enough to travel. Love this guy. Steven Gerrard should be back for Liverpool, which will try to avoid losing the season series to Blackpool, as crazy as that sounds. Blackpool are still without skipper Charlie Adam, still trying to serve his one-game yellow card accumulation suspension. And that sound you just heard, that was Liverpool fans across the globe choking back bile on the mere mention Roy Hodgson is considering the corpse of Matthew Upson as defensive cover while Jamie Carragher nurses his shoulder injury. ... Blackpool 1, Liverpool 2
* Blackburn Rovers v. Stoke City -- Good for Christopher Samba for speaking his mind and saying that if how Venky's abruptly fired Sam Allardyce, then its not a club he wants to play for in the future. Glad at least one player in the world showed some guts for a change. If this is true, Samba wouldn't have any shortage of suitors. On an unrelated note, interesting that young U.S. striker Teal Bunbury had a recent trial with Stoke. Glad he's getting a look, but not sure how he'd be able to break into the Potters deep striker rotation, barring injury. ... Blackburn 0, Stoke City 1
* Aston Villa v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) The success and ascension of Tottenham might be the toughest to swallow for Aston Villa supporters. Under Martin O'Neill Villa kept knocking on the door of breaking up the "Big Four," only to fall short every time. Here comes Harry Redknapp and gets Spurs into the Champions League. It gets especially galling since Tottenham is consistently linked to Villa's best player -- Ashley Young. Not sure where Young would play considering Spurs have Gareth Bale on the left already, but who cares it's a fun rumor to continually propagate. ... Aston Villa 1, Spurs 2
Monday:
* Arsenal v. Chelsea -- (Live, ESPN2, 2:55 p.m.) Arsenal, it would seem, last managed a win over Chelsea or Manchester United when Backstreet Boys were still releasing new music. Arsene Wenger can say whatever he wants, and maybe, yeah, the Gunners did out-play the Blues at Stamford Bridge, if you want to go by passing stats. Here's a stat, via Opta Sports, Didier Drogba has 13 goals in 13 matches vs. Arsenal. Or how about this one, Arsenal have two wins in their last 18 games against Chelsea.
Every time you think Arsenal has changed, in a big game like this the Gunners once again, to borrow the opt-repeated Dennis Green, are who we thought they are. Okay, maybe the portly ex-Vikings/Cardinals coach doesn't draw a lot of water in England. How about a guy by the name of Albert Einstein? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Arsenal are going to pass and dance about the penalty area, only to get smacked by the remorse-less Blues hammer on a counter attack or set piece.
That's been Arsene Wenger's M.O. for the last five years. Refuse to spend big on a goalie or prime defender, and suffer the consequences when it really matters. You have to wonder, if Barcelona puts Arsenal to an early sword in the Champions League, and the Gunners fail to win the Premier League, will the heat ever catch up to Wenger?
This match might be more revelatory for Chelsea. The canceled fixture last weekend vs. Manchester United was almost a godsend, allowing the team to lick their wounds and get healthier. If any team needs a winter break in England it's the Blues' cast of 30-somethings. We'll get to see if Frank Lampard's return makes the difference we assume it will, and by transitive properties, turn Flourent Malouda back into his deadly form from March through October.
One of these days Arsenal will break through. Until we actually see it, it's foolish to think things are going to chance this time around. ... Arsenal 1, Chelsea 1
Last round: 2-1
Season: 75-97
(Also, with the crammed holiday fixture list, not sure how much I'll post over the next week beyond picks. Have a happy and healthy.)
In the year 2010 -- particularly during
For whatever ills America might possess in a broad geopolitical sense, at least we can handle the elements, well, unless you live in SoCal. Parts of the Midwest, the Rust Belt and Northern New York have been crippled by unrelenting, piles of snow. Life goes on. Americans break out their shovels, grab handfuls of rock salt and go on with life. Go watch "Fargo" if you must.
Part of me has always wondered why some savvy politician doesn't run on a "Roads" platform. As in, your one major running point is improving roads. Who doesn't use roads? Who can actually take a position for potholes? Granted the downside of this campaign would be the inevitable "Road Warrior" headlines and since it's not 1986 any more, being associated with Mel Gibson isn't exactly a selling point.
But I, as usual, digress.
Flash across the Atlantic to England, where snow and ice basically seem to have shut down the country and its network of transportation, and as a result the Premier League. It's getting managers to think, hey, perhaps playing games during the worst weather months of the year isn't exactly the brightest idea ever conceived. Consider when the calendars for playing league football were drawn up -- cue the droopy Victorian mustaches and rugged masculinity team sport represented back then -- and it makes more sense, though with guys like Steve McManaman snickering at every chance for playing wearing gloves and "snoods" things might not be all that much different.
Any rational person would see that from a weather and player health position, the Prem would be best served to shut down for a week or two at the end of the year. Rationality and television contract don't seem to mix, hence the crowded holiday fixture onslaught we're about to witness. And really, what could go wrong cramming 11 percent of the season's games in 10 days?
Hey, it's still better than the Gator Bowl.
Since yours truly hasn't enlightened you with his usual esoteric pop culture references and third-grade level syntax in a couple days, here are a few odds-and-ends before this weekend's EPL picks. Call them stocking stuffers, if you like.
In the City there's a 1,000 things I want to say to you:
I threw this out there on that Twitter thing the kids are using during Manchester City's 2-1 home loss to Everton: Why is it so fun to see City fail?
Is it all about big spenders coming up short? Does your body, like a transplanted organ, reject the notion of an inauthentic, artificially created team? Are City too much of a Frankenstein team, hence our natural inclination to chase after it with torches and pitchforks?
Perhaps it lies more with the players.
It's hard to fathom how City, with all the money at its disposal has courted so many unlikeable players. Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli, Nigel de Jong, even James Milner since he looks like a jerk-y high school football linebacker with a cro-magnum forehead created by unchecked HgH use. (He just, unfortunately, looks that way.) Carlos Tevez could go entire way. His beyond-bizarre transfer "saga" made him a tinge more unlikeable, yet Tevez is sly as a fox since he apparently never says more than two words so he's never done anything completely damaging, he's an idiot savant on the football field.
This might be a little unfair, but in theory it would be fun to root for a team with the ambition of breaking up the established order at the top of the Premier League, yet City's cold, emotionless exterior make it difficult for the team to be embraced.
Easier question: Who on City is there to like? (I'll wait for an answer.)
City, as currently constructed, just sort of is. So that being the case it's easier to root against it's nouveu riche success than it is to cheer for it to win.
Follow me into the desert as thirsty as you are:
Nevermind the current La Liga table. This is still Jose Mourinho's world, we're all just living in it.
Rafa Benitez should have known not to follow in the shoes of "The Special One" at Inter Milan. The Spaniard was doomed from the start, lasting barely six months in Northern Italy.
Guess you could say Inter batted about .500 this summer, post Champions League-triumph. They whiffed on Benitez, but made the best bit of football business -- selling Balotelli to City for almost $40 million. (Err, umm, this assumes you're on the same wavelength as Sepp Blatter and believe FIFA is above board and beyond corruption and Qatar and Russia won their World Cup bids on merit alone, not oil-dollars.)
This week's firing puts Benitez in the middle of Jose's successors' wake.
When Mourinho left Porto in 2004 for Chelsea, his replacement, Luigi Delneri never even coached a match before he was fired. Avram Grant did a little better at Chelsea, leading them to a runner-up showing in the Premier League and Champions League, though his penance for trying to fill Mourinho's shoes has been potentially back-to-back last place finishers in the Premier League with Portsmouth and West Ham. Delneri has finally emerged from the Mourinho shadow after a few years with middling Serie A team to lead a mini-revival at Juventus this season.
Bottom line, Rafa, take some time off. Enjoy the tapas around the holiday table. Get some sun. Put your feet up. Relax. Go through some hypo-therapy to purge the word "Liverpool" from your vocabulary.
Beware the Ides of January:
We're barely a week from the wild, wacky January transfer window. Always fun times. Remember how Manchester City signed Adam Johnson last year? I'll always know where I was when that happened. Oh right ...
One thing to pay attention to is Sir Alex Ferguson. To his credit he snared two of United's most important players in the January 2006 transfer window, snaring Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic almost entirely under the radar. Maybe this is a coincidence, and Ferguson's recent work in the transfer market has been spotty, but the old Scot certainly has his eyes on a few players across Europe who we all have no idea about.
Of the 20 teams in the Premier League, Chelsea seem the most in need of an injection of somebody, most likely a forward. Neymar is not that player. One thought, why not make a short-term play for a guy like John Carew, whom Aston Villa would drive to the gates of Stamford Bridge? Not sure how long is contract is for, but he's a proven scorer in the Premier League, who'd fit in with Chelsea's muscular style of play.
Any team that goes after Adebayor is asking for trouble, or at least more trouble than the Togolese giant is worth. Sure, he'll probably score on his debut, but that's about it.
Everton are in the most desperate need of a striker. David Moyes seems smart enough to avoid Adebayor. If Moyes is smart he'd make a run for Nicklas Bendtner from Arsenal.
Consider me leery, too, on Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko. He almost seems to good to be true, be it for Manchester City or Chelsea or whomever. My skepticism is from the fact the it seems the Bundesliga has become a drunken sailor on shore leave, with teams scoring at ease. Through 17 matches the German top flight has produced an astounding 481 goals.
This isn't to say Dzeko is destined to be a flop like Mateja Kežman, who did next to nothing for Chelsea after scoring about 814 goals for PSV in Holland, but the 24-year-old Bosnian isn't a slam dunk, especially since for the past two years his "dream" was to go to Italy and now it's Eastlands?
Sunday:
Like nearly everybody, not crazy about the uber-crowded holiday slate, especially with games bumping up against NFL football on Sunday. C'est la vie.
* Fulham v. West Ham -- (Live, FSC+, 7 a.m.) As turgid as West Ham's seasons has been, a win at Craven Cottage would put the Irons even on points with Fulham, albeit with one more game played. Maybe this is a little America-centric, but really the difference in these two teams is Fulham at least has a match-winner in Clint Dempsey this year, while West Ham has ... don't answer. Underrated Dempsey stat, he's been involved in over 60 fouls, giving and taking this season. Not sure he's going to have a lot of juice left in the tank for this summer's Gold Cup. Factor in Fulham might be strapping up for a relegation fight and Dempsey's going to be needed even more, unless the return of Bobby Zamora in February eases his burden. Since this has all been about Dempsey, let's hope his personal whipping-boy, Robert Green plays, as opposed to Ruud Boffin. ... Fulham 1, West Ham 0
* Newcastle United v. Manchester City -- Who'd have thought in a line-up, Andy Caroll might be judged less insane than either Balotelli or Tevez. One thing I've never been a fan of is sportswriters trying to moralize. Having said that, maybe one of his teammates can buy Balotelli a biography of Jackie Robinson for Christmas. Yeah, Balotelli is a arrogant, unlikeable, spoiled brat, but let's not forget too he's been jeered, whistled and in some quarters reviled in Italy for the color of his skin and wearing the Azzurri shirt. A little of the dignity of Robinson used while breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier certainly might help Balotelli. Of course this is pie-in-the-sky thinking, since Balotelli seems to openly court controversy, this week pretending not to know who Jack Wilshere is, then proclaiming himself the second-best player in the world behind Leo Messi. Oh, right, this came when he accepted the "Golden Boy" award. Think that says it all. I will now get off my soapbox. ... Newcastle United 2, Manchester City 1
* Manchester United v. Sunderland -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Sunderland is a nice little team. That's a compliment. Steve Bruce is building a nice side with a decent amount of depth. You'd have to like the Black Cats chances much more were Danny Welbeck available to play against his parent club. Welbeck might be the best striker Manchester United has to offer at the moment, with five goals in his last seven matches. Sunderland did win at Stamford Bridge and it would be one hell of an accomplishment to end Chelsea's massive home winning streak, then hand United its first loss of the 2010-11 season. Bruce has the team pointed in the right direction, but not quite yet. ... Manchester United 2, Sunderland 0
* Everton v. Birmingham City -- Smart move, personally and more importantly physically for Landon Donovan to slam the door shut on a month-long rumor mill of him returning to Everton for a couple months before the start of the next MLS campaign. Donovan's in great shape, so no sense grinding him down just to play in a couple more European matches. Lost in this discussion is that Everton could have dearly used his injection of attacking nous. Even with Monday's 2-1 win at Manchester City, Everton might be in trouble since Tim Cahill will miss most of January on Asian Cup duty with Australia in, yep, Qatar. Cahill, who might be the best header of the ball for goals in the world, has nine of the Toffees 19 league goals. Don't see anyone on the roster stepping up to fill in. Gulp. Meanwhile, Brum is being linked heavily to a different striker currently employed by the Los Angeles Galaxy -- Edson Buddle. Not sure he's the kind of guy who can save their season, but at least he's an option not named Cameron Jerome. If I'm Buddle, though, unless I'm hell bent on playing in Europe, I'd wait to pick a more inviting spot than a team gearing up for a relegation battle. ... Everton 1, Birmingham City 1
* Wolves v. Wigan Athletic -- With nothing to say here, let me offer you the warmest Lane Pryce, "Happy Christmas" as possible. ... Wolves 1, Wigan 1
* Bolton v. West Brom -- Nice achievement for Stuart Holden to be voted, by readers of the Guardian, as the best player in the Premier League for the first half. Then again, Blackpool's Richard Kingson was voted the best keeper, which sort of made me raise an eyebrow about the entire list. Damn. Sometimes being such a cynic sucks. ... Bolton 3, West Brom 2
* Blackpool v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Ian Holloway is the sanest "crazy" person ever. Caught a segment late night on Sky Sports of Blackpool's visit to a local children's hospital. Unprompted Holloway started ranting against all the people stuck in airports in England trying to go on holiday, telling them basically to suck it up, go home and be happy they're well-off enough to travel. Love this guy. Steven Gerrard should be back for Liverpool, which will try to avoid losing the season series to Blackpool, as crazy as that sounds. Blackpool are still without skipper Charlie Adam, still trying to serve his one-game yellow card accumulation suspension. And that sound you just heard, that was Liverpool fans across the globe choking back bile on the mere mention Roy Hodgson is considering the corpse of Matthew Upson as defensive cover while Jamie Carragher nurses his shoulder injury. ... Blackpool 1, Liverpool 2
* Blackburn Rovers v. Stoke City -- Good for Christopher Samba for speaking his mind and saying that if how Venky's abruptly fired Sam Allardyce, then its not a club he wants to play for in the future. Glad at least one player in the world showed some guts for a change. If this is true, Samba wouldn't have any shortage of suitors. On an unrelated note, interesting that young U.S. striker Teal Bunbury had a recent trial with Stoke. Glad he's getting a look, but not sure how he'd be able to break into the Potters deep striker rotation, barring injury. ... Blackburn 0, Stoke City 1
* Aston Villa v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) The success and ascension of Tottenham might be the toughest to swallow for Aston Villa supporters. Under Martin O'Neill Villa kept knocking on the door of breaking up the "Big Four," only to fall short every time. Here comes Harry Redknapp and gets Spurs into the Champions League. It gets especially galling since Tottenham is consistently linked to Villa's best player -- Ashley Young. Not sure where Young would play considering Spurs have Gareth Bale on the left already, but who cares it's a fun rumor to continually propagate. ... Aston Villa 1, Spurs 2
Monday:
* Arsenal v. Chelsea -- (Live, ESPN2, 2:55 p.m.) Arsenal, it would seem, last managed a win over Chelsea or Manchester United when Backstreet Boys were still releasing new music. Arsene Wenger can say whatever he wants, and maybe, yeah, the Gunners did out-play the Blues at Stamford Bridge, if you want to go by passing stats. Here's a stat, via Opta Sports, Didier Drogba has 13 goals in 13 matches vs. Arsenal. Or how about this one, Arsenal have two wins in their last 18 games against Chelsea.
Every time you think Arsenal has changed, in a big game like this the Gunners once again, to borrow the opt-repeated Dennis Green, are who we thought they are. Okay, maybe the portly ex-Vikings/Cardinals coach doesn't draw a lot of water in England. How about a guy by the name of Albert Einstein? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Arsenal are going to pass and dance about the penalty area, only to get smacked by the remorse-less Blues hammer on a counter attack or set piece.
That's been Arsene Wenger's M.O. for the last five years. Refuse to spend big on a goalie or prime defender, and suffer the consequences when it really matters. You have to wonder, if Barcelona puts Arsenal to an early sword in the Champions League, and the Gunners fail to win the Premier League, will the heat ever catch up to Wenger?
This match might be more revelatory for Chelsea. The canceled fixture last weekend vs. Manchester United was almost a godsend, allowing the team to lick their wounds and get healthier. If any team needs a winter break in England it's the Blues' cast of 30-somethings. We'll get to see if Frank Lampard's return makes the difference we assume it will, and by transitive properties, turn Flourent Malouda back into his deadly form from March through October.
One of these days Arsenal will break through. Until we actually see it, it's foolish to think things are going to chance this time around. ... Arsenal 1, Chelsea 1
Last round: 2-1
Season: 75-97
(Also, with the crammed holiday fixture list, not sure how much I'll post over the next week beyond picks. Have a happy and healthy.)
Labels: English Premier League, EPL picks, Soccer
Plutonium? Check.
DeLorean? Check.
Orange vest? Check.
Yep, let's put the peddle to the metal and dial it back to July 1989 when an irate 9-year-old version of myself was nothing short of apoplectic, no not because Andreas Papandreou stepped down as prime minister of Greece, but because Terry Steinbach(*) was voted to start the 1989 MLB All-Star game over slugging Orioles backstop Mickey Tettleton, who's numbers were far superior.
(*) Quick aside. Steinbach hit 35 homers in 1996 more than doubling his career high total for a single season. Maybe we ought to ask newly hired New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is he knew his team might possibly be juicing. Just a thought. ... Also in July 1989? A little show named the "Seinfeld Chronicles" debuted.
Even at a young age, the concept of All-Star games or teams angered me to irrational levels. Fortunately I've mellowed out and realized these games are popularity contests and items for networks to fill prime time programming. No sense getting angry about it.
The reason I felt it was necessary to share this little story was an an introduction to my 2010-11 Premier League First Half Best XI. Catchy title, huh?
Whenever you form a "Best of" or "All-Star" team for any sport, be it professional soccer or high school field hockey, you have to make concessions. Soccer, of course, if difficult since every team plays an XI, but the formations, tactics and systems are wildly different. Not everyone plays a third baseman or a left tackle. The easiest way to cheat on picking a soccer list is just drop a pedestrian 4-4-2, or a blanket "defense," "midfield" and "forward" lines, but does this mean shoe-horning in a lesser player like Bacary Sagna to play right back, while leaving off a more worthy player on another place on the field?
Consider this year, however, in the EPL where stalwarts like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas -- perennial Best XI contenders -- all spent parts of the fall injured. Or to the fact that who exactly has been the best player on Manchester United? How do we rate Chelsea? On the the Blues' first half dozen merciless beat-downs, or the last two months of indifference? Or what about the so-called "destroyer" midfielder position? Was anyone who plays in this role worthy of inclusion?
In short, it's not as easy as going down to the local stadium and poking out holes in the ballot.
Picking this XI is a combination of what I've seen and some statistical evidence. I'm also rewarding players who've been consistent, remained healthy and help their teams win games. I'm also avoiding the big cheat of listing Gareth Bale as a defender, which the Actim Stats have him.
And yes, I realize the season isn't half over, but if I wait until next week we're bumping up with Christmas and the busy Boxing Day fixtures, so it would probably get lost in the shuffle.
Pepe Reina, goalkeeper, Liverpool -- On the one hand, Liverpool have only kept six clean sheets and allowed a mediocre 22 goals. Consider, though, he's been "protected" by Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos as well as a revolving door central midfield partnership, which isn't exactly breaking up plays like Javier Mascherano. For my money, Reina is still the best shot stopper in the League, with the best distribution. Reina gets the ever-so-slight edge over Joe Hart, who's been superb for Manchester City. Liverpool have struggled, but it's not because of Reina, who might be getting the nod for his track record. For whatever it's worth he's made 43 saves, while Ben Foster's made 80. In a big spot, I prefer Reina over Hart or Foster.
Also considered: Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Paul Robinson.
Ashley Cole, left back, Chelsea -- Considering the personal imbroglios of John Terry ... and now his even bigger scumbag brother, Cole is no longer the most loathed defender on the books for the Blues. On the field, despite tailing off, has been the most consistent performer for Chelsea playing in all 17 league matches, generating many of the movements when the Blues were smashing the opposition in August-October. Teams are making it a point to shut down his overlaps on the left, which is more than you can say for most players in England playing this position.
Also considered: Leighton Baines. Perhaps the toughest omission, since he's created the majority of Everton's attacking movements. (Small lesson here, if you want the inside track at left back in England, have a gender neutral first name.)
Nemanja Vidic, center back, Manchester United -- The Serb is back to his snarling best, or should I say, beast, even chipping in three goals on headers. Vidic gets the nod here, but his return to form is probably due to a) not being chumpatized by Fernando Torres and b) Rio Ferdinand's return to his best. Ferdinand's highly intelligent positional play and ability to play without conceding fouls is allowing the Serb to play his rough-and-tumble game and gamble more. (Ferdinand's played 10 League games without picking up a yellow card.)
Vincent Kompany, center back, Manchester City -- Quietly the bald Belgian has been a rock on the taught City back line, playing all 17 matches. Kompany isn't flashy. He doesn't make waves. He doesn't punch teammates or get punched by them on the training ground. He doesn't shatter opponents ankle ligaments. All he does is do his job.
Also considered: Rio Ferdinand, Roger Johnson, Bransislav Ivanovic (super utility defender), Chris Samba.
Nedum Onuoha, right back, Sunderland -- Herein lies the troubles I outlined above. Should I take a player here at right back? Skip the position all together? I considered adding Baines, but, eh, that's cheating. Sunderland, without fanfare, has the fourth-best defense in the league behind Chelsea, and the Manchester clubs. Somebody on that line should be rewarded, and since Steve Bruce has shuffled Titus Bramble, Michael Turner and Anton Ferdinand in the middle, might as well highlight the on-loan youngster from Manchester City. Maybe his awesome, dangling goal at Chelsea pushed him over the top. Who knows.
Also considered: Alan Hutton.
Gareth Bale, left midfielder, Tottenham -- Feel this pick speaks for itself. Maybe the award deserves to go to the bottle of Brandy consumed by Harry Redknapp that convinced him to move Bale higher up the field last season. Yeah, Bale's highlight performance was against Inter in the Champions League, but he's still be great in the Premier League, recapturing his form after stumbling a little bit in November. Best aspect of Bale, he forces opponents to change the way they're doing things. Nobody in England is playing quite like Bale and when he touches the ball, cutting a little inside on the trot, you almost expect something great to happen. That might be why he's been fouled a whopping 33 times.
Also considered: Flourent Malouda (emblematic of Chelsea. Great early, faded lately.) , Matthew Etherington.
Charlie Adam, midfielder, Blackpool -- Unconventional pick, but this guy deserves it. He's played across the midfield and is the driving engine to the Tangerines remarkable start to the season. Three goals, four assists. Passing vision, energy, graft. He's even ripped off 54 shots. Symbolic of the unpredictable nature of how this season has unfurled. The fact the usual midfield generals have been missing this year opens up the spot for Adam.
Also considered: Alex Song, Craig Gardner, Jordan Henderson, John Obi Mikel, Scott Parker.
Samir Nasri, central midfielder/creator, Arsenal -- Fun to watch and certainly the most improved player in the league. The most consistent performer for the Gunners, as they flirt with first place. Eight goals near the midway point prove he's a player hitting his potential. French Footballer of the Year. Oh, and snood innovator, too. Caught his ballerina-toed goal against Fulham from the the overhead camera on "Arsenal 360" at the gym on Thursday, good gravy, who else bessi Leo Messi can dance on the ball like that?
Also considered: Kevin Nolan, Stuart Holden (honest), Chris Brunt, Luka Modric
Nani, right midfielder/wide attacker, Manchester United -- Still not sure exactly how good the tiny Portugeezer with Michael Jackson's old perm actually is, but he carried United offensively without Wayne Rooney and a semi-invisible Dimitar Berbatov. Five goals, eight assists, danger on set piece delivery. No, he's not Cristiano Ronaldo -- aside from his injury theatrics -- but he's having a fine season for first-place United.
Also considered: Chung-Yong Lee, Andrey Arshavin,
Carlos Tevez, secondary striker, Manchester City -- The numbers have it for Tevez, though I don't think he's had a great season outside of scoring. City wouldn't be in position to win the league without him, though. Maybe this is a good stat or a damning one, but Tevez hasn't scored in City's three losses and four draws. He's only been held scoreless in one of their wins, while scoring game-winners in 1-0 wins vs. Chelsea and Bolton. After Tevez's 10 goals, the next highest player at City -- Yaya Youre -- has three. I wanted to make a case for maybe Tim Cahill, but Everton hasn't been good. Johan Elmander, emerging with eight goals, would be worthy of a spot too, if I picked two out-and-out center forwards, but the Swede's goals haven't been nearly as timely as Tevez'.
Also considered: Clint Dempsey, Rafael van der vaart, Tim Cahill
Andy Carroll, striker, Newcastle United -- Probably the easiest pick on this list. Ten league goals, burly play, aerial wins, ponytails. No drop off from moving up from the Championship. Hey, even his legal issues seem to be improved. He hasn't been arrested in over a week. Good times. What more could you want?
Also considered: Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov, Peter Odemwingie, Johan Elmander, Maroune Chamakh, Kevin Davies.
That's my team. Am I crazy about it? Not really. A little too pedestrian. It sure would be a lot easier to just pick the XI best forwards, now wouldn't it? Let me know what you guys think, because isn't that the point of these lists, to generate hours of (inevitably pointless) debate?
Maybe I owe Terry Steinbach and apology after all.
Round 18 Picks:
Saturday:
* Sunderland v. Bolton -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) Good job by ESPN running classy, first-rate promos for this match -- and all matches on the network. This one smartly featured American Stuart Holden, doubtful, though, it inspires too many casual eyeballs to wake up early for this match. It's a shame since this match pits your surprise sixth and seventh placed teams, too teams indicative of the improved middle class of the EPL. If that doesn't do anything for you, how about the Holden/Jordan Henderson match up? Or Darren Bent/Asamoah Gyan v. Johan Elmander/Kevin Davies? Perhaps this tweet from Landon Donovan sums it up best. ... Sunderland 2, Bolton 1
* Wigan Athletic v. Aston Villa -- At least Villa will probably wear their cool black away kits. Otherwise? Not much to say here. Remember, too, when Gerard Houlier denies reports of a backroom player rebellion, then there's definitely a player rebellion going on at Villa. ... Wigan 1, Villa 1
* Arsenal v. Stoke City -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) My guess is Ryan Shawcross' tackle, which broke, well, shattered Aaron Ramsey's leg earlier this year will be mentioned once every three minutes on the telecast. Remember, the Gunners rallied to win that match last year at Stoke and then proclaimed they were a different team, which knew how to win against cynical tactics.
Problem, here, is once again Arsenal's mettle is being tested after its ineffectiveness against Manchester United on Monday. Stoke, if it comes to play, will test the Gunners, whether it be set pieces aimed at the giants noggins of Robert Huth, Shawcross or Kenwyne Jones from Matthew Etherington, or long throws by Rory Delap. Something says those long bombs and Wojciech Szczesny might make a headline. For all their ball skills, Arsenal will need to get down and dirty to win this one. Maybe Arsene Wenger dusts off Niclas Bendtner, who does have some match winners in him. ... Arsenal 2, Stoke City 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. West Ham United -- Outside of the Venky's boardroom, is there a person on earth that figures firing Sam Allardyce is a good idea? Guess one of the requirements of owning a soccer club is that, unlike the Army, you prove that you actually are batshit insane before they let you take over. Go figure. Guess Allardyce is already plotting to see if his bluetooth headset gets quality reception at Upton Park since Avram Grant appears to be a dead man walking. No pun intended. Curious to see what the firing does for Blackburn, though. When the Indian owners took over, they said 10th place was okay. Rovers are in 13th. Are the players going to check out, realizing now they aren't good enough to fit the owners unrealistic goals? Just the mere thought of Maradona as manager goes to show how clueless they are. It would be fitting, wouldn't it, that they're dreaming of the Champions League, only to find the club they bought stuck in the Championship next year. Could happen. ... Blackburn 1, West Ham 1
* Birmingham City v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Just a hunch Roger Johnson and Scott Dann might find a way to mark Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan this week. If you like set pieces, this could be your all-time favorite match. ... Birmingham 2, Newcastle United 2
* Liverpool v. Fulham -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) So, last weekend the cameras caught Roy Hodgson with his comical face rub. Will they catch him this week whistfully looking over to the other sideline, tearing up wishing he was still coaching Dickson Etuhu, et al? Wonder if the announcers address the Clint Dempsey-to-Liverpool rumors. Where did those start? ... Liverpool 1, Fulham 0
Sunday:
* West Brom v. Wolves -- (Live at 7 a.m., have fun waking up for it.) Haven't seen Wolves play in a couple weeks and West Brom continues to befuddle me in this space each and every weekend. ... West Brom 2, Wolves 0
* Blackpool v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Last team with the ball wins? Tottenham do need to find a way to win this match if the club wants to keep pace. Blackpool is going to give them chances, but Spurs will give the Tangerines just as many. Surprised how good a player Alan Hutton has turned into. He's been excellent both ways for Tottenham. Also wonder how much better Spurs would be if Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe weren't so wasteful with chances. We might see Sandro here too. Blackpool are without Charlie Adam through yellow card accumulation. Buckle up. ... Blackpool 2, Spurs 4
* Chelsea v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Are either of these teams actually "good" right now? Manchester United are grinding out results and that might just be enough. Sir Alex Ferguson is cagey enough to field lineups for the situations, meaning Monday's 4-3-3-ish formation with Nani and Ji-Sung Park supporting Rooney wide might be dumped for a more conventional 4-4-2 with Dimitar Berbatov recalled. We do know that Carlo Ancelotti is tipping his hand, announcing Frank Lampard will start. (Hey, shocker of shockers, Chelsea get FC Copenhagen in the Champions League knockout round.)
Monday Manchester United dispatched Arsenal in a game that was memorable for being totally forgettable aside from the jerseys on display at Old Trafford, a game that typified this season so far. The Gunners still don't have the nerve vs. the best of the league, ready to capitulate when pressed. Chelsea are the opposite, showing signs of life last weekend at White Hart Lane when they went down 1-0 to Spurs.
With the level of emotion peculating on both sides, the referee will have a huge impact on this match. We should see plenty of free kicks and better than 5o-50 bet, a penalty. Both teams would prefer to probably attack on the counter, attacking vacated space. In this match the best unit might be the improving United defense, which can absorb Chelsea's body blows. All-and-all, pretty even. ... Chelsea 1, Manchester United 1
Monday:
* Manchester City v. Everton -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) The more you read about this Carlos Tevez story, the more it makes your head hurt. Is it possible for a guy who hasn't even been bothered to learn English really be pulling the strings of this power play? Strange. If rumors of the wages he wants are accurate, who can afford him? Qatari Super FC United? City seems to slowly be coming to life, with Yaya Toure and David Silva each adapting to English football as the weather gets cold. City don't need to put all their eggs in the Tevez basket any more. Everton could certainly use Mikel Arteta remembering he used be mentioned among the most influential midfielders in the league. As it stands, Everton can't cope with City's midfield power. ... City 3, Everton 1
Last round: 2-8
Season: 73-96
DeLorean? Check.
Orange vest? Check.
Yep, let's put the peddle to the metal and dial it back to July 1989 when an irate 9-year-old version of myself was nothing short of apoplectic, no not because Andreas Papandreou stepped down as prime minister of Greece, but because Terry Steinbach(*) was voted to start the 1989 MLB All-Star game over slugging Orioles backstop Mickey Tettleton, who's numbers were far superior.
(*) Quick aside. Steinbach hit 35 homers in 1996 more than doubling his career high total for a single season. Maybe we ought to ask newly hired New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is he knew his team might possibly be juicing. Just a thought. ... Also in July 1989? A little show named the "Seinfeld Chronicles" debuted.
Even at a young age, the concept of All-Star games or teams angered me to irrational levels. Fortunately I've mellowed out and realized these games are popularity contests and items for networks to fill prime time programming. No sense getting angry about it.
The reason I felt it was necessary to share this little story was an an introduction to my 2010-11 Premier League First Half Best XI. Catchy title, huh?
Whenever you form a "Best of" or "All-Star" team for any sport, be it professional soccer or high school field hockey, you have to make concessions. Soccer, of course, if difficult since every team plays an XI, but the formations, tactics and systems are wildly different. Not everyone plays a third baseman or a left tackle. The easiest way to cheat on picking a soccer list is just drop a pedestrian 4-4-2, or a blanket "defense," "midfield" and "forward" lines, but does this mean shoe-horning in a lesser player like Bacary Sagna to play right back, while leaving off a more worthy player on another place on the field?
Consider this year, however, in the EPL where stalwarts like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas -- perennial Best XI contenders -- all spent parts of the fall injured. Or to the fact that who exactly has been the best player on Manchester United? How do we rate Chelsea? On the the Blues' first half dozen merciless beat-downs, or the last two months of indifference? Or what about the so-called "destroyer" midfielder position? Was anyone who plays in this role worthy of inclusion?
In short, it's not as easy as going down to the local stadium and poking out holes in the ballot.
Picking this XI is a combination of what I've seen and some statistical evidence. I'm also rewarding players who've been consistent, remained healthy and help their teams win games. I'm also avoiding the big cheat of listing Gareth Bale as a defender, which the Actim Stats have him.
And yes, I realize the season isn't half over, but if I wait until next week we're bumping up with Christmas and the busy Boxing Day fixtures, so it would probably get lost in the shuffle.
T.O.P. Premier League First Half Best XI
Pepe Reina, goalkeeper, Liverpool -- On the one hand, Liverpool have only kept six clean sheets and allowed a mediocre 22 goals. Consider, though, he's been "protected" by Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos as well as a revolving door central midfield partnership, which isn't exactly breaking up plays like Javier Mascherano. For my money, Reina is still the best shot stopper in the League, with the best distribution. Reina gets the ever-so-slight edge over Joe Hart, who's been superb for Manchester City. Liverpool have struggled, but it's not because of Reina, who might be getting the nod for his track record. For whatever it's worth he's made 43 saves, while Ben Foster's made 80. In a big spot, I prefer Reina over Hart or Foster.
Also considered: Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Paul Robinson.
Ashley Cole, left back, Chelsea -- Considering the personal imbroglios of John Terry ... and now his even bigger scumbag brother, Cole is no longer the most loathed defender on the books for the Blues. On the field, despite tailing off, has been the most consistent performer for Chelsea playing in all 17 league matches, generating many of the movements when the Blues were smashing the opposition in August-October. Teams are making it a point to shut down his overlaps on the left, which is more than you can say for most players in England playing this position.
Also considered: Leighton Baines. Perhaps the toughest omission, since he's created the majority of Everton's attacking movements. (Small lesson here, if you want the inside track at left back in England, have a gender neutral first name.)
Nemanja Vidic, center back, Manchester United -- The Serb is back to his snarling best, or should I say, beast, even chipping in three goals on headers. Vidic gets the nod here, but his return to form is probably due to a) not being chumpatized by Fernando Torres and b) Rio Ferdinand's return to his best. Ferdinand's highly intelligent positional play and ability to play without conceding fouls is allowing the Serb to play his rough-and-tumble game and gamble more. (Ferdinand's played 10 League games without picking up a yellow card.)
Vincent Kompany, center back, Manchester City -- Quietly the bald Belgian has been a rock on the taught City back line, playing all 17 matches. Kompany isn't flashy. He doesn't make waves. He doesn't punch teammates or get punched by them on the training ground. He doesn't shatter opponents ankle ligaments. All he does is do his job.
Also considered: Rio Ferdinand, Roger Johnson, Bransislav Ivanovic (super utility defender), Chris Samba.
Nedum Onuoha, right back, Sunderland -- Herein lies the troubles I outlined above. Should I take a player here at right back? Skip the position all together? I considered adding Baines, but, eh, that's cheating. Sunderland, without fanfare, has the fourth-best defense in the league behind Chelsea, and the Manchester clubs. Somebody on that line should be rewarded, and since Steve Bruce has shuffled Titus Bramble, Michael Turner and Anton Ferdinand in the middle, might as well highlight the on-loan youngster from Manchester City. Maybe his awesome, dangling goal at Chelsea pushed him over the top. Who knows.
Also considered: Alan Hutton.
Gareth Bale, left midfielder, Tottenham -- Feel this pick speaks for itself. Maybe the award deserves to go to the bottle of Brandy consumed by Harry Redknapp that convinced him to move Bale higher up the field last season. Yeah, Bale's highlight performance was against Inter in the Champions League, but he's still be great in the Premier League, recapturing his form after stumbling a little bit in November. Best aspect of Bale, he forces opponents to change the way they're doing things. Nobody in England is playing quite like Bale and when he touches the ball, cutting a little inside on the trot, you almost expect something great to happen. That might be why he's been fouled a whopping 33 times.
Also considered: Flourent Malouda (emblematic of Chelsea. Great early, faded lately.) , Matthew Etherington.
Charlie Adam, midfielder, Blackpool -- Unconventional pick, but this guy deserves it. He's played across the midfield and is the driving engine to the Tangerines remarkable start to the season. Three goals, four assists. Passing vision, energy, graft. He's even ripped off 54 shots. Symbolic of the unpredictable nature of how this season has unfurled. The fact the usual midfield generals have been missing this year opens up the spot for Adam.
Also considered: Alex Song, Craig Gardner, Jordan Henderson, John Obi Mikel, Scott Parker.
Samir Nasri, central midfielder/creator, Arsenal -- Fun to watch and certainly the most improved player in the league. The most consistent performer for the Gunners, as they flirt with first place. Eight goals near the midway point prove he's a player hitting his potential. French Footballer of the Year. Oh, and snood innovator, too. Caught his ballerina-toed goal against Fulham from the the overhead camera on "Arsenal 360" at the gym on Thursday, good gravy, who else bessi Leo Messi can dance on the ball like that?
Also considered: Kevin Nolan, Stuart Holden (honest), Chris Brunt, Luka Modric
Nani, right midfielder/wide attacker, Manchester United -- Still not sure exactly how good the tiny Portugeezer with Michael Jackson's old perm actually is, but he carried United offensively without Wayne Rooney and a semi-invisible Dimitar Berbatov. Five goals, eight assists, danger on set piece delivery. No, he's not Cristiano Ronaldo -- aside from his injury theatrics -- but he's having a fine season for first-place United.
Also considered: Chung-Yong Lee, Andrey Arshavin,
Carlos Tevez, secondary striker, Manchester City -- The numbers have it for Tevez, though I don't think he's had a great season outside of scoring. City wouldn't be in position to win the league without him, though. Maybe this is a good stat or a damning one, but Tevez hasn't scored in City's three losses and four draws. He's only been held scoreless in one of their wins, while scoring game-winners in 1-0 wins vs. Chelsea and Bolton. After Tevez's 10 goals, the next highest player at City -- Yaya Youre -- has three. I wanted to make a case for maybe Tim Cahill, but Everton hasn't been good. Johan Elmander, emerging with eight goals, would be worthy of a spot too, if I picked two out-and-out center forwards, but the Swede's goals haven't been nearly as timely as Tevez'.
Also considered: Clint Dempsey, Rafael van der vaart, Tim Cahill
Andy Carroll, striker, Newcastle United -- Probably the easiest pick on this list. Ten league goals, burly play, aerial wins, ponytails. No drop off from moving up from the Championship. Hey, even his legal issues seem to be improved. He hasn't been arrested in over a week. Good times. What more could you want?
Also considered: Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov, Peter Odemwingie, Johan Elmander, Maroune Chamakh, Kevin Davies.
That's my team. Am I crazy about it? Not really. A little too pedestrian. It sure would be a lot easier to just pick the XI best forwards, now wouldn't it? Let me know what you guys think, because isn't that the point of these lists, to generate hours of (inevitably pointless) debate?
Maybe I owe Terry Steinbach and apology after all.
Round 18 Picks:
Saturday:
* Sunderland v. Bolton -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) Good job by ESPN running classy, first-rate promos for this match -- and all matches on the network. This one smartly featured American Stuart Holden, doubtful, though, it inspires too many casual eyeballs to wake up early for this match. It's a shame since this match pits your surprise sixth and seventh placed teams, too teams indicative of the improved middle class of the EPL. If that doesn't do anything for you, how about the Holden/Jordan Henderson match up? Or Darren Bent/Asamoah Gyan v. Johan Elmander/Kevin Davies? Perhaps this tweet from Landon Donovan sums it up best. ... Sunderland 2, Bolton 1
* Wigan Athletic v. Aston Villa -- At least Villa will probably wear their cool black away kits. Otherwise? Not much to say here. Remember, too, when Gerard Houlier denies reports of a backroom player rebellion, then there's definitely a player rebellion going on at Villa. ... Wigan 1, Villa 1
* Arsenal v. Stoke City -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) My guess is Ryan Shawcross' tackle, which broke, well, shattered Aaron Ramsey's leg earlier this year will be mentioned once every three minutes on the telecast. Remember, the Gunners rallied to win that match last year at Stoke and then proclaimed they were a different team, which knew how to win against cynical tactics.
Problem, here, is once again Arsenal's mettle is being tested after its ineffectiveness against Manchester United on Monday. Stoke, if it comes to play, will test the Gunners, whether it be set pieces aimed at the giants noggins of Robert Huth, Shawcross or Kenwyne Jones from Matthew Etherington, or long throws by Rory Delap. Something says those long bombs and Wojciech Szczesny might make a headline. For all their ball skills, Arsenal will need to get down and dirty to win this one. Maybe Arsene Wenger dusts off Niclas Bendtner, who does have some match winners in him. ... Arsenal 2, Stoke City 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. West Ham United -- Outside of the Venky's boardroom, is there a person on earth that figures firing Sam Allardyce is a good idea? Guess one of the requirements of owning a soccer club is that, unlike the Army, you prove that you actually are batshit insane before they let you take over. Go figure. Guess Allardyce is already plotting to see if his bluetooth headset gets quality reception at Upton Park since Avram Grant appears to be a dead man walking. No pun intended. Curious to see what the firing does for Blackburn, though. When the Indian owners took over, they said 10th place was okay. Rovers are in 13th. Are the players going to check out, realizing now they aren't good enough to fit the owners unrealistic goals? Just the mere thought of Maradona as manager goes to show how clueless they are. It would be fitting, wouldn't it, that they're dreaming of the Champions League, only to find the club they bought stuck in the Championship next year. Could happen. ... Blackburn 1, West Ham 1
* Birmingham City v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Just a hunch Roger Johnson and Scott Dann might find a way to mark Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan this week. If you like set pieces, this could be your all-time favorite match. ... Birmingham 2, Newcastle United 2
* Liverpool v. Fulham -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) So, last weekend the cameras caught Roy Hodgson with his comical face rub. Will they catch him this week whistfully looking over to the other sideline, tearing up wishing he was still coaching Dickson Etuhu, et al? Wonder if the announcers address the Clint Dempsey-to-Liverpool rumors. Where did those start? ... Liverpool 1, Fulham 0
Sunday:
* West Brom v. Wolves -- (Live at 7 a.m., have fun waking up for it.) Haven't seen Wolves play in a couple weeks and West Brom continues to befuddle me in this space each and every weekend. ... West Brom 2, Wolves 0
* Blackpool v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Last team with the ball wins? Tottenham do need to find a way to win this match if the club wants to keep pace. Blackpool is going to give them chances, but Spurs will give the Tangerines just as many. Surprised how good a player Alan Hutton has turned into. He's been excellent both ways for Tottenham. Also wonder how much better Spurs would be if Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe weren't so wasteful with chances. We might see Sandro here too. Blackpool are without Charlie Adam through yellow card accumulation. Buckle up. ... Blackpool 2, Spurs 4
* Chelsea v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Are either of these teams actually "good" right now? Manchester United are grinding out results and that might just be enough. Sir Alex Ferguson is cagey enough to field lineups for the situations, meaning Monday's 4-3-3-ish formation with Nani and Ji-Sung Park supporting Rooney wide might be dumped for a more conventional 4-4-2 with Dimitar Berbatov recalled. We do know that Carlo Ancelotti is tipping his hand, announcing Frank Lampard will start. (Hey, shocker of shockers, Chelsea get FC Copenhagen in the Champions League knockout round.)
Monday Manchester United dispatched Arsenal in a game that was memorable for being totally forgettable aside from the jerseys on display at Old Trafford, a game that typified this season so far. The Gunners still don't have the nerve vs. the best of the league, ready to capitulate when pressed. Chelsea are the opposite, showing signs of life last weekend at White Hart Lane when they went down 1-0 to Spurs.
With the level of emotion peculating on both sides, the referee will have a huge impact on this match. We should see plenty of free kicks and better than 5o-50 bet, a penalty. Both teams would prefer to probably attack on the counter, attacking vacated space. In this match the best unit might be the improving United defense, which can absorb Chelsea's body blows. All-and-all, pretty even. ... Chelsea 1, Manchester United 1
Monday:
* Manchester City v. Everton -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) The more you read about this Carlos Tevez story, the more it makes your head hurt. Is it possible for a guy who hasn't even been bothered to learn English really be pulling the strings of this power play? Strange. If rumors of the wages he wants are accurate, who can afford him? Qatari Super FC United? City seems to slowly be coming to life, with Yaya Toure and David Silva each adapting to English football as the weather gets cold. City don't need to put all their eggs in the Tevez basket any more. Everton could certainly use Mikel Arteta remembering he used be mentioned among the most influential midfielders in the league. As it stands, Everton can't cope with City's midfield power. ... City 3, Everton 1
Last round: 2-8
Season: 73-96
Labels: best XI, English Premier League, EPL, EPL picks, Soccer
By most accounts, a fun weekend in England's Premier League over the weekend. Best part about it, it's not over yet with Manchester United and Arsenal clashing later Monday afternoon. The two longtime rivals enter the match on 31 and 32 points respectively, even with Chelsea and Manchester City.
It all means, by about 5 o'clock on the East Coast we'll have a new league leader regardless of the result at Old Trafford.
Before then, let's look back at the weekend, shall we? (It's not as if you have a choice in the matter.)
Gomes with the Wind:
Tottenham 1, Chelsea 1.
Or, alternately, the Heurehlo Gomes 45-minute passion play.
All-and-all, this was an entertaining -- if sloppy -- match that ended with a fair result for both teams, though a result both side with rue not taking the full three points.
Spurs are going to regret failing to get up 2-0, when they had Chelsea on the ropes late in the first half and into the second. Unlike the last month, down a goal Chelsea played with some more fire and refused to leave White Hart Lane without a point. The Blues will still be the team kicking itself down the road, since if Drogba converts his second half stoppage time penalty, the Blues are back atop the table, if only for a few hours.
Yes, Petr Cech thumping a ball up the field, which Didier Drogba used a little bit of shoulder to knock down and blast through the hands of Gomes with about 20 minutes left will help. The Blues, though, seemed poised to strike -- even without Drogba -- as time wore on in the second half and Spurs didn't have the personnel or the mettle to see out a 1-0 win.
When you play high incident, highly entertaining football game-in, game-out it's hard to switch into bunker mentality, which might be a harbinger for the Champions League knockout stage for Tottenham. There was a sense the sand was slipping out of the hour glass for Spurs and they didn't have a way to turn it out or stop the flood. Sunday Tottenham was like a good comedy movie -- great for about 45 minutes, but lacking the wherewithal to find a way to wrap things up without some extraneous plotting.
Nice goal by one-time punchline Roman Pavlyuchenko, though. Beauty of a first touch to create acres of space around the John Terry -- he of the new, slick haircut -- and John Obi Mikel Obi. Guess it once again goes to show that fans might want to give a guy a couple games to get his feet wet before declaring him a flop. Maybe.
Being the Premier League, this match wasn't without late drama. After his mini-gaffe gifted Drogba an equalizer, Gomes being Gomes, gave a forearm shiver to Ramires to draw a late penalty. Of course the Brazilian found a way to drive the right way to stop Drogba.
In the words of John Sterling, who can figure this crazy game out?
Sullen City:
Happiest man in Eastlands right now? Easy. Mario Balotelli.
Barely six hours after he was the topic of conversation for his bratty, petulance in City's comprehensive 3-1 win over West Ham -- which pushed them level atop the table -- the Italian lightning rod was old news.
It's all Carlos Tevez, all the time.
Forget the statements from the clubs or the allegations floated by his handlers, it's clear the guy has some major issues going on away from the game and wants out of England -- now. Is it a contract power play? Is it all about family? Could it possibly be about money, as a report surfaced he wants around an outrageous $475,000 per week? Is the club right to stand firm? How does Tevez have a problem with the "executives" but not with Roberto Mancini or Sheik Mansour?
Strange all around.
Double that when you remember Tevez is represented by Kia Joorabchian who basically "owned" the contracts of Tevez and Javier Mascherano, ushering them to West Ham all those years ago, eventually leading to Sheffield United suing the club when it was relegated after Tevez saved the Irons on the last day of the season. In the cesspool that is world soccer, Joorabchian seems slimier than most. Who knows what his machinations/power play with Tevez this really is?
After Saturday, City did indeed show there might be life without their Argentine talisman. David Silva, given a free role was excellent -- even if it was against woeful West Ham. Yaya Toure finally realized that Mancini wants him to attack, attack, attack. Gone was the tentative play that marked the Ivorian's time in England, in one fell swoop -- a hammer of the Gods thunderbolt past Robert Green.
Long term, too, City can always overpay for a forward like Edin Dzeko or whomever across continental Europe to technically replace Tevez's position on the field, saying nothing of the already-on-the-books Balotelli. The Robinho loan to Santos and eventual sale to AC Milan demonstrated City aren't afraid to be proactive in these potentially distracting situations.
The problem, of course, is Tevez is the fulcrum of the City attack with 10 of their 24 league goals.
Maybe though, the team can move on without him. Consider the fact that Tevez was probably bought by City as a way to tweak Manchester United and declare the club's grand intentions. With the sheer number of players Mancini's purchased, they needed time to figure out how to play. In that time, it was easy for Tevez to make a play, find a pocket of space to create something and deliver goals. Tevez, it might turn out, was a bridge during City's transition from the Sven Era to legit title contenders.
Granted this seems like a major knee-jerk reaction in light of the news, but it's something to think about.
And if you think you have any real idea how this all culminates, buy a lottery ticket, too, while you're at it.
I Can Haz Face Rubz:
Newcastle 3, Liverpool 1.
In a way, in our cruel Inter-nets culture of Memes and happy kittens, you almost have to feel bad for Roy Hodgson's moment of sideline silliness. The face rub, in less than 10 seconds, sums up all you need to know about his tenure in charge of Liverpool. Throw in the highest rated YouTube comment on said video: "YNWA -- You'll Never Win Away" and it's a fait accompli.
Poor Woy, if unlucky for the worldwide camera feed to pick up that moment. I know personally it'll be difficult looking at Hodgson in the future and not thinking of that one moment frozen in Internets time.
Still, it showed him to be the tottering old man, lost in his own head space that so many Liverpool fans fear him to be, rightly or wrongly.
Don't worry, there's less of a media presence back in Finland, where he's likely to be in a matter of months, anyway. John Henry and the rest of Red Sox Nation can say what they want from Boston, once they got a grasp of the English game, hard to see Hodgson with a long spell at Anfield, especially with Damien Comolli now serving as technical director.
A slightly less meme-worthy picture sums up the Newcastle side of the equation, with owner Mike Ashley, cackling with delightful like some petty schoolyard bully after Joey Barton put the Magpies ahead in the second half. Ashley was bashed universally for firing Chris Hughton on Monday, so here he was in Alan Pardew's first match in charge at St. James Park having his cake and eating it to, if for one match.
Could there be a larger contrast in sports owners than the reserved, analytic Henry and the cartoonishly brash -- and sometimes shirtless -- Ashley? When you line up those two, think I'll take Henry in the long term, even if he's the same guy that signed off on a seven-year $150 contract for the Red Sox to sign Carl Crawford.
Oh, in case you needed reminding, too, that Andy Carroll fellow is pretty, pre-tay good. You just might want to consider marking him on set pieces.
Book it:
God do I hope some intrepid writer in England is channeling his inner Gay Talese, becoming a fly on the wall to document the wild, wonderful and wacky 2010 experienced by Blackpool. The simple fact that Ian Holloway is involved, would make it a crime if this doesn't happen. The man could basically write the story for you.
This is a sports literary gold mine.
Saturday, with the other four 10 a.m. matches duller than all hell, my focus was on Blackpool's 1-0 win at Stoke. It was nothing special. Charlie Adam made a nice incisive pass, setting up a cross that D.J. Campbell bungled (accurate word) into the net. The Tangerines then withstood the remaining 40-odd minutes, as Stoke kept on mis-firing. Chalk the win up as impressive since it was on the road, and Stoke had entered the match in great form.
What strikes me about Blackpool is how downright nonathletic the team is. As noted a couple weeks ago in this space, Gary Taylor-Fletcher looks more likely to be ripping cigs outside a bar, than playing Premier League football. Defender Ian Evatt looks downright dumpy.
Somehow this motley assortment is winning games, pretending all the preseason talk of them challenging Derby's record of futility on their end.
Blackpool is a fun story. The club's improbable win the Championship playoffs followed by immediate Premier League success might be the most unlikely sports tale of the year, aside from Butler reaching the Final Four.
All Stu Does is Win:
Great goal. Questionable celebration. A somewhat unfortunate photo.
Yep, Stuart Holden's 88th-minute winner for Bolton against Blackburn was a little bit of heaven and an exclamation point for the American's excellent 2010, putting a cherry on his seamless transition from MLS standout to established start in the EPL.
If there's one caveat with Holden, it's his style of play seems better suited to be fully appreciated by the week-in, week-out league action, opposed to the more one-off style of internationals vis-a-vis the USMNT. Or at least that might be Bob Bradley's logic. Less defensible is that for 85-percent of CONCACAF games the U.S. doesn't need more than one defensive/shield midfielder. Why not turn over the midfield creativity reigns to Holden, who's got both vision and touch.
In any event, enjoy the hug from Matty Taylor.
Bored to Death:
Congrats Everton/Wigan and Fulham/Sunderland you week co-honors of boring match of the year. Your honor is a tub of sour cream with a bow on it. Enjoy!
Around the League:
Aston Villa converted two crosses, one off Emile Heskey's shoulder and beat West Brom 2-1. That makes me about 0-for-1,042 picking Baggies matches this years. Eric Lichaj did start for Villa. ...Derek Rae? Handwave. ... Wolves win over Birmingham moved the club one point away from the relegation zone. ... One highlight for Everton was Tim Howard's late save to deny (I want to say) Ronnie Stam, can't remember. ... Late update: Sam Allardyce out at Blackburn. Shame. Guess he's off to Madrid, now.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Former League winner Corey Shambaugh's "Shambolic Defending" takes weekly honors -- pre-Arsenal/Manchester United with 50 points. Caroll, Kevin Nolan and Luka Modric were his big earners.
One Other Thing:
One of my favorite British soccer expressions is, "damp squib."
If there is a better term to describe my New York Jets 10-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, please feel free to inform me.
It all means, by about 5 o'clock on the East Coast we'll have a new league leader regardless of the result at Old Trafford.
Before then, let's look back at the weekend, shall we? (It's not as if you have a choice in the matter.)
Gomes with the Wind:
Tottenham 1, Chelsea 1.
Or, alternately, the Heurehlo Gomes 45-minute passion play.
All-and-all, this was an entertaining -- if sloppy -- match that ended with a fair result for both teams, though a result both side with rue not taking the full three points.
Spurs are going to regret failing to get up 2-0, when they had Chelsea on the ropes late in the first half and into the second. Unlike the last month, down a goal Chelsea played with some more fire and refused to leave White Hart Lane without a point. The Blues will still be the team kicking itself down the road, since if Drogba converts his second half stoppage time penalty, the Blues are back atop the table, if only for a few hours.
Yes, Petr Cech thumping a ball up the field, which Didier Drogba used a little bit of shoulder to knock down and blast through the hands of Gomes with about 20 minutes left will help. The Blues, though, seemed poised to strike -- even without Drogba -- as time wore on in the second half and Spurs didn't have the personnel or the mettle to see out a 1-0 win.
When you play high incident, highly entertaining football game-in, game-out it's hard to switch into bunker mentality, which might be a harbinger for the Champions League knockout stage for Tottenham. There was a sense the sand was slipping out of the hour glass for Spurs and they didn't have a way to turn it out or stop the flood. Sunday Tottenham was like a good comedy movie -- great for about 45 minutes, but lacking the wherewithal to find a way to wrap things up without some extraneous plotting.
Nice goal by one-time punchline Roman Pavlyuchenko, though. Beauty of a first touch to create acres of space around the John Terry -- he of the new, slick haircut -- and John Obi Mikel Obi. Guess it once again goes to show that fans might want to give a guy a couple games to get his feet wet before declaring him a flop. Maybe.
Being the Premier League, this match wasn't without late drama. After his mini-gaffe gifted Drogba an equalizer, Gomes being Gomes, gave a forearm shiver to Ramires to draw a late penalty. Of course the Brazilian found a way to drive the right way to stop Drogba.
In the words of John Sterling, who can figure this crazy game out?
Sullen City:
Happiest man in Eastlands right now? Easy. Mario Balotelli.
Barely six hours after he was the topic of conversation for his bratty, petulance in City's comprehensive 3-1 win over West Ham -- which pushed them level atop the table -- the Italian lightning rod was old news.
It's all Carlos Tevez, all the time.
Forget the statements from the clubs or the allegations floated by his handlers, it's clear the guy has some major issues going on away from the game and wants out of England -- now. Is it a contract power play? Is it all about family? Could it possibly be about money, as a report surfaced he wants around an outrageous $475,000 per week? Is the club right to stand firm? How does Tevez have a problem with the "executives" but not with Roberto Mancini or Sheik Mansour?
Strange all around.
Double that when you remember Tevez is represented by Kia Joorabchian who basically "owned" the contracts of Tevez and Javier Mascherano, ushering them to West Ham all those years ago, eventually leading to Sheffield United suing the club when it was relegated after Tevez saved the Irons on the last day of the season. In the cesspool that is world soccer, Joorabchian seems slimier than most. Who knows what his machinations/power play with Tevez this really is?
After Saturday, City did indeed show there might be life without their Argentine talisman. David Silva, given a free role was excellent -- even if it was against woeful West Ham. Yaya Toure finally realized that Mancini wants him to attack, attack, attack. Gone was the tentative play that marked the Ivorian's time in England, in one fell swoop -- a hammer of the Gods thunderbolt past Robert Green.
Long term, too, City can always overpay for a forward like Edin Dzeko or whomever across continental Europe to technically replace Tevez's position on the field, saying nothing of the already-on-the-books Balotelli. The Robinho loan to Santos and eventual sale to AC Milan demonstrated City aren't afraid to be proactive in these potentially distracting situations.
The problem, of course, is Tevez is the fulcrum of the City attack with 10 of their 24 league goals.
Maybe though, the team can move on without him. Consider the fact that Tevez was probably bought by City as a way to tweak Manchester United and declare the club's grand intentions. With the sheer number of players Mancini's purchased, they needed time to figure out how to play. In that time, it was easy for Tevez to make a play, find a pocket of space to create something and deliver goals. Tevez, it might turn out, was a bridge during City's transition from the Sven Era to legit title contenders.
Granted this seems like a major knee-jerk reaction in light of the news, but it's something to think about.
And if you think you have any real idea how this all culminates, buy a lottery ticket, too, while you're at it.
I Can Haz Face Rubz:
Newcastle 3, Liverpool 1.
In a way, in our cruel Inter-nets culture of Memes and happy kittens, you almost have to feel bad for Roy Hodgson's moment of sideline silliness. The face rub, in less than 10 seconds, sums up all you need to know about his tenure in charge of Liverpool. Throw in the highest rated YouTube comment on said video: "YNWA -- You'll Never Win Away" and it's a fait accompli.
Poor Woy, if unlucky for the worldwide camera feed to pick up that moment. I know personally it'll be difficult looking at Hodgson in the future and not thinking of that one moment frozen in Internets time.
Still, it showed him to be the tottering old man, lost in his own head space that so many Liverpool fans fear him to be, rightly or wrongly.
Don't worry, there's less of a media presence back in Finland, where he's likely to be in a matter of months, anyway. John Henry and the rest of Red Sox Nation can say what they want from Boston, once they got a grasp of the English game, hard to see Hodgson with a long spell at Anfield, especially with Damien Comolli now serving as technical director.
A slightly less meme-worthy picture sums up the Newcastle side of the equation, with owner Mike Ashley, cackling with delightful like some petty schoolyard bully after Joey Barton put the Magpies ahead in the second half. Ashley was bashed universally for firing Chris Hughton on Monday, so here he was in Alan Pardew's first match in charge at St. James Park having his cake and eating it to, if for one match.
Could there be a larger contrast in sports owners than the reserved, analytic Henry and the cartoonishly brash -- and sometimes shirtless -- Ashley? When you line up those two, think I'll take Henry in the long term, even if he's the same guy that signed off on a seven-year $150 contract for the Red Sox to sign Carl Crawford.
Oh, in case you needed reminding, too, that Andy Carroll fellow is pretty, pre-tay good. You just might want to consider marking him on set pieces.
Book it:
God do I hope some intrepid writer in England is channeling his inner Gay Talese, becoming a fly on the wall to document the wild, wonderful and wacky 2010 experienced by Blackpool. The simple fact that Ian Holloway is involved, would make it a crime if this doesn't happen. The man could basically write the story for you.
This is a sports literary gold mine.
Saturday, with the other four 10 a.m. matches duller than all hell, my focus was on Blackpool's 1-0 win at Stoke. It was nothing special. Charlie Adam made a nice incisive pass, setting up a cross that D.J. Campbell bungled (accurate word) into the net. The Tangerines then withstood the remaining 40-odd minutes, as Stoke kept on mis-firing. Chalk the win up as impressive since it was on the road, and Stoke had entered the match in great form.
What strikes me about Blackpool is how downright nonathletic the team is. As noted a couple weeks ago in this space, Gary Taylor-Fletcher looks more likely to be ripping cigs outside a bar, than playing Premier League football. Defender Ian Evatt looks downright dumpy.
Somehow this motley assortment is winning games, pretending all the preseason talk of them challenging Derby's record of futility on their end.
Blackpool is a fun story. The club's improbable win the Championship playoffs followed by immediate Premier League success might be the most unlikely sports tale of the year, aside from Butler reaching the Final Four.
All Stu Does is Win:
Great goal. Questionable celebration. A somewhat unfortunate photo.
Yep, Stuart Holden's 88th-minute winner for Bolton against Blackburn was a little bit of heaven and an exclamation point for the American's excellent 2010, putting a cherry on his seamless transition from MLS standout to established start in the EPL.
If there's one caveat with Holden, it's his style of play seems better suited to be fully appreciated by the week-in, week-out league action, opposed to the more one-off style of internationals vis-a-vis the USMNT. Or at least that might be Bob Bradley's logic. Less defensible is that for 85-percent of CONCACAF games the U.S. doesn't need more than one defensive/shield midfielder. Why not turn over the midfield creativity reigns to Holden, who's got both vision and touch.
In any event, enjoy the hug from Matty Taylor.
Bored to Death:
Congrats Everton/Wigan and Fulham/Sunderland you week co-honors of boring match of the year. Your honor is a tub of sour cream with a bow on it. Enjoy!
Around the League:
Aston Villa converted two crosses, one off Emile Heskey's shoulder and beat West Brom 2-1. That makes me about 0-for-1,042 picking Baggies matches this years. Eric Lichaj did start for Villa. ...Derek Rae? Handwave. ... Wolves win over Birmingham moved the club one point away from the relegation zone. ... One highlight for Everton was Tim Howard's late save to deny (I want to say) Ronnie Stam, can't remember. ... Late update: Sam Allardyce out at Blackburn. Shame. Guess he's off to Madrid, now.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Former League winner Corey Shambaugh's "Shambolic Defending" takes weekly honors -- pre-Arsenal/Manchester United with 50 points. Caroll, Kevin Nolan and Luka Modric were his big earners.
One Other Thing:
One of my favorite British soccer expressions is, "damp squib."
If there is a better term to describe my New York Jets 10-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, please feel free to inform me.
Labels: carlos tevez, English Premier League, EPL, Liverpool, Monday recaps, newcastle united, Soccer
Ball don't lie.
George Washington don't lie.
Table don't lie.
Forty-two percent of the 2010-11 Premier League season is in the books and we're still at the stage where one win is enough to rocket teams up from sweating out relegation to thinking about a Europa League spot. It's a fluid, amoebae-like blob of 20 teams that ebbs and flows every weekend. Fortunately it's an agreeable blob, which doesn't consume and absorb everything in its path as those nefarious devils in Hollywood have lead you to believe.
Eventually, or at least conventional wisdom would have you believe, sooner or later the cream will rise to the top, the dregs will sink to the bottom and our blob with be stretched out to a nice, normal straight rod as the forces of sporting gravity take hold. Again, that's if we assume Warren G. Harding approved normalcy sets in at some point this season, and considering the name Harding draws about as much water in England as Jeff Lebowski in the City of Malibu, it might never occur.
What if, however, this weird season continues all the way to May.
More than that, what if the blob of teams never breaks up. On any given weekend we've seen that no team has much distinguished itself, even the top three clubs of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, who've already combined for eight losses and 12 draws, compared to 22 losses and 15 draws all of last season. It's entirely possible too, this year's winner barely cracks the 80-point plateau.
Are the top teams worse than year's past? Probably. Or at least certainly in the cases of United and Chlesea.
The mediocrity is probably due to the increasingly decent middle rung teams. Unlike last season there aren't five or six teams that truly stink. West Ham and Wolves appear to be stuck to the bottom and the bottom of the league, yet if either club were to string together consecutive wins, they're right back in the mix.
And as we know Wigan flirts with relegation every year but remains as steadfast, as my oft repeated George Costanza line in his waning days at Play Now Sports, "I'm like a weed in Hitler's bunker, Jerry." Every year we assume Wigan is done and dusted, yet be it Paul Jewell, Steve Bruce or now Roberto Martinez the Latics shine on.
Guess, considering Mike Ashley's sub-Hank Steinbrenner insolence, Newcastle United is squarely in the relegation talk with the totally uninspiring, multi-time lost Alan Pardew taking over. At least it gives me an excuse to link to this memorable moment.
Further up the table, Stoke City, Sunderland and Bolton seemed vastly improved teams, who aren't rolling over for three points any more. Birmingham City aren't half bad, if it ever figures out a consistent offense it'll challenge for the top half. West Brom and Blackpool have thrown caution into the wind, if they go down it'll be with a fight.
Allow that to serve as my long-winded introduction to a big what if -- what if one of these three clubs that hold significance to American soccer fans gets, sucked down into the League Championship. These three clubs: Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham sit 15-17 in the table, featuring prominent U.S. internationals like Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey, or in Villa's case an American owner in Randy Lerner.
Are these clubs too big to fail? Is it too soon to start worrying about this? Let's check it out.
Record: (3-8-5 W/D/L) 15th place.
Major malfunction: Home form/goal scoring. Everton has taken only eight points from 24 in eight home matches. Team still struggles to score outside of Tim Cahill's weekly Aussie Superman routine.
Relegation Probablity: four percent.
Bottom line: Faith in David Moyes and quality players should be enough for Everton avoid sweating it out in April/May, especially if that certain guy with the initials "LD" shows up at Goodison in January. It would be nice, too, if Steven Pienaar -- the club's player of the year last season-- decided to start playing now instead of fretting over his next contract. Working in Everton's favor is the club has the second-longest streak of consecutive years in the top flight after Arsenal, last being relegated right around the end of World War II. Unless a massive injury crisis hits Goodison, Moyes will get them safely around the 8-12 range.
Record: (4-5-7) 16th place.
Major malfunction: Where to start? A goal difference of -10, leaps out at you in light of last year's defensive sturdiness. Being stuck between the Martin O'Neill/Gerard Houllier regime, while trying to shed cash-rich vets like John Carew for young, cheaper options on the fly is a recipe for trouble.
Relegation Probablity: 13 percent.
Bottom line: If, and when, Villa get Stylian Petrov back it'll be a boost to stabilize the midfield. The kiddie core, led by Marc Albrighton does show potential. If Gabby Agbonlahor returns to form, Villa won't go hours between goals like it did earlier this year. The biggest worry is who enters and exits in January. Houllier turning to Robert Pires might not inspire much confidence for what's coming up. If you want to look at it from a different perspective, the club peaked under O'Neill at sixth placce last year, so the club is starting with a new approach sooner as opposed to later before major stagnation sets in. Unfortunately for Villa, it's ceiling with a new-look lineup might be ... yep ... sixth place.
Record: (2-9-5) 17th place.
Major malfunction: Simply, a failure to win games. Oh, scoring goals, too in the wake of Bobby Zamora's injury.
Relegation Probablity: 19 percent.
Bottom line: Fulham, remarkably, went in the span of three years from a Clint Dempsey goal away from relegation to the Europa League final. The common element there, Roy Hodgson, who's now up at Liverpool. During last campaign's memorable run, Fulham got "plus" performances from guys like Danny Murphy, Damien Duff, Simon Davies and Zamora. This season the only guy playing better than expected is Dempsey. He can't do it alone, every week, considering how much he lays his body on the line every match. On an encouraging note for Fulham, if it can turn around some of its draws, it'll be right back in the warm bosom of midtable safety. Couple boring 1-0 wins and Fulham should be okay.
This isn't meant to be an alarmist, chicken little sky-is-falling approach that seems to befall every team in the League on Monday morning. It just seems that with this season breaking away from convention, anything could be possible.
Table don't lie.
Round 17 Picks:
Once again, can't figure out the Premier League scheduling. The best game of the weekend is Manchester United hosting Arsenal, and it falls on Monday afternoon in America. Doesn't Richard Scudamore care about the American television audience? C'mon man. (Allow that to serve as my hope it doesn't turn into as big a dud as Pats/Jets on "Monday Night Football" this week.)
Saturday:
* Aston Villa v. West Brom -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Mini-Midlands derby alert! Figured we've talked about Villa's current malaise enough already. If there's a cure, it's certainly Emile Heskey. You generally think of a guy like Heskey or John Carew being huge physically, at least for a soccer player. Heksey is 6-foot-2. West Brom's string-puller -- Chris Brunt is a lanky 6-foot-1. Not to belabor a point, but nobody can figure out West Brom. Witness: Losses to Blackpool, Manchester City, Wigan and Stoke City, with a draw to West Ham thrown in, followed by beating Everton and Newcastle by a combined 7-2, now level on points with Liverpool. Roberto di Matteo you glorious bastard. ... Aston Villa 1, West Brom 1
* Stoke City v. Blackpool -- The more the season progresses, the more Stoke reminds me of Blackburn under Mark Hughes a couple seasons ago. A strong, physical backbone with some sound wing play -- Matthew Etherington/Jermaine Pennant in the Gamst/David Bentley roles. Hand it to Tony Pulis, too. A season ago he had nobody up top. Now he could go four or five deep with Kenwyne Jones (underrated signing of the season), Ricardo Fuller, Jon Walters, Tuncay and even the pale Icelandic corpse of Eidur Gudjohnsen. Put it this way, Blackpool's work on set pieces isn't going to trip up Stoke at home. ... Stoke City 2, Blackpool 0
* Fulham v. Sunderland -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Now wait just one second Fulham! Guille Ochoa is training at Craven Cottage? Are you turning your back on America as your go-to CONCACAF nation for cheap, under-priced talent? Say it isn't so. Don't blame us for Eddie Johnson. Honest. Fulham are 15th in the EPL on home form. Sunderland has won any away game, but Steve Bruce's team doesn't seem like one that deals with prosperity too well. ... Fulham 2, Sunderland 1
* West Ham United v. Manchester City -- (Live, ESPN2, 10 a.m.) Silver lining for West Ham, while it rots in 20th place? The Irons do have two fewer losses than 19th place Wolves. That should bring a smile to Avram Grant's face. Let's have this match serve as a litmus test for the Great Jonathan Spector Midfield Experiment 2010. If he survives with each of his femurs and tibias intact after 90 minutes vs. Nigel de Jong. City do have to play this match without Carlos Tevez, suspended through card accumulation. It's been a while since we've heard from James Milner and Adam Johnson, eh? Perhaps David Silva takes a bigger role. Nah. You know Roberto Mancini is going to start either Jo or Emmanuel Adebayor isolated alone up top. That should be fun. ... West Ham 0, City 1
* Everton v. Wigan Athletic -- Not to turn this entire post into Toffees Panic 101, but Everton has been out-scored by two goals at Goodison Park this year. Not good. Not good at all. Wigan is precisely the type of club Everton has struggled with this season, needing to fight tooth and nail to simply get a point. ... Everton 2, Wigan 0
* Newcastle United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Newcastle? I'll leave it at that. Writing "WTF" is simply too undignified, even if scientists at the Internet Future Society predict that 92 percent of online writing by the year 2019 will consist of three character or less acronyms. U No?
Liverpool, without Steven Gerrard, "Papa" Torres and Jamie Carragher, creamed Aston Villa on Monday. Not sure if that was a result of Villa's collective funk or not. Two goals in two minutes for Anfield stalwarts David Ngog and Ryan Babel do have that effect on most people. Babel now has 14 goals in nearly three years with Liverpool. Only a couple more and he's at a goal-per-million on his $18 transfer fee from Ajax.
Less wasteful, Liverpool are seemingly finding a winning form with the midfield pairing of Lucas and Raul Meireles. Hold your breath when a certain No. 8 returns. Certainly Roy Hodgson can figure out a way to play non 4-4-2 effectively. Oh, and if Liverpool don't go for the throat in this match, even on the road, well, everyone on Anfield might want to ask John Henry if some of that $150-ish million the Red Sox spent on Carl Crawford could be used to buy Hodgson a "pair." ... Newcastle 0, Liverpool 1
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Blackburn -- Blah blah blah Sam Allardyce used to coach Bolton. Blah Blah Blah. ... Bolton 2, Blackburn 0
* Wolves v. Birmingham City -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Theoretically, it would be time to start gathering the pallbearers and hammering the coffin shut for Wolves. There's just nothing to get excited about this club. But in this season, who knows? Birmingham still don't seem like a team that's figured out its best XI, meaning a season of meh-ness. ... Wolves 1, Birmingham City 1
* Tottenham v. Chelsea -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) For probably as long as I've been doing this, Tottenham being Tottenham means a lot of ups-and-downs, some thrills, but ultimately being let down in the end -- kind of like life, or at least the comic's view of it. Meanwhile, Chelsea being Chelsea was a sense of eventual, muscled, destined victory.
Throw those old paradigms out the window.
Tottenham is now the team that expects to win, even down 2-0 in the 75th minute. Chelsea is now the team can't figure out how to win.
It's like that season finale episode of "Seinfeld," when George is hired by the Yankees and Elaine is fired by Pendent Publishing, left to lament, "I've become George" as her life stands in tatters.
Chelsea are clearly in a material-feeling, trashcan-eating, fake latex-selling Costanzian funk, only with less sweatpants. Nobody knows why. Everyone just expects them to pull out of it. The more you see, the less this seems likely. We're all waiting for Didier Drogba to become Didier Drogba again, but even in the Champions League -- granted a meaningless match -- Chelsea couldn't get anything done vs. Olympique Marseille, suffering more defensive injuries in the process (Jose Bosingwa.)
Perhaps the under-reported aspect of Chelsea's malaise is the loss of Yossi Benayoun, who would present Carlo Ancelotti a different look in the midfield. His standard 4-3-3 isn't creating chances. Perhaps dropping Nicolas Anelka, bring on a Daniel Sturridge to pair next to Drogba, move Flourent Malouda and Yuri Zhirov to the outside mids in a more standard 4-4-2 configuration. Drop ever present John Mikel Obi, yeah it's nice to have a defensive shield when you're scoring five goals a game, but when you're struggling maybe you need more offensive, granted Chelsea's thinning squad doesn't have a ready made replacement for him. Or Ancelotti can just ride it out and hope the return of Frank Lampard ties it all together.
On the other side, no matter what Tottenham seems to do, works, be it the Premier League or Champions League -- and I'll get into this later, but why exactly can't Spurs win the Champions League aside from a lack of history in the competition?
Is team belief and a sense you're going to win, with a dash of Gareth Bale Welsh pixie dust enough to offset history? ... Tottenham 2, Chelsea 1 (know full well picking this, Chelsea wakes up and lays the smackdown ... the Empire Striking Back as it were.)
Monday:
* Manchester United v. Arsenal -- (Live, ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.) Doesn't, at least on paper, this match seem to be setting up a lot like Real Madrid and Barcelona's match a couple Mondays ago? Granted, it's difficult to see this ending 5-0 in either direction. And even as good as Arsenal can be, at times, passing it's not going to be a series of flowing, evolving concentric triangles 200 times over 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
For United, the big question here is if Dimitar Berbatov's recent surge can continue, if indeed its been fueled by the return of Wayne Rooney. From a dramatic, storyline standpoint, this would be the ideal game for Rooney to announce his return to the top, if that's even possible at this time. He's not going to find a softer defense to get things going than the possible Sebastian Squillacci led Gunners defense.
Arsenal are rolling along. Samir Nasri is getting all the platitudes, despite massive worries on the defensive front. (Counterargument, no teams are perfect, but the criticism of Wenger's long-term failures to assemble a championship-winning backline are well-founded. Hey even Patrice Evra chimed in with an awesome tweak, calling the club under Wenger, "a training center.")
This seems like a game decided, not by the collective, but rather a few moments of solo efforts from the key players. Since both managers probably, gun to their heads, would sign for a draw, there doesn't figure to be a lot of flow to the match. It could, too, be another chance for Wenger to use Robin van Persie, since his tactical nous and unpredictability might do more to trouble the blunt physicality of Nemanja Vidic than Maroune Chamakh. Or he could start both and bring on Theo Walcott later.
We'll also see if Nani or Nasri is ready to enter the conversation of Top 25 players in the world. Not a lot to separate the teams. Expect late drama. ... Manchester United 2, Arsenal 2
Last round: 6-3
Season: 71-88
George Washington don't lie.
Table don't lie.
Forty-two percent of the 2010-11 Premier League season is in the books and we're still at the stage where one win is enough to rocket teams up from sweating out relegation to thinking about a Europa League spot. It's a fluid, amoebae-like blob of 20 teams that ebbs and flows every weekend. Fortunately it's an agreeable blob, which doesn't consume and absorb everything in its path as those nefarious devils in Hollywood have lead you to believe.
Eventually, or at least conventional wisdom would have you believe, sooner or later the cream will rise to the top, the dregs will sink to the bottom and our blob with be stretched out to a nice, normal straight rod as the forces of sporting gravity take hold. Again, that's if we assume Warren G. Harding approved normalcy sets in at some point this season, and considering the name Harding draws about as much water in England as Jeff Lebowski in the City of Malibu, it might never occur.
What if, however, this weird season continues all the way to May.
More than that, what if the blob of teams never breaks up. On any given weekend we've seen that no team has much distinguished itself, even the top three clubs of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, who've already combined for eight losses and 12 draws, compared to 22 losses and 15 draws all of last season. It's entirely possible too, this year's winner barely cracks the 80-point plateau.
Are the top teams worse than year's past? Probably. Or at least certainly in the cases of United and Chlesea.
The mediocrity is probably due to the increasingly decent middle rung teams. Unlike last season there aren't five or six teams that truly stink. West Ham and Wolves appear to be stuck to the bottom and the bottom of the league, yet if either club were to string together consecutive wins, they're right back in the mix.
And as we know Wigan flirts with relegation every year but remains as steadfast, as my oft repeated George Costanza line in his waning days at Play Now Sports, "I'm like a weed in Hitler's bunker, Jerry." Every year we assume Wigan is done and dusted, yet be it Paul Jewell, Steve Bruce or now Roberto Martinez the Latics shine on.
Guess, considering Mike Ashley's sub-Hank Steinbrenner insolence, Newcastle United is squarely in the relegation talk with the totally uninspiring, multi-time lost Alan Pardew taking over. At least it gives me an excuse to link to this memorable moment.
Further up the table, Stoke City, Sunderland and Bolton seemed vastly improved teams, who aren't rolling over for three points any more. Birmingham City aren't half bad, if it ever figures out a consistent offense it'll challenge for the top half. West Brom and Blackpool have thrown caution into the wind, if they go down it'll be with a fight.
Allow that to serve as my long-winded introduction to a big what if -- what if one of these three clubs that hold significance to American soccer fans gets, sucked down into the League Championship. These three clubs: Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham sit 15-17 in the table, featuring prominent U.S. internationals like Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey, or in Villa's case an American owner in Randy Lerner.
Are these clubs too big to fail? Is it too soon to start worrying about this? Let's check it out.
Everton
Record: (3-8-5 W/D/L) 15th place.
Major malfunction: Home form/goal scoring. Everton has taken only eight points from 24 in eight home matches. Team still struggles to score outside of Tim Cahill's weekly Aussie Superman routine.
Relegation Probablity: four percent.
Bottom line: Faith in David Moyes and quality players should be enough for Everton avoid sweating it out in April/May, especially if that certain guy with the initials "LD" shows up at Goodison in January. It would be nice, too, if Steven Pienaar -- the club's player of the year last season-- decided to start playing now instead of fretting over his next contract. Working in Everton's favor is the club has the second-longest streak of consecutive years in the top flight after Arsenal, last being relegated right around the end of World War II. Unless a massive injury crisis hits Goodison, Moyes will get them safely around the 8-12 range.
Aston Villa
Record: (4-5-7) 16th place.
Major malfunction: Where to start? A goal difference of -10, leaps out at you in light of last year's defensive sturdiness. Being stuck between the Martin O'Neill/Gerard Houllier regime, while trying to shed cash-rich vets like John Carew for young, cheaper options on the fly is a recipe for trouble.
Relegation Probablity: 13 percent.
Bottom line: If, and when, Villa get Stylian Petrov back it'll be a boost to stabilize the midfield. The kiddie core, led by Marc Albrighton does show potential. If Gabby Agbonlahor returns to form, Villa won't go hours between goals like it did earlier this year. The biggest worry is who enters and exits in January. Houllier turning to Robert Pires might not inspire much confidence for what's coming up. If you want to look at it from a different perspective, the club peaked under O'Neill at sixth placce last year, so the club is starting with a new approach sooner as opposed to later before major stagnation sets in. Unfortunately for Villa, it's ceiling with a new-look lineup might be ... yep ... sixth place.
Fulham
Record: (2-9-5) 17th place.
Major malfunction: Simply, a failure to win games. Oh, scoring goals, too in the wake of Bobby Zamora's injury.
Relegation Probablity: 19 percent.
Bottom line: Fulham, remarkably, went in the span of three years from a Clint Dempsey goal away from relegation to the Europa League final. The common element there, Roy Hodgson, who's now up at Liverpool. During last campaign's memorable run, Fulham got "plus" performances from guys like Danny Murphy, Damien Duff, Simon Davies and Zamora. This season the only guy playing better than expected is Dempsey. He can't do it alone, every week, considering how much he lays his body on the line every match. On an encouraging note for Fulham, if it can turn around some of its draws, it'll be right back in the warm bosom of midtable safety. Couple boring 1-0 wins and Fulham should be okay.
This isn't meant to be an alarmist, chicken little sky-is-falling approach that seems to befall every team in the League on Monday morning. It just seems that with this season breaking away from convention, anything could be possible.
Table don't lie.
Round 17 Picks:
Once again, can't figure out the Premier League scheduling. The best game of the weekend is Manchester United hosting Arsenal, and it falls on Monday afternoon in America. Doesn't Richard Scudamore care about the American television audience? C'mon man. (Allow that to serve as my hope it doesn't turn into as big a dud as Pats/Jets on "Monday Night Football" this week.)
Saturday:
* Aston Villa v. West Brom -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Mini-Midlands derby alert! Figured we've talked about Villa's current malaise enough already. If there's a cure, it's certainly Emile Heskey. You generally think of a guy like Heskey or John Carew being huge physically, at least for a soccer player. Heksey is 6-foot-2. West Brom's string-puller -- Chris Brunt is a lanky 6-foot-1. Not to belabor a point, but nobody can figure out West Brom. Witness: Losses to Blackpool, Manchester City, Wigan and Stoke City, with a draw to West Ham thrown in, followed by beating Everton and Newcastle by a combined 7-2, now level on points with Liverpool. Roberto di Matteo you glorious bastard. ... Aston Villa 1, West Brom 1
* Stoke City v. Blackpool -- The more the season progresses, the more Stoke reminds me of Blackburn under Mark Hughes a couple seasons ago. A strong, physical backbone with some sound wing play -- Matthew Etherington/Jermaine Pennant in the Gamst/David Bentley roles. Hand it to Tony Pulis, too. A season ago he had nobody up top. Now he could go four or five deep with Kenwyne Jones (underrated signing of the season), Ricardo Fuller, Jon Walters, Tuncay and even the pale Icelandic corpse of Eidur Gudjohnsen. Put it this way, Blackpool's work on set pieces isn't going to trip up Stoke at home. ... Stoke City 2, Blackpool 0
* Fulham v. Sunderland -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Now wait just one second Fulham! Guille Ochoa is training at Craven Cottage? Are you turning your back on America as your go-to CONCACAF nation for cheap, under-priced talent? Say it isn't so. Don't blame us for Eddie Johnson. Honest. Fulham are 15th in the EPL on home form. Sunderland has won any away game, but Steve Bruce's team doesn't seem like one that deals with prosperity too well. ... Fulham 2, Sunderland 1
* West Ham United v. Manchester City -- (Live, ESPN2, 10 a.m.) Silver lining for West Ham, while it rots in 20th place? The Irons do have two fewer losses than 19th place Wolves. That should bring a smile to Avram Grant's face. Let's have this match serve as a litmus test for the Great Jonathan Spector Midfield Experiment 2010. If he survives with each of his femurs and tibias intact after 90 minutes vs. Nigel de Jong. City do have to play this match without Carlos Tevez, suspended through card accumulation. It's been a while since we've heard from James Milner and Adam Johnson, eh? Perhaps David Silva takes a bigger role. Nah. You know Roberto Mancini is going to start either Jo or Emmanuel Adebayor isolated alone up top. That should be fun. ... West Ham 0, City 1
* Everton v. Wigan Athletic -- Not to turn this entire post into Toffees Panic 101, but Everton has been out-scored by two goals at Goodison Park this year. Not good. Not good at all. Wigan is precisely the type of club Everton has struggled with this season, needing to fight tooth and nail to simply get a point. ... Everton 2, Wigan 0
* Newcastle United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Newcastle? I'll leave it at that. Writing "WTF" is simply too undignified, even if scientists at the Internet Future Society predict that 92 percent of online writing by the year 2019 will consist of three character or less acronyms. U No?
Liverpool, without Steven Gerrard, "Papa" Torres and Jamie Carragher, creamed Aston Villa on Monday. Not sure if that was a result of Villa's collective funk or not. Two goals in two minutes for Anfield stalwarts David Ngog and Ryan Babel do have that effect on most people. Babel now has 14 goals in nearly three years with Liverpool. Only a couple more and he's at a goal-per-million on his $18 transfer fee from Ajax.
Less wasteful, Liverpool are seemingly finding a winning form with the midfield pairing of Lucas and Raul Meireles. Hold your breath when a certain No. 8 returns. Certainly Roy Hodgson can figure out a way to play non 4-4-2 effectively. Oh, and if Liverpool don't go for the throat in this match, even on the road, well, everyone on Anfield might want to ask John Henry if some of that $150-ish million the Red Sox spent on Carl Crawford could be used to buy Hodgson a "pair." ... Newcastle 0, Liverpool 1
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Blackburn -- Blah blah blah Sam Allardyce used to coach Bolton. Blah Blah Blah. ... Bolton 2, Blackburn 0
* Wolves v. Birmingham City -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 a.m.) Theoretically, it would be time to start gathering the pallbearers and hammering the coffin shut for Wolves. There's just nothing to get excited about this club. But in this season, who knows? Birmingham still don't seem like a team that's figured out its best XI, meaning a season of meh-ness. ... Wolves 1, Birmingham City 1
* Tottenham v. Chelsea -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) For probably as long as I've been doing this, Tottenham being Tottenham means a lot of ups-and-downs, some thrills, but ultimately being let down in the end -- kind of like life, or at least the comic's view of it. Meanwhile, Chelsea being Chelsea was a sense of eventual, muscled, destined victory.
Throw those old paradigms out the window.
Tottenham is now the team that expects to win, even down 2-0 in the 75th minute. Chelsea is now the team can't figure out how to win.
It's like that season finale episode of "Seinfeld," when George is hired by the Yankees and Elaine is fired by Pendent Publishing, left to lament, "I've become George" as her life stands in tatters.
Chelsea are clearly in a material-feeling, trashcan-eating, fake latex-selling Costanzian funk, only with less sweatpants. Nobody knows why. Everyone just expects them to pull out of it. The more you see, the less this seems likely. We're all waiting for Didier Drogba to become Didier Drogba again, but even in the Champions League -- granted a meaningless match -- Chelsea couldn't get anything done vs. Olympique Marseille, suffering more defensive injuries in the process (Jose Bosingwa.)
Perhaps the under-reported aspect of Chelsea's malaise is the loss of Yossi Benayoun, who would present Carlo Ancelotti a different look in the midfield. His standard 4-3-3 isn't creating chances. Perhaps dropping Nicolas Anelka, bring on a Daniel Sturridge to pair next to Drogba, move Flourent Malouda and Yuri Zhirov to the outside mids in a more standard 4-4-2 configuration. Drop ever present John Mikel Obi, yeah it's nice to have a defensive shield when you're scoring five goals a game, but when you're struggling maybe you need more offensive, granted Chelsea's thinning squad doesn't have a ready made replacement for him. Or Ancelotti can just ride it out and hope the return of Frank Lampard ties it all together.
On the other side, no matter what Tottenham seems to do, works, be it the Premier League or Champions League -- and I'll get into this later, but why exactly can't Spurs win the Champions League aside from a lack of history in the competition?
Is team belief and a sense you're going to win, with a dash of Gareth Bale Welsh pixie dust enough to offset history? ... Tottenham 2, Chelsea 1 (know full well picking this, Chelsea wakes up and lays the smackdown ... the Empire Striking Back as it were.)
Monday:
* Manchester United v. Arsenal -- (Live, ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.) Doesn't, at least on paper, this match seem to be setting up a lot like Real Madrid and Barcelona's match a couple Mondays ago? Granted, it's difficult to see this ending 5-0 in either direction. And even as good as Arsenal can be, at times, passing it's not going to be a series of flowing, evolving concentric triangles 200 times over 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
For United, the big question here is if Dimitar Berbatov's recent surge can continue, if indeed its been fueled by the return of Wayne Rooney. From a dramatic, storyline standpoint, this would be the ideal game for Rooney to announce his return to the top, if that's even possible at this time. He's not going to find a softer defense to get things going than the possible Sebastian Squillacci led Gunners defense.
Arsenal are rolling along. Samir Nasri is getting all the platitudes, despite massive worries on the defensive front. (Counterargument, no teams are perfect, but the criticism of Wenger's long-term failures to assemble a championship-winning backline are well-founded. Hey even Patrice Evra chimed in with an awesome tweak, calling the club under Wenger, "a training center.")
This seems like a game decided, not by the collective, but rather a few moments of solo efforts from the key players. Since both managers probably, gun to their heads, would sign for a draw, there doesn't figure to be a lot of flow to the match. It could, too, be another chance for Wenger to use Robin van Persie, since his tactical nous and unpredictability might do more to trouble the blunt physicality of Nemanja Vidic than Maroune Chamakh. Or he could start both and bring on Theo Walcott later.
We'll also see if Nani or Nasri is ready to enter the conversation of Top 25 players in the world. Not a lot to separate the teams. Expect late drama. ... Manchester United 2, Arsenal 2
Last round: 6-3
Season: 71-88
Labels: aston villa, EPL, EPL picks, everton, Fulham, Soccer
