In the last couple weeks my friends Jared and Mike -- each fans of the Premier League -- have both referred to me as an, "expert" in term of my vast soccer knowledge chest. Not sure the level of sincerity involved in either case, but hey, you take compliments anyway you can get them, even if they aren't entirely accurate.
Before getting too ahead of things, let me throw out a quick (promise) theory that's been mulling around my brain for a while.
In this day and age, with so much knowledge and information available at our fingertips it's easy to get overwhelmed.
To make things more palatable, limit your scope. Don't know a million little fragments of information of every topic you can think of -- that's what Wikipedia is for. Instead, try to become an expert on five -- maximum.
For instance, some of my areas of expertise are fast food, cable television, 2.Bundesliga and, well, I'd prefer to keep the other two to myself since, as previously stated, don't want the people reading this to time I'm even more pathetic that I (lightheartedly and in jest) let on. (Really, I just say I'm a loser to get laughs. How could you call anyone who's modeled clothing for Goodwill and can bring down the house with a karaoke version of Toto's "Africa" a loser. Oh wait.)
Hey, it's a useful idea. Sure, at a cocktail party, when somebody discusses the latest droll performance by Stephen Colbert you might look like a slack jawed yokel, but by chance if you could steer the conversation toward one of your disciplines -- say gold mining in the Klondike -- well my friend, you'll have that entire party eating out of the palm of our hand.
One discipline you'd think I'd consider myself an expert is the English Premier League, considering I spend more time mindlessly watching the action from across the Atlantic than I do a) reading to the homeless b) spending time with my family and c) gardening.
Then the midweek happened. If you' insanely dedicated to this humble slice of the Internet (re: my dad), then you saw me clandestinely sneak in picks on Christmas night. Wish, in retrospect, I'd just sat home and eaten figgy pudding instead.
My midweek record? 1-9. One and nine.
Joking or not, that's truly pathetic. "Expert" or not. Hope nobody lost money wagering via my expertise.
The only game I got right was Manchester United beating Wigan, which is about as safe a bet as predicting a punchline from Charlie Sheen on a "Two and a Half" men rerun from seven years ago.
Chalk it up to three of the Prem's stalwarts: Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal each stumbling with draws, while the usually inconsistent Tottenham dusted off the whooping stick -- specifically Gareth Bale did -- to dispatch Norwich City on the road. Even Liverpool couldn't beat last place Blackburn Rovers.
Hey, the old cliche about the Premier League being the best league in the world since anybody beat anybody (or more specifically draw anybody) did prove true accurate.
So remember, as I've said in the past, I'm not an expert. I'm just a man who has an unique way to pass his time and feels compelled to write about it.
Couple Random Thoughts:
* One thought that struck me recently, as much as we've all wanted to hate Manchester City for becoming the most noveau riche team in the history of noveau riche teams, there's not that much to detest. Take away the Middle Eastern oil bucks and the club seems to be run the right way. Announcers constantly praise the club's backroom staff for being good people. The fans are genuine and authentic, not a bunch of frontrunners. Maybe it's just easier to be the proverbial "face" when the club's one true heel -- Nigel de Jong -- has been a bit player this year.
* Least favorite EPL announcing trend? The prevalence of guys saying Team X is, "surely out of the title race" without a win here.
* If there's one resolution for the New Year, let's hope Robin van Persie can get through the season healthy. He's been so fun to watch on a weekly basis, Arsenal fan or not. Then again, withe European Championships looming in June, it's almost a guarantee both he and Wayne Rooney break their metatarsals between now and March.
* I spent a lot of the year posting videos and links to music. If you're into Spotify, these were my personal favorites from 2011. Noting to unusual or obscure, just another list.
* This nine minute clip isn't about soccer, but it's incredible nonetheless. Basically, if you've ever tried to explain why professional wrestling is great to a non-believer or significant other, well, this clip proves that in the final analysis wrestling is even lamer than you remember.
* Happy New Year. As always, utterly, deeply grateful for anyone who comes and reads this.
Friday:
* Liverpool v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC, 2:45 p.m.) Here's why you can't figure out sports. Liverpool sells Fernando Torres to Chelsea for $75 million. Liverpool buys Andy Carroll for $45 million from Newcastle. Torres has three goals in 27 matches for the Blues; Carroll but four in 23 games in Red. Meanwhile, Demba Ba comes over to West Ham last season from Hoffenheim for next to nothing, leaves the club after its relegation and joins the Magpies on a free. In 29 games in English football, Ba has 21 goals. Howdoyalikethat? ... Liverpool 2, Newcastle United 1
Saturday:
* Manchester United v. Blackburn Rovers -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) Sir Alex's biggest trick might be his uncanny ability to avoid dropping points against the dregs of the league, which Blackburn most certainly is at the moment. The money might be too good to pass up in the end, but United might want to keep Berbatov around simply for games like this where he could easily score five goals without breaking a sweat -- naturally. ... Manchester United 4, Blackburn Rovers 0
* Swansea City v. Tottenham -- At times, the Norwich City defense played as if it had never seem anything quite like Gareth Bale, which is entirely possible. Could the same be said for Swansea, who seem poised to take on Chelsea's brains-loving, zombie-looking teenager Josh McEachran. ... Swansea City 1, Tottenahm 2
* Arsenal v. QPR -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Joey Barton named his newborn son Cassius. God bless this man. ... Arsenal 2, QPR 0
* Stoke City v. Wigan Athletic -- On one hand, you have to respect what Tony Pulis continues to do at Stoke, yet for all the improvements this team still lacks, in the vernacular of "Storage Wars," the proverbial wow factor. ... Stoke City 1, Wigan 0
* Bolton v. Wolves -- There's probably some credit or praise due to Steven Fletcher for going out there with a receding hairline. Nowadays most guys would shave it and go with the bald look -- it's the classic English geezer. Fletcher keeps it real with a bald spot. Bolton's perhaps only hope for a miracle survival is finding 3-4 young players to grab on loan in the vein of Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere. Thing is, with the way the club is at the moment, would you want your young talent playing alongside a bunch of no-accounts? ... Bolton 1, Wolves 1
* Chelsea v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Is every Cheslea game on television now? Feels that way. Of all the big clubs, figure on the Blues to be the most active with the comings and goings in January, which is somewhat insane since the one thing Chelsea really could use at the moment is stability, less so Gary Cahill. One thought on Aston Villa, maybe all along Alex McLeish was playing his old, boring, has-been players right up until now and waited to unleash the young, promising Villa players when the rest of the league is tiring down? Nah, impossible. ... Chelsea 1, Aston Villa 0
* Norwich City v. Fulham -- For fun, go up and down the Norwich roster and it looks like a bunch of random names the computer would make up to assign generic players in "FIFA." ... Norwich City 1, Fulham 0
Sunday:
* West Brom v. Everton -- (Live, FSC+, 7:30 a.m.) Landon Donovan isn't playing for the Toffees yet, hence this could be the least-watched Prem game by American audiences of the season, since as we know Roy Hodgson is not a proven hangover cure. ... West Brom 1, Everton 1
* Sunderland v. Manchester City -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Everything would seem to say Martin O'Neill's team is ready to get a shock result here, except even as City's attack sputters Sunderland's defense is anything but rock solid, especially if it has to hold onto a lead. ... Sunderland 1, Man City 2
Last round: 1-9
Season: 89-92
With half a billion dollars in incoming transfers in the past few years, I think anyone could run a club "the right way." And I'm not sure paying 100k/wk for a striker to play for another club (Adebayor), 250k/wk for Tevez to do whatever it is he's doing, and Roque Santa Cruz to play at Real Betis qualifies as "run the right way." Nor does buying players at a premium and selling them at a huge loss (Bellamy and Robinho spring to mind immediately, though the list is much longer).
You can say they have good fans (many of whom are less than impressed with the ridiculous transfer dealings, though not with the results) but City probably pay more in wages to players currently on loan to other clubs than half the teams in the league pay to their entire team.
Throw in the extremely shady "sponsorship" deal they arranged to get around the financial fair play rules, and I don't see how there's much beyond the football to admire at Eastlands.
Man City is certainly doing everything they can to press their advantages (which is a giant bag of money). Simon is right that there isn't all that much 'team running skill' involved with overpaying every striker you run into. But ...
City is doing what every other big team has done, it is just that they (like Chelsea before them) are doing it in a compressed time frame compared to the old boys. Man United and Liverpool have had decades of being the big team with tens of thousands of more seats in their stadiums or more fans buying jerseys than the competition. That has allowed the 'establishment' teams to build academies and overpay for under-performing players for years and years (like Alan Smith, Bebe and David Bellion) .
The difference between a rebellious warlord and a respected king is that the respected king has the foresight to have had his great great grandfather be the one who led a violent overthrow of his rivals while the warlord of today had to do all the killing and usurping himself.