Sportsnob – Critics Corner

It's not working, Nando

Liverpool’s season seems to get worse by the day – every misplaced back pass, every scuffed shot, every yellow card borne out of a frustrated tackle – it all contributes to what is turning out to be a spectacularly average year for the Red half of Merseyside.

A 1-0 defeat at the DW Stadium last night left Rafa Benitez’s team struggling to cement 6th place, leave alone 4th, as their hopes of getting into the Champions League were dealt a huge blow by Hugo Rodellega’s first half goal. The strike itself was fairly scrappy, with the Wigan front man somehow contriving to squeeze a cross in after Dirk Kuyt managed to pass the ball straight to the opposition 18 yards from his own goal. Without resorting to panic, it’s safe to say that the consequences of this result could unhinge everything Benitez has been striving to build at Anfield for the past six years.

Not qualifying for the Europe’s top competition would result in, apart from significantly less revenue, Javier Mascherano packing his bags and upping sticks for Barcelona. The Argentina captain has been one of the few bright points of the season so far – his long passing has improved immeasurably, and his drive and work rate carry the team a lot of the time. Frankly speaking, he deserves to play in the Champions League, and with contract talks dragging on, there’s a very real possibility of him leaving. Alberto Aquilani, who has struggled to make an impact in part due to Rafa’s unwillingness to play him, would also probably be on a flight back to Serie A, with the old lady of Juventus showing a bit of leg to tempt the former Roma player.

Apart from this, there’s always a worry that the owners might, in their frantic need to pay off the ever growing debt, sell Fernando Torres. Anathema to any Liverpool supporter, but the possibility must be considered. I know I have. Of course, the debt itself could turn into an uncontrollable monster – no 4th place -> no CL TV revenue -> minimal investment in new players -> probability of selling off one or two big names to help balance the books. Tom Hicks and George Gillett – take a bow. An almost complete lack of investment in players has led to stagnation and apathy setting in at all levels of the club. Apart from the unfulfilled promise of a new stadium, which my grandchildren would probably be lucky to see built.

Before you accuse of me of leaving Benitez out of this, I’d like to say that a lot of blame lies with him as well. Regardless of all the talent in the squad, the players (Mascherano and Lucas aside) have appeared to lack motivation and direction, particularly against the so-called smaller teams in the league. The players always seem to be up for the marquee matches against Chelsea, United and Everton, but just can’t seem to bother showing up for games like the one at the Dave Whelan stadium last night. Yeah, the Wigan chairman did name it after himself. Yes, it does sound a little ridiculous and self-aggrandizing. Poor sod.

The fact of the matter is, things are out of Liverpool’s hands now. They need Tottenham and City to self destruct, and at the same time win most, if not all their remaining games – two of which are against United and Chelsea. I’m very, very worried as I write this. And if you’re a Liverpool fan, you should be too.

In the end, it was Lionel Messi who put the finishing touch on Barcelona’s incredible season by heading in Xavi’s pin point cross into the goal – a goal that would effectively finish off Manchester United’s own hopes of winning the Champions League. And as Barcelona passed the ball around in their usual unparalleled style leaving United players chasing shadows – it just seemed like the team from Catalunya was playing football from a different planet. The fact that Barcelona were missing their first choice wing backs, had two 35 year olds as their replacements and had a central defender who had played in midfield all season absolutely didn’t matter because quite simply their midfield didn’t give United the ball. And let’s not forget that the team they were outclassing had just won the league title and had the best defensive record in the Champions league.

 It had all started so differently for Manchester United – with a flurry of chances and almost 80% complete posession in the first ten minutes of the game. Things started to go awry when Samuel Etoo scored in what was Barcelona’s first shot on goal in the tenth minute. United almost certainly never recovered from that shock and if it wasn’t for Van der Saar’s heroics and the goal post, they could have very well ended up losing the match 4-0.

Following Etoo’s goal, Barcelona just seemed to find the same composure and rhythm that has seen them score over 150 goals this season and with every passing minute a United comeback seemed less likely. On a night when Barcelona had atleast six players stepping up to the big ocassion, it was a sad indictment of United’s performance that the images that will be most remembered were there of Ronaldo losing his composure repeatedly on the left flank towards the end of the game. United quite simply missed both Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves – Anderson and Carrick simply not having enough quality to put brakes on Iniesta and Xavi’s relentless passing. 

  There is no doubt that Barcelona absolutely deserved this victory, their third in European history and their first since that famous victory in Paris in 2005. Pep Guardiola’s amazing transformation of this team which had previously gone three years without winning a title will become the stuff of legend.

Barcelona may have made it through to the Champions League final on May 27 after a heart stopping victory over Chelsea thanks to Andres Iniesta’s late late goal but it came at a price. Many neutrals have been hoping for a Manchester United versus Barcelona final and the sheer number of attacking superstars on either side will hopefully make it an entertaining one. In the first leg of the semi-final the Catalans lost Rafael Marquez for the rest of the season to injury. The Mexican centre-half is one of their most experienced defenders and the loss of the 30-year-old will be a massive blow for the Spanish side as they look to keep tabs on Manchester United’s forwards.

Clipping of the wings:

The bad news doesn’t end there for the Spanish champions elect – French left-back Eric Abidal received what was perhaps a harsh red-card for a foul on fellow Frenchman Nicolas Anelka in the second leg and he too will miss the final. The loss of Abidal will be another bitter blow for Barca with the former Lyon man one of their most experienced defenders.  If losing Marquez and Abidal wasn’t enough Barca are also going to have to line-up without the influential and brilliant right-back Dani Alves. The Brazilian schemer is one of Barca’s best players causing all kinds of problems for defenders down the right-flank. Interestingly, losing the two wing backs will also mean that United manager Alex Ferguson will not have to deploy Rooney or Park down the wings in order to negate the full backs going forward.

A makeshift defence

So Barca’s defence is going to be somewhat of a makeshift one with  Puyol and Gerard Pique in the middle with maybe midfielders filling in the left and right-back positions.  Sylvinho might probably slot in for Abidal at left back- but he has hardly featured in a big game for a long time. For a Champions League final this is not an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination and it will be a huge task for coach Josep Guardiola to form a decent defensive unit out of what he has available.  I’m still fairly confident of a Barca victory myself, though I wouldn’t use my Champions League bet to back them with mega-money given the defensive crisis. They will probably spend most of the game attacking but midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta will have to track back more than usual to help out the defence.

With a seven point lead at the top of the table Guardiola may risk putting out the defence that will line-up against Manchester United in one of their three La Liga fixtures before the final. If he does that it should give us some indication of how they’ll cope against United. Whatever the circumstances leading up to the game I can’t wait for the final. Both teams play exciting football – Barcelona love to hog all the possession and United are probably the best in Europe at counter- attacking and we should be in for a high-tempo game full of quality, let’s hope so anyway.

Catalans Vs Blavers


First up, the grandslam began in La Liga with Barcelona playing Valencia at the Mestalla on saturday night. A great game it was and Barca took the lead with a brilliant one-two between Messi and Iniesta. The game was taut with Barca hogging posession and Valencia launching lightning counters with what Guardiola called the fantastic front four: Villa,Silva,Mata and Pablo Hernandez. Valencia equalised through Maduro’s header after a blunder by Valdes a trifle short of HT and went up 2-1 after a brilliant link up between Pablo and Mata just before HT. The 2nd half saw Valencia sitting pretty at the back with the lead and Barca attacking again and again.The equaliser finally came from the 2nd half substitute Theirry Henry in the 85th minute. It was 2 points dropped and one point won at the Mestalla after a difficult game for Barcelona but they would be happy with the point as the post match comments of Guardiola suggested.

Raul,Uno,Dos,Tres

Madrid took on the Andalusians Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan looking to score a win and cut down Barca’s lead to 4 points. Sevilla started using their wings pretty well and with a packed up 4-5-1 with Kanoute leading the attack. Perotti constantly troubled Sergio Ramos and Sevilla took the lead in the 16th minute through a fine header by Renato. Real Madrid sat back allowing Sevilla to attack and looking for the elusive counter attack. They managed to equalise just before HT through Raul who latched onto a Metzelder pass into the box with a characteristic poacher’s finish. Raul continued to show his maturity and talent and scored twice and thrice in the 2nd half to give Real Madrid an unassailable 3-1 lead within 65 minutes. Sevilla kept attacking and managed to pull one goal back through 2nd half substitute Diego Capel but that wasn’t enough to win them any points as Marcelo scored a late 4th goal to seal a win for Madrid.

This makes next week’s El Clasico a great match up with Real Madrid looking to win to cut Barca’s lead down to one point. Barca on the other hand will have one eye on the midweek CL semis against Chelsea in what seems to be a heart attack week for the Catalans and a mouth watering one for the neutrals.

First of, let us get to the game at the Santiago Bernabaeu, a heated encounter between the bourgeouis darling Real Madrid CF and the blue collar suburbs,Getafe. Getafe being almost a feeder club of Real as Valladolid used to be in the past played with all the valour and physical effort. Higuain opened the scoring for the Merengues just before half time. Getafe played with a lot of heart after the break and managed to put two goals and take the lead in the Tie. Then started the great show.

In the 84th minute Pepe the tall Madrid defender of Brazilian roots lashed out at Getafe Skipper Casquero after the latter won a penalty after a push by Pepe. Pepe lost his head big time and started a fight with the players which included kicking Casquero twice and punching Albin in the face and also swearing at the assistant referee while being sent off.Then amidst all the chaos Iker Casillas stopped the penalty which was a stupid lob and Real Madrid scored twice in 10 mins to take home a great win which put them -3 with the league leaders Barcelona. Pepe meanwhile lost his head again after being sent off by running back onto the pitch to celebrate Higuain’s winner.In one of the biggest abuse of professional standards, Pepe Le Phew landed himself in hot soup and got himself a 10 match ban,which i find to be very minimal considering the history of punishments accorded for such violent incidents in the past. Even that fight between Diogo and Fabiano got a 6 match ban. Real Madrid get to pull some strings as always and get away with it.

Barcelona hammer Sevilla

Then Barcelona took on Sevilla at the Nou Camp and what followed was a total demolishment of a very good Sevilla side missing Palop and left winger Adriano.INiesta was the star of the show as he opened the scoring for Barca with a neat long range shot and followed it up with assists for the other three goals.The little man from Albacete ran the show running circles around the Sevilla defence and Barca quelled the Sevilla challenge running winners with a 4-0. Etoo,Xavi and Henry being the other scorers.

When these two English juggernauts were drawn together in the Champions League quarter-final you could almost hear the collective groan of the football world. It was the fifth time in a row the two had met in the knockout stages and I for one was thinking ‘not again.’ But oh how wrong I was! Like a fool I opted against watching the first leg but I’ve watched the extended highlights since. Now I wish I’d bothered to get up, go out and watch it but thankfully the second leg was even more eventful.An eight goal thriller ensued and it was perhaps the best game of the season, at least so far. So many times when the top sides meet the promise is so much greater than the spectacle but no one could have written the script for the game on Tuesday night.

The incredible first 30 minutes 

Liverpool faced the massive task of having to score at least three goals if they were to stand a chance of progressing. It seemed like an almost impossible feat to achieve but they made the best of starts. Fernando Torres missed a brilliant chance to open the scoring before Fabio Aurelio got the ball rolling with an outstanding free kick. The Spaniard anticipated the fact Chelsea keeper Peter Cech would rush out for the cross and slipped the ball cleverly into the bottom corner to give Liverpool the start they needed, game on. Xabi Alonso doubled Liverpool’s advantage from the penalty spot just before the half hour mark and it seemed as if Liverpool were going to seal the most unlikely of comebacks and turn the world of football betting on its head.

Chelsea come back in the second half 

Chelsea were rocking but the introduction of Frenchman Nicolas Anelka just before half time lifted the home side. Anelka, who missed a penalty in last year’s final, made an impact in the second half when Didier Drogba got the faintest touch on his cross to make the score 2-1 to Liverpool. The Reds’ task hadn’t changed much, they were still chasing that elusive third goal. Centre-half Alex seemed to have ended Liverpool’s hopes when he levelled the tie with an unreal free-kick and Liverpool needed to start all over again and get another two goals.Then Frank Lampard stepped up to give Chelsea a 3-2 lead after latching on to the end of Drogba’s cross to score with a simple tap-in. Liverpool just didn’t realise their hopes had faded though and evened the score again thanks to a goal from youngster Lucas Leiva. A remarkable comeback was on the cards yet again and Dirk Kuyt gave the Reds more hope when he popped up to score a great header and give Liverpool a 4-3 lead. Lampard dashed any hopes of a Liverpool winner when he netted in the 89th minute to end the scoring in a remarkable tie. The game was a showpiece for English and European football and will go down as one of the greatest European ties of all time.

As I watched Ronaldo get his first hat-trick for ManUtd against a manager-less Newcastle United, I couldn’t help wonder whether there was any other club which are better masters of their own self-destruction than Newcastle, who despite their claims of being a big club, continue to plunge deep into a quagmire of desperation. Sam Allardyce was the 7th manager to get the boot this season in the Premier League, and despite the fact that they played terrible football, it wasn’t fair to judge Big Sam after just 8 months.

The St. James’ Park stadium of Newcastle has the 3rd highest capacity in England (excluding Wembley) after ManUtd’s Old Trafford stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Newcastle have a large fan base and that the fans are very dedicated to their club in spite of poor results in recent times can be seen from the fact that home games are almost always full. But the fans have far too much expectations and they seem to forget the fact that they last won a major trophy almost 40 years ago.

The Newcastle manager job has always been a poisoned chalice. Just look at the list of great personalities who have been unsuccessful in the past decade – Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness. I wouldn’t blame Harry Redknapp for his decision to stick with Portsmouth. Who in his right mind will take up this job? And, it doesn’t help when foreigners takeover the club, splash money, and then expect returns immediately. Well, not every club can turn into a Chelsea. So, Newcastle will keep looking for their Messiah.

One just has to take a look at ManUtd and Arsenal, which have gained due to the stability provided by their respective boards. Sir Alex has been at ManUtd for 21 years while Wenger is entering his 12th year at Arsenal. The trigger-happy football chairmen of today would do well to remember that Sir Alex did not deliver his first trophy until the fifth year of his reign. And, we all know what ManUtd has achieved in the past decade and a half under the indomitable Scot.

Rafa Benitez seems to be the next on the list of managers likely to get the sack. This is the guy who won the Champions League for Liverpool in his first year. And, when the club owner accepts that he had talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about taking over Liverpool, it clearly undermines Rafa’s position at the club.

At present, it is difficult for managers to operate against a background of constant criticism and incessant speculation about their future. It is important for club chairmen and supporters to realize that the success of the football club on and off the pitch depends on a long-term strategy replete with the right foundations. As Sir Alex would say “Stability and consistency is the basis of success at any club.”

List of sacked managers in 2007-2008 season:

Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Chris Hutchings (Wigan)
Sammy Lee (Bolton)
Martin Jol (Tottenham)
Billy Davies (Derby)
Lawrie Sanchez (Fulham)
Sam Allardyce (Newcastle)

What do Indian cricket and English football have in common? Gary Kirsten and Fabio Capello – both are foreigners about to take charge of the national teams of the most passionate sport in India and England – cricket and football, respectively. And that’s not where the similarity ends.

Couple of months back, in a surprising move, Gary Kirsten was chosen to be the manager of the Indian cricket team, ahead of other luminaries such as Dave Whatmore (appointed as head of NCA instead), John Buchanan and Martin Crowe. He has no previous coaching experience but had a glittering test and ODI career for South Africa.

Meanwhile, after Steve McClaren was sacked following England’s disastrous exit from Euro 2008, the English FA said they would appoint a world-class manager and courted ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho before the latter rejected the job. The FA has settled for Fabio Capello, an Italian with a great CV, and who has won trophies with big clubs such as Milan, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Before we look at their challenges, let’s look at some of the similarities between Indian Cricket and English Football…

1. Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India and the pressure on the Indian team and the manager is huge. The media and the fans expect the team to win every game.
The same goes for the English football team.

2. India have been under-achievers in the game and have won the World Cup just once, in 1983. Despite a great team consisting of Sachin, Dravid, and Ganguly, India has failed to claim the ultimate prize in the sport and has never won a test series in Australia, the powerhouse in World Cricket.

The last time England won the Football World Cup was at home in 1966. Since then, they have had superstars such as Shearer, Linekar, Gascoigne, Hoddle, Keegan, Beckham, Owen, Gerrard, and Lampard but they have not even reached the final of a major Championships.

3. India looked strangely out of sorts at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and crashed out in the group stage itself. The 2006 Football World Cup witnessed the English footballers’ wives create a bigger impact than their spouses. And, in 2007, the English team failed to qualify for next summer’s European Championships.

4. The Indian cricket team and the English football team have often been described as chokers on the big stage lacking mental toughness.

5. Indian cricket and English football are run by powerful governing bodies – the BCCI and the English FA respectively, consisting of officials, mostly old men, who have never played the sport professionally.

6. Indian cricketers and English footballers are often considered over-paid, and lacking the willingness to fight for each other. Are the sports being ruined by too much popularity, hype and money?

Real Challenge

It’s a terrific challenge for Kirsten and Capello. While Kirsten, who has previously criticized everything about India during his playing days, has neither the ego nor the dictatorial attitude of his predecessor Greg Chappell, he is a regarded as an intelligent cricketer. He not only has the task of instilling confidence and mental toughness into a team that has a new-found resolve following the Twenty-20 win and recent series victories over England and Pakistan. His other main task is to phase out ageing stars and blood a new, talented group of youngsters for the 2011 World Cup.

Capello too has the task of removing the mental block that England players seem to have when it comes to crucial matches. He has the balls to drop Gerrard or Lampard if he thinks it would benefit his team. This is the guy who has dropped Totti, Del Piero, Davids, Ronaldo, and Beckham during his long and productive club career. Moreover, the FA has to utilize his skill in such a manner that it benefits the whole coaching framework in England.

But there are certainly mixed feeling about these appointments. why does India, a nation of a billion-plus people and numerous ex-stalwarts in cricket, have to appoint a foreign manager? Why does England, the nation that takes pride in inventing football, lack world-class English managers? Do you think this is indeed a good trend?

In some games they’ve looked disjointed and careless; in some games they’ve looked like a well-oiled machine with the ability to turn over any defence in the world. In some games they’ve mixed both of the above to give watchers something altogether different. Whatever. Liverpool seem to be hitting a real run of form going into a sequence of games which could end up being season-defining.

Panic Stations

After an initial flurry of goals which saw them rise to the top of the Premiership table, the club appeared to fall apart. The dip in form which saw the side lose to Marseilles, apart from 4 altogether winnable draws, coincided with the loss of Pako Ayestaran, Benitez’s assistant of nearly a decade. But an away victory at Everton kick-started the motor, and soon they were puttering along nicely. For vast periods of play the Reds dominated Besiktas in Istanbul, but paid the price for a couple of defensive lapses. Next followed a hard-fought 1-1 against a high flying Arsenal, which could really have gone either way in spite of the Gunners’ monopolization of possession.

Robbie Returns – in more ways than one?

3 days later, Robbie Fowler returned to an emotional Anfield, only to see his side Cardiff lose 2-1 in the League Cup. As he walked out through the Shankly gates, probably for the last time, he blessed the possible successor to his legendary No.9 shirt. Fernando Torres had already shown us glimpses of his incredible ability before his untimely injury while on international duty, but his recent performances have left very few doubters that Rafa Benitez might well have pulled off the signing of the summer. The 23-year old has the opportunity to become the Dalglish to Gerrard’s Souness. This past Sunday, his delightful link-up with the Liverpool skipper seemed strangely reminiscent of Dalglish chipping the FC Bruges’ keeper from a Souness through ball in the European Cup Final of 1978. He has pace, power, skill and a terrific finish on him. And he’s only going to get better. Maybe I’m just overexcited. Anyway, moving on…

Hicks gets Rafa’s goat

A Turkish demolition job followed, setting new Champions League records and infusing the squad with confidence, which a victory at Fulham three days later did little to dissipate. Until a typically slow-for-news(!) international break saw a seething Benitez address a press conference with thunder in his face and defiance in his voice. “I am focused on training and coaching the players”, he said in response to no less than 20 different questions, prompting many to think something was wrong. Liverpool’s American owners told him to pipe down, but further shows of discontent were made. Wearing a tracksuit instead of his usual tie and coat at the game against Newcastle was strange, but his post-match interview was nothing short of scary. Rumours were rife in the media, with one tabloid suggesting Jose Mourinho was being lined up to replace Benitez. This was too much for Liverpool fans to take, and their vigorous demonstration of support for Rafa was backed up by the players beating Porto 4-1 in a crucial European game. Torres showed exactly why he was worth upwards of twenty million pounds, scoring two goals, including a sublime finish after leaving his marker spinning like a top.

The rumours were soon put to bed, albeit temporarily, and normal service has been resumed with a resounding 4-0 defeat of Bolton at Anfield. Things are looking rosy – Gerrard and Torres are already on the same wavelength, and all the new signings have bedded in well – Lucas Leiva in particular. The optimism surrounding his successful baptism of fire in the Merseyside derby has been reinforced by the all-action displays which followed. The young Brazilian has shown a good range of passing and can get stuck in with the tackles, but the most important aspect of his game appears to be his game intelligence – picking the right pass at the right time. Yossi Benayoun looks like he’s been at Anfield all his life, while Ryan Babel is clearly a striker-in-waiting, a couple of good performances on the wing notwithstanding.
Make or Break

Whether the side can maintain their form is the real question. Key players are performing – Torres has 11 goals in 17 appearances, while Gerrard has 8 from his last nine games. The next few weeks will be pivotal – a must-win game in Marseilles comes just before an Anfield summit with Manchester United, a side Liverpool haven’t scored a league goal against since 2004. With Messrs Hicks and Gillete scheduled to meet with Benitez in the aftermath, nothing really can be certain about the rest of the season. They’ve been portrayed as a club in turmoil by the media in recent weeks, and the most appropriate comment on Liverpool is that they are as enigmatic as Rafa Benitez’s goatee – things can get a little hairy, but the occasional close shave works wonders for confidence.

Nearly third of the season gone by, which teams have proved their mettle and which teams have fallen by the wayside. We examine in closer detail.

 Expectations met:

Derby County:

Even before the season started Derby County was widely tipped to go down, and they haven’t surprised. They have been woeful this season. Not a single away goal in more than 10 hours of football. I’m imagining every team that is due to play them is rubbing their hands in glee, much like Lampard in front of table full of pies.

The question on everyone’s lips “Are they even worse than the last Sunderland team that went down?”.

 

Manchester United:

If there was a remarks section in the report card , this is what it will read. Expectations met. It might me a tad harsh on the team that is current second in the table, but that is a consequence of the standards that Manchester United set the last season. And  they could have got only stronger with talents like Tevez,Nani, Hargreaves and Anderson coming in. Scratch Anderson actually, he is a cheating,diving ,despicable git. Anyways, I digress. Struggled early on in the season with scratchy wins, but Utd fans will rightly argue that is that hallmark of Champion. They, now, have found their form recently with some spectacular wins. They will be challenging for the title right till the end.

The question on everyone’s lips “Is Carlos Tevez the ugliest man in world football?”

Hi-Flyers of the season:

Arsenal:

 

Written off by all and sundry even before a ball was kicked, Arsenal had everything to lose this season. If “experts” were to be believed, Arsenal will fighting it out with the likes of Blackburn and Spurs for the final Champions league spot. But, I think its fair to say that they have proved everyone wrong this season. Scored the maximum number of goals, taken the highest number of points ,they are flying high at the top of the table. People will still point to the skewed fixture list which has made Arsenal play a disproportional amount of home games, but when you can boss Liverpool at Anfield, you are surely made of sterner stuff.

The litmus test for the young gunners will be December, away ties at St.James’, Goodison, Villa Park and home ties against Chelsea and Spurs will test the depth of the squad and also the resolve of this team.

The question on everyone’s lips “When will this run stop and they implode in spectacular fashion?” The Answer “Ha! You wish!”.

Manchester City:

Things were looking rather downcast at the Eastlands at the start of the season. Couldn’t buy a win at home, about to be taken over by a Shady man with even seedier connections, and perhaps most worryingly a team that is going to be managed by an uninspiring manager.

A 100% home record, a team playing one touch football beautiful football, and a manager who seems as thought a burden has been lifted off his shoulders. Sven has been refreshing in his candour in his interviews , honest in his assessments and bereft of the moaning that plagues prem managers these days. And his team hasn’t too bad either, the likes of Petrov and Elano are contenders for buys of the season. Man City continue to confound critics and keep winning and my bet to finish in the top 5.

The question on everyone’s lips “How does Sven get to bed all the pretty blond chicks?”

 

Chumps of the Season:

Tottenham Hotspurs:

To say they have disappointed might be an understatement of gross proportions. Languishing at the bottom the table, a defence that is leaking goals, and 2 wins in 13 is hardly Champions league spot form.

And its fair to say they hardly covered themselves in glory in the way the whole Martin Jol affair. Farcical to say the least. Juande Ramos has a big big task in his hands. A club which probably has the most deluded set of supporters , its going to be a huge ask to turn this club around. Have they got their right man? Only time will tell, but he had Seville punching way above their weight, perhaps no one should be surprised if Spurs do the same.

The question on everyone’s lips “How much longer before we can laugh at them? Again”

 

Special Mentions:

Snores of the season:

Liverpool. To put it mildly, I’d rather watch my fingernails grow or paint dry. And don’t throw the Besiktas game in my face.

The forgotten team:

Why isn’t anyone talking about Chelsea anymore?