The Best League in the World?

‘The Premier league is the best league in the world.’ Over and over again I hear this muttered between single minded people (probably Sun readers), who sit down every Saturday and Sunday to let Sky feed us 90 minutes of the richer team beating the poorer one. Sky has created this aura that the Premier League is the place to be. This has led to an arrogance in English league. The likes of Harry Redknapp, Alex Ferguson and other Premier League managers go into the transfer market, using the money Sky have given them, and assume that every player will sell their own mother just to ply their trade in the best league in the world. I’m sure that Harry’s right, it probably has nothing to do with 1.3 billion Sky alone pump into the league.

Evil?

It infuriates me that English fans dismiss teams like Shaktar Donetsk in the week against Barcelona simply because of their country of origin. My friend turned to me on Thursday and said that Real Madrid had a tougher tie than Barca. Apparently ten man Tottenham are a more formidable foe than Shaktar. I then tried to explain that Shaktar are a more established European side than many think and that Barca’s 5-1 victory was a stunning feat. As I expected his argument was that he had ‘never heard of any of them’. Like Sky my friend just dismissed any team that didn’t affect him and a combination of blind rage and a sudden feeling of can’t be arsed stopped me from taking the argument further.  

Two fingers to Sky? Probably not.

During the Fulham, Blackpool game on Sunday Chris Coleman said something along the lines of ‘the bottom teams can beat the top teams, that’s what makes this league the best in the world.’ One second please Chris? Wigan have an aggregate score against Manchester United this season of 0-6. The Premier League is no different to La Liga or Serie A. I know people will argue that only Barcelona and Real Madrid can win La Liga. And that realistically only either of the Milan clubs will win Serie A, but let’s face it, only the current top four are likely to win the Premiership. Harry Redknapp may talk up his Spurs side but Tottenham winning the league would be as amazing as Ledley King having an injury free season.

Worse than Gray?

This season has been one of the most unpredictable for years. Some would argue that the other 16 teams in the league are catching the top four and making it much more competitive. I don’t. In my opinion the league is getting worse. The PFA Player of the Year award nominees were announced today and looking at them I couldn’t name one outstanding player. Certain players have had spells of good form, much like Wayne Rooney and tourettes but no one player has been consistently great. Look at Manchester United. They are more than likely going to be crowned champions this term but have at times been dreadful. If you were to rank teams in order of how they’ve played in games, United would be mid-table or lower and relegation fighting Blackpool would be top.

Nominated for what?

The Premier League is definitely beginning to lose it’s glamour. No longer drawing in the best payers soon La Liga, thanks to Spain’s low taxes will probably be the next dominant force, as long as the teams can sort out their finances. Don’t despair though English fans, as long as there’s Sky Sports we can sit in our chairs oblivious to the great football being played all other the world.                

The week in hastily cobbled together notes.

As someone who has only been truly following football for the last 6 years (for those of you struggling to comprehend that amount of time, it's approximately the same amount of time Shaun Wright-Phillips has been getting paid to do nothing at all.) I didn't feel comfortable listing the best XI players from my life time. I'd sooner listen to Mark Lawrenson than join the long list of tabloid hacks, lazily pasting together a series of superlatives to describe modern greats like Lionel Messi.

Good player, but I think that giant ball sums it up better than I can.

Instead, I thought I'd rather discuss the week itself, as if the title of this piece didn't give you a clue, I haven't exactly sat down and composed my thoughts. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a newspaper to hand to remind me of some of the lesser events our great sport has thrown up this week, let's proceed anyway...

True Moron

That little subtitle had a bit of thought put into it. For anyone working for the News of the World or any such tabloid, I just wanted to show how easy it is to not replace the word "true" with "troo" when writing yet another story on Wayne Rooney. Seriously, those puns are grating on my nerves.

You can probably guess exactly what I'm about to talk about; Rooney's foul mouthed rant at...well, no one in particular, shortly after single handedly disposing of West Ham. People often refer to Rooney as someone who truly loves the game, a man who would stop his car and join in if he saw a few kids having a game in the park. I don't get that vibe from a man who scores a match winning hat-trick, and refuses to break into a smile. The Terrace Talk team watched the game together, a game that was quite enjoyable as a spectacle until Rooney decided to turn it into a public call out to his doubters. It's hard to enjoy football when one of it's biggest draws takes his aggression out on the viewing public because he hit his peak sometime last year.  Then again, I certainly wouldn't enjoy being a striker if my supply line came in the form of Darron Gibson.

"No that's fine Darron, you had every right to shoot from 40 yards. It was silly of me to think you wouldn't take the shot on, at least this one remained in the stadium..."

Home comforts?

On another note, a great record came to an end on saturday, as managerial master Jose Mourinho finally witnessed a home defeat for the first time in 9 years. The last time it happened was February 23rd 2002 when the Portuguese genius was still in charge of Porto! It's almost a shame that the team who broke the record were not a team of the calibre of Barcelona, but rather Sporting Gijon. With no disrespect to Sporting, I think most people would've expected a truly great team to end what has been an astonishing record, a record that will probably never be beaten. Speaking of Madrid...

A trip to the Bernabeu is one thing...

...but it's nothing compared to the importance of a saturday afternoon trip to the DW Stadium. Tottenham, like so many teams before them, seem to be placing greater emphasis on their glamour tie with Los Blancos then they are with trying to get back to the promised land of Champions League football next season. While it's impossible to say Spurs haven't been a breath of fresh air this year, to say they're unlikely to win the biggest club honour is a massive understatement, needing to beat the the big two Spanish teams (providing of course, Barcelona get past a difficult Shakhtar team) before likely facing up against Chelsea or United in the final makes this years Champions League no more than an (almost) impossible dream. In the way of a non-league team going to Old Trafford in the F.A.Cup, Spurs' priorities should be to enjoy the occasion and give a good account of themselves, anything else is a bonus.

Their number one priority this season is to finish in the top 4 for a second consecutive season, doing so would mean they're once again able to invest in playing talent, and possibly even mount a serious challenge for the title providing Harry can find the right players. Everton will tell you that staying in the Champions League is much harder than getting there in the first place, and if cash-rich City beat them to the spot this year, it's likely they'll never wrestle it back.

Those are the main points I've drawn from this weekend of football. If anyone has any other great/interesting moments from this week, or if you just want to tell me I'm full of shit (I'm referring to you Darron Gibson), we have a comments section for that very reason.

Harry Redknapp - Charismatic and Lovable, or Offensive and Irritating?

My personal views on Harry Redknapp are as follows; I can’t stand the man, the way he patronises reporters with arrogant, sarcastic answers to reasonable questions, the way he undermines some of his players (David Bentley/Darren Bent) whilst overrating others (Jermaine Defoe/Gareth Bale), the way he constantly tries to unsettle other clubs’ players by talking about trying to sign them, his over-use of words such as ‘you know’ and ‘top’, plus his general attitude of ‘I’m just a regular, down-to-earth, east-end guy who’s everyone’s friend, just call me ‘Arry’ has me seething every time I see his smug, saggy face appear on my T.V screen.

Having read that, you may be forgiven for thinking that this post is just a one-sided attack on Redknapp but I know an awful lot of people who have entirely different opinions of him which I find hard to comprehend, so I will try and make this argument as balanced as possible. To illustrate my point that he divides opinion, I sent the same text message to two of my friends which read; ‘What do you like about Harry Redknapp?’ to which one of them replied ‘I like watching Tottenham play and he calls a spade a spade’, whereas the reply I received from the other friend who was faced with the same question just simply read ‘Nothing, he’s a prat’ before swiftly moving on to ask me an equally trivial query of his own, which was whether I would class a Panini as a sandwich.

There’s no doubt he’s doing a decent job at Tottenham, (as he likes to remind us on a regular basis) they were bottom of the Premier League when he took over and he’s taken them into the Champions League. He’s signed a lot of players since he arrived but he deserves credit for the achievement nevertheless. The style of attacking football Spurs have played in his time at the club and his ‘loveable and outspoken’ nature has seemingly won Redknapp and Spurs alike a lot of popularity with the press but a lot of football fans aren’t buying it. I belong to the group of people who feel his attitude comes across as arrogant and cocky, and not in a Jose Mourinho ‘twinkle in the eye’ type of cocky, more in a patronising and smug way.

Examples of him disrespecting reporters are common. Whilst conducting a post-match interview following Tottenham’s home defeat to Wigan at the end of August 2010, Sky Sports’ Rob Palmer innocently began a question to Redknapp with “You’ve made your name as a wheeler and dealer…” to which he interrupted by saying “No I’m not a wheeler and dealer – fuck off” then he started to walk away from the interview, which led Palmer to needlessly apologize, then Redknapp responded with “I’ve not made my name as a wheeler and fucking dealer, don’t say that, I’m a fucking football manager.” Rob Palmer was right though; Redknapp has made his name as a ‘wheeler and dealer’ and has been dining out on this tag for years.

His sarcasm and belittling of people doesn’t just stop at journalists though as his own player Darren Bent found out when he missed a headed chance to score the winner for Spurs in a game against Portsmouth. Redknapp ridiculed his player Bent after the game by saying, "My missus could have scored that. David James had given up on it. He had turned his back and was getting ready to pick the ball out of the net.” "He did not just have a bit to aim at; he had the whole goal to aim at. What can you do?” Many people would respond to comments such as those with, ‘Good old ‘Arry, he always tells it like it is!’ and then proceed to describe him using well coined clichés such as ‘He’s a character’ and ‘What a breath of fresh air’.

His perceived lack of respect for journalists and players isn’t his only crime (literally in some cases (allegedly)). Another thing that has got people’s backs up is his apparent lack of loyalty to the clubs he’s managed at. Admittedly this isn’t a trait which exclusively applies to Harry Redknapp, but that doesn’t make it any easier for angry Portsmouth fans who have had Redknapp walk out on them twice, both at times when they needed him most. Just a few weeks after the first time he walked out on Portsmouth, he joined their most bitter of rivals Southampton, before rejoining Portsmouth after suffering relegation with Southampton. He did a good job there and won the fans around but then he was off again, this time to Tottenham, leaving Portsmouth in the lurch once again. If that wasn’t bad enough he proceeded to raid Portsmouth of their best players and they were relegated the following season after financial difficulties. His constant fluttering of his eyelashes towards the England job suggests he may not be in it for the long haul at Spurs either. It could easily be argued though, that there is nothing wrong with attempting to further your career. Then there have been the allegations of corruption, and the tax evasion charge on which everybody has their own opinions.

It may not look like it but I have tried my best to stay diplomatic about Harry Redknapp during this post even though I’ve clearly stated my own views on the man (and I could have gone on and on with that). He has never been far from controversy during his managerial career yet people still seem to have great affection for him, particularly in the press. I don’t know if I’m missing something when it comes to Redknapp or whether certain people just don’t see him the way I do. I'll end with a quote and you can make your own mind up about it.

On Samassi Abou: "He don't speak the English too good." – Harry Redknapp

- James

Aaron's choice: The good, the bad, and the unthinkable

As we’ve been asked to chime in with our own personal predictions for the drop, I thought now was as good a time as any to show my hand. With eight games left this season the league table is as tight as ever (it wouldn’t surprise me to see West Ham make a late push for the title!) So it’s rather hard to pick three teams, I’ll probably end up wrong, in fact, I pray I’m wrong with one of my choices (no particular order by the way)

Blackpool

There’s a slight bit of bias in this one I must admit; as a Villa fan I still can’t quite get over Mr. Holloways comments that we are a “half-arsed club who used to be famous” (the irony that he later spoke highly of Liverpool was not lost on me). All I have to say is, if you’re gonna put yourself on a pedestal, make it a damn sight more stable than Bloomfield Road; even Holloway's fragile frame could collapse the shaky foundations of that “half-arsed stadium”.

Ian Holloway in a rare moment of not talking complete shit.

Of course, I wouldn’t base my opinion that they’re due for the chop solely on comments by Monsieur Holloway, their brand of attacking football, which started as a revelation, has quickly lead to less and less points on the board. The result against Tottenham was impressive, until you realize that Tottenham had enough chances in those ninety minutes to win 38 games. There’s more than a whiff of Hull about the seasiders, and with the lack of that all-important home form then I can see them going one better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) than the Tigers’ debut season and sliding straight out of the “best league in the world” ©Every pretentious bastard who works for the Premier League.

Wigan

Ah, Wigan. The Lactics. The physical embodiment of mediocrity. Support that would make Bolton fans feel smug,  and a narcissistic owner who probably cries into one of his overpriced football shirts every time he remembers the day he turned down Manchester United. In Wigan’s defence, they have a bright young manager in Martinez, and a good pool of players picked up by the current regime, as well as the ones left over from Steve Bruce’s time in charge. Unfortunately Wigan’s main problem would be their consistency, or lack of it to be accurate. It’s all well and good to get a draw against one of the big teams, but if you can’t follow it up with a win against your fellow strugglers then it can only end one way. That last point brings me nicely to my final pick for relegation.

Aston Villa

Yep, Villa. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, 2-2 draws with Manchester United and 3-3 draws against Chelsea are all well and good, but when you have teams like Sunderland doing the double over you, and a home loss against a home sick Wolves side, then there isn’t much in this league for you. Everything about our position defies belief, looking at the players we have, it’s hard to see why exactly we’re in this position.

Oh, that's why.

A team of England players (admittedly fringe players) that has been added to with goalscoring machine Darren Bent and the silky skills of Jean II Makoun should only be looking up, but this has not happened. I’m not going to get caught up in the current “Houllier out” campaign that a lot of Villa supporters are rooting of at the minute, with eight games left it’s far too late to risk such a change (Newcastle’s brief fling with Alan Shearer as manager springs to mind) and I truly believe, based on the signings we made in January, that Houllier, given a proper pre-season, will see us back to those glory days of 6^th place and the odd Wembley appearance.  The worrying thing about Villa is that we had one of the easiest run-ins of all the teams at the bottom, on paper we’d have been expected to beat Bolton and Wolves, as well as Blackburn, but it’s not happening. No matter how long we wait, Villa cannot gather any momentum, even West Ham have shown themselves capable of winning three or four games in a row, whereas we struggle to win two. I really hope I’m wrong, and I’ve picked Villa today in the hope that I’ve somehow jinxed it and some higher power will keep them up just so I’m wrong. But as it stands, with us unable to win the easiest games, and with our final two games being Liverpool, and a match with Arsenal that could potentially decide whether or not they end their wait for a Premier League trophy, it’s hard to see any other way but down for my beloved club.

I really hope I’m wrong; I’m not looking forward to having to sift through the football league show for Villa highlights. At least it’ll force me to broaden my admittedly poor knowledge of the Championship.

Not pictured: Dignity

-Aaron

My Three Picks for the Drop

Approximately £30 million. That’s how much the three teams who lose their Premier League status stand to lose this season. All fans like to play the predicting game, and without doubt the three names you pick will change on more than one occasion throughout the season. At The Terrace Talk we’ve been playing the same game and because we couldn’t agree we all decided to post our picks.

First of all it seems Wigan Athletic look destined for the drop and I won't miss them. It’s a shame because Roberto Martinez has done a great job and I think he’s one of the most talented young managers in the English game. Unfortunately Martinez and chairmen Dave Whelan are at a team whose fans care more about tries than goals. At times their team can play fantastic football, for instance against Manchester City recently. Wigan outplayed City for the majority of the game but lacked that killer touch in the final third and as for the back, don’t get me started. This is the tried and tested formula for relegation. Look at Tony Mowbray’s West Brom team. They played fantastic football but couldn't finish teams off. It eventually led to their demise and I can’t help but feel the same towards a Wigan team, who in all honesty have flirted with the drop for the past couple of seasons now.

The second team I think will be plying their trade in the second tier of English football are Blackpool. First of all I need to say how much I’ve enjoyed their debut season in the Premier League and hope my prediction is wrong. Ian Holloway and his men have been a breath of fresh air and their c'est la vie attitude has been a joy to watch, but recent form suggests that the team is on a downward spiral. Charlie Adam, DJ Campbell and others have played exceptionally but the team have really punched above their weight. Despite the odd result, Tottenham for example, teams seem to have developed ways to handle their all out attack.

Finally and probably most controversially my third choice is Birmingham City. First I want it noted that my allegiance to Aston Villa has completely nothing to do with this... really. Birmingham have had a massive season. The Carling Cup victory will live long in the memory for all Birmingham fans but since then their league form has not been brilliant. All season their results have been built on keeping clean sheets and pinching goals at the other end. Recent performances have shown a defence that in all honesty looks tired and is leaking goals. It’s understandable considering the season they’ve had, but unfortunately at the end of the season tiredness isn’t an excuse. McLeish must find a way to combat this quick or his team will be staring relegation direct in the face. 

The power and financial incentives the Premier League offers has now led to a ‘make or break’ attitude adopted by most sides. It’s a dangerous game to play, just ask Leeds fans. For teams like Wigan and Blackpool this might be the last time they reach the holy grail that is the Premier League, such is the gulf in talent. Finally I'd like to wish the three teams joining the express train that is the Premier League good luck, you'll need it.

-Paul

Real bunch of A-Coles

Picture the scene: Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, 24 hours after the Premier League Champions relinquished their two year reign as F.A. Cup holders by crashing out to Everton. You’d love to be a fly on the wall wouldn’t you?

Prima Nocta is a term that is defined as “an alleged legal right allowing the lord of an estate to take the virginity of his serfs' maiden daughters.” Replace “lord of the estate” with “Chelsea Captain” and “Serf’s maiden daughters” with “team mates wives” and you could probably believe I were describing the ritual that is undergone whenever Chelsea lose a match. When you think of a club as “unique” (for a lack of a more professional term) as Chelsea then it’s hard not to let your mind wander in regards to what really goes on at Cobham.

Whilst “King Terry” has his fill of the WAG’s (providing he’s not conducting £10,000-a-head tours of Stamford Bridge for “charity” that is) Lampard is likely sat in a corner comfort eating, whereas John Obi Mikel is sure to be walking around asking if anyone knows exactly what John Obi Mikel brings to the team.

"Seriously guys, what do I do?"

However, amidst the chaos, one man stands head and shoulders above the rest. This shining example of a player, in a rare lapse, was primarily responsible for Chelsea’s agonising shoot-out defeat at the hands of Everton; missing the decisive kick to gift the Toffees passage into the next round. Desperate to make amends, this player spends the entire day doing shooting practice.

Well, something along those lines anyway.

You see, when our good friend Mr. Cole isn’t shooting himself in the foot with his constant mistreatment of a woman who is considered so beautiful, that most men would volunteer to buy a Stoke season ticket if there were the chance of small talk with the Geordie Princess, it turns out he likes to literally shoot other people in the side.

Once a Gunner, always a gunner I suppose.

You couldn’t make it up could you? Whilst a team like United would spend the aftermath of a cup defeat working on correcting mistakes made and preparing for the next game, the aristocrats of London decide they’d rather use their work experience kids as clay pigeons. Possibly the most humorous element of this story was the club’s insistence that the air rifle did not belong to Cole, which is such an irrelevant and ridiculous defence it’s almost depressing. Could you imagine someone making that excuse in court? “Well yeah I shot the guy but it’s not like I own the gun or anything.” Yeah, depressing was definitely the correct term to use for a supposedly elite football club that has the PR skills of a particularly naive 10 year old. Despite their ever loosening grip on the Barclays Premier League title, I suppose there are a couple of accolades left in this Chelsea team, although if things don't change, the only awards synonymous with Chelsea will be the Darwin Awards.

-Aaron

Arsenal Lacking Steel and Grit

 

A lot’s been said of Arsenal’s struggles since the break-up of the legendary "Invincible’s" team seven years ago. So much has been said about their apparent lack of strength that it is almost regarded as fact. Arsene Wenger will argue that the likes of Abou Diaby and Alex Song make up for the absence of Patrick Viera in the middle of the park. Diaby and Song are both similar in size to the great midfield dictator, however as Viera showed against Aston Villa in the F.A Cup he still knows how to use his great physique. Watching Song and Diaby at times is like watching a Brazilian goalkeeper. They’re envious of the roles given to their more advanced team-mates and this leads to them being caught out defensively.



Where are the Keowns and Adams in this Arsenal team? Laurent Koscielny has shown promise in recent weeks and looks to be a technically good defender and Thomas Vermaelen is a good centre back. But people seem to forget that Arsenal play in the English Premier League. The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, without doubt the most successful teams of the past ten years, have defenders full of heart. Defenders who would give anything for the cause. Let’s travel back to South Africa 2010. John Terry throws his body towards a shot by Slovenia’s Zlatko Dedic. Although his attempted heroism was eventually futile in the bigger picture of England's wretched campaign, I can’t imagine Johan Djourou or Koscielny making the same attempt.

Since Jens Lehmann left Arsenal the team have struggled to find a true number one goalkeeper. You ask anyone from professional footballers to Sunday league; if you’ve got a good goalkeeper then your defence can concentrate on their own game rather than worrying where the next mistake will come from.

Finally, how does Arsene Wenger tackle his team’s defensive issues? Until Mr. Wenger changes his transfer philosophy on signing talented young players from less competitive leagues I’m afraid nothing is likely to change at the Emirates. It’s a shame because there are talented young British defenders that would fit the bill for Arsenal. The likes of Ryan Shawcross or Ciaran Clark would be excellent for Arsenal and perhaps even give Arsenal the spine they need to win that elusive Trophy.   



Just what Wenger needs?



-Paul