David Conn on the success enjoyed by FC United. Stuart James looks at the Premiership play-offs. A debate between Graham Taylor and Joe Royle on the merits of the loan system. The Guardian’s list of strikers who may be in demand this summer. Tony Cascarino on the 2006/07 season’s best buy Dimitar Berbatov. Bill Edgar also sorts out the various permutations for the UEFA Cup spots.
And now to the preview.
The Bundesliga takes top spot this weekend as we reach the penultimate round and three teams are still in contention for the title. Schalke leads with 65 points, followed by Stuttgart on 64 and Werder Bremen are third on 63. By the looks of it Schalke and Stuttgart have the more difficult games although circumstances could conspire to give Schalke their first ever Bundesliga title this weekend.
Borussia Dortmund and 80,000 fans await Schalke who have not lost in Dortmund since 1998. However, three consecutive wins have seen Dortmund move out of relegation trouble and now sit in the top half of the table. Schalke’s final game next weekend is at home toArminia Bielefeld.
Stuttgart can still complete the domestic double and plays Nuremberg in the German Cup Final on May 26. Stuttgart are on a six-match winning run and are away to Bochum another side that has been enjoying a fine run of form. Bochum were Bundesliga 2 champions last season and have won their last three in a row and six of their last 8. Greek striker Theofanis Gkekas is the man that Stuttgart must watch. He has scored thirteen goals in the last 11 games and it looks like he will be playing for Bayer Leverkusen next season. Energie Cottbus will be Stuttgart’s final opponent next weekend.
Werder Bremen’s opponents Eintracht Frankfurt sit just above the relegation zone in 14th position and are not yet guaranteed Bundesliga football next season. Bremen’s last match is against another side haunted by the threat of relegation - Wolfsburg .
There are a raft of games in Spain that impact on both the top and bottom of La Liga. Fresh from a Copa del Rey thrashing from Getafe Barcelona are up against strugglers Real Betis. Betis have gone eight games without a win and travel to the Nou Camp where Barcelona have yet to lose a league game this season.
Good fortune is with Real Madrid at the moment and this weekend they face mid-table Espanyol in a game that looks tricky. However, Espanyol has a UEFA Cup Final next Wednesday in Glasgow and are likely to rest and number of their players.
Real Madrid have now won six of their last seven and are within two points of the leaders. Van Nistelrooy is now the leading scorer in La Liga with 20 goals. David Beckham and Robinho are both suspended for this game. Espanyol are without a win at the Bernabeu since 1996 and in the last two visits they lost by four goals each time.
Espanyol stand between Sevilla and a repeat UEFA Cup win. Although by losing to Real Madrid last weekend Sevilla slipped back to third in the table, they still have a chance to do a treble. They also have Sevilla just two points behind. This weekend Sevilla plays Recreativo de Huleva the oldest club in Spain. Recreativo are having a terrific season and are pushing for a spot in next season’s UEFA Cup.
At the other end of the table it is 18th vs. 16th with Celta Vigo playing Levante. Celta have lost their last 3 and have only one win in their last 10. The arrival of Hristo Stoitchkov as coach has done little to stem the bleeding. Levante have only two away wins and Celta have with only 2 home wins so a draw would not be a surprise. In fact Celta Vigo would probably prefer to play away from home given that they have taken 18 of their 30 points on the road.
The bottom two teams Gimnastic and Real Sociedad face each other. A loss for Gimnastic would mean almost certain relegation as it would leave them at least nine points from safety with only 12 points still to play for. Real Sociedad’s position is not much better and are only three points better off than Gimnastic. Sociedad gained their only win on the road in their last away game against Real Betis.
All eyes on the Premiership will be on the games at Old Trafford and Bramall Lane. These matches will decide the final relegation spot. A draw or better for West Ham away to nine time Premiership Champions Manchester United will secure Premiership football next season – as long as the civil legal system does not become involved. Wigan know that anything less than a win against fellow strugglers Sheffield United will drop them back to the Championship after two seasons of Premiership football.
A draw is good enough for Sheffield although they could survive even if they and West Ham both lose. Three teams would then be tied on 38 points but Wigan would have a better goal difference than Sheffield. The last spot would then depend on how many goals Sheffield and West Ham lose by on Sunday.
While two teams will be happy come Sunday night the Premiership play offs get underway on Saturday.
If West Bromwich Albion manages to win the play-offs and join Birmingham and Sunderland in net season’s Premiership it will be the first time since 1914-15 that all the teams relegated from the top flight will bounced straight back. Back then it was Preston North End and Derby County achieved the feat. Southampton needed to win their last three games of the regular season to make it into the play offs for the first time. But for manager George Burley it is his seventh play off series and so far he has only experienced one success. Derby manager Billy Davies has had a team (Preston North End) in the play offs the last two years and has gone out at the semi and final stages. Derby won regular season series with a win and a draw. The strikers to watch out for are Steve Howard (Derby) with 16 goals and Grzegorz Rasiak of Southampton – a former Derby player before a move to Spurs – with 18 goals.
The other semi final is the Black Country derby between Wolves and West Brom. At the midway point Wolves were down in 14th spot but worked there way up to a 5th place finish. Goals were a problem for Wolves – 59 was the lowest total of teams finishing in the top ten – but they did get into a good habit of winning tight games. Wolves had seven 1-0 wins away from home. On the other hand West Brom scored more goals at home (51) than any other side. The season series was split with a win each.
Play off predictions anyone?
Jeremy St. Louis and I will be in Toronto this weekend to augment the FSC crew as they broadcast the Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire match. We are both looking forward to seeing BMO Field for the first and enjoying the atmosphere generated by another full house of almost 20,000 fans.
10. Juninho - Lyon
9. Ricardo Quaresma – Porto
8. Diego – Werder Bremen
7. Xavi Hernandez - Barcelona
6. Francesco Totti – AS Roma
5. Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal
4. Lionel Messi - Barcelona
3. Ronaldinho – Barcelona
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
1. Kaka – Ac Milan
EDIT: So, what do you guys think? Who deserves mention?
Gerrard, Riquelme, or-- I hate to admit it-- Guti.
Last edited by atleti_female on May 11th at 5:33 AM.
Who was no.4 ,Atleti ,I`m guessing Deco.
And I notice there are no Englishmen on the list!
But apart from Lampard and Gerrard ,and i`m not sure they would be considered "creative"...
And something to p*** off the gooners on the blog...Cesc is way overated ,he`s an ok type of player ,but nowhere near as good as you all think he is!
Play-off winners -
Division 2. Wolves
Division 3. Nottingham Forest
Division 4. Lincoln City
The Football League can name the division`s what they like ,but to me they will always be Div.2,3,4.
Take Rochdale for example ,they have gone from Div.4 ,to Div.3 ,to League 2 ,all without ever being promoted!
Ringo go and fix your television , cesc is the most creative central midfield player bar pirlo at his best.l think there has been a lot of #### linking from pundits about berbatov but l would put mccathy ahead, because he is playing for a team with an inferior squad and has 17 prem goal 5 more than berbatov and 23 goals in all competions 1 more thanberbatov.yes ha has great technique butbenni haas been great
You`re right ,Bobby.
33 seasons in the lowest division is a record ,they are also the only fourth division side to reach a cup final...`62 League cup..for what it`s worth!
I take it the Report will not be worth watching tonight!
Ringo - I'm flying to Toronto very early on Saturday morning and back on Saturday night. I didn't want to miss doing a FSR Friday show and I definitely didn't want to miss the last round of the Premiership.
henry14 - Who would you pay money to see McCarthy or Berbatov? I've not looked at a TV schedule this season and said to myself "great I can watch Benni McCarthy this weekend."
I agree with you on Pirlo and Deco. I haven't seen much games with Simao, Figo Micolli, or Ibra.
Henry is creative, but I don't think he's in the same league as Kaka, Ronaldinho, or even Everton's Arteta. When fit, he's an effective striker, no doubt about that.
Last edited by atleti_female on May 11th at 9:26 AM.
Tayport:l thinl it has to do with the team you would have paid money to see sheva play at milan , but you would not do it for chelsea, it is just that spurs have better players than rovers.yes he has been great but he gets all the credit , when keane is just as good and probably influences the game more thn bebartov, because he can drop wide or deep.l think maccathy in a manu arsenal would be just as good if not better
Sometimes I wonder if some of you people have ever seen Henry play.
Over the past 6 seasons he has averaged:
52-games; Goals-32; A- 10.
No one else is even close to that kind of production, Ronaldinho was close in the 2 previous seasons to the current one.
If you tell me that Henry doesn't possess: Fabulous control, acceleration and pace, incredible moves, pin-point passing, a very good corner, a very good free kick, a very good penalty , the ability to make something out of nothing, a superior footballing mind et Je ne sais quoi.
Then I will say that you have never seen him play, know nothing about creativity(ie the definition), know nothing about grace and skill, know nothing about football, or that you are blinded by feelings and are not to be trusted.
To say that Henry is not a creative player shows clouded judgement, to say the least.
ManU and Arsenal failed to see Berbatov's real potential when they're scouting him. He's certainly capable of playing 1st 11 in either team and would've made a big compact. Especially for Arsenal.
Cesc is overated no doubt, if the only thing he can do is passing, which everyone at Arsenal can do. imo Henry has been the best striker in EPL and can't wait to see him play again.
Why no comments about Barca being humiliated yesterday?
A lot of the players mentioned are not "creative", they're just flair players that are skillful and like to apply their skills in the game. And they won't make it into Rafa or JM's teams.
A quote on Eggert Magnusson from Brian Glanville writing in April's World Soccer - "The Icelander has seen Pardew's replacement, Alan Curbishley, throw away money and looks increasingly as if he is off to haunt a house."
If Cesc is overatted then what is Rooney, and Lampard. You all just jelous coz he ain't in your teams. And who said we were talking about other attributes of a player the question was who is the most creative player not who has the best attributes. Don't forget Cesc Fabolous is only 20.
Well WSD is the best we've got. I watched them since the old days, I think from there 2nd year on, they had the old beat up couch in the apartment set-up.
They are becoming cold hearted, though. They seem quite satisfied with themselves, I don't wish them bad luck but they should be careful not to offend the Football Gods, fickle as they are.
Mas
They are completely different on WSD to when they are on FSC.
They said a while back that Geber was leaving the show and Howard the Manc was going to take over ,don`t know if you`ve heard him ,but he is much better than them!
1) That goal was meant to be a cross in my opinion.
2) Fabregas is WAY overrated. Maybe if he were #10 on that list, I wouldn't bat an eye, but there's no way that he's the 4th most creative player in the world at present time. I actually think there are several players who weren't on the list that are BETTER than him creatively at the moment...Henry (for me should be at 3 or 4 on that list), Pirlo and even Xabi Alonso. This may be biased and I know he's past it, but I think Robbie Fowler is the most creative of the English players (though not to be included in the above list). He played an unbelievable pass with the outside of his foot against Fulham and finished brilliantly, though offsides, against Portsmouth, and I could send a youtube link to several pieces of creative brilliance in his career. Just a shame that fitness is eluding him and health has been a major issue the last 5-6 years. This Sunday will be "God's" last game at Anfield in a red shirt...barring charity games anyway.
3) For what it's worth, Berbatov is more creative and a better all round player, but McCarthy is the better finisher of the two.
Thanks RINGO. I take a few days off sometimes especially when there's not much going on, and I have a few other hobbies to keep up with especially when the weather is nice!
What on earth happened to Barca this week!? I didn't see the match but it looked like they had their first team out there. Great time for Atleti to go play at Getafe on Sunday!! Barca fans at the training facility today were chanting to Ronaldinho "Go to Milan!" (I was too!).
I'm sure Chelsea will be keen to repay Everton on Sunday for their 'gift' to Man Utd, and beat them down to 7th place and out of the UEFA Cup. I hope they do. I hope West Ham manage to stay up, because the soap opera that follows should be fun!
Wenger says that this was his worst season at Arsenal; he described it as a failure. I guess even Arsene realised the at some point the 'young team' excuse won't do anymore.
Bobby, It just seems unimaginable that Capello will get fired and that the most creative,explosive team-Barcelona may get busted up at the end of the season. That is including a possible firing of the manager. What in the world are the respective boards thinking? As much as I would love to see Eto'o at Old Trafford, it would be a shame to see that team split up.
How does Robinho not get mentioned as one creative player?
The EPL may arguably be the best league in the world, but this year's Bundesliga has been some of the best theater I have ever seen. And Bayern Munich won't be in the UCL next year! Wow!
This thing about creative players is an interesting concept coz there are different types of creative players. The true creative player in my opinion is a players like Pirlo, Scholes, Cesc, because there creativity makes the whole team better since mid fielders influence the whole team. As good as a creator as Henry is he needs creative mid filders around him coz strikers win games but mid filders put the team on winning positions.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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