Paul Doyle on why it would be a folly to believe that Spurs are too good to go down. He includes a mini-table of the teams that currently occupy the lower reaches of the table – something that I was thinking of pulling together but he got there first.
Plans afoot to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster.
Two weeks ago the Premiership’s bottom three teams ran up against Chelsea (Derby), Arsenal (Wigan) and Manchester United (Bolton). It is a case of more of the same with another weekend dominated by bottom versus top match-ups – or vice-versa.
Arsenal is away to Middlesbrough, struggling Derby is at Old Trafford to play Manchester United, Sunderland is in London to play Chelsea while Reading is home to a rampaging Liverpool side.
Bolton pulled off a massive upset a fortnight ago in beating Manchester United. Can any of these four teams match that performance? If it is to be Boro then they need a seismic improvement in current form.
Arsenal held on at St. James’ Park in midweek for a draw but Boro is without a win in ten Premiership games and have conceded the first goal in twelve of their fifteen league games. It means Boro now occupies a relegation spot for the first time since August 2004.
Very much against the odds Derby has twice won at Old Trafford in the Premiership but another win is as likely as Steve McClaren being told it was all a big mistake and he is still in charge of the England team.
Sunderland pulled off a crucial win against Derby last week courtesy of a last minute goal from Anthony Stokes. Six of Sunderland’s thirteen points have come from goals scored in the 90th minute or later but they face a Chelsea team that has only let in one goal in the last eight league games.
Liverpool is another side that has lowered the shutters over the last few weeks. Nine clean sheets in fourteen games and four consecutive clean sheets since they conceded a late equalizer to Cesc Fabregas at the end of October has helped Liverpool to the best defensive record in the Premiership.
Fernando Torres has scored six of his eleven goals for Liverpool in the Premiership but he has yet to notch a Prem goal away from Anfield.
Reading is eleven points of their pace of last season and a look at the statistics quickly tells you why. A defence that has let in fourteen more goals must take much of the responsibility but an anemic first half attack does not get off scot-free.
The attack has actually one more goal than last season (18 to 17) but only four have come in the first forty five minutes. Last season twelve of their seventeen goals came before the half time cuppa.
Stats corner – Some of the other matches this weekend in the Premiership throw off interesting statistics. Three of the last four league games between Villa and Portsmouth have finished as draws. But Portsmouth has only one Premiership win over Aston Villa, has not won on their last ten visits to Villa Park and their last league win was in the old 2nd Division in 1970.
Tottenham’s woes continued last week as they lost at home to a last minute Birmingham goal. A cure? Well it may come in the form of a visit from Manchester City. In their twenty Premiership games Spurs have taken 45 points from a possible 60 and have only lost twice to City.
However, if you are looking for a team that suffers from travel sickness and in particular a Liverpool version then look no further than Fulham. Fulham has never won a league game at Goodison or Anfield in forty-nine attempts. What is more in thirty-eight league games between Fulham and Everton the away team as only won three – all by Everton. Their last fifteen league matches have all been won by the home side. The game is at Goodison.
In Serie A Inter and Roma now have a bit of padding with a five point gap between second place Roma and third place Juventus. Based on the fixtures this weekend it seems unlikely that Juventus will make up some of that ground.
Inter plays mid-table Torino a team that doubles as the draw specialists. Their last four matches have finished as draws to give a record of nine ties in fourteen games. Torino is winless away from home and faces an Inter team that has been rampant in the first forty five minutes of games this season. Inter has a phenomenal record – they have outscored the opposition 17-2, have led at half time in twelve games and been tied in the other two.
Roma has only one loss (to Inter) so far and is gamely hanging in. They are away to 16th place Livorno, a team that lost seven and drew two of their first nine games. But since then three wins and two draws has given Livorno fans hope. Summer signing Francesco Tavano has been instrumental in the turnaround with five goals in the last six games.
Two seasons ago Tavano scored 19 Serie A goals for Empoli before departing for Valencia. His spell in Spain was unsuccessful and he moved to Roma on loan last January. Two goals in the second half of the season failed to persuade Roma that Tavano should be signed.
Faced with the loss of iconic forward Cristiano Lucarelli to Shakhtar Donetsk Livorno stepped in to secure the striker’s permanent return to Italy.
Third place Juventus is at home to Atalanta currently sixth while Udinese fourth faces an improving Sampdoria side.
A sure sign of how competitive Liga is – the team with the longest winning streak at the moment is Atletico Madrid with…….two straight wins. If it is goals that you are looking for then the Vicente Calderon is where you want to be. In their last four home games in the league Atletico has scored 4, 4, 3, and 4 winning three and losing one.
These four games have produced an incredible 25 goals. This week Getafe provides the opposition and will be looking to continue their improved form. The first seven games this season brought two draws and five losses. However, their last seven have seen five wins a draw and only one loss.
Half way around the world the FIFA Club World Cup will get underway early on Friday morning – on the east coast of North America anyway. Iranian champions Sepahan kicks off the competition against Waitakre United from New Zealand. Sepahan lost to Urawa Red Diamonds in the Asian Champions League but with two host federation spots available both teams qualified.
Concacaf interest centres on Pachuca, a side that has recently gone off the boil. After winning five trophies (including beating Chivas of Guadalajara in the Concacaf Champions League final on penalties) in less than two years the Mexicans are struggling to regain their form.
On Sunday they face African Champions Etoile Sportive du Sahel. We have to wait until midweek for Boca Juniors and Milan’s involvement. Boca and Milan have been kept separate with a final clash the most likely outcome.
This is a tournament that requires an upset if it is to ever capture worldwide attention – something we have yet to see.
Three clean sheets since that 4-3 home win against Valladolid!
The excellent news is that it'll be live on GolTV.
re Club World Cup: I've always felt that having it located in Japan (not to mention in the middle of the European season) has hindered it from capturing worldwide attention.
Great articles as usual. Very nice league summaries as well. Thanks! Looking forward to tomorrow night's show.
I read that Joey Barton is likely to do some jail time due to his assault on the training grounds last season. If true, this has to be considered one of the dumbest (not worst) transfers of the season for £6 million if he does go for some rehabilitation.
Chelsea 5-0 Sunderland
Man Utd 5-0 Derby
Reading 2-2 Liverpool
Middlesbrough 1-1 Arsenal
I've never heard o####oalkeeper being rested for a league game before ,what's going on with Keano and Gordon?
The EPL is bottom heavy this season ,expect one ,or two teams to stay up with a record low points total.
Will Man Utd be wearing 1950's boots with their 1950's kit?
I have no interest whatsoever in the club world cup or whatever it's called ,and I'm sure Milan ,or any european champions ,would rather not be there.
Does anyone really believe that the winners are the best team in the world?
Match of the weekend.
Ricky Hatton v Floyd "Fred Astaire" Mayweather.
Hatton on points ,I think.
And it's lucky for him that he's a supporter of Man city and not the other lot ,or most of the country wouldn't care less.
Some very wishful thinking RINGO. I'm surprised you didn't include ManU dropping points to Derby while you were at it. Interestingly, if gambling were legal, I would bet that Chelsea were the most likely to drop points this weekend.
The City of London Police ,the same jack-booted thugs who where guilty of heavy handed raids on Arry's 'ouse and others last week ,have just had a five year multi-million pound case into race fixing on the horses thrown out of the high court in London.
Incompetence and lack of evidence where the reasons.
Wonder if anything will come from their efforts of last week...
gotta say I feel really bad for Reading this weekend. Liverpool is in fantastic form look charged to devour the ever shaky Reading. They dont stand a chance. Torres will have at least one maybe two. Final should be 3 or 4 nil.
London police make a big show of doing something, like storming houses and such to cover up the fact they will do nothing in the end. Sounds like I have heard of that political philosophy. Katrina maybe.
Ringo, interesting match predictions. Do tell us if you have bet on those results and how much?
For me I wonder if Paul Jewell can shore up the net that is the Derby defence. We scored 6 against them and Arsenal only managed 5, so I wonder how many Utd will score?
Reading for us could be a toughy but if we carry on as we left off, I think we should get out of there with a win but scores, 1-3 to us is my guess to stick my neck out.
Which just leaves Craigy_f to tell us how he thinks
Liverpool will fare, so as to add a little counter balance to his post match comments. Pragmatism being the bench mark of any good analyst.
I think Everton will beat Fulham 2-1 craigy, but only if Cahill and Arteta play.
Is Jose's ego going to allow him to say 'no' to England? I think, if he is offered the job, he will have to rise to it because it is too big a job to turn down.
As for Barwick, what an as*! We could have given him that short list a month ago. How embarrassing it surely must be, to have publicised all these so called consultations only to come up with the obvious. Barwick should go and the sooner the better.
Last edited by redfan2000 on December 7th at 11:11 AM.
I think at least one of the big four will drop points this weekend.
Is this the big mental test Wenger keeps on talking about? Dropped points mid-week, core injured, pressure on? If it was not Middlesbrough, I would be worried as an Arsenal supporter. :)
Reading are capable of playing well. I am not saying they are a strong team, but I think there is talent there and I do not think Coppell is a dope by any means. Hahnemann has been having a miserable season, not up to his standard. Meanwhile, Sunderland is hit or miss; moments of brilliance but inconsistent in the back half.
If Derby beats Manchester United it might trigger a gambling inquest implicating Ferdinand and van der Sar. :) Unless of course Rooney gets sent off for stamping his teammate Ronaldo, who in turn gets sent off for head-butting Rooney, while Tevez gets sent off for biting the assistant referee for calling him offside. In that case, Derby might win 1-0 if they convert a penalty awarded against Ferdinand.
Redfan0.5 - I'm doing Serie A this weekend, mostly. It was much better than the Premier League last weekend.
Will you be going to Anfield in March? How long have you been a red? Why a red? What's the favourite red game you've attended? Who is your favourite ever red?
Craigy, from central Canada, Anfield in March is a dream right now as I do up my house.
I have supported Liverpool fotball club for over 30 years since the early 70's. My best remembered game was the European Cup final at Wembley vs Bruges, which we won 1-0, with 90K reds and about 200 (two hundred) Bruges fans, the latter were deaf by the end of the match.
Then there were a few other good games like Notts Forest 5-0 and later Spuds 7-0. Fav players: Smith, Dalgleish, Barnes, Souness, to name but a few among many others.
The other team I keep an eye on is Watford, because I lived there for 6 years once and went to a few games with my son when I could not get in elsewhere.
I can understand your curiosity as, like Man City fans are totally fixated with Utd, the bluenose houses of Liverpool are totally fixated with what the Reds will do next, whilst trying to wipe their minds of what has already been achieved by the most successful club in English footall history. Enjoy your Italian! I perfectly understand why you watch it.
Last edited by redfan2000 on December 7th at 1:06 PM.
Watford - that must have been painful.
you've almost got it, just a little bit more and you'll finally see the full picture.
Very rarely in Liverpool is a house completely one coloured. Therein lies the conundrum.
The whole of Liverpool - both halves - would call out your incorrectness in comparing anything manc with anything scouse.
In Liverpool you would be known as a 'plastic scouser' sometime affectionately sometimes much less so.
I will do a preview of your clash next week.
Seems both LGB and Verbal took up your wonderful idea
Will Carragher play? He'd be sorely missed if he get's suspended. Agger will be rusty (if fit) and Hobbs might be a touch inexperienced.
Coppell goes on about Torres and the waiter goes on about Reading being a physical team.
He's obviously planning his after game moan.
It'll be something like "why doesn't my team get the protection from the referee it deserves?"
Now you may mock but you know it's the sort of thing the waiter will come up with. He's never been what you'd call gracious.
Whilst I may love the blues (That's Everton and NOT Chelsea) my other stuff is not colour tainted, check it out.
Last edited by craigy_f on December 7th at 1:42 PM.
Perhaps we can all start to refer to your gaffer as the undertaker. He always looks so painfully pale and I don't even know if he has ever smiled but I have never seen it. I wonder if he'll be tempted northward for Scottish service or whether he will stay chained to the wheel which perenially flogs a dead horse? Time will tell I guess eh. You must be well into your twenties to have missed so much Liverpool history, still there are books at the library and on ebay. Your blog I shall read as suredly as I will start a blog of my own to counter yours. Watch this Space.
Bobby - Advocaat & Van Gaal, not in England's shortlist : interesting : the fa can easily gazump $4/year.
This week Marcotti isn't actually too bad. Thankfully his article took me to the Fink Tank. Great with numbers and always come up with suprising if statistically sound conclusions - I've been looking for that link for ages - ta :)
Ringo - I agree; very odd!
Without Gordon it would have been more than 7! Does Keane figure that it's a game they can't win no matter who is between the sticks?
My family in Sao Paulo are devastated with the relegation of Corinthians. It's the biggest story these last two weeks in South American football (apart from Lanus winning the apertura). I'm glad my father's not alive to see this, Corinthians was his club and he never saw it relegated. I've been reading the Brazilian press coverage (only some superficial stuff in the UK press). Corinthians was taken over 2 years ago by UK-based MSI/Kia Joorabchian who brought over Tevez and Mascherano, top class talents (and others) into the club. For two years the club has enormous success, winning the title and bringing in great foreign talent. But corruption, mismanagement and other serious charges brought it down.
This was a comment on the "Spurs are to good to go down" article in the Grunny
Beautiful
honestly, its not enough for the guardian to be creaming themselves over arsenal's amazingness at every possible opportunity, now they are slagging off spurs at every turn! christ, its tedious.
can we have some blogs about FOOTBALL please, we dont all live in north london (and aren't all ten year old boys, crowing over who's dad is bigger and harder. . . . ) and perhaps something about non-premiership matters? maybe something about safe standing, seeing as UEFA might have a look at it?
or will it be 'oleg luzhny - misunderstood genius' or 'white hart lane - worst stadium in the world'?
Bobby - Munich 58 has been 'sung about' at Old Trafford and other stadia across the country for years
I'm STILL shocked that Corinthians were relegated. They'll be back soon enough.
Also, I'd just like to say that I hope Mayweather wins tomorrow. How could anyone support Hatton? The guy is a millionaire and STILL lives with his parents. How pathetic is that?! :)
Danielgregg, I agree with you and think what happened to Corrinthians, through the ownership of MSI, is to be seen for what it was and prevented.
To buy a club and cream off its assets has to be prevented somehow.
It has been discussed at length but I agree with those who say that FIFA needs to legislate and define the terms of player registration and ownership. What will happen to Liverpool and Man Utd will sustain the millionaire status of certain individuals, whilst Corrinthians languesh in the lower leagues in near financial ruin. The speculated 30 million for Tevez and however much Mascherano goes for will never be seen by Corrinthians unless the long arm of the Brazilian law reaches parts far far away and has some teeth with which to act.
Mascherano's loan is due this summer and whether we can retain his amazing skills at Liverpool, I guess lies in the hands of Hicks and Gillette.
Last edited by redfan2000 on December 7th at 5:42 PM.
Keano said he dropped Gordon because he's just played so many big games lately.
He's only 19 and was Scotland's starting keeper for their entire, adrenal gland draining run, and facing a relegation fight in his first EPL season. Keane says he's more than happy with his play and just wants to give him a rest, for his own good.
Ringo -
I just don't get Barwick and his cronies.
When you do interviews for a position; no matter how crucial; you don't make a public shortlist then tackle it very publicly from the top down.
Nor do you go around to all and sundry and ask their 'opinion' or whatever it is the FA asked. The way the FA are doing it puts all the bargaining in the hands of the man at the top of the list.
They already went through this steaaming pile when they hired McClaren and look what happened.
Do they think we've forgotten?
1) make a shortlist
2) call in or go and see each candidate and interview them
3) go down the pub, write the candidates names on beer mats pin them on a dartboard and hope your aim is lucky
..oops...I've just revealed Brawick's masterplan.
...you didn't read this here...
3.5) Think about what two candidates best suit your needs and call them to work out finances and contracts
4) Hire one based on best fit.
I'm not convinced the Special One is the right choice. Can he take us to a semi? Or beyond? Is international management experience necessary?
Of course Mourinho would be fun at interviews but I think we need more than an ability to make some quip for a soundbyte.
He reminds me of Sven, but with a vastly different demeanour.
Good, obviously, good enough, for Portugal certainly, for England, my gut says maybe.
But speaking to him and offering a job before you've spoken to anyone else is just plain bad management.
I've hired plenty in my time and the FA way is just wrong.
You can have a flutter in the interweb! But you j
Last edited by craigy_f on December 7th at 8:37 PM.
One way to ruin a keeper is stick him behind a lousy defence and then play him every game.
If soldiers get battle fatigue and post traumatic stress disorder, what would goalies in their situation suffer from, after leaking 20 or 30 in half a season? Look at Paul Robinson.
Gordon could rue the day he agreed to move to Sunderland.
Managers are trained and interviewing is an art in itself, no argument. However, while 99% of job vacancies will be handled in a reasonably professional way, there remains the 1% of jobs that fall into the area of public representation and interest, like the job of an MP or even a Prime Minister, where every action is under the microscope amid much conjecture.
From the looks of things neither Brooking nor Barwick fall into the category of trained managers, but maybe the whole public nature of the proceedings makes anything normal nearly impossible. Imagine a series of planned interviews at any top hotel. Word goes out and hundreds of journos and tv crews arrive to remain camped all over the forecourt and pavement for the duration. Can't see that happening anytime soon myself.
In any case, Jose's CV along with all the other candidates, is a matter of public record so the need for formality is weak. The FA's essential criteria should determine who they hire.
Big Sam just got a lucky penalty me thinks and Sunderland leaked just one in the first 45.
H14, this Keane's 2nd year of management. In his first he took a struggling Sunderland team and rocketed directly to 1st place. In his 2nd year he has his squad out of relegation at Christmas, the same side that crashed out of the EPL 2 years before as the worst Prem side ever.
I believe your assessment of Keane as a manager is premature and not based in fact.
Bobby you defend ronaldo a lot but he actually dived for the derby penalty, my question to you is would the ref have given it against chelsea, arsenal or liverpool or he makes the decision , coz it derby he will not get real scrutiny
Corinthians relegation surprised me as well. I have read Brazilian authorities have issued arrest warrant for Kia Joorabchian and his backer Boris Berezovsky for suspected money laundering. Hopefully, justice is served -- it would also be good for football around the world.
I haven't been able to watch the Campeonato Brasileiro in the past couple of year. Was it down to the players not being good enough?
reading came out of the blocks at liverpool and that confused liverpool and when we had adebayor blocked and fouled and wenger clearly said that you can not get decisions for you and you have to accept that.on 6o6liverpool fans are as folly as england fans, they were beaten by a better side.man u were beaten by bolton and we never heard them mourning
Last edited by henry14 on December 8th at 11:27 AM.
I think today's game demonstrated the best and worst of Steven Gerrard. He failed to track back on the penalty (that wasn't) and conceded a needless foul that led to their second goal. On the other hand, he showed some great movement and a cool finish to score the first and great technique for that cracking shot off the bar that could have drawn the game.
The officiating wasn't that bad. Sonko got a touch of the ball both times he tackled Torres in the box. He might have been lucky but those weren't penalties, verbal and LGB.
On the other hand, Carragher's foul clearly took place outside the box. This ought to be balanced, though, by the fact that he should have received a yellow card and didn't so he won't miss the United match.
Personally, Rafa's formation struck me as a little bizarre and the commentators noted Liverpool never seemed completely comfortable with the 4-3-3. I don't think Reading were the better team, though.
You're right about the age thing. I don't know why the hell I thought he was 19. But regardless, I still think he was rested/benched because of Scotland's run, and I still think it was a good decision. Perhaps he let in a soft goal in the last couple of games, but he'll be back. Like Wenger benching Lehman a few years back, then Lehmann being a key part of their Champs league run (and loss to Barcelona, of course).
Besides, he spent 9 million pounds on him, which is now like 45 million american dollars, considering the exchange rate.
BTW Did Sheva really look as good as everyone is saying, regardless of the opponent? Not for Chelsea's sake, but damn how I want him to at least have one more year of glory. He's one of the all time greats - voted Milan's greatest player ever while he was still there. What is up with his karma, anyways?
And I definitely want whatever Tevez had before the game - the guy has an insane motor.
Last edited by davard on December 8th at 12:37 PM.
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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