Villa can kiss bye any chance of 4th now, I think Arsenal will easily overhaul the current 3 point gap...nice try O Neill but you need to spend big on big players or become manager of a CL club which you deserve anyway.
^Whoah there, don't jump the gun. We've still got ten games left, we've got to go to Anfield and Old Trafford and Chelsea have got to come to us so nothing is certain yet.
I think that would be hard for them given their injury problems, but still possible. Moyes isn't the kind of guy who will look at the fact that 6th place now gets a Europa League spot (since Manchester United won the Carling Cup and it is unthinkable that they wouldn't qualify for the Champions League) and just settle for that.
Hermiod, makes a point. Both teams have tough games, Chelsea could still be in contention and I am hard pressed to see three points against a United side on our current form. The good news is Villa looked stretched just as Arsenal have some quality coming off injury. Even so, this season could very well come down to the last day. As someone on one of the Arsenal boards wrote, "time introduce the Villains to Mr. Wenger's special lasagna recipe".
He can kiss his Eng place goodbye if he continues to behave like that, Mr. Capello won't tolerate that and Bridge now is getting 1st team football.
Nope, he's on the undroppable list with Gerrard, Lampard and Terry. The FA can't have people who advertise their shirts not being in the team.
I just have to express my amazement. "My team", Werder Bremen, played 0:0 tonight vs Hoffenheim. It still boggles my mind how that game ended up without goals. 19:18 shots on goal is the least of the source of that amazement (one of those examples of an exciting game that happens to end up 0:0). That said, Werder Bremen had 130 shots on goal this year in the Bundesliga and managed just 3 goals so far. That side of the lack of goals isn't too surprising to me anymore. Sanogo, who is under contract with Werder Bremen and on loan to Hoffenheim since January, hit the left post thrice in a single game! I guess he took "our" luck with him. His facial expression after the third time was priceless. The previous match last year ended 5:4 after Bremen led by 4:1 at 30 minutes. Hoffenheim managed a 4:3 when a Bremen defender got sent off with a red card, the resulting penalty made it 4:4 in the 60th minute, but Özil made the 5:4 winning goal ten minutes from time despite playing 10 vs 11. (I still regret not having saved this game on my DVR.) I guess there's never a lack of excitement when these two teams play.
I'm afraid I'm finding it difficult to take the Bundesliga seriously - Andrei Voronin appears to have become the greatest goalscorer since Pele! Nice to see a few teams other than Bayern have a real chance of winning it. If only England had such an open and entertaining top flight.
Well, the Bundesliga may not have the highest quality there is, but it does have its own qualities. The title of the highest scores per game in a league over the last ten years have been shared between the Bundesliga and the Eredivisie. Of those players at Euro 2008, 65 were playing in the Bundesliga compared to around 40 for the EPL, PD and Serie A. We may not have the best players out there, but I think the average league game is pretty good. The Bundesliga also has the highest average attendance of any league and the highest net profit of any league. I suppose comparing leagues depends on your preference. The BL may not succeed all that much in the CL (which just might be related to our rule stating that no investor may own more than 49% of any club), but if you're comparing an average team in the BL with other leagues, I don't think we're doing too badly. PS: Voronin is at place 11 on the top goalscorer list. Vedad Ibisevic is still at #1 and he's been injured for two months now (and will be at least until the end of the season).
I'm not knocking it, on the contrary. I can't stand the UK media's assertion that the Premier League is the "best in the world", when for entertainment, it ranks far below La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga, and Ligue 1. And probably every other major European league, apart from Scotland of course. For years we've had fun mocking Scotland for having only two teams who could win the league, but we're found ourselves in a far worse position, where only Manchester United can actually win anything. For most of the PL's existence, only United and Arsenal could win it. Chelsea briefy usurped Arsenal, but now they've been dragged to everyone else's level. Below the top six, the quality is woeful. I watched the Madrid derby today, which in terms of excitement and quality was so far ahead of anything I've seen in England this season. I'd love to have a league in which a promoted team could challenge in the way Hoffenheim are, but sadly that hasn't been the case in England for thirty years. I'm envious of the German football culture too - the fans can actually afford to see their team on a regular basis, and the commitment to majority fan ownership is admirable, especially when we've seen that the only way to challenge in the PL is to be taken over by a billionaire. You know something's wrong when you are seriously wondering whether Sepp Blatter might have a point.
Well everyone's too fearful of getting relegated, so about 15 teams in the Prem now play for draws against the top teams and aim to pick up home wins over their relegation rivals. Occasionally someone comes up and takes everyone by surprise but they always fall away - Wigan and Reading in particular were in the European places up until late March in 05-06 and 06-07 before slipping to 9th/10th. But it is true - no ever challenges for the title now - last year was reasonably open in a three-way, but look what happened this year as soon as Liverpool lost their best player and Chelsea lost their plan B. I'll defend the Premier League to the hilt but really La Liga is far more entertaining (I can't speak for the Germans or the Italians as I only see the odd match here and there). But Ligue 1 is a procession! How years have Lyon won in a row, now? 8!?
The German Bundesliga is incredibly entertaining though! I watch Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A (+ our own miserable Austrian league every week) and European Cup occasionally, and imo out of those, the German games are by far the most entertaining. They might not be the best football players, play the most modern sophisticated tactics, etc., but from a neutral point of view, they are just amazingly fun to watch, they never disappoint. Maybe the fact that they aren't perfect, make mistakes etc. contributes to that. The Premier League especially is such a bore, I almost can't stand watching English games anymore.
I still think PL beats La Liga and Seria A has been boring for many years not too mention totally corrupt. Even in La Liga the race for the title is pretty much the same... 2005 & 2006 - Barcelona walked away with the title 2007 - was good but between only two clubs 2008 - Real walked away with it 2009 - Barcelona had it won about 4 weeks ago. The PL has this great thing this season where two defeats see you go from 7th to just above relegation, really loving it this year.
^ I do like how this season the Premier League is incredibly open even in March. Well, except for 1st and 20th - they've been settled since the end of January. I suppose you look at any of the leagues below the 2/3 way title races they're all reasonably open. In the last few years Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, Villa, Man City, Newcastle, Boro, Spurs, West Ham and Portsmouth have all achieved Euro football - that's 11 teams out of roughly 25 excluding the top 4, and this year could still see Wigan or Fulham join that list. Equally Serie A and La Liga have varying Euro participants every year. It's only the Prem teams who dismiss the UEFA Cup as beneath their league or a domestic cup they have little chance of winning though.
That's exactly what I'm saying. The Premier League has become a one team league, and I wish we could be more like Germany. As I said above, in terms of football culture, they are probably second to none. Safe terraces, fan ownership, affordable tickets - it's very admirable. Obviously Bayern usually dominate, so it's brilliant to see they aren't having it their own way this season. Not this year. They lost to Lille last night, with PSG only a point behind, Marseille aren't out of it, and Bordeaux have been playing some great football. It's more open than the English league has been since 1997. Manchester United may be winning everything, but a succession of scrappy 1-0 wins isn't exactly scintillating to watch.