May

6

All still to play for at the top and the bottom

Filed Under Premiership

There’s lots to be decided on the final day of the Premier League season. Who will be Champions, United or Chelsea? It’s sort of like asking how you’d like to be killed.

‘Shot in the face, sir, or hung from a bannister?’

Arsenal will finish third, Liverpool fourth. In three years Benitez still hasn’t managed a title challenge. Take the once in a lifetime circumstances of the Champions League win out of the equation and he still has a lot to prove as the manager of Liverpool. Again he’s talking about needing three or four players in the summer but he says that every summer. It’ll be interesting to me to see how much more time he gets.

I wonder, and Liverpool fans can give me their view on this, if the boardroom antics didn’t do him a favour this year. Did he get a more vociferous backing from the fans because of the way he was treated by the owners? Would he have come in for more criticism if that hadn’t happened?

At the bottom it’s one from Birmingham, Reading, Fulham and Bolton.

The fixtures see Birmingham play Blackburn at home, Reading play Derby away, Fulham travel to FA Cup focussed Portsmouth while Bolton will be at Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. Bolton’s goal difference could save them, they’re 11 better off than Reading who you would expect to beat Derby.

If I was a betting man I’d put my money on Birmingham and Fulham. Portsmouth have been rubbish since they got to the cup final, too many players making sure they don’t pick up an injury, but this week I think they’ll all be giving it 110% to make sure the manager notices them. So I see Fulham and Birmingham losing, Reading winning and Bolton getting beaten but unless they get a load spanked past them they’ll survive.

For those writing on the site please feel free to get together your Premier League team of the season. First XI and 5 subs, please. It’ll be interesting to see how they all differ.

Comments

7 Responses to “All still to play for at the top and the bottom”

  1. Kevin on May 6th, 2008 2:24 pm

    As a Liverpool fan I don’t think the boardroom stuff has made fans support Benitez even more. Most of us can see how well he’s done when you take the squad of 2003 and compare it with this years squad. Add to that the amount of good youth players we’ve acquired - the reserves have ran away with their league despite most of them being under 21.

    This season we’ve lost 4 matches - if we don’t lose at Spurs, it’ll be our least amount of league losses in a season since 1988.

    Last season we finished 21pts behind Man Utd, this season we’ve clawed it back to 11. Bearing in mind how many points we’ve dropped after going ahead - Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa, Spurs, Wigan all at home - if we’d won them it might have been a different story. Fact is we never though, but it’s a sign of progress.

    We’re still a few players short (to give us genuine threats when Torres/Gerrard aren’t firing) and perhaps next year we’ll be able to push on. This isn’t of course taking into account how much Chelsea and Man Utd will spend on strengthening their squad even further, which they will undoubtedly will do.

    For me, I’d like Benitez to be given at least one more season before judging. Ok he’s maybe too cautious at times against lesser teams, but I still think that he can win the league. Plus we’ve yet to reap the rewards of his youth policy as a lot of them are still relatively young. Insua, Plessis and Nemeth are just 3 players who could step up next season.

    I think the stick given to Benitez is a bit harsh anyway when you consider Arsenal have been trophyless for longer than Liverpool.

    As for my team of the year, I’d go with:

    James, Sagna, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Ronaldo, Petrov, Fabregas, Gerrard, Santa Cruz and Torres.

    Subs: Friedel, Lescott, Barry, Bentley, Tevez

  2. Leonard Hatred on May 6th, 2008 6:18 pm

    Team of the year, eh? In a snazzy 4-5-1 formation, no less:

    GK: Green
    RB: Sagna
    LB: Clichy
    CBs: Vidic; Ferdinand
    CMs: Ballack, Flamini, Fabregas
    Forwards: Ronaldo, Adebayor, Torres

    Subs: James, Micah Richards, Gerrard, Joe Cole, Tevez.

  3. NWDuneAuron on May 6th, 2008 6:53 pm

    Carroll,
    Mears, Moore, Todd, Stubbs,
    McEveley, Savage, Sterjovski, Lewis,
    Ghaly, Villa,

    Edworthy, Earnshaw, Price, Feilhaber, Beardsley

  4. Leonard Hatred on May 7th, 2008 7:33 pm

    Priceless.

  5. Omo on May 7th, 2008 8:16 pm

    At least Arsenal has won their own league at some time, and not in too shabby fashion either.

  6. Bleustilton on May 8th, 2008 9:29 pm

    James
    Sagna
    Clichy
    Ferdinand
    Vidic
    Ronaldo
    Fabregas
    Barry
    Bentley
    Adebayor
    Torres

    Subs: Friedel, Lescott, Flamini, Krancjar, Santa Cruz

  7. Adam (Optimism with Rafa Benetiz aka Sado-Massoism - Liverpool's new Moto" Next) Whyte - Arsenal on May 13th, 2008 12:42 am

    First of all TEAM team of the season IS
    Adebayor
    Torres
    Ronaldo
    Young
    Fabregas
    Flamini
    Clichy Sagna
    Lescott Ferdinand

    James (GK)

    Subs: Robert Green, Martin Laursen, Evra, Garry Barry, Essien, Tevez, Santa Cruz - Going with 7 subs because so is the Premier League soon.

    Kevin your team is sleeping. Arsenal full back Clichy has way more responsibility defensive and attacking as Arsenal don’t play classy left wingers who always track back (Rooney, Park Ji-Sung, Giggs, etc.) and he was top tacklet in the league this year.

    Also Adebayor 2 or 3rd top scorer in the league isn’t there? Arsenal are in 3rd and you put a Blackburn striker well less goals in ahead of him. Madness dude.

    Lastly, Gerrard is a shock inclusion - Liverpool have been pants in the league and Gerrard has been a shadow of his former self. How many league goals did he score this year? Playing off the striker in a number 10 role for half of the season where the ball is played through to them for the entire game. He’s a great player but in the league he has been average. No great deal of defensive work anymore either, with Xabi, Lucas, and particularly doing most of the box to box work he used to. Again great player but not in the team of the season.

    Looks like the other lads agree with me too man. Only one has him in the team and that is in as a sub.

    Take of the Scouse Blinders and acknowledge that “Next is going to be a “Next Year” year for Liverpool.”

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