Race to Title

We are at the end of March, which means there is only 1.5 months before we see the champions of Europe's elite leagues. Title race was not that close a couple of months ago as Inter dominated the Serie A without losing a single game, as R.Madrid took advantage of Barcelona's inconsistency by increasing the point difference to as high as 8, and as Wenger's youthful side was unforseenly solid in the Premiership. Now today is 26th of March , let's see what has changed in title race beginning with the Barclay's Premiership:

MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United is at the top of the Premiership thanks to the consecutive draws by Arsenal ( 5 times ) and their perfect run. C.Ronaldo is again impressive this year as new guys C.Tevez , Nani , Anderson and Hargreaves adapted to the team easily and performed very well throughout the year. Defending champions Manchester United is favourites to retain the Premiership once again. Manchester United doesn't really have any kind of weaknesses or handicaps, it is possible that they can make double this year by winning the Champions' League and the Premiership. It won't be a surprise...

CHELSEA

Chelsea is in the second place, 5 points behind Manchester United despite internal problems in the squad as D.Drogba and some others want to leave the club after Euro 2008. Avram Grant will be shown the door if he can not win the league or the champion's league. Chelsea is already out of FA Cup and Carling Cup ( losing to Barnsley ). If Chelsea can maintain the 5 point difference before their match against Manchester United, with a win against them, they will have a good chance of winning the title even it seems quite difficult. Who knows ... If Mourinho was not sacked by impatient Abramovich who created a mess by this decision, Chelsea may have been in the 1st place in the Premiership at this time of the year.

ARSENAL

Arsenal is a point back from Chelsea, their terrible run lately have cost them inevitably. It seem like Eduardo's injury affected them both on and off the pitch. However this is not the only reason, Bendtner and Adebayor's in-game arguments, as well as team's captain William Gallas' involvement is a sign of pressure on Arsenal team. As a youthful side that has lots of inexperienced players sometimes can not carry that kind of a pressure. Anyway, even if the Gunners can not be the champions this year, it won't matter much. They are already much respected and regarded succesful with their performance. Also they are still in the Champions' League, by eliminating the defending champions, much experienced AC Milan, which means they have a chance to reach to the final and win the cup even. That's possible if not probable.

LIVERPOOL

Liverpool is in the 4th place with 59 points, which means they are 14 points behind Manchester United. Liverpool started the season pretty well, with Torres' awesome contribution Liverpool was flying high. But then came the much criticized rotation policy by Rafael Benitez. He didn't use his on-form striker Torres in some games according to his rotation policy and Liverpool lost some valuable points and their place in the top 4. Liverpool was also quite bad in the Champions' league as they only had 1 point in the first 3 games lying 4th in the group. It was hard times for Merseysiders and Benitez but they started their run in the Champions' league by winning their last 3 games and qualifying from the group in the 2nd place. Then they eliminated Internazionale , winning 2-0 at home and 1-0 in San Siro. By their impressive display in Europe they reminded everybody that they CAN win this cup once again. However in the Premiership, they are far away from the title race , aiming to participate in the Champions' League by being 4th at the end of the season. Their city rivals Everton are 2 point behind Liverpool , threatening them for the 4th place. Everton's latest form is quite inconsistent and Liverpool have the quality to be 4th at the end of the season. But again it seems they are aiming to conquer Europe once again.

Quote of the Week 2

` We , and I include Portugal with Italy, forget to teach the other side of football, the one which is also beautiful, the one which says it`s a game. Here in England they teach that, but they forget to teach the other things you learn in Italy or Portugal ; hydration, what to eat, the way you behave, the way you train, the way you stretch. ` Jose Mourinho from Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti`s The Italian Job Book.

Goalkeepers are victimized by the new, high-tech balls ?

Are they ? Said by many goalkeepers in the world cup last year, and as far as i can remember they said it in the Euro 2004 as well. Probably we`ll hear about that in the upcoming Euro 2008 too.

Is the football being played more defensively compared to 5-10 years ago ? Nearly every team is using 2 defensive midfielders , even some of them use 3 holding midfielders and leave 1 in the forward ? Yes, that`s very common.

Combine these two and come to my argument: Goalkeepers are more or less the same in today`s football excluding world-class keepers. Well, because the teams are playing more defensively , not much of a threat is coming down to the feet of the goalkeepers. And Because the balls are high-tech and flying so fast, giving advantage to the offensive players, most of the goalkeepers can not do anything for some shots. That brings us to this point: If your goalkeeper doesn`t have outstanding skills, a balanced keeper, a succesful all-around goalkeeper ( but not in top 50 in the world let`s say ) fills the goalkeeper role in an important team.Robinson made some silly mistakes, now Cerny is the first choice. And he won`t be replaced unless he makes the same silly mistakes, or gets injured. Almunia played a long time after Lehmann made sloppy mistakes as well. Can we put Almunia to top 50 keepers in the world? I don`t think so. But , we don`t expect much from the goalkeepers. Simply, there are shots ( with the help of fast flying balls) that can not be stopped. It doesn`t matter if you are Lehmann or Almunia, it will be a goal. And because the defence helps the kepeers a lot , because the teams play more defensively, goalkeepers` responsibility will be minimal.

By the way i am not talking about high-class keepers here like Cech, Buffon or Casillas.

Group System is useful in the UEFA CUP ?

I am not sure if UEFA will go back to the old system in the UEFA CUP. It`s been 3 or 4 years since the group system is being applied. I hardly see the benefit of this system as an an admirer of football. I don`t think it is enough to test the strength of the teams as even the 3rd placed team can qualify in a 5 team group. It is not a big deal for a team to collect 4 or 5 points in 4 games to qualify. In the old system there had been a larger probability of a surprise to occur. If stronger teams were going into the UEFA cup, this group system might have been interesting. Or if the group system was applied after the 3rd round in the uefa cup rather than the 1st round. For me the real uefa cup is starting at this moment... Right after the group stage and when the 3rd placed teams in the champions` league come into play. It is the time when we see more quality.

Quote of The Week - Feb. 12

' If I were a twenty-year old at Barcelona today, I would never make it as a professional. At best I'd be playing in the third division. What can you do ? I am not quick, I never had the stamina to run for ninety minutes like central midfielders have to do today. I am not good in the air, I am not physically strong... All i could do is pass the ball fairly well... ' Josep Guardiola from Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti's The Italian Job Book.

Villa needs to think twice before going to England

David Villa announced that he likes to play in the Premier League. Chelsea or Tottenham may bring villa to the UK. Villa said it is his dream to play in the England. In his playing days at Valencia, Villa often dived at tackles, sometimes he cheated the refs, sometimes he got punished by the yellow card. I am not a fan of diving, neither the English people. There won't be a type of crowd that makes noise for a penalty when Villa dives. Villa won't get any credit of diving. Besides the football is played much more physical in England, how the injury-prone striker will adapt to it ? Also he won't have his Spanish compatriots helping him to adapt. It is true that Valencia is underachieving this season and Villa has a right to move on, but he has to think twice before coming to UK, if it would be a good carreer move or not.

New Qualification System for Euro Cups and / or World Cups

In the recent years as you know, club football is seen more important than the international football. We`ve seen a lot of players who did nothing at all in the big tournaments , who showed no will to play, just to return healthy to their clubs. We`ve seen so many teams that has great players but fail to achieve. I have an idea on my mind to change the system of qualifying campaign for euros, and the world cups.

I suggest that 0 qualifying games should be played in the 4 year year period after a Euro or World Cup Final. The qualifying games shall be played 3 months before the final. What does that mean? The leagues shall end in the beginning of March. Because there will be no international break, there will be european or domestic games midweek. The normal season will end in March. And the national teams gather up to play all of the qualifying games. Let`s say it is a 6 team group, there will be 10 games to be played. In 1 or 1,5 month the games will be completed. Then there will be the draw for the Euro or the World Cup. The teams will play the cup games in 1 month. What does that system may bring?

+ National teams won`t lack match practice before the cup ( no need for frendlies )

+ The adaptation of the footballers that will play in the cup will be easier.

+ The coaches will be able to field fully motivated players whose minds are not in their clubs.

+ The nations will be more concentrated on the national team. Because it is a short period, the qualifying games will attract more attention.

+ There will be fair selection. The players who played well in the entire season will be rewarded, not the ones who play well for 3-4 weeks than drop down in form.

+ No more complaints about players who return to their club injured from a midweek international game.+ An expected increase in the quality of football in the tournament.

+ The system will be applied every 2 years, not every year ( if it is applied on both cups )

- Hard to organize a fixture like that.

- Less break for players.

- League matches will be played in the winter season mostly.