The Best League In The World ???

In the next couple of weeks, four English clubs: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will be involved in the quarter final stage of the highest club competition tournament in Europe, The European Champions League. A phenomenal feat that would surely make any English natives hold their heads up high with pride and the right to claim, that today, the English Premier League is the best league in Europe and the world.

But, along with the phenomenon, comes an irony regarding English football itself. Despite having four clubs competing in the European Champions League quarter final, their very own national team failed to qualify for the EURO 2008 tournament in Switzerland and Austria. The question is why? Why can't they qualify when they have so many world class players and managers in their league?

The answer lies within the nationality of those world class players and managers. Take a look at the nationality compositions of the four clubs that made it through the quarter final. Exactly how many of them can be defined as "English?"

We have four top-class clubs and none of them are managed by an English manager. The closest thing that comes to an English manager is Alex Ferguson who is Scottish by nationality. Theo Walcott is the only top English player in the Arsenal squad, and he doesn't even see regular first team football. Liverpool only has two English players as regular starters: Steven Gerrard and Jammie Carragher. The same number goes for Chelsea.

With so many foreigners, I don't think it's fair to say that those who are involved in the quarter final can be called "English teams." Rather, they should be called a name that resembles global and European teams who use England as their base.

There has been a lot of criticism about too many foreigners playing in European clubs for quite some time now. But then again, this is the risk of progress, the risk of going global. European football, especially English football, has grown into an "international brand" for football since the early 90's. The Bosman rule, globalization, and the EU labor policies and laws make it possible for any player to work and play football in Europe, as long as they have the skills.

In recent years, we have also seen a number of huge investments in football clubs made by foreign investors. These investments are particularly taking place in England where investors see the most potential for growth and profit. Suddenly, we have a Russian oil tycoon, some American sugar daddies, and Dubai's crowned prince as owners of major European clubs. The football clubs have been taken away from their real owners, the fans. And to make things worse, most of the investors invested in football clubs just so they can sell their stocks back to gain profits. Their sincerity to put money into the long term success of the club is highly questionable.

As with any other investments, all that investors want are fast results. There is no time for them to wait for home-grown players to develop into world class footballers. They want to buy already established players, win some trophies as fast as possible, and increase the value of the club before selling it back to another blood thirsty investor.

Football clubs are being taken out of their roots all over England, and there's nothing the FA, UEFA or FIFA can do about it. They condemn the investments, but can do nothing because the reality is primarily concerned about the money. In a free global market, anyone who has the money is allowed to do whatever he pleases as long as it is within the law. And no law can prohibit the buying and selling of clubs.

This is the sad reality of global football, and it will affect the biggest football nations of Europe. Will they have strong clubs? The most definitely will, but will they have the usual strong national teams? That remains very doubtful...

Champions League Promises More Fun

There are just 8 teams left in the uefa champions league race out of the 32 that started.The Road to the final in Moscow is getting clearer by the day.The road promises to be fun and tough with four games coming up in April alone.

Yes, for the first time, both quarter-finals and both semi-finals will take place in one month, thanks largely to the looming European Championships.

As such, the importance of having a squad, and the effect of telling engagements in domestic competitions threatens to be greater than ever.

The Draw has paired Arsenal against Liverpool,Manchester Against Roma in a game that Roma will definitely want to win in search of revenge of last season's 7-1 defeat to Manchester United,Barcelona will be Up against Schalke In a tricky match that Barca is expected to win without much problems,Chelsea got their prayers answered when they were paired against Fenerbahce in a game that chelsea will must definitely win

Admittedly, Schalke and Fenerbahce are being considered relative outsiders, but the Germans progressed from a group containing Chelsea and Valencia, while the Turks dealt with Inter and PSV in proud fashion. Then, the steel shown to hold their own and win penalty shoot-outs on away turf can not be ignored either.

Barcelona and Roma, meanwhile, won both home and away, and showed that they can be unstoppable on their day.

It is also the right time to remember some of the legendary clubs that will not be here, talking about the likes of Nine time champions Real Madrid and the defending champions Ac Milan. Bernd Schuster's and Carlo Ancelotti's sides were sent out by two young and energetic sides that proved to Europe that football is not all about the big bucks. Roma and Arsenal, as such, will be very difficult to eliminate, for sheer ebullience if nothing else.

Then we have Chelsea and Liverpool, two sides that have been humiliated in the FA Cup this season (Barnsley take a bow), but who will prove to be an entirely different proposition over two legs. Absolutely nobody will be rested, and there is no chance they will be complacent, for both managers need silverware to secure their respective positions.

And finally, we have Manchester United, who have been installed as favourites for the competition by 90% of the bookmakers, due largely to the fact that they are a lot stronger than the side that looked lost at San Siro last April.

Of course, there is the individual angle as well. The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo are in the running for the Ballon d'Or, and can silence any doubters by guiding their team to glory. Lionel Messi is unlikely to be fit for the quarter-finals, but even he remains in the fray, along with new entrant Fernando Torres.

The Spaniard has not been mentioned as a candidate yet, but with 26 goals already, if he can guide Liverpool to the Champions League and score a few for Spain this summer, he will probably have 40 for the season. Francesco Totti is another player who has always been overlooked for major awards largely because of lack of silverware. Could European glory offer just the excuse to the jury?

Much will depend on the path that is laid out in front of them - whom they face, whether they play home or away first - and it will all be unveiled on Friday afternoon.

Updates:

1. The 8-0 hammering of Besiktas makes Liverpool the team with the most goals in the competition - 21 from eight games.

Barcelona and Arsenal come in second with 16, while Schalke are last, with just six in eight games. Meawhile, Barcelona are runaway leaders in terms of total shots on target - a mammoth 66.

Team Goals scored in 8 games Liverpool 21 Barcelona 16 Arsenal 16 Roma 15 Manchester United 14 = Chelsea 14 Fenerbahce 13 Schalke 6

2. On the defensive front, Chelsea have been the most miserly, having conceded just the two in eight games, which is what makes them one of the most difficult to knock-out.

Attack-minded Arsenal are the surprise second placed team with four, just ahead of Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Schalke. Fenerbahce conceded five at the last 16 stage to ensure they bring up the rear.

The list, more than anything, indicates just how mean you have to be to win this trophy in the modern era.

Team Goals conceded in 8 games Chelsea 2 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 = Barcelona 5 = Manchester United 5 = Schalke 5 Roma 8 Fenerbahce 11

3. Finally, if we measure success as the number of points picked up from eight games (allocating points even for the two knock-out games for the sake of analysis), we find Barcelona at the top of the pile, being chased down by Arsenal, Roma and Manchester United.

As an aside, Barcelona, Man Utd and Chelsea are the only unbeaten teams in the competition. Schalke bring up the rear after having practically squeezed through at every stage thus far.

Team Points from 8 games Barcelona 20 Arsenal 17 =Roma 17 = Manchester United 17 Liverpool 16 = Chelsea 16 Fenerbahce 14 Schalke 11

The Quarter finals promise to be full of intrigues,goals ,tackles and so much surprises.I just can't wait to see the games

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : WHICH IS THE BEST LEAGUE IN EUROPE

For the very first time in the history of the champions league,4 teams from the same league (England) made have made it inot the quarter finals.Though this is not surprising since for the last 3 seasons we have always had at least 1 semi-finalist from England,last season witnessed the appearance of 3 semi finalist from England,something that will most likely repeat itself again should all the English Teams measure of to the standard expected of them in the quarter finals in April.

Even Spain and Italy at their best could only produce 3 quarterfinalist in between them,the question that comes to mind then is : WHICH IS THE BEST LEAGUE IN EUROPE? Or is it just a fluke ? Or is that the top four teams in England beginning to wake up ? Or is this the beginning of another dominance of England by English clubs,as was the case when Liverpool,Aston Villa and Nottingham forext won Seven European Cups In just eight seasons.

I just can not wait to see the games and most of the Excitement in the last 8 also involves English teams facing each other.The Gunners' Luck could only place them against veterans-Liverpool

Of the English quartet Chelsea will be the most happy, having drawn Fenerbahce, who on paper perhaps seem the weakest side left. However, Rick Parry of Liverpool revealed his relief at the fact that "at least we don’t have to go to Turkey." Whether this was a reference to the distances to travel or a fear of the Turkish dark horses was unclear.

It was also acknowledged by Parry that drawing an English side was bad luck, with the intriguing situation that the English four are looking some of the most competitive and strongest teams at the moment.

For the ever noisy English media the qualification of 4 Of their teams into the last 8 marks the beginning of an ear. Alex Ferguson, speaking before the draw, proclaimed that ‘the English league is the strongest in Europe’.

Even more telling than a Scot extolling the virtues of the English league was Kaka’s statement: "You can say that the Premier League is not only the best for this season but for what its teams have done over the last few years’." Soon after the draw in Nyon, a visibly relieved Txiki Begiristain, Barcelona's director of sport, also hailed the Premier League as "undoubtedly the strongest league in Europe."

You can blame the Englishmen once in a while for getting carried away, but when praise begins to come from those in the continent - there is most certainly some fire beneath all the smoke.

The fact of the matter is that seven quarter-finalists in two seasons and most possibly six out of eight semi-finalists over the same period is a feat not worth ignoring, even if Serie A and La Liga loyalists may attempt to shoot it down.

Manchester United who has been placed against Roma in a repeat of the quarter finals of last season will sure not be Happy to have Roma again,I am quick to warn the fans of the red devils not to expect a 7-1 win this time around.That said, the feisty reception the Red Devils' fans received in Rome last time round will worry some.

If they are to beat the Italian side they will have to play either Schalke or, more likely, Barcelona, a prospect that will have the mouths of fans the world over watering.

Meanwhile the winners of the all-English tie face either Chelsea or Fenerbahce. Chelsea and Liverpool have a habit of drawing each other in the knock out phases of cups. The Blues have, interestingly enough, often come off worse - unlike in the Premirship - and would be eager to seek revenge.

That said, I honestly think Arsenal has a better chance to progress than Liverpool ( forget the poor performance in the League ) though Liverpool seems to know how to play the ball when it comes to playing it in Europe so also their manager who has not been impressive in the local league but has a big chance in Europe.

This clash promises to be very interesting and full of goal and intrigues ,it is a tripple-header too, : too: the teams also meet in the league in the same week, so the sides will have plenty of opportunities to ‘get to know each other’.

This could be seen as the year the Premier League came of age, announcing itself to the rest of Europe as truly the strongest league on the planet. An all-English final would be the culmination of a true renaissance for the game in its country of origin.

Amid all the criticism directed at this country's football - some justified, some not quite - some of the great positives get forgotten, or deliberately ignored. Surely some credit is due.

I honestly think the dominance of the English League is real,and I look forward to a all English final in Moscow last in the year.I don't want to raise the dust here though but I stronghly believe in a Manchester united - Arsenal final,quote me anywhere

Kaka Looks Foward To "Beautiful" Game Against Arsenal

The contest pits the Milanese old guard against Arsene Wenger’s young guns. Kaka, whose real name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, recognises that Arsenal will offer a stern test of Milan’s credentials. Nevertheless, he backs the Rossoneri to dump the English side out of the competition and add to the club’s seven European triumphs.

"People have called this tie against Arsenal a match between an ageing team and a new young, up-and-coming side,” the reigning Fifa world player of the year said. “It is a fair comparison, because the average age in the first team here in Milan is 32, but that doesn't mean we'll struggle against them. Experience counts for everything at this stage of the Champions League.”

“This is a game we can enjoy. It can be beautiful.”

Despite Milan’s determination to succeed, Kaka does not underestimate the threat posed by Wenger’s team. Arsenal enjoy a five point lead in the Premiership over closest rivals Manchester United. However, the Gunners crashed out of the English FA Cup 4 –0 last Saturday against United. Many observers believe the Gunners boss decision not to play his strongest team showed that he had given priority to the match against the 2007 Champions League winners.

"This tie against Arsenal will be open and more interesting than if Milan had been drawn against Liverpool or Chelsea, teams that play more in the traditional English style," Kaka conceded. “They play football the way we like it to see it in Brazil, with style, changing position all the time, moving the ball among themselves so quickly.

“They have won Premier League titles, they were in the Champions League final a few years ago and they have real quality."

Wednesday’s Champions League match is seen as crucial to the Milan team which has not hit its best form this season and lies 21 points behind city rivals Internazionale in Serie A. Kaka sees the Champions League game as a chance for Milan to ignite their season.

"We were inconsistent in the first half of the season," said Kaka. "But we have recovered since the turn of the year and have lost only once in Italy since then, even if the top is still a long way off.

“That means the Champions League is the most important competition we're in - win that and your names are etched down in history, far more so than if you win the domestic league. We are too far behind in Serie A, so the priority is completely to win the Champions League again."

Carrick: ‘Title Race Is Not Over’

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick admitted he was disappointed by today's derby defeat at Old Trafford but insists it hasn't dented the club's title ambitions.

It was Carrick who struck what turned out to be a consolation goal in injury time as United slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of local rivals Man City.

“Scoring doesn't really mean much because we lost, we’re all desperately disappointed,” he told MUTV. "We never got going and didn’t create the chances we normally do. That’s not like us.

City took the lead midway through the first half through former England international Darius Vassell and doubled their lead just before the interval when new signing Benjani glanced in a cross from the excellent Martin Petrov.

“Once City got the two goals it was hard to come back from it,” added Carrick.

“One goal down, you always believe you’ve got a chance of coming back, but two is difficult. We needed to score right after half time to give us momentum, but when we did score it was too little, too late.”

Arsenal could now move five points clear at the top of the league if they beat Blackburn at the Emirates Stadium on Monday but Carrick refuses to be despondent.

“I don’t think Arsenal will go the rest of the season without dropping points," the former Spurs midfielder continued. "There are still going to be ups and downs in the title race, and hopefully there will be more ups for us and we can overtake them.”

Lastly, he admitted that it was a shame that the game didn't go United's way on such an historic day for the club.

"It was good to see that the minute’s silence was well observed. But in terms of the game we’re not going home happy.”

Ronaldo Reclaims His Spot As Penalty King

Cristiano Ronaldo rediscovered his confidence from the penalty spot in the FA Cup fourth round against Tottenham and insisted he had no problem in stepping up to take the kick

Last month the Portuguese winger suffered the ignominy of missing a penalty in Man United's 2-1 victory over West Ham but when he was asked by MUTV if this was playing on his mind when he put the ball on the spot in his side's 3-1 win over Spurs he replied: "To be honest, no."

"Sometimes you score, sometimes you miss," he continued, philosophically. "I wasn't thinking about West Ham - that's in the past. I needed to think about the present.

"My confidence is always positive. I took a good penalty and I scored. I'm very happy, my colleagues are happy... everyone is happy."

The player did, however, admit that his side didn't have it all their own way against an organised and threatening Tottenham.

"The game was very difficult," added Ronaldo, who scored two goals in an otherwise average performance by his standards.

"We knew before the game it would be tough because Spurs are a good team and they were coming to Old Trafford with confidence after beating Arsenal in their last match.

"But I think we played better (than Spurs) and we deserved to win."

Ronaldo's two strikes took his tally of goals for the season to 25, two more than his total for the whole of the last campaign.

"I'm having a great season and I need to carry it on. But the most important thing is the team is playing very well, we are top of the league and in the next round of the FA Cup," he concluded.

Manchester Or Madrid? A Question Of Culture

The English Premier League touts itself as the greatest in the world. It’s certainly up there. It’s the most watched domestic championship globally and few teams anywhere can better the big four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.


The Premiership is a major success story, a true money spinner and has attracted some classy individuals. There’s just one problem with it: it’s in England.

I love watching the Premier League. I enjoy the coverage of the games, I think the stadia are terrific (far better than you’ll see in either Italy or Spain) and for me there’s no finer city in the world than London. But I’m an Englishman, not a South American superstar.


A comment from Bayern Munich defender Lucio got me thinking: The Brazil captain has played in the Bundesliga for many years and enjoyed enormous success there, but Germany will never be his true aim.


“I dream of playing in Spain or Italy,” he admitted. “It’s almost impossible to convince Brazilian stars playing in Serie A or La Liga to move to the Bundesliga. It’s not to do with Bayern, but the country. In Italy and Spain, the culture, the habits and the language are much more similar to Brazil. Bayern can’t compare to that.”


Swap ‘Munich’ for ‘Manchester’ and you get my point. In a climate where so many of the game’s greatest players are of Latin origin, English football will find it hard to compete for the top players. For the Portuguese or the South Americans, top Spanish and Italian sides are the pinnacle. Once there, not even whopping great bundles of English cash are likely to force their hands unless, like former Barcelona man Juliano Belletti, they are told it’s time to go.


This doesn’t mean Latin talents won’t ever come to England and succeed (Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best player in the world at the moment, proves they do and can), but it does mean that Premiership sides must act swiftly to beat their Spanish and Italian cousins to emerging talents. England is a step up for a player at a club in South America, Portugal, France or Eastern Europe. But if he’s a Spanish, Italian or Portuguese speaker, it’s likely he considers the Premier League a poor relation to Serie A or La Liga for cultural rather than footballing reasons. United beats Parma, Liverpool beats Atlético (as we saw with Fernando Torres) but neither beats Real Madrid.


A look at the most successful Latin players in the Premiership illustrates this: Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano reached the north west via West Ham and the Brazilian league; Anderson left Porto; Elano came to City via Shakhtar Donetsk; Xabi Alonso to Liverpool from a smaller Spanish side. Even Cesc Fabregas was tempted by London because he feared for his chances at Camp Nou. Those who do move from Real, Barcelona or Milan to England were usually outcasts or, like Andriy Shevchenko, from an entirely different culture altogether.


Just like we never got to see Diego Maradona, French legend Zinedine Zidane or Brazilian duo Ronaldo and Rivaldo in England, the likelihood is that we have now also missed the boat on Lionel Messi, Kaká and Alexander Pato, who already play at top Spanish or Italian sides. Even Ronaldinho appears to favour Serie A over the Premier League should he leave Barcelona in the summer.


Yet, like Lucio at Bayern, the threat always exists that one day stars such as Tevez, Torres or Cristiano Ronaldo will head south to seek new challenges in a country that tugs more forcefully on their emotional heartstrings. And while it might be frustrating for fans to see these players leave, there’s little we English can do about it short of turning Manchester into a continental metropolis (and who among us would want that anyway?). In terms of bringing Latin talents to our league, English football’s task remains to discover promising individuals before rival clubs in Spain or Italy do.


Of course, the cultural divide has its advantages, too: Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs or Steven Gerrard are unlikely to ever trade their respective red shirts for the white of Madrid or the black and blue of Inter. And northern European stars like Petr Cech, Michael Ballack and Alexander Hleb could probably remain happily in England for the rest of their careers.


But for as long as southern Europe and South America continue to produce many of the best players, the world’s top stars will continue to consider the Premier League second best, even if the football is first class.

Source Goal.com

Sir Alex Ferguson Reads The Riot Act

Sir Alex Ferguson, 66 tomorrow, was incensed when his Manchester United first-team squad let down themselves and the club with an infamous Christmas Party of excess that attracted lurid headlines and resulted in one of his players being accused of rape.

Now Ferguson has warned all his players that they face the chop if they step out of line again.

He said: "Football has changed but you cannot lose your control.

"We make changes here at Manchester United when we see anyone interfering with that control. When we see this it's time for them to go."

Until now, Ferguson has kept his counsel, at least in public, about the party that led to Jonny Evans being arrested.

But he is said to be furious about the damaging publicity the pre-Christmas binge inevitably attracted.

Ferguson's mood was unlikely to have been lightened by his team's surrendering of top spot in the Premier League to Arsenal by losing 2-1 at West Ham on Saturday.

The man whio has been in charge at Old Trafford for 21 success-laden years, explained: "Times have changed for me as a manager.

"But this club is based on everyone together. When anyone starts going off at tangents you have to make changes."

And he accused some of today's top players of being selfish and obsessed with a 'celebrity' culture.

"What annoys me about some footballers today is the personal glory thing," he added.

"They score a goal and knock players out of the road so they can get personal gratification and play to the fans.

"The present day footballer needs to be noticed with his ear-rings and tattoos. But people in general need to be noticed, it's not just footballers.

"They don't go to small, intimate restaurants, they go to places that are big and bright where you are seen and get noticed. It is difficult to control."