Monday, April 7, 2008

EPL

This one is about the most prestigious leagues of the world, the English Premier League!
This season, the league has seen lot of ups and downs. Many shocks which is topped by Jose Mourinho's resignation, followed by Tottenham's sacking of manager Martin Jol after being the 2nd highest spender last summer. Arsenal proved to be the biggest title contender but the Eduardo mishap really broke their chase. Derby are set to be relegated with the least points ever. Cristiano Ronaldo tops the scorers (that was big shock :D !)
However, the most outstanding team have been (ok since i m a big fan, its got to be this) Chelsea. They held the nerve throughout the season. Even after the shock resignation, the club continued to be consistantly dominant. They excelled in the Champions League and are the biggest contender for title after being just 3 points adrift of the leaders. The most unlikely thing to have happened after the departure of Mourinho. Many players were heartbroken and the team spirit was low. But now they look like taking the double. Even if there was the League Cup debacle and the shameful FA Cup exit, Chelsea still kept their nerves and are fighting to get the Champions League trophy and the Premier League title.
Arsenal, in the beggining caught everyone's attention and remained undefeated for long. But after the Eduardo mishap, they look shattered. After losing Henry the previous summer, they looked like a bunch of collage going children who would hardly know how to play professional football. However, they played very well and were consistantly winning. They topped the table for most of the season. But now, they have a long list of injuries which has let the title hopes down. Their only possible trophy for the season could be the Champions League but they have a hard task to beat Liverpool.
Liverpool landed Fernando Torres during the summer transfer and looked really difficult opposition and the most possible title contenders. But they failed everyone. They had a civil war amongst the owners. Besides, they too were plagued by injuries to key players. They got off to the worst possible Champions League start with no win in first three outings. They lacked consistancy and hence made a mockery of themselves. They were out of League Cup after losing to Chelsea and ended their FA Cup campaign against the giant-killer Barnsley. The feud between the coach and the owner affected their game. Even now, they are reliant only on one man- Torres. Liverpool certainly deserved better position this season but their inconsistancy gave way to their terrible performance. Their only hopes are only of the Champions League glory but they have to face the mighty Arsenal.
Manchester United, the champions of last year. They spent the most. The Tevez saga was the peak at the beginning of the season. They landed Nani, Anderson, Tevez, etc to their already star and overhyped line up. They got off to worst possible start for the season with only 2 points from the first 3 games. They however, became more consistant and finally overtook Arsenal. They defeated teams after scoring in tons. Their main find was Cristiano Ronaldo. They got knocked out of League Cup and FA Cup competition. They topped their group in Champions League and were so far lucky not to face one of the toughest oppositions in Europe. Even they shared the woes of injury. Their so-called caption Garry Neville was never seen. Ryan Giggs seems to have lost steam. Paul Scholes looks to be more of a bench warmer even though he plays really well. Their major force up front is Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez. They seem to have sacked Louis Saha, and Park Ji Sung. They are certain of a berth in the semi-finals of the Champions League but Fergie would keep his fingures crossed as their title rivals Chelsea are evry close and Manchester United have still got to visit the Bridge!
{to be updated about spurs later}!

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