Tribute to Derby County

I'll be honest with you. I've written over 300 posts here on English Soccer Talk since I started this site, and other than in my preseason predictions and my midseason summaries, I can't remember any posts specifically about Derby County or even mentioning that club in another post for more than a sentence or two.

Well, don't accuse me of not being an "equal opportunity" writer. I'm going to use this time to salute the Rams, who were officially relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship after last weekend's round of games.

Derby County FC:

Just by the "eye test", and I like to think I know a little bit about this game, Derby County has been the worst Premiership team I've ever seen.

Too harsh? Don't agree with me? Ok, that's fine. Let me give you a few stats to prove my point.

1. With six games left to play, Derby needs at least four more points to avoid becoming the team with the fewest points total in Premier League history. Those four points would give Derby 15, which would equal the record held by the 2005-2006 Sunderland squad. Five points, obviously, would propel Derby over the top. Can you see them getting five points from a schedule including games against Everton, Aston Villa, West Ham, Arsenal, Blackburn, and Reading? I can't.

2. Derby has one win in 32 league games. If that figure stands, Derby would have the fewest wins for one team in Premiership history. That 2005-2006 Sunderland team managed to win a whopping three matches, which is the current low.

3. The Rams' -51, yes, you read that right, -51, goal differential is the third-worst in Premiership history behind Swindon Town's -53 in 1993-1994 and Ipswich Town's -57 the following season. Remember, Derby still has six games to eclipse that record, and two or three of their opponents score goals for fun.

4. Their manager, Paul Jewell, was recently rumored to be involved in a sex tape scandal. It's unclear whether there's actually any evidence of this or if it was simply tabloid fodder, but still, this is pretty funny. You would think the manager of a woeful Premiership team would spend his time thinking of ways to improve his side, or be out on the training field with his players, or just something involved with soccer.

Apparently not Paul Jewell, who would rather make a sex tape with, if you believe the reports, a woman who isn't even attractive. If he's that good from behind, if you know what I mean, Derby should've been able to come up with some better results this season.

Alright, I really don't want to bash Derby any more. As soon as they won the playoff final to gain promotion to the Premiership for this season, they basically had their ticket to return to the Championship next season. It's extremely difficult to come from the Championship and compete with the big boys, especially when the money in England's top flight is flying around like it is and there's such a financial and competitive disparity between the two leagues.

They also have two Americans, Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis, on their roster, and I like that. Feilhaber hasn't gotten a chance to play much this season, which I don't understand. One would think Jewell would try and get his youngsters as much experience as he can because some of the veteran players, like Robbie Savage, for one, won't be playing for Derby next year, and surely Feilhaber can't be that much worse than who is playing ahead of him. Lewis has played signficant minutes for the Rams and hasn't looked bad at all, especially considering his age and the position he plays. Ryan Giggs on that left wing, he is not, but he's still serviceable.

The players also clearly haven't given up and packed it in for the season, and that's more than I can say for some players at Spurs and West Ham, for starters. Derby's fans continue to pack Pride Park as well and again, that's more than I can say about fans of teams in a better position than Derby, like Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Wigan, and others.

So long, Derby. You've been one of the worst teams in league history, but it's been nice knowing you, and good luck in the Championship next year.

Full-Time Thoughts--Arsenal vs. Liverpool

It’s all over in North London and after the first leg, Arsenal and Liverpool are level 1-1 on aggregate and will settle things at Anfield in six nights’ time. Briefly, here’s what I thought of today’s game:

• First of all, it should be said, and I know I’m stating the obvious, that this was a proper game of soccer. Both teams laid it all on the line and we saw a little bit of everything, from goal-line clearances, good, clean challenges, two well-crafted goals, and solid refereeing.

• Liverpool were extremely fortunate to get out of the Emirates with a 1-1 draw, and now they’ll head home in command of the tie. Arsenal had more chances and dominated possession in the second half, but couldn’t capitalize. They huffed and huffed, but couldn’t blow the Liverpool house down.

• William Gallas and Dirk Kuyt were terrific for their respective sides. Gallas compeletely neutralized the world’s most in-form striker at the moment, Fernando Torres, and was everywhere in the back for Arsenal. You’ll never hear anyone say Kuyt has a lot of natural talent and skill, but he’s the hardest worker on the field whenever he plays and Liverpool needed every ounce of his determination and energy today. Oh yeah, and he scored the Reds’ goal. Not too shabby.

• The Dutch referee, Pieter Vink, made the correct decision in not awarding a penalty for the Kuyt/Hleb incident in the second half. Sure, Kuyt had his arms on Hleb, but the Belorussian went down pretty easily and to be honest, wasn’t looking to score as much as he was looking for a penalty. I will guarantee you that there are Premiership referees who would’ve given a PK, because I’ve certainly seen them give penalties for less, but more so because they tend to give in to home crowds on questionable calls. Vink was looking right at the situation and had a clear view of it; he made the decision, and that’s it, end of story. It’s a talking point, but that’s all it is.

• Bringing Yossi Benayoun on for Ryan Babel was a complete waste of a substitution. Benayoun is a central midfielder; I don’t care that he's played on the wing this season for Liverpool, he’s a natural central midfielder. He doesn’t offer you pace and two-footed ability like Babel does, and Kolo Toure’s job on the right side became that much easier when Benayoun was brought into the game.

• Other than his run to set up Kuyt’s goal, Steven Gerrard really didn’t have much of an impact on the game. He made a couple of nice passes and won a couple of corner kicks, but I just didn’t see the same player who’s made his reputation off thriving on European nights. He’ll have to come up big for Liverpool next Tuesday night.

• On the other hand, Arsenal’s talisman, Cesc Fabregas, didn’t have a particularly good game either. Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso really limited the amount of time Fabregas had on the ball and closed him down very well. His long balls, which he’s known for, were constantly being hit 4-5 yards past where they needed to be to give Adebayor, van Persie, and Bendtner a chance to do what they do best: score goals.

• I don’t want to hear any more plugs from ESPN to take part in Derek Rae's chat session on ESPN Soccernet; I like the guy a lot and think the world of him as a play-by-play man, but I have no interest. Thanks anyway.

• As I said, Liverpool now controls their own destiny. A 0-0 draw next week will suit them just fine, and the 12th man that is the crowd at Anfield will be roaring. Can Arsenal’s inexperienced (not young) team, at least on the European stage, cope with it? We’ll see.

It will be very interesting to see the lineups that Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez field for their league game this weekend. Arsenal needs every single point that they can get as they’re trying to hunt down Manchester United for the league title, while Liverpool are seemingly secure in 4th place. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Benitez opts to rest Torres, and possibly Carragher and/or Gerrard, to have them all 100% for the second leg, but Wenger has to go with a full-strength team because Arsenal likely needs to win the rest of their Premiership games.

In today’s other Champions League game, Turkish side Fenerbahçe made me look good on my prediction yesterday by beating Chelsea at home 2-1. I don’t think they’ll be able to hold that lead at Stamford Bridge next week, but I’ve been very impressed with Fenerbahçe’s run in this competition and they’ve given their fans a lot to cheer about. They’ve put Turkish soccer on the map, and in the southeastern Europe/Balkan region, that league is clearly tops.

Halftime Thoughts--Arsenal vs. Liverpool

• It’s been a tale of two halves; Arsenal had the better of things and were in control for the first 20 minutes or so, and Liverpool came alive for the last 20-25 minutes.

• Very impressed with Liverpool’s immediate response to Adebayor’s goal. Once again, Steven Gerrard, the captain, put the team on his back and came up with a nice run and low cross for Kuyt to finish.

• Ryan Babel needs to continue to run at Kolo Toure. I said this in my “keys to the game” yesterday, and when Babel did use his speed on the left wing, he was fairly successful. Toure can’t match him step-for-step, and I’d expect to see Babel wear him down gradually in the second half.

• Pepe Reina is a fine, fine goalkeeper, but his relative lack of height for a goalkeeper puts him at a disadvantage on corners and free kicks. Arsenal needs to keep pumping the ball into the area, where Adebayor is having his way with Hyypia and Skrtel right now.

• Speaking of Hyypia, I have no idea why he is in the lineup. He is 34 years old now and has lost more than a step. He was exploited by Adebayor on the first goal and as I said, Arsenal needs to take advantage of Hyypia through the air and on the ground with pace.

• Jamie Carragher despises playing right back, but he does a good job there and it shows how much he cares about Liverpool FC by playing out of position for the team. With that said, him not being in the center allows Adebayor to win balls more easily in the air and I have a feeling Bendtner will be brought on as well.

• 1-1 clearly favors Liverpool, so Arsenal will have to push for a second goal. That should make for a great second half.