Portsmouth Wins FA Cup

Nwankwo Kanu tapped home a cross parried away by Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman in the 37th minute, the Bluebirds' Glenn Loovens had a goal taken away for a handball right before the first half ended, and Portsmouth was able to hang on for a 1-0 victory today in the FA Cup final in front of a crowd of 89,874 at Wembley.

The win ensures that Portsmouth will be playing in the UEFA Cup next season, as they'll join Everton, Manchester City, and possibly Aston Villa if the Birmingham-based club makes it out of this summer's Intertoto Cup. Harry Redknapp, who did a great job this year on the South Coast, won his first real trophy in the top flight. He had Portsmouth on track to qualify automatically for the UEFA Cup for a large part of the season, but after his team reached the final of this competition, they took their foot off the pedal in the league and played solely to win this game.

The win also gives Portsmouth a chance to win another trophy next season. They'll meet Manchester United, the Premiership champions, in the Community Shield on August 10, a week before the 2008-2009 league season officially kicks off. Remember, Portsmouth knocked United out of the FA Cup this year at Old Trafford and held them to a draw at Fratton Park as well, so you can bet that there will be no fear from 'Arry's boys.

It was great to see two teams from outside the "Big Four" contest this game for a meaningful trophy. Cardiff is a Coca-Cola Championship side who was playing with house money for a UEFA Cup spot, and Portsmouth had to have this game to play in Europe next year. Both squads battled it out for 90 minutes and left it all on the field, and I don't think we would've seen that if two "Big Four" teams had reached the final. They don't care much about the cup competitions anymore, but everyone else does because they know it's their only real chance to win something.

Interestingly enough, though, I think because no "Big Four" teams were involved, the build-up and pomp surrounding this game from a national perspective wasn't there like it usually is. I just got a sense that this was sort of a throwaway game for the national media, and if that's the case, it obviously doesn't do justice to Portsmouth and Cardiff and that's a shame. It seems like there is always talk about how we don't want the "Big Four" to win everything, but when non-"Big Four" teams aren't playing, we seem to not care.

Don't take anything away from Portsmouth, and even Cardiff, for doing what they did. Just because neither team has an international reputation doesn't make their respective accomplishments any less significant. As I already said, Portsmouth knocked out the league champions at their place in their run the final and Cardiff are a Welsh-based team playing in England's second tier. Full credit to both teams, and particularly Portsmouth, for an entertaining match today.

Derek Rae Interviews Clarence Seedorf

This obviously doesn't have anything to do with soccer in England, but it's still an interesting interview. I was surprised that Seedorf pulled out of Holland's team for Euro 2008 as it looks to be the best Dutch team in recent years, but there is clearly a conflict between Seedorf and Marco van Basten, the outgoing coach of the Oranje.

Seedorf believes he still can bring something valuable to the table and can contribute, which is true, and van Basten has shown in recent years that he favors the younger generation -- guys like Robin van Persie and Rafael van der Vaart -- over the "old guard" -- Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mark van Bommel, Edgar Davids, etc. Instead of coming to camp to train hard and probably not get selected, Seedorf has opted to withdraw his name from the squad to perhaps avoid causing any unnecessary controversy and drama within the team.

End-of-Season Awards

The end of the season is upon us, with only the UEFA Cup final today and the Champions League final next week still to go.

It was an exciting year in the Premiership, and it's time to recognize the players who stood out the most over the long, arduous 38-game schedule. To do that, I'll use some the same categories I used before the season when I predicted who'd win these superlatives when it was all said and done, and also add some new ones as well. The players highlighted in bold were my preseason picks.

So, here we go, my 2007-2008 Premiership awards:

Most Outstanding Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Most Valuable Player: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Most Outstanding Goalkeeper: David James (Portsmouth)

Most Outstanding Defender: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

Most Outstanding Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo

Most Outstanding Striker: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Biggest Bust (summer signing): Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Best Bargain Buy: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)

Most Outstanding Newcomer: Fernando Torres

Top Young Player (20 years old and younger, 38 or less Premiership games played at start of season): Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

Manager of the Year: Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)

Team of the Year:
GK: David James
LB: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
CB: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
CB: Nemanja Vidic
RB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
CMF: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
CMF: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
RMF: Cristiano Ronaldo
ST: Fernando Torres
ST: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)

The Beauty of the Playoffs -- Part II

If you're still opposed to a playoff format at the end of the season, you're crazy. It doesn't have to be one that determines the champion, it can be one that determines the UEFA Cup places or Champions League places. After watching Bristol City book a date at Wembley in 12 days' time after beating Crystal Palace 2-1 today and 4-2 on aggregate in the Championship playoff semifinals, I'm more convinced than ever that some postseason system should be in place.

I didn't think the first leg of this tie could be topped in terms of excitement and drama, but I was wrong. This game went back and forth; both teams enjoyed dominant stretches where it looked like they'd be the side to advance. I watched the full 120 minutes today and came away impressed with both teams and both sets of supporters, although Crystal Palace's fans wanted to storm the field when their team was losing during extra time, presumably in order to get the match abandoned (GROW UP!!).

You just don't see many games like this during the regular schedule. There were so many twists and turns that I felt like I was watching a rollercoaster over and over again. The crowd was amazing, the goals were great, the tackles and 50/50 balls were all hotly contested, and there was even a missed PK that smacked the left post that could've won the tie for Crystal Palace. Lee Trundle, a terrific player but one who apparently has no right foot whatsoever, curled in a goal just right of the top of the penalty area to put City ahead in extra time, and a low, driven free kick from Michael McIndoe sealed the deal for Gary Johnson's team.

After this game, you just can't be opposed to a playoff system. Well you can be, of course, but you'd be insane if you weren't at least open to the idea.

Final Statistics

With the 2007-2008 Premiership season now in the books, let's take a look at the league leaders in several different league-only statistical categories.

Goals:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)--31
T2. Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)--24
4. Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)--19
T5. Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham), Benjani (Portsmouth/Manchester City), Yakubu (Everton)--15
9. Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)--14
10. John Carew (Aston Villa)--13

Assists:

1. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)--19
2. Ashley Young (Aston Villa)--17
3. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)--13
T4. David Bentley (Blackburn), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)--11
T7. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland)--10
T9. Carlton Cole (West Ham), Nicky Shorey (Reading), Martin Petrov (Manchester City)Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)--9

Yellow Cards:

T1. Michael Brown (Wigan), Nicky Butt (Newcastle), El-Hadji Diouf (Bolton)--11
T4. Kevin Davies (Bolton), Kevin Nolan (Bolton), Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham City), Christopher Samba (Blackburn)--10
T8. George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Alan Smith (Newcastle)--9

Red Cards:

T1. Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn--2
T4. Countless others, check premierleague.com for the complete list

Fouls:

1. John Carew (Aston Villa)--93
2. Kevin Davies (Bolton)--86
3. Michael Brown (Wigan)--80
4. Alan Smith (Newcastle)--78
T5. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham)--74
T7. George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benjani (Portsmouth/Manchester City), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa)--66

Appearances:

T1. Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Robert Green (West Ham), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), James Harper (Reading), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham), Martin Laursen (Aston Villa), George McCartney (West Ham), Jose Reina (Liverpool)--37

Attendance (Average):

1. Manchester United (75,691)
2. Arsenal (60,070)
3. Newcastle (51,320)
4. Liverpool (43,532)
5. Sunderland (43,344)
6. Manchester City (42,126)
7. Chelsea (41,397)
8. Aston Villa (40,029
9. Everton (36,594)
10. Tottenham (35,966)

Preseason Predictions Revisited

Alright, it's time for me to face the music and let you all have a go at me. I'm going to compare my preseason predictions as to how the final table would look with what has actually transpired over the 38-game season.

Here is my original prediction, and you can go back into the archives and look it up if you want proof:

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Portsmouth
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Bolton
10. Blackburn Rovers
11. Reading
12. West Ham
13. Fulham
14. Newcastle
15. Manchester City
16. Middlesbrough
17. Sunderland
18. Wigan Athletic
19. Birmingham City
20. Derby County

Now, here is the final table. Teams that I picked to finish exactly where they did are highlighted in bold:

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
5. Everton
6. Aston Villa
7. Blackburn Rovers
8. Portsmouth
9. Manchester City
10. West Ham
11. Tottenham
12. Newcastle
13. Middlesbrough
14. Wigan Athletic
15. Sunderland
16. Bolton
17. Fulham
18. Reading
19. Birmingham City
20. Derby County

As you can tell, I hit four out of the league's 20 teams on the head, which is a 20% success rate. I also correctly predicted six out of 20 (30%) to finish either exactly where they did or one spot above or below, and 11 out of 20 (55%) to finish either exactly where they did or two spots above or below.

On the whole, I didn't do a great job but that's why this league is what it is. It's extremely difficult to make these kind of predictions and have any significant amount of accuracy. This was also the first season that I've really gotten into the Premiership and followed it closely.

I can't wait until July, when I do my second annual "20 Teams in 10 Days" Premiership Preview, where I take a look at all the teams for next year, their summer comings and goings, and predict where they'll end up in reverse order.

Go for it, everyone, have at me. I know you want to!

Season Finale of "I'm on Setanta Sports"

In the last episode of the season, The Special One pays tribute to Sven in a fantastic song.

"WELL", sort of..

England 31-Man Provisional Squad Announced

Fabio Capello has announced a provisional 31-man roster for England's upcoming friendlies against the United States on May 28 at Wembley and at Trinidad & Tobago on June 1, likely in Port of Spain.

He didn't give any of his big guns a break after the long, grueling Premiership campaign -- Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, and Wayne Rooney were all picked. However, there's also a few relatively inexperienced players and several young up-and-comers in the squad, so Capello wisely opted for a nice mix in this group before he trims it down closer to the end of the month.

Here's the full roster:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Chris Kirkland (Wigan), Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: John Terry, Wayne Bridge, and Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry and Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Joe Cole and Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), David Bentley (Blackburn), Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Phil Jagielka (Everton)

Forwards: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth)

If it was up to me, I'd drop seven players from this group of 31 -- Bridge, Kirkland, Wheater, Downing, Jagielka, Jenas, and Ashton. Recognizing Ashton and Jagielka, in particular, and their contributions to their respective clubs this year was a great move by Capello, but I just don't think they have a place in the full England team right now.

I was pleased to see Joe Hart on this roster; he's had a fantastic first season in the Premiership. Glen Johnson's inclusion was much deserved, and of course, my man Ashley Young is in the team as well and that was good to see.

This is certainly a formidable squad, one that should come away with two wins in these friendlies. With that said, the US certainly won't be a pushover and I could see an exciting draw in that game, maybe 2-2.

David Noble's Wickedly Struck Game-Winning Goal Yesterday

Wow, check this out.

Boys and Girls, the Great Escape is Complete

Music fans may appreciate the title of this post, seeing as one of last summer's biggest hits was "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls.

Back to soccer though, and Fulham has escaped what was near-certain relegation a few weeks ago and will remain in the Premiership for another season.

This has been an ongoing theme here recently, as I'm sure you all have seen. I'm not going to go over the reasons I cheer for Fulham because I've done that before on multiple occasions, but I couldn't be more thrilled that Roy Hodgson's men got the job done at Fratton Park today with a 1-0 victory.

Fulham had their doubters all season, and even I was starting to give up hope a little bit about a month ago when they looked doomed for the drop. A remarkable comeback at Manchester City sparked by Diomansy Kamara turned everything around, though, and with their destiny in their own hands (or feet, or heads, as the case was today when Danny Murphy finished Jimmy Bullard's terrific free kick), Fulham was able to take care of business and beat Birmingham last week and then Portsmouth this afternoon.

It was a wonderful scene on the South Coast after the final whistle. Fulham's fans supported their team all season long, through thick and thin, from Lawrie Sanchez to Roy Hodgson, from mid-table to the relegation zone to safety. The players paid tribute to them today and you could tell how much it meant to both parties.

Roy Hodgson deserves a lot of credit for the work he's done this season, inheriting the mess that Sanchez left behind and molding them into a team with belief. He was the quintessence of calm today on the bench, even when Fulham were goalless for the first hour and ten minutes and needed to change that in order to survive.

The Americans on the team are so important, and we've seen that all year. When Brian McBride has been healthy, he's been able to score some hugely important goals. Clint Dempsey has been a workhorse, Kasey Keller played very well in goal since joining the club, Eddie Johnson got a couple run-outs up front in February and March, and even Carlos Bocanegra had a role at the beginning of the season.

Jimmy Bullard's return from injury was what really turned Fulham's fortunes around; he is a masterful set piece taker and is the creative force that Fulham desperately needed to have in their midfield. Danny Murphy came on strong at the end of the season and capped it off with the game-winning goal today.

It's a shame that the relegation battle came down to goal difference, just like it did last season. You all know my feelings on that; I touched on it briefly in my earlier post about Manchester United, and I truly feel bad for Reading.

As with United, I have to give my congratulations to Fulham, a team I picked to finish 13th this season. They didn't do that obviously, but they avoided the drop that many people believed they'd suffer and it'll be good to watch the Cottagers in the Premiership next season.

Hail to the Champions!

Manchester United's 2-0 victory today over Wigan, sealed fittingly by Ryan Giggs late, gave the Red Devils their 17th Premier League/First Division title and Sir Alex Ferguson his 10th since moving south from Aberdeen.

There really isn't too much to say about this game itself. Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the world this season, coolly slotted home a justly-awarded PK in the first half to give his team a lead they wouldn't let slip. Wigan were game for the duration, but never had that finishing touch necessary to put one by Edwin van der Sar. Marcus Bent looked dangerous at times for Steve Bruce, a former United captain, but didn't really threaten the net. Giggs came off the bench in the second half and is now tied with Sir Bobby Charlton for most career appearances for Manchester United with 758.

United's summer signings all were instrumental in their success this season. Carlos Tevez linked with Wayne Rooney to form one of the most lethal striking partnerships in Europe. Owen Hargreaves' versatility was absolutely critical when injuries struck and his free kick against Arsenal will go down in United's history. Nani and Anderson didn't contribute as much on the scoresheet, but both played valuable roles in the midfield and allowed the veterans like Scholes and Giggs to get as much rest as they needed.

United was my preseason pick to win the title and so it's good to nail that one right on the head. They were the best team in the league by a mile this season and are only 90 minutes away from earning the mantra as the best team in Europe in 2007-2008 as well. It won't be easy; it never is against Chelsea, but I like United to win that game 3-1 and complete the double.

Fortunately, the title didn't end up being decided on goal differential, something that I've harped on since I started this blog last summer, as Chelsea drew 1-1 with Bolton. Goal differential is no way to break ties; it's a semantical stat that doesn't always indicate the better team and favors the teams that score a lot of goals. When you look at Bolton last season, however, it shows that you don't necessarily need to play a high-flying, fast-paced style to be successful.

Congratulations to Manchester United, the champions of the Premiership.

Brief sidenote: Later this afternoon, I'll post my original preseason predictions and compare them to how the table finished up.

The Beauty of the Playoffs

Those of you against some form of playoffs at the end of the season, what do you have to say for yourself now?

Bristol City, a relative lightweight who won League One just last year, stunned most pundits' pick to win promotion to the Premiership, Crystal Palace, today with a 2-1 victory at Palace's Selhurst Park. The hosts looked like they were going to pull out a draw after equalizing through a Ben Watson PK in the 87th minute, but David Noble came up with an absolute cracker of a goal from 30 yards in the 93rd minute to give City the win. Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace side will now have to overturn the deficit in Bristol on Tuesday.

I don't want to say that this was a true David vs. Goliath story, but let's face facts: Crystal Palace was the form team coming into these playoffs having lost only once in their last 12 games. They had a +15 goal differential over Bristol City despite finishing three points behind. This is City's first year back in the Championship, whereas Palace was in the Premiership just a few years ago, and their stadium's seating capacity is only about 21,500. Palace have a manager in Neil Warnock who has a lot of experience in England's lower leagues and took Sheffield United to the Premiership. Looking at his roster, he has quite a few players that are fairly recognizable to soccer fans in Clinton Morrison, Scott Sinclair, Shefki Kuqi, Scott Flinders, and others. City, on the other hand, have maybe one name you've heard of -- Darren Byfield.

Suffice it to say that Palace looked to be the easy pick to go through to the Championship playoff final at Wembley, not Bristol City. If I was a betting man, I would've put a lot of money on it.

But that's the magic of the playoffs. You can't underestimate anybody because on any given day, any team is capable of getting a result. We see it all the time in the FA Cup and to a lesser extent, the Carling Cup. Yes, you can argue that that is because the Premiership teams don't care as much about those competitions any more, but you can't say that Crystal Palace doesn't care about being promoted to the Premiership.

It's not just the fact that City won, it's the manner in which they won. After giving up that PK, they would have had every excuse to fold up the tent and take a 1-1 scoreline back home. To their credit, they kept fighting and were rewarded with a game-winning goal in the 93rd minute to silence the home crowd. It was something dreams were made of. Rarely in real life do we see something like that happen, especially not in a game as meaningful as today's contest. You couldn't script it any better if you're affiliated with the Robins, either as a fan, player, or coach, and you couldn't be more heartbroken if you support Crystal Palace. In one minute, their hopes of returning to England's top flight were likely crushed.

You never know, though. Just as I said that David Noble's goal and City's win today was unlikely, Crystal Palace could come up with their own fairytale story and do the job in the return leg in Bristol.

That's what the playoffs are all about -- passion, life, exuberance, drama, and unpredictability. You just don't get that during a typical 38-game league season when most of the meaningful places have been wrapped up with a month and half left to play. Sure, it hasn't happened like that this year in the Premiership, but the fact of the matter is that the run-in of most seasons just doesn't have much excitement. This season has been an anomaly in that regard.

When I see moments like I saw today, it just makes my desire for a playoff format even stronger. I hope that my recent posts on this topic have forced you to think about it a little more, to think about how we can spice up a league that has become stale at the top.

Top 10 Goals of Euro 2004

If we see goals like this next month, we'll be in for a good summer.

England Awarded Extra Place in the UEFA Cup

UEFA announced their continental fair play rankings today and -- honestly, this amazes me with some of the tackles we see on a weekly basis -- England has come out on top. As a result, an extra UEFA Cup spot will be granted to the highest-ranked team on the Premier League's own fair play table that hasn't already automatically qualified for Europe next season.

Right now, that team is Manchester City, who are fifth in the current table behind Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool, all of which have already booked their place in Europe next year.

Everton and Fulham are still in with a shout for the extra UEFA Cup place as well, but the Toffees likely won't need it because a point gained on Sunday against Newcastle would seal a berth in Europe's second-tier club competition through their league position. Fulham, remember, will be doing everything they can to try and beat Portsmouth on Sunday in hopes of retaining their Premiership status, and if it takes one or two red cards and five or six yellows in the process, so be it.

England's fair play rankings won't be finalized until after Sunday's games, obviously, so we won't know for sure who the extra English representative in the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup will be until then.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Top 10 Goals of the 2007-2008 Season

Enjoy.

Summer Plans

With the 2007-2008 season winding down, it's time (unfortunately) to wind things down a little bit here as well.

Euro 2008 will be on everyone's minds this summer, and you'll be able to find coverage of that here as I'll be posting a daily recap much like I did for the African Cup of Nations in January. I definitely look forward to watching that tournament, the second-biggest international competition in the world, and will go out on a limb right now and pick England to advance past the quarterfinals and win the whole thing..

Oh wait, England won't be there. Whoops.

In all seriousness, I'm going with Portugal as my choice to win the Euros led by the best player in the world right now, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Posts concerning the Premiership will obviously become more infrequent as there just isn't much to talk about other than player movement and transfers. I'll keep you all updated on that, but the "Useful Soccer Sites" section on the left side of the home page has all the information you'll need to keep up with the goings-on in the summer.

When pre-season friendlies start picking up and teams start getting ready for next season in earnest, English Soccer Talk will pick up again to multiple posts every day (hopefully) like normal.

I'm also still flirting with the possibility of a weekly or bi-weekly podcast during the summer as a way to expand the site. I've lined up a couple of potential guests, so we'll see what happens and possibly by July, the debut of the English Soccer Talk podcast will be available for your listening pleasure.

It's been great writing this season, although I did take a bit of a break last fall, and I look forward to checking in as much as possible during the summer. Can't wait for the 2008-2009 season!

Football League Playoff Schedule

First of all, congratulations to West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City for their automatic entry into the Premier League next season, congratulations to Swansea and Nottingham Forest for heading up to the Championship, and congratulations to Paul Ince's MK Dons, Peterborough, and Hereford for their promotions to League One. Also, a shout out to Aldershot for winning the Blue Square Premier division and earning a berth into League Two.

With that out of the way, there are still three more promotion spots in total up for grabs through the playoffs, one in each league. The passion and win-or-go-home attitude displayed at this stage of the season is really a great treat to watch, and if the semifinalists are lucky enough to advance, a one-off, winner-take-all match in front of a massive crowd at Wembley awaits. No pressure or anything...

Here it is, the complete schedule for the Football League playoffs. Games start this weekend, so enjoy. All times are BST, home teams are listed first:

Championship:

Saturday, 10 May 2008
5. Crystal Palace vs. 4. Bristol City -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 12:15

Sunday, 11 May 2008
6. Watford vs. 3. Hull -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 12:00

Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Bristol City vs. Crystal Palace -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 19:45

Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Hull vs. Watford -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 19:45

Saturday, 24 May 2008
Winners 3rd vs. 6th vs. Winners 4th vs. 5th -- Final (@ Wembley), 15:00

League One:

Friday, 09 May 2008
6. Southend vs. 3. Doncaster -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 19:45

Monday, 12 May 2008
5. Leeds vs. 4. Carlisle -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 19:45

Thursday, 15 May 2008
Carlisle vs. Leeds -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 19:45

Friday, 16 May 2008
Doncaster vs. Southend -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 19:45

Sunday, 25 May 2008
Winners 3rd vs. 6th vs. Winners 4th vs. 5th -- Final (@ Wembley), 15:00

League Two:

Saturday, 10 May 2008
6. Darlington vs. 4. Rochdale -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 17:35

Sunday, 11 May 2008
7. Wycombe vs. 5. Stockport County -- Semifinal, Leg 1, 18:00

Saturday, 17 May 2008
Rochdale vs. Darlington -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 12:00
Stockport vs. Wycombe -- Semifinal, Leg 2, 18:00

Monday, 26 May 2008
Winners 4th vs. 7th vs. Winners 5th vs. 6th -- Final (@ Wembley), 15:00

Should the Premiership Have Playoffs?

There are those out there who believe the answer to the question is a resounding "no"; in fact, the vast majority of people I talk to are firmly against the concept of playoffs in the Premiership.

I hear the same arguments all the time: "Every game means something in the Premiership; it's not like the regular season in American sports, which counts for nothing" or "No, we don't need playoffs. The best team at the end of 38 games wins, and that's that" or "No, it goes against the tradition of the league".

You've all talked to people about this. It's a debate that pops up every now and again and gets shot down by the mass media every single time. They give you the same reasons for why a playoff structure shouldn't exist.

It's about time, though, that you heard the reasons FOR why the most exciting league in the world should have playoffs at the end of the year. Later on in this post, I'll describe my perfect system and explain how it would work.

1. First off, the "every game means something" argument is complete and utter rubbish. A certain host of World Soccer Daily feeds the audience that cliché every time when ripping the MLS and saying how it will never be more than a third-tier league, much less as good as the Premiership.

I'll tell you what, folks, that argument is invalid. By mid-February of each year, the only teams playing for anything are the teams fighting it out for the title (usually two or three), trying to avoid relegation (usually two or three), and the teams contesting the UEFA Cup spots (usually two or three). That leaves anywhere between 11-14 teams that have, for all intents and purposes, packed it in for the season with two and a half months of games left to play.

Think about it. When's the last time you saw West Ham and Tottenham actually play with any sense of urgency this season? Teams like Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Manchester City, and Newcastle were all confined to mid-table mediocrity a while ago. The whole glut of mid-table teams make up the majority of teams in the league, and they go overlooked because they're not playing competitive games for the last quarter of the season.

What motivation do those teams have to show up every week? They're just playing out the string, which isn't necessarily for their fault, and it's a disservice to the loyal fans who have to pay exorbitant ticket prices to watch flat, stale performances at the end of the year.

Having a playoff system would negate this. Teams would be fighting it out tooth and nail until the last day to get into the playoffs, and it would prohibit managers from playing second-string teams at the end like they do now.

2. Let's face it, the Premiership is in need of an electric shock-type revitalization. The same four teams finish in the top four every single year and only two or three of them have any hope of winning the title in any given season because the other/s are down, though still good enough to finish in a Champions League place.

Granted, most fans of the Premiership are fans of those four clubs, but it's extremely boring and predictable for the other 16 teams (80%) of the league. The same teams shouldn't be at the top every season. It has become a huge accomplishment to finish 5th these days and it's almost unheard of for any team to break the stranglehold of the "Big Four". When the most exciting race every year is at the bottom, and not the top, you know something is wrong.

Making the playoffs would become a more reasonable feat for clubs and provide something for the other 16 teams in the league to shoot for. We know that because of economics, the other 16 in the Premiership will never reach the status of the "Big Four", but anything could happen in the playoffs and at least for one season, the smaller clubs could enjoy a triumph over the big boys.

3. As I just touched on briefly, it gives the little guys a chance and an escape from perennial mediocrity. In a typical season, Middlesbrough's 29th game may be basically meaningless and there would very likely be a small crowd at the Riverside. With a playoff system, though, those three points would be huge because Middlesbrough would be no sure thing to make the playoffs and they'd need every single point they can get. This, in turn, would create a better atmosphere because the game has that much more meaning. Mid-table teams would have their own little race to get in instead of settling for where they are and shutting it down with multiple games to go.

Instead of playing out the string in front of small crowds with little enthusiasm, you're playing to make the playoffs and get a shot at one of the big boys, with one game at your field if you make it to the quarterfinals. Playoffs ensure that the teams fighting to get there don't take games off and it eliminates the apathy that we see at the end of the season nowadays.

4. The intensity, atmosphere, and passion that would be found in the playoffs would be great -- think Liverpool's Champions League nights at Anfield. If you watched their game today against City, sure, there was some chanting, but I couldn't count the times I saw close-up shots of the crowd and there were so many quiet people with their hands on their chins, just sitting there and watching the game. I don't want to see that, and we wouldn't if there was the possibility of playoffs after the regular season.

If you've ever seen any playoff games in professional sports here in the US, everything just goes up a notch. The players have more of a bounce in their step, the fans are louder, the stadiums are raucous, and the game itself is just a better one. It's hard to qualify in words unless you've seen it, but trust me on this one, you'd rather have playoffs than watch Blackburn's last 10 games of the season with nothing to play for after that.

OK, so, here's my playoff proposal:

• 12 teams (1-12 after 38 regular season league games) based on points

• Top three teams automatically go to the Champions League, with the fourth CL place and the Premiership trophy given to the team that wins the playoffs. If that team finished in the top three during the regular season, then the CL place would be given to the playoff runner-up. This provides incentive to finish in the top three after 38 games, as well as give something meaningful to the playoff winner.

• Top four teams get a "first-round bye”, with team #5 playing #12, #6-#11, #7-#10, and #8-#9. After that first round, team #1 would play the lowest remaining seed, team #2 would play the second-lowest remaining seed, then team #3, then team $4 playing the highest remaining seed in the quarterfinal round.

• All first-round games are one-offs, with the games being played at the higher seeds’ stadiums. No away goals rule, extra time is two 15-minute halves (golden goal), and then PK’s.

• All quarterfinal round games are two-legged ties, with the higher seed hosting the second leg. No away goals rule, extra time is two 15-minute halves (golden goal), and then PK’s.

• For the semifinals, the highest remaining seed would play the lowest remaining seed, and then the two middle teams would play. Again, two-legged ties; higher seed has second leg at their ground. No away goals rule, extra time is two 15-minute halves (golden goal), and then PK’s

• The two winners of the semifinals would play in the final, a one-off game at the venue of the higher seed. No away goals rule, extra time is two 15-minute halves (golden goal), and then PK’s.

How would this work? Well, the weekend after the season ends, the first round would start. Two of the games would take place Saturday, and then the other two would be played Sunday.

The quarterfinals would begin the next midweek, with the Sunday winners playing their top four opponents on Wednesday and the Saturday winners doing the same on Tuesday. For the second leg, the teams playing on Tuesday would go at it again on Saturday, and the teams playing on Wednesday would finish their tie on Sunday.

The semifinals would follow the same model, with the winners of the Wednesday/Sunday games playing the next Wednesday/Sunday, and the winners of the Tuesday/Saturday games playing the next Tuesday/Saturday.

The final would then be held at the highest remaining seed on the Saturday after the semifinals conclude.

All in all, it would add on a month to the end of the season while giving the teams involved an adequate amount of rest.

You can argue that the teams who have already clinched playoff spots will simply rest players towards the end of the year like they do now, and I understand that to a degree. However, the battle for seeding and having the second leg at home or the one-off game at home, as well as the fight for the three automatic Champions League spots, should negate managers from doing that.

Look at the interest that the playoffs in England's lower leagues have gotten. It's a priceless moment to see teams win promotion at Wembley. The two-legged semifinals are great and are nearly always sold out, which isn't the case for many other games during the course of the year at the grounds of some of these teams. Teams that still have had good seasons are given a lifeline to actually win something instead of settling for finishing in the middle of the table and getting another crack at it in the next year.

Let me know what you guys think. I'm fully aware that this will probably never happen, but it's just an idea to create more passion and excitement from fans and teams in a league that has become fairly stale in recent years.

Dave from Newcastle and Wazza--Full, Unedited Interview

Dave from Newcastle Interviewed on "I'm on Setanta Sports"

Also in the second-to-last episode of the season, a video collage of Jose's fantasticness, Roman Abramovich tries to tap "The Boy" up, and Sven's future remains in doubt.

The Dream Lives On!

Fulham is a victory at Fratton Park next weekend away from completing a great escape after their 2-0 win today over Birmingham. A trademark Brian McBride diving header to finish off a fabulous in-swinging free kick from Jimmy Bullard opened the scoring for the Cottagers, and Erik Nevland sealed it late once again to account for the final scoreline. Kasey Keller continued to prove why he’s become Roy Hodgson’s first choice in goal over Antti Niemi with the clean sheet.

Their third win in four matches propelled Fulham out of the relegation zone (for now, anyway) and into 17th place, as they have a better goal differential than Reading. Both clubs have 33 points, Birmingham is in 19th with 32 points, and obviously each of these three teams have one game to go.

As previously mentioned, Fulham's game is at a Portsmouth team playing for nothing right now except to stay healthy for the FA Cup final, Birmingham hosts Blackburn in a game that has draw written all over it, and Reading will visit Derby, who will want to bow out of the Premiership with a great performance for their fans. Bolton is playing Sunderland right now, and the Trotters also have 33 points. A victory should mean safety, but a loss would make things hairy for Gary Megson's team as they aren't going to get anything against Chelsea next weekend.

There was a terrific atmosphere at Craven Cottage for Fulham's last home game of the year. Fulham has some of the best fans in the Premiership and it showed today. You can really tell how much that team means to the supporters, and you can't say the same about other fans and teams in the league.

90 minutes left for Fulham and three points would do the trick. They are playing with so much confidence right now and I really believe they're going to get the job done at Portsmouth next week.

Liverpool Wants Gareth Barry--Why?

Numerous reports today have confirmed what has basically been common knowledge over the past couple of weeks: Liverpool is interested in signing Aston Villa's captain, Gareth Barry. Villa manager Martin O'Neill came out today criticizing Liverpool for publicizing this interest; a part exchange offer has been made for sure, with Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise, and/or even possibly Scott Carson as the likely candidates to go the other way. O'Neill, for his part, refused to confirm specifically what the offer entailed, but did obviously say that one was on the table.

My question? Why does Liverpool want Barry?

Make no mistake, this isn't meant to slam or to disparage Barry whatsoever. He's a terrific player and is Villa's heart and soul. He is good friends with Liverpool's captain, Steven Gerrard, from their days breaking into the England squad at a young age. He is very versatile, capable of playing left back and on the left side of midfield, although he is more comfortable right in the center of the park where he's starred for Villa this year. He's approaching his 400th career appearance for the club and has already qualified for a testimonial recognizing a decade spent at Villa Park. At 27 years old, Barry is in the prime of his career.

No, Gareth Barry has had an outstanding season and I can see why a big club would be interested in him.

Not Liverpool, though. Rafa Benitez's team has a plethora of center midfielders in Gerrard, Javier Mascherano, Lucas, Xabi Alonso (who may leave in the summer), the young Damien Plessis, and even Yossi Benayoun, who is natural in the middle but has been used on the wing by Benitez this season.

Would Barry play at Liverpool? He's a very, very good player, but this move seems like Steve Sidwell to Chelsea last summer all over again. If Alonso doesn't go, Barry would probably be no better than the fourth choice in the center and be rotated constantly. He doesn't need that in his prime; he needs to be starting every game and wearing Villa's armband for years to come. Moving to Liverpool may hamstring his recently reignited England career under Fabio Capello, who has made it clear that if you don't play regularly for your club, you won't be playing for the Three Lions.

Liverpool should be interested in a player from Aston Villa, but Gareth Barry isn't the one, and Barry shouldn't want to go to Liverpool either.

So, who do I think Liverpool should go after?

None other than my man Ashley Young, who is probably my favorite player in the league. He can play on both wings, though he's mostly played on the left this season before being given a free role recently by O'Neill. He is a great set-piece taker, arguably better than Gerrard. He has great pace and technical ability and at 22, is still developing. He's got seven goals and 17 assists this season and was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Think about it, it makes sense. Where are Liverpool's holes? At the full-back position, of course, but really on the wings. Sure, Ryan Babel is fine on the left, but he's more of a striker. Jermaine Pennant is rubbish, Dirk Kuyt has very little natural ability even though he's a workhorse, Benayoun isn't dynamic enough to beat anyone on the flank and cause much trouble, and Harry Kewell will be leaving.

Everything runs through Alonso, Mascherano, and Gerrard for Liverpool, and then up through the center to Torres. They're an extremely one-dimensional team and signing Barry would just reinforce that notion. Young, on the other hand, would give them a real threat on the left side and would allow Babel to move to the right, which would be helpful for a guy who's predominantly right-footed anyway. I guarantee you that would be no faster combination of flank players in the Premiership than Babel and Young, and they would be absolutely deadly out wide. Young would walk straight into that starting XI and provide something for Liverpool that they haven't had in recent seasons -- a true winger.

With that said, I just don't see any way that O'Neill would let Ashley Young leave right now after the season he's had. I think his performance this year has driven his price up in the neighborhood of 20 million pounds, and that's no joke. Liverpool probably doesn't have that type of money to spend, although he is worth it, and Villa would be reluctant to let him walk for any less than that. Barry would be a cheaper alternative, but I don't see why Liverpool believe they need another center midfielder.

In the end, I believe Barry will remain at Villa and I can't see Young going anywhere, although both of them certainly have the ability to play for a "Big Four" club. Villa is a club on the rise and, mark my words, WILL be challenging for fourth place in the Premiership next season if Barry does stay. If you're a Liverpool fan, you have to hope your club goes after some wide players, both in the back and on the wing, and you certainly don't need another guy clogging up the middle.

For All You Lower-League Fans Out There...

Admittedly, this is a blog focusing mainly on the Premiership, with occasional Champions League talk and even discussion about the UEFA Cup when the situation calls for it.

I've tried to pay as much attention as possible to the promotion, playoff, and relegation races in the lower leagues in English soccer this year, though, and so this update is for those of you are interested but can't find much coverage of the Coca-Cola Championship, League One, and League Two:

Championship:

West Bromwich Albion are on the brink of sealing promotion. Only the massively-improbable combination of a final-day loss at QPR coupled with a Hull win over Ipswich, turning over a 12-goal deficit in the process - combined with Stoke getting at least a point - will prevent the Baggies' return to the top division.

In reality, Stoke and Hull are battling for the right to join West Brom, with Stoke needing a point to deny the Tigers.

Stoke, Hull and Bristol City are guaranteed at least a playoff place.

Watford, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Ipswich and Sheffield United are all in with a chance of joining the playoffs.

If Cardiff City wins the FA Cup, they will qualify for the UEFA Cup after they were approved by the Football Association's board on April 24 to represent England in the Uefa Cup. (Welsh clubs normally only qualify through their own competitions).

At the bottom, three teams go down. Colchester were relegated on April 9 and Scunthorpe joined them three days later after their defeat by Crystal Palace.

Blackpool, Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester and Southampton are battling to avoid filling the third place - with Southampton occupying the dreaded 22nd position going into the final day of the season.

League One:

Swansea clinched promotion by beating Gillingham on April 12, and won the title a week later after Carlisle's defeat to Southend.

The Football League had decided not to hand them the trophy until Leeds' arbitration hearing over their 15-point deduction was concluded - but Leeds lost their appeal on Thursday, confirming the Swans as champions.

The second automatic spot will be decided on the last day of the regular season. Doncaster will take it if they win at Cheltenham, or match the results of Nottingham Forest and Carlisle. Forest will snatch it if they beat Yeovil at home and Doncaster slip up.

Doncaster, Forest and Carlisle will at least make the playoffs. Southend and Leeds will also be in the playoffs.

Four teams are relegated from this division. Luton and Port Vale both went down on April 12, and two more teams will join them on the final day. Bournemouth will go down if they lose at Carlisle - or if they draw and either Cheltenham avoid defeat at home to Doncaster or Gillingham win at Leeds. Gillingham are also down unless they win and other results go their way - while a Cheltenham win will guarantee their safety, and Crewe need a point at home to Oldham to avoid being drawn into the relegation scrap.

League Two:

Milton Keynes Dons and Peterborough secured promotion on April 19. Hereford joined them on April 26, when Milton Keynes also clinched the title with victory over Bradford.

Rochdale, Stockport, Darlington and Wycombe will contest the play-offs.

Wrexham were relegated on April 22 and Chester's draw against Stockport one week later meant that Mansfield also drop out of the Football League.


Got it? OK, good. Thanks to BBC Sport for all the info.

Chelsea-3, Liverpool-2; Blues Heading to Moscow

Wow.

That’s just all there is to say.

That was how a Champions League semifinal should be played. That was a terrific, terrific two hours of soccer.

Congratulations to Chelsea, obviously, for winning 3-2 and advancing to Moscow to play Manchester United on May 21, in what will be the first all-English final in Champions League history.

Full credit to Didier Drogba, who has been slated by me and nearly everyone else in the blogs, newspapers, and on TV for not giving his all on the field. He shut all the critics up with his performance today, beating Pepe Reina to the near post on both of his goals.

Full credit to Frank Lampard for stepping up and nailing that PK in extra time. All the pressure in the world was on a man who just lost his mother and for him to even be playing is a testament to his mental strength. It was a precious moment to see him kiss the black armband, worn in memory of his mom, during his celebration in the corner.

For Liverpool, you also have to credit them for never giving up. Ryan Babel’s 40-yard strike in the 117th minute should’ve been saved, I understand that, but Liverpool deserved some consolation after the way they came back from 1-0 down in regular time and for the way they played in extra time. I do have to say that Steven Gerrard was largely invisible today; he had a disappointing game, and I don’t understand why Fernando Torres was taken off. If anything, Kuyt should’ve been replaced by Peter Crouch, not Babel on for the best out-and-out striker in the league this season even though Babel did end up scoring.

I thought the referee and his assistants had solid games as well. Kalou looked to have been just offside on Chelsea’s first goal, but it was a matter of inches either way and when in doubt, you give the attacker the benefit of the call. Chelsea’s penalty was justly awarded, and Hyypia’s shout for one late on was justly not given. Essien’s potential second goal was correctly disallowed as four Chelsea players were offside and Didier Drogba was impeding Reina by standing right in front of him.

That was just a mind-blowing game. As I was telling a friend, I don’t support either team but I was even feeling nervous for the majority of the game. That’s the type of action you want to see from a match of this magnitude, and it’s great that both teams delivered.

Halftime Thoughts--Chelsea vs. Liverpool (Second Leg)

• Great atmosphere at Stamford Bridge tonight. This is a proper, proper European occasion. It wouldn’t be complete without pouring rain either; the drearier, the better.

• Terrific long, diagonal ball from Ballack to Ashley Cole in the 8th minute. The German captain has been a man on a mission recently.

• Why did Torres take that shot with his left foot in the 10th minute?? He had a perfect cut-back opportunity on his right foot to bend it to the far post; instead, he cut down his own angle by dribbling further to the byline and getting it on his weaker foot. Great one-touch ball from Gerrard to spring the Spaniard, though.

• Carragher was commanding in the air on Chelsea’s corner kick nearly a quarter of an hour in, with two headers to clear the area.

• If you ever want someone to blast a free kick into the wall or smash it into Row Z, John Arne Riise is your guy.

• Drogba really, really should’ve done better in the 19th minute…you have to score from there. He had Reina dead to rights and only came up with a weak left-footed dribbler.

• Solid strike by Essien, good save by Reina to smother that ball on the wet pitch in the 21st minute.

• Hmm, Hyypia for Skrtel was necessary due to the knock taken by the Slovakian, but it takes away one of Benitez’s changes for later in the game. That could really come back to bite Liverpool.

• Dour period between the 20th-30th minute. One speculative effort from the Kaiser, easily fisted away by Reina.

• Liverpool hasn’t showed nearly enough going forward at this point to make me think they can steal a goal today. You’d have to think Crouch will be on by the 70th minute if things stay the same.

• Wow, a lot of emotion there from Drogba after slamming home the rebound in the 33rd minute. Reina, once again, showed that he is very vulnerable at the near post.

• Drogba seems very motivated by Rafa’s scathing comments earlier in the week. Memo to any professional, either player or coach: NEVER, EVER criticize or insult your opposition before a game. Bulletin board material is exactly what you don’t want to give the other team, and I would’ve thought Benitez would’ve known better than to say what he said. The Ivorian has had multiple chances today and has definitely shown up to play, something that can’t be said about him in recent weeks.

• Drogba should’ve been booked for that clumsy sliding challenge on Gerrard in the 38th or 39th minute. Late, no ball, right on the ankle. Has to be a yellow card and I’m shocked that it wasn’t.

• Was that Avram Grant who slipped and fell backwards into the bench area just before halftime??? That was hilarious!! I hope he’s OK though, you know what they say…the bigger they are, the harder they fall…

• Liverpool has just had a woeful 45 minutes going forward…they have no chance to get back in this tie if they play like that next half. Avram Grant's side is one goal up at the break.

Manchester United Punches Ticket to Moscow

Without their best forward in Wayne Rooney and their best defender in Nemanja Vidić, Manchester United made a fabulous 14th-minute strike from Paul Scholes stand up with a 1-0 victory over Barcelona to win their Champions League semifinal tie.

Patrice Evra put in a man of the match-type performance at left back this afternoon for the Red Devils, shutting down Lionel Messi for more than 90 minutes before being taken off in stoppage time for Mikael Silvestre.

As we all know, the team that deserves to win doesn't always do in soccer, but Manchester United did just that today. Man for man, United was the better team and I don't think there can be any denying it. Messi was Barca's best player, but he was contained very nicely by Evra, as I already mentioned, and Samuel Eto'o was useless up top. Rio Ferdinand had a solid game in the center of United's defense, and even the much-maligned Wes Brown put in a competent shift.

In truth, Barcelona never looked that threatening going forward. The stats will show that they had the better of possession, but that doesn't matter. Edwin van der Sar was rarely tested in goal, a tribute to the outstanding work done in the center of the park by United.

Although he may not admit it, Sir Alex Ferguson will feel vindicated for his tactical choices and his team’s mindset in Barcelona last week. He was criticized heavily in the press for going there not to lose and for playing such a boring, unattractive style, but at the end of the day, his team got the job done and for people to not understand that is mind-boggling.

Just because United has a dearth of attacking players doesn’t mean they need to score three goals every game to do what they need to do, and Ferguson went to Barcelona to not concede a goal, take it back to Old Trafford in front of about 75,000 people, and win the tie there. The same people who praise high-flying teams like Arsenal and Barcelona for playing “beautiful football” are the same people who have no room to talk when those teams don’t win trophies, which the Gunners haven’t in the last three seasons and Barca won’t this year. It doesn’t matter how you play as long as you get the result you want.

For the first time in Champions League history, it will be an all-English final. Who will join United in Moscow on May 21? My money is still on Liverpool, but Chelsea has the advantage going into tomorrow's second leg at Stamford Bridge.

PFA Premier League Team of the Year

Along with their announcement of their Player of the Year (Cristiano Ronaldo) and Young Player of the Year (Cesc Fàbregas), the PFA announced their Premier League Team of the Year yesterday. For once, I have no real issue with any of the selections made; I think the players did a good job with this and full credit to them for it. To be honest, my Premiership XI looks exactly the same with one exception: Liverpool's Jamie Carragher ahead of Rio Ferdinand at center back.

GK: David James (Portsmouth)
RB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)
LB: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
CB: Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United)
RMF: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
CMF: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
CMF: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
ST: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
ST: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

A couple quick observations:

• I would've liked to have seen a true defensive midfielder on this team rather than two attacking central midfielders in Gerrard and Fabregas. You can't deny that either of those two guys have had great seasons, but it would've been nice to see either Javier Mascherano or Mathieu Flamini in there. The role they play is one that isn't sexy; it doesn't get a lot of recognition from the casual fan, but it is critical to winning.

• It's interesting that Chelsea, who is tied on points with Manchester United on top of the table, didn't get one representative in this team, and even Arsenal got one more player (four) than United (three).

• As you all can probably guess, I'm ecstatic to see Ashley Young here. He has had an absolutely fantastic season for Aston Villa and has surely played his way into the England starting lineup for years to come.

Fulham's Premiership Survival Battle Is Not Over Yet

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know of my undying hope for Fulham to stay in the Premiership. It seems like every couple weeks for the past two months, I’ve written a post saying that it’s unwise to write Fulham off, but then they go and screw up where they shouldn’t screw up and it looks like crow will become a new part of my diet at the end of the year.

I picked them to finish 13th this season and while that won’t happen, I would like to see my prediction somewhat vindicated by the Cottagers staying up. Their roster is full of Americans — Kasey Keller, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Johnson, and the captain, Brian McBride — and as an American myself, I’m rooting for my fellow countrymen to get the job done each and every week. I also have a soft spot for them as an underdog, playing in the shadow of much bigger clubs in London in a small, old (but cozy and picturesque) stadium.

So yes, it’s no secret that I want Fulham to be successful.

I had a previous engagement on Saturday and wasn’t able to turn the Manchester City-Fulham game on until about the 55th minute, by which City was already up 2-0 through a couple of early goals. I watched for five or ten more minutes and wasn’t exactly thrilled by what I saw out of the West London club. At that point, I was resigned to Fulham losing, so I turned on the NFL Draft to check out who my Buffalo Bills were going to take in the 2nd Round.

I won’t lie to you. I wish I could say I was a diehard fan who watched the game until the very end, but I can’t. I wish I could say that I always knew Fulham would find a way back and get something out of that game, but again, that wouldn’t be the truth.

Watching the Everton-Aston Villa game the next afternoon, I was talking with my brother, an avid Liverpool fan, about useless strikers in the Premiership. He, of course, went on and on about Andriy Voronin and Dirk Kuyt earlier in the season. I then threw out Diomansy Kamara, who is usually a late game sub brought on by Roy Hodgson to have an immediate impact. That seems to never, ever, happen though; Kamara generally replaces David Healy and does very little when he comes into the game.

Then he told me Kamara scored twice on Saturday.

“Twice?!? Fulham lost 2-0, how’d he score twice??”

“They didn’t lose, they won 3-2.”

“No they didn’t! It was 2-0 when I turned the game off, how did they win??”

“Well, Danny Murphy put in his own rebound from a missed PK, and they got the winner from Kamara in stoppage time.”

As a Liverpool supporter, he had to mention Danny Murphy. He just had to.

When I saw the highlights on the Premier League Review Show last night, I was still stunned. Diomansy Kamara looked like a world-beater out there. He looked like a guy who had no business playing for a small club like Fulham. His two goals came from cool, cool finishes, and Murphy was composed enough to score from close range as well.

Manchester City seemed to have bossed the game, with Kasey Keller repeatedly coming up huge in net for Hodgson’s team. Then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, Fulham won the game and took the valuable three points.

Because of that incredible comeback, Fulham now has a chance to avoid relegation. They’re still in 19th place with 30 points, but they’re only three points away from safety and have a better goal differential than 17th-place Reading.

Next weekend, the Cottagers host Birmingham City, who are in 18th with 32 points and have lost a whopping 13 games away from home this season whilst winning just two. A victory for Fulham would potentially propel them ahead of Reading, not to mention Birmingham, because Steve Coppell’s side has a home game against Tottenham. I can’t see Reading winning that game, although a draw is very likely, but they could just as easily lose. If they don’t come away with anything and Fulham wins, Fulham would leap into 16th place heading into the last game of the season.

Now, I’ll admit, I think the Reading-Spurs game will end in a tie. That would put Reading on 34 points, one ahead of Bolton, who plays host to Sunderland next weekend. I can also see that game ending all square, so Bolton would be on 34 points as well. A Fulham victory would give the Cottagers 33 points with one game to go, and for Fulham, it’s a trip to Fratton Park against a Portsmouth team who have put all of their eggs in the FA Cup final basket. Bolton’s last game is at Chelsea, where they’ll get nothing, Reading’s is at Derby, who will be anxious to give their fans one last solid Premiership performance, and Birmingham is home to Blackburn, which has “draw” written all over it.

What does this all mean? Well, let’s say Fulham manages to get a draw at Portsmouth, Reading get beat at Derby, and Birmingham do pick up a point against Blackburn. Assuming Fulham does, in fact, take care of business and beat Birmingham, that would leave Fulham on 34 points, Reading on 34, Bolton on 34, and Birmingham on 33. Birmingham would be relegated, and it would come down to goal differential between the three tied teams. Fulham’s is currently three goals better than that of Reading, and five goals worse than that of Bolton. If it all stays the same, Reading would go down as well, leaving Fulham and Bolton in the Premiership.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be a great end to the Premiership season. I sincerely hope that Fulham can pull off the great escape and stay in England’s top flight, and yours truly will be cheering for them in each of their last two games.

Ronaldo is PFA Player of the Year, Fabregas is Young Player of the Year

This makes no sense, or at least half of it doesn't.

For the second year in a row, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo was named the Premiership Player of the Year by his peers. He's scored 38 goals in all competitions this season and is fully deserving of the award. If he didn't win it unanimously, or at least very near unanimously, I would be surprised.

But somehow, some way, Cesc Fabregas won the Young Player of the Year award. Don't get me wrong, the Arsenal midfielder has had a good, if not great, season. In any other year, he would've been the top candidate for this honor. However, he was up against Ronaldo (and others), and the Portuguese winger already won the more prestigious award.

So how did Fabregas, who was also nominated for Player of the Year, beat Ronaldo? I don't get it.

Let me get this straight. According to the players, Ronaldo was the best player in the league. The BEST PLAYER, regardless of age. Yet Fabregas was the best young player, even when Ronaldo was also eligible???

It just doesn't make any sense to me. It's a regular occurrence for someone to be the Young Player of the Year but not the Player of the Year; that's normal. I've rarely ever seen it go the other way, though, in any sport, and I question it when it does each and every time.

As it is, I don't think either Fabregas or Ronaldo (or Torres or Ashley Young, for that matter) should've been up for the young player award in the first place. It's a joke that these players were; first of all, they're not "young" in age in soccer terms, and they each have more top-flight experience than players five or six years their senior.

I talked about this more when I wrote about the original nominees a few weeks ago, but I think the young player award should be limited to those 20 years of age at the start of the season and younger, and who also have appeared in 38 or less top-flight league games at the start of the season. That would rule out guys like Fabregas, who has played in 137 Premiership games for Arsenal.

That issue is for another time, though. Congratulations to both Fabregas and Ronaldo on their achievements this season. They've both had wonderful years for their respective clubs. I can't say I agree with the players on naming Fabregas as the YPoY, but that's just how it goes.

Most Exciting Weekend of the Year

Wow!

Have you caught your breath yet? If there was one round of games to watch this season, this was it. I remember the last weekend of the 2007 calendar year being pretty good, but I think what we saw yesterday and today took the cake.

The title race is alive and kicking. The relegation fight will be contested until the weekend of the season. Everton is still in 5th place, the last automatic UEFA Cup spot, but the Toffees can be tracked down in the last two games of the year. Think about it; there was meaningful excitement at the top, middle, and bottom of the league table all in one weekend.

Consider:

• Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United, sealed by an 86th-minute PK from Michael Ballack, propelled the Blues into a tie atop the league table with the Red Devils. Both teams have 81 points with two league games still to play, although Man U is ahead on goal differential.

• Dimitar Berbatov put a header just inches above the crossbar in 2nd half injury time, and Tottenham settled for a 1-1 draw with Bolton. A goal in that situation wouldn’t have meant anything for Spurs, but it would’ve resulted in no points for Gary Megson’s relegation-threatened team, something they couldn’t have afforded at this point in the season.

• Newcastle came from 2-0 down at Upton Park by scoring two goals in three minutes late in the first half to pick up a 2-2 draw against West Ham. The point doesn’t mean anything in the long run for either team, but Kevin Keegan’s side is showing the fight that they didn’t have earlier in the year.

• Fulham also came from 2-0 down, but they came ALL the way back and scored three goals in the last 20 minutes of the game to beat Manchester City 3-2 at their ground. The road victory was only the Cottagers’ second of the year, and the three points that came with it are a potential Premiership lifeline. City dominated the first hour of the game, but Diomansy Kamara’s brace, capped off by a 92nd minute near-post roofer, helped Fulham pull off the shocking upset. The loss also could leave Sven in big trouble as City’s manager…

• Sunderland’s second North East Derby in two weeks ended in late jubilation, as an Emanuel Pogatetz own goal gave the Black Cats their 9th home win of the season. This match was a wild one, with Middlesbrough’s Tuncay Sanli opening the scoring in the 4th minute, followed by Danny Higginbotham’s equalizer two minutes later and Michael Chopra’s goal right before halftime. Afonso Alves leveled for Boro in the 73rd minute with a weak dribbler, and then Pogatetz’s unfortunate mistake in injury time, claimed by Sunderland’s Daryl Murphy, sent the crowd at the Stadium of Light into raptures.

• Liverpool’s second-stringers came from 2-0 down at St. Andrew’s to pick up a point, one that clinched 4th place and a berth in the Champions League next season for the Reds when Everton drew with Aston Villa a day later (today, more on that in a bit). Peter Crouch and Yossi Benayoun scored in the span of 13 minutes for Rafa’s side, and Birmingham missed out on a badly-needed victory. The Blues will travel to Craven Cottage next weekend for a relegation showdown against Fulham, with the loser almost certainly destined for the Championship.

• Three goals, two from Aston Villa and one from Everton, were scored in the last 10 minutes of today’s game at Goodison Park, but the Toffees had already scored a fluky goal earlier in the match. It ended 2-2, obviously, as John Carew’s header gave Villa a share of the spoils just when it looked like Everton was going to escape with the three points and a return trip to the UEFA Cup next year. They still may, but Villa now have a chance to catch them, as the two teams are three points apart with two games left to play.

It was a great weekend of soccer in the Premiership, and a great example of why it is the most exciting domestic league in the world.

Chelsea Victory Won't Matter

First of all, no matter what you think about Alan Wiley and his refereeing yesterday, you have to give credit to Chelsea for their 2-1 triumph over Manchester United. The Blues' victory puts them level on points with the defending champions with two league games to go, although Sir Alex Ferguson's team is on top of the table thanks to a far-superior goal differential.

Here's the bottom line. Manchester United's last two games are relatively straightforward -- home to West Ham, and @ Wigan. Wins in both of those matches and the Premiership trophy will remain in Manchester for the second year in a row, even if Chelsea wins both of their fixtures as well.

West Ham has been the Red Devils' bogey team over the past couple seasons. They've beaten United three straight times over that period. With that said, the Hammers had something to play for on each of those occasions; most notably, their Premiership lives when they won at Old Trafford on the last weekend of the 2006-2007 season.

This year, though, Alan Curbishley and his boys seemed to have packed it in for the season back in January. They've been in 10th place for ages and have hovered around the mid-table area all season long. Their performances in recent weeks have been flat, to say the least, and I don't think they have any chance to go to Old Trafford again and take any points off a hungry Manchester United team.

As I said in a recent post, I think Steve Bruce has done a terrific job since taking over at Wigan. He's under-appreciated by the mainstream media and fans of the Premiership, especially those outside of the North West, and has led Wigan to safety this year. His team is unbeaten in their last seven league games at home and recently picked up a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Aside from Arsenal, a match that ended 0-0, Wigan's other six opponents in this unbeaten streak haven't exactly been top quality: West Ham, Derby, Bolton, Birmingham, Tottenham, and Reading. Four clubs at or near the bottom of the table and two that haven't even played a seriously competitive game since the middle of January. There's something to be said for not losing in seven straight home games and I understand that, but with all due respect to those seven teams, none of them are Manchester United, and certainly none of them are Manchester United possibly looking to clinch the title.

Look, United's last two games won't be easy, but they're going to find a way to win them both. Chelsea will beat Bolton at home on May 11, the last day of the season, but it won't matter if they don't go to Newcastle and win next Monday. Hmm, a Monday night home game for the Tynesiders, the "Kevilution" with the team playing much, much better, a Champions League semifinal second leg this Wednesday against Liverpool, and I smell a draw at St. James' Park.

Again, all United has to do is win their final two games. I think they're going to do just that, with the match at Wigan presenting more of a difficulty. It was a great win for Chelsea yesterday and they'll be full of confidence and momentum, but I just don't think that it will mean much in the end.

The Boys Try Out for a Talent Show on "I'm on Setanta Sports"

Also in the newest episode of Setanta's hit show, Wayne acts out online lingo, The Special One makes a plea for any information on the whereabouts of Dave from Newcastle, and Sven gets rejected again.

Benitez Is Right To Rotate Lineup

Despite former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock’s furious claims to the contrary last season and more whining this week, Rafa Benitez has every right to rotate his squad for a game against a relegation-threatened team.

This issue has come up in recent days because Liverpool will make the trip to St. Andrew’s and play 18th place Birmingham City tomorrow. The Reds are in the middle of their Champions League semifinal tie against Chelsea, and they’ll need to be as close to full-strength as possible heading into next Wednesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool has to score there, something that has literally been impossible under Benitez’s tenure, to advance to their third CL final in four years.

Mathematically, Liverpool needs three points in their final three Premiership games to clinch 4th spot and the last Champions League berth that comes with it. Realistically, though, they already have a stranglehold on it and could probably not even earn another point for the rest of the season and still be ok.

Benitez sent out a second-string lineup at Craven Cottage and still managed to dominate a desperate Fulham team, coming out of West London with a 2-0 victory. The term “second-string” is relative, though, because Liverpool’s backups are still good enough to start for the majority of teams in the league.

This is part of the reason I don’t want to hear guys like Neil Warnock and more recently, Steve Bruce, slam Benitez for resting his stars. It’s not just Warnock and Bruce either; Benitez has had his share of critics in the media for what he’s going to do.

“It undermines the competition and integrity of the game”, they’ll say, or “It gives other teams unfair advantages”. You know what I’m talking about, the typical moaning and groaning from people with a vested interest while trying to make it sound like they have the game’s best intentions at heart.

Let me tell you something right now. That’s rubbish. It just is. It’s BS of the highest order.

Rafa Benitez doesn’t owe anyone other than Liverpool FC anything. It’s that simple. As the manager of that club, he is responsible for their best interests, whatever they may be. He is entitled to do whatever he needs to do, as long as it’s legal, obviously, to make sure that those goals are met. He doesn’t owe Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock anything. He doesn’t owe the Premier League and sentiment anything.

Benitez can play whoever he wants against Birmingham. There is strong talk that the only regular player Benitez will put out there is Jamie Carragher, and even that is no guarantee as far as from what I can tell. It seems like a fair bet that Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Reina, Babel, Riise, Kuyt, and Mascherano all won’t play, or at least won’t start. Relatively inexperienced players like Charles Itanjie, Emiliano Insua, and Damien Plessis could all get a run-out.

You know what? Good for them. Liverpool has to come up with the goods next Wednesday, and it makes no sense for Benitez to risk his best players in a meaningless game, at least from Liverpool’s point of view. Birmingham needs points and will come out playing a physical, in-your-face style, and Benitez can’t afford for any of his players to get injured.

To his credit, Bolton boss Gary Megson has come out and said that he doesn’t care who Benitez plays against Birmingham. Bolton is in the thick of the relegation fight, and it would be understandable if Megson lashed out and urged Benitez to pick his strongest team.

Instead, he believes that “Rafa Benitez has to do what is best for Liverpool and we all have to do what is best for our own teams…The fact Liverpool can rest players and still put out that kind of side just shows the size of the squad and quality they have got.”

I applaud Megson for saying this, and he’s got it right. He also told Sky Sports News that “Rafa’s team and his selection is nothing to do with me or indeed anybody else other than Rafa and Liverpool”.

Spot-on, Mr. Megson. Spot on.

Check Out the Center Circle at the Camp Nou

Obviously this picture doesn't show the point I'm trying to make. I just had to use for it aesthetic purposes, so I hope you don't mind.

In all seriousness though, if you're watching the Champions League semifinal first leg between Barcelona and Manchester United at the Camp Nou right now, take a look at the center circle. Whoever painted those lines must've been drunk. If not drunk, he was high. He could've been both drunk and high.

That is the most wobbly circle I've ever seen in a professional stadium, especially a stadium of this magnitude for a game with this importance. It's a disgrace. You would think that one of the most basic tenants of the game, the lines on the field, would at least be painted correctly. It's supposed to be a perfect circle with a 10-yard radius around the center spot.

If that's a perfect circle, then I don't know how I passed geometry. I don't think my eyes are deceiving me on this one. What a joke.