Thursday, January 17, 2008
So after breezing past Coca-Cola League One strugglers Luton Town in the third round of the FA Cup 5-0...
Oh sorry, third round replay of the FA Cup, Liverpool have been drawed with Conference South mid-table side Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup fourth round.
Hmm... Hopefully the dream of this non-league club will not see them prevail at Anfield or get a replay, unless Rafa plays his under-18s that is. Now it seems that the youngsters that might play in that match are Nabil El Zhar, Jack Hobbs, Lucas Leiva and Sebastian Leto, including new-signing Martin Skrtel, whilst some unlikely ones are Jay Spearing and Craig Linfield. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres should be left on the bench, should they not play.
Anyway, getting back to the EPL. It seems that the league gets tougher and tougher by the year, especially with more and more foreign takeovers of the clubs, which also means an injection of cash into the club. Such clubs that have been constantly improving are the ones like Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Manchester City and Portsmouth.
Aston Villa was taken over by an Icelandic businessman last year, and now is under another Icelandic after the former sold his shares. Villa has improved from their usual mid-table mediocrity, and now is mostly fighting at the top-half of the table. Their strike force are quite decent, having young English forwards Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Luke Moore on their wings supporting their main man John Carew. Their defence are decent too whilst a midfield pivoted by Gareth Barry isn't bad either. Their manager Martin O'Neill knows how to win games and deal in the transfer market. With the latter and decent enough money from above, this combination would suit Villa well in the future as they strive to get a European place.
Under Mark Hughes, Blackburn Rovers has excelled. Even with little funds, Hughes has been able to spot unknown talents such as defensive duo of Ryan Nelsen and Christoph Samba. He has also been able to lure the likes of Stephen Warnock to shore up his left side of defence, whilst getting former Bayern striker Roque Santa Cruz on a free, and the latter's partnership with one of Hughes' big-name signing in Benni McCarthney has been good. He has also been able to nuture David Bentley well whilst most utilizing Morten Gamst Pedersen's brilliant skill. The squad has decent depth and that Hughes will be able to improve the squad in the future.
Everton has been up there in the top half for several years now. With David Moyes at the helm, they have managed to maintain their top half standings. He hasn't had much money to work with, but his eye for lower league talent has certainly paid off. Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and now youngster Dan Gosling, Moyes has been able to mix these talent with once-unknowns like Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Victor Anichebe and James Vaughan. More established players like Andy Johnson, Thomas Gravesen, Tim Howard and newly-signed Manuel Fernandes add the necessary quality to a side that has much bite and can battle well with the top guns.
Manchester City, under new owner Thaksin Shinawatra and manager Sven Goran-Eriksson, have soared and maintained their challenge for a European place up to the mid season so far. It all boils down to Eriksson's eye for talent that was not much sought after, plus blending some youngsters from the academy well. He has bought the likes of Vedran Corluka, Gelson Fernandes, Javier Garrido, the ever-impressive midfield duo of Martin Petrov and Elano, plus Rolando Bianchi. He has brilliantly blended in impressive youngsters such as goalkeeper Joe Hart, currently first choice, Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha, Michael Johnson, Stephen Ireland and Kelvin Etuhu, all of whom are usually partnered with experienced players such as Dietmar Hamann and Richard Dunne. With a few signings that Eriksson is eyeing this January, Manchester City should maintain their position in the league, but will have to improve their away form to try to challenge the Top4.
The last club is Portsmouth. Harry Redknapp has managed to secure some bright talents to Fratton Park. He has somehow manage to convince these talents to shun other clubs for this 'low fashioned' club, of course with a little help financially. An example of bright Croatian youngster Niko Kranjcar and Englishman Glen Johnson demonstrates his ability to do so. Redknapp has also brought in much tough African players, although going to lose them to the African Nations Cup every other year, the likes of Sulley Muntari, John Utaka, Benjani, Nwankwo Kanu has proved great acquisitions for Portsmouth. There's also something about Arsenal rejects that has brightened Portsmouth's squad, such as players like Lauren, Sol Campbell and as stated above, Kanu. This blend of young and old has served Redknapp well.
So this is the clubs that are making Liverpool's task to regain the Premier League much tougher. Many struggling clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and West Ham United, the former two with new managers, will surely improve and add to the quality of the EPL that will surpass the likes of the Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A in the terms of league quality.
my thoughts at 5:48 pm