Improve your game 6 Experience

Tonight's NBA ECF game offers more than just an opportunity to take in a good basketball game.  By simply following the rules of my drinking game the experience will be enhanced greatly.  You will need at least 4 friends (we don't want anyone passing out before the fourth quarter), beer, rum, coke, vodka, and a full bottle of Jack.

Here's how to play.  Give everyone a beer, rum and coke, and vodka shot.  Turns rotate to the person to your left.  Every time a below listed event happens a player must take the drink corresponding to that event and then it becomes the next players turn.  The turns rotate until the end of the game.  Here are the events;

Every time that Steve Kerr mentions Lebron James that player must take a sip of Beer.  This will happen often as Kerr is Lebron biggest fan and has a complete man crush on him.  

Every time Chris Bosh shoots a three take a shot of vodka.  It's what Pat Riley must do after every game when he thinks about Bosh a big man never posting up and sitting behind the line looking to shoot 3's.  He could have gotten someone cheaper to do that.

If any ref named Crawford is calling the game then everyone must chug a beer.  This way you won't be as puzzled by all the calls they give in the Heat's favor.

If a technical foul is called on the Pacers take a swig of Rum and Coke.  This should be a common occurrence, so only a swig is needed.

Any time Steve Kerr proclaims Dwayne Wade is back chug your beer.  This will probably occur a lot. If D Wade does anything remotely positive Kerr will jump on it as a turning point situation.  This would include him checking into the game, coming out of the locker room from getting his knee retaped, scoring a basket, hitting a free throw, completing a pass, and breathing.  These are all things that continue to make Kerr believe Wade is back to 2010 standards of play.

Any time D Wade's back touches the floor take a shot of vodka.  This will occur anytime Wade comes within in a few feet of a Pacer player and he has the ball.

If a Heat player is ejected from the game take three consecutive shots of vodka.  Seems excessive I know, but the chances of this happening are less than 0%.  Also, it doesn't count if a bench player gets tossed.  It might be a preconceived play by the Heat to get the team fired up.  

Take a big swig of Rum and coke if Steve Kerr mentions the absence Birdman as being crucial.  The player must take another one immediately if Albert brings up the Birdman shooting streak.  Actually just take two because he surely will.

If Reggie Miller makes a salient point about the game slap yourself in the face.  You must have fallen asleep because this probably won't happen.

If Lebron starts screaming after making a shot take a drink of your beer.  

If Mike Miller plays everyone must chug their beer.  Hopefully that will wipe away the memories of having to watch him play.

If Mike Miller gets hurt or fakes an injury you get a free pass on your turn.

If the Heat commit an offensive foul you get a free pass.  Don't count on it!

If the Pacers fall behind at any point by more than 10 points turn off the game and go see a movie. The game is over.  They never come back...ever.

If the Pacers win open the bottle of Jack and each player is required to drink an equal share straight as this is what David Stern will be doing if that happens.

Enjoy the game! 

Eye Test

Response was too long for a tweet.  I realize they do these rating systems.  I get all that, but I look at it like this.  What leagues can produce the most possible winners of the UCL next year?

EPL 4 Chelsea, Man City, Man U, and Arsenal.  Gunners add two legit players they are dangerous.

La Liga 2 for sure, Barca and Real Madrid.  Aletitco outside chance, but I wouldn't bet $2 bucks on it.

Italy 2, but maybe more AC Milan, Juvie.  Milan has a young core that got great experience this year.  Now they have Balo who kept his head, for the most part, for all competitions.  Juvie just need one more striker.  Lorente won't be enough.

Germany 1!  Dortmund is a seller.  Bayern could sell Robben and still be the favorite.

France 1 PSG, but if they lose there coach ouch.  Ibra has a short life cycle anywhere.

Dutch League.  Really?  Zero.

Portuguese Really?  Zero

So when I do the eye test that's what I see.  I see the EPL providing chances for teams to turn the corner.  I see some of it in La Liga, but not enough with Altetico and Malaga struggling to keep it together.  If Arsenal fans are mad at their team they should count themselves lucky.  Being a Valencia fan most be torture.  Always selling to Barca and in financial ruin.

I'm a realist when it comes to Italy.  Florentina, Roma, Udinese, Lazio and Napoli will never be good enough to win in Europe.  Inter could turn around, but it's a ways off.  Yet all those teams get some recognition and are usually decent.  It's a big reason why you have to say the league is better than Germany.  One superstar could turn the fortunes of those teams.  Maybe better attendance too.

Also understand I'm not even a huge fan of the EPL.  I'm a Barca/La Liga lover, but I can't make the argument that they are the best league because they had back to back winners at 100 and it doesn't look like anyone is financially strong enough to pass those two.  You need at least 3 teams that could legit win a league for it to be the best league.

I took a big issue with the German league because it's so heavily tilted towards Bayern.  Dortmund won the league two years running so what did Bayern do?  They bought their stars, beat them at every turn and set them back a few years.  Dortmund's fans deserve better.  I think people got confused because those teams made it to the Final and Bayern are the best team going right now, but past them the league is very weak.

Lebron Turning a Corner

Many will point to Lebron's game 1 layup against the Pacers as proof positive that he is now fully on another level and ready to win many championships for years to come.  What I thought was far more important was how he handled the result of making that layup.  His celebration, or lack thereof was, proof to me that Lebron may have turned the corner.

A few months ago in a close game Lebron made a jump shot to put the Heat over the top for the win.  The opposing team called a timeout.  As the network went to break they showed the replay of Lebron reacting to the made basket.  He was doing this high step push down motion.  It was some sort of dance move that I could never pull off or would try.  It made me think to myself what is wrong with this guy.  Why are you acting like you have never made a jump shot before.  It was like an excuse to not like the Heat or Lebron.  Like we needed anymore.

Yet last night Lebron handled himself as well as Barry Sanders used too.  For those of you who don't know what I mean by that, Sanders was a fantastic running back for the Detroit Lions in the 90's.  He would never celebrate big runs or touchdowns, because his ultimate goal was to win the Superbowl and only that was worth celebrating.  When he scored even some of the most amazing touchdowns he would simply flip the ball to the referee and return to his sideline.  This is clearly a lesson most NBA players need to learn.  (See the Clippers over reaction to dunks from the 2012-13 season.)

Lebron didn't celebrate or even smile after making the game winning layup.  Let's face it he really had every right too.  With Wade fouled out of the game and only 2.2 seconds left Miami would probably do all they could to get Lebron the ball.  Lebron was able to use his power and speed to get free and blow by a pretty good defender with ease to get himself an open layup at the rim with .5 seconds to spare.  It was made all the more impressive considering he pulled this off in an overtime at the end of a very long and hard game.

Lebron had every right to catch D Wade in mid air and shake him like a rag doll.  He had every right to jump into the air and shoulder bump Mike Miller.  (Probably the most action Miller will see all playoffs.)  He had every right to high five the entire front row and maybe even power press Norris Cole into the screaming crowd.  I don't think anyone would have woken up today and been like Lebron shouldn't have done any of that.

Instead Lebron ignored D Wade who jumped into him like they had just won the title.  He didn't pay any mind to Mike Miller who looked like a kid on Christmas morning.  Instead he just walked casually walked over to Craig Saeger, gave a composed and positive post game interview, and headed into the locker room.

Maybe Lebron realized a few things and as I write this I want to believe he did.  First that a Championship has not yet been won.  Second that Miami are starting to show the signs of a team that is not playing it's best basketball.  Third that there are still 7 more wins needed to get that title and this was one game that they should have won handily at home.

Imagine a world where the Heat lose in the Finals this year.  For Miami it would be a massive failure and it would start to raise questions about their franchise that they are hoping to dodge.  If Miami loses they will take a lot of HEAT for failing to win in a year where the competition was not at it's best.  Kobe and the Lakers out in round one mainly because of Kobe's injury.  Parker and Manu have both battled for fitness down the stretch for the Spurs.  The Grizzles are without Rudy Gay.  The Pacers are without Danny Granger.  OKC traded Harden and the lost Westbrook to injury.  All the while the worst injury news for the Heat has been the knee of D Wade, which he has always proven to get over in the end.

Miami must win the Championship and perhaps Lebron realizing this wanted his team to stay focused and not overreact to that one win and respect the fact that the Pacers almost stole game one in their building.  Let me lavish you with a few likely scenarios should the Heat fail to win the title this season.  Everyone will be calling for Spoelstra's head.  I still can't determine if he is a good coach or not, but I'm leaning to just average.  The Heat will have to consider what to do with some of the aging players sooner rather than later.  D Wade will come under major scrutiny and Lebron will be the media target.  The pressure on Miami will be again turned all the way up to 2011 standards.

Despite a bench of all-stars, a huge break at the end of the season to rest, and a lack of key injuries the Heat have played spotty basketball in their last few games.  As a Bulls fan I was very proud of the effort the Bulls gave and I was ultra impressed with their performance, but should it have been that close?  Games 1, 3, and 5 all could have gone either way and 2 of them were in Miami.  The Heat got the job done, but no one can argue that they should have blow the Bulls out in probably all of those games and won handily.  They did not do that and remember this Bulls team didn't have 3 major players including their two best scoring options.

I think the media and the pundits missed the fact that the Heat have been playing bad basketball since game 1 of the Bulls series.  I notice a couple factors that are contributing to this.  D Wade has not been himself lately.  He's playing well in spurts, but it's almost like he's trying to save himself at times.  Udonis Haslem is a shadow of himself.  Age may have finally caught up to him, but thankfully the Birdman has filled the void he has left.  Rashard Lewis is basically not playing very much or contributing all that much when he does.  Mike Miller hasn't played in the last 5 games or made a three that I can even remember these playoffs.  Maybe most important is Chalmers seems to be off his game and Norris Cole is seeing more of the court because of it.  I think Super Mario does a little more than Cole on both ends of the floor, but I don't discount Cole's abilities.

Still the Heat have Chris Bosh and Lebron in their primes.  When you have those two players you can will yourself over teams as they did against the Pacers in game 1.  The Heat played from behind for 3 quarters and in winning time found themselves ahead.  The Pacers made a three to send it into over time and when the chips were down with a minute to go Bosh made a huge rebound and layup where he was fouled.  This tied the game and then Lebron scored the final two baskets by sheer force of will.  You have to wonder if a healthy Granger would have made a difference last night against a Miami team with so many players not at their best.  This Heat team is not playing well, but the competition is so soft they are still winning in spite of their short comings.

I also feel like Lebron has learned one thing from all those years of failure is that one game does not a championship make.  If the Pacers win game 2 does it matter that the Heat won game 1?  I say no because if the Pacers won game 1 there was no way they were winning game 2 for many reasons.  The statistics dictate that rarely does a lower seed beat a higher seed 2 games in a row at home.  The Heat would be on a mission in game 2 and would look to defuse the doubters who would be in full effect in the wake of a lose.  Finally the NBA would never allow that to happen as they are already worried about an all small market finals.  (Wait did I just write that?)  If the Pacers win game 2 it's there best hope of somehow pulling out this series and I have no reason to believe they won't play better and the Heat will have to get a better performance from their "others."

I really want to hope that Lebron gets it and for good reasons he didn't act like a crazed fool after making a layup in overtime of game they should have won by many points.  Let's just hope that he continues on this path and that he can endear himself as one of the all time greats by celebrating championships not dunks.

Looking Forward to Next Year

With the EPL wrapping up today there is much to look forward to in the coming summer.  It wasn't the best year for the EPL in Europe and the finish of the season was far less dramatic than last year.  In all fairness last season was once in a lifetime.  So after all the hiring and firing and boom or bust transfers we enter into the summer.  I've already start formulating the six teams I think can contend if they make the right moves in the summer.  

None of these names are a huge surprise, but the order to me makes sense, but might seem off to others.

6. Liverpool are as far as I will reach for an upset team winning the title.  I know that's not saying much considering this side has never lifted the EPL title.  I respect the commitment to turn the club around the right way.  Building some young talent and then adding some stars around them and choosing a coach with an approach that is closer to the style of soccer that is more passing geared.  Luis Saurez is the biggest question mark for this club.  Do they keep him or not?  They probably need to because they will be troubled to find a suitable replacement and they can't sell him for what he is really worth.  I say gamble on him for one more season.  The rumor was he wanted to leave, but I think his agent will know that he needs to rebuild his image by not forcing a transfer this year.  

Sturridge paid off as a transfer and is finally living up to his potential.  I wonder if he can keep it up, but for now they have to be happy with him.  Coutinho is the attacking mid they were in need of.  I believe they need one more striker, but they don't need a major superstar like Falcao.  They need a savy vet who can give them some games in the cup matches allowing others to rest and come off the bench and be a threat when needed in the league.  The league will be the priority next season, so I think this would be a great add.  Also, I think the midfield could always be better.  There's not a single team that couldn't afford to add a good midfielder, but again I think they would do well to grab a veteran that can fill minutes and trust in there current side.

There biggest need is at the back.  They need a WC defender.  Don't sleep on the fact that they had 14 clean sheets this year in league, which is really good, but you have to be even tighter when competing for an EPL title.  Losing Carraghers leadership will be felt, so to me this is their biggest need.  They also need to keep their keeper.  They must supress Barca's advances should they come.

I feel that Europe is calling for Liverpool next season, which would be huge for them, but the title is a season off or so.  

5. The Spurs are ahead of Liverpool in my mind because I think the Bale situation will have a positive impact on them either way.  The cash in flow from selling Bale would be about as big as could be expected and AVB will have a lot of money to spend.  I think they will let Addeboyor go who clearly has seen better days and look to bring in two solid strikers. I would think adding a Berbatov and a young striker around Defoe and Dempsey would be a good thing.  

Where I think they really need to be deeper is on the back line.  As with Liverpool you need the D to win in the EPL, so they will have to address that.  

Should Bale stay then I think you just add to the back line find a young striker to put on your bench and assume you will be better because you should be.  I just think he's gone.  I fear Spurs are in for another 5th place finish though if that is the case.  They will not be this season's New Castle.

4.  Man City by all reports are going to be restricted on how much they can spend.  I can't say that I really believe that, but I have noticed that they aren't linked to all that many big players this season.  The problem I see for them is that Father Time is starting to catch up with them.  Yaya and Tevez aren't the players they were last year, so how will they be next year?  It sounds like Dzeko is leaving town and that would be really bad for them.  They need the striker depth to compete in Europe and the EPL.  The selling of Super Mario was a good and bad thing.  It made it easier to play Dzeko and Tevez, but it exposed them should anyone leave.  Tevez is never leaving, but the Dzeko rumors aren't good.  I think City need to be smart about their purchases this year.  Isco from Malaga would be a great a signing.  

If Man City is truly not able to spend like in years past they would be wise to maintain their team and add young players.  I think the Barca staff behind the scenes are thinking just that with bringing in a solid coach like Pellegrini.  I think City are going to be very Arsenal like this coming season. They will be in Europe, but not have a chance at any point to win the title in league.  This is a season of transition for them. 

3. Arsenal has to spend money this year.  I think they know it.  They finished on fire winning 8 of 10 and drawing the other two.  It shouldn't take much to improve this side, but just imagine if they buy a WC striker.  What if they signed Wayne Rooney?  With the Manchester's in transition next year shouldn't this be the year Arsenal sell out and go for the title?  

I don't know who they need to add, but I know they need to maintain and add.  Now is the time for Arsenal before everyone else recharges.  If they can put a title up there and have a strong showing in the UCL players will be more willing to come there rather than run from them.  I just can't stress enough you will never find this many challengers in tranistion.  Arsenal need to act!!!

2. Man U have lost their icon.  They acted quickly and swiftly to sign the very solid David Moyes to replace Ferguson.  I liked the move.  Sure it will be an adjustment for Moyes, but he's so logical it's not even funny and Ferguson will surely be behind the scenes.  

Man U is a bit long in the tooth though.  Vidic and Rio are a bit frail.  They should do some duct tape commercials this summer.  Giggs is way old, but I'm amazed by him still.  RVP is up there and faded badly down the stretch this season.  Still this team is not without young players.  They probably could repeat without adding anyone special if they avoid key injuries, but I don't think they will stand pat.  They have money to spend and they want to use it.  

CR7 would be a great add for them, but that doesn't seem possible.  Madrid would probably be asking too much and why buy an older player with only a few good years left when you can go young and buy Bale.  RVP and Bale with Chicarito mixed in is dangerous to think about.  From there I would just like to see Man U buy a solid holding midfielder.  Luka Modric is not the solution to this, but there surely is someone they can get.  

Man U is in a tricky position when selling players as evidenced with the Rooney situation.  On one hand  Rooney has been their best attacking player the past few seasons, but on the other hand he has struggled with fitness and an attitude.  It's strange that he's asking out with Moyes coming in, or maybe it makes sense as he already forced his way out of Everton.  Poor Man U can't find value for Wayne and that's the down side to being the bully on the block. They are also limited in their options of places to send him.  It's always hard to sell problems.  You always have to know that Sir Alex can get him turned around behind the scenes, but the drama will be a distraction they don't need in Moyes's first season.

1. Chelsea have set the table and they could be great.  Think about it.  Mata confident and in his prime.  Cech is your keeper and your back up is a star at Altetico Madrid.  Oscar has a solid year under his belt.  Lampard gives you minutes and leadership.  Terry will likley be more of a back up, but he gives you minutes.  David Luiz didn't make as many blunders down the stretch.  Cahill stayed heathly for you most of this year.  You don't have to worry about the Club cup.  You are the most likely place for Falcoa to go.  Hazard hasn't reached his potential yet.  You are super deep, and experienced.  Real Madrid and Barca have more questions to answer than in recent seasons.  PSG is losing there coach.  Juventus will not sign a striker better than Lorente.

Bayern are the only side that you really have to be concerned with in Europe.  If Bayern wins the UCL then it would setup a massive UEFA super cup, which could be a preview of bigger things down the road.  With all those factors going Chelsea's way I think they are the favoirites for the EPL next year.  They spent this season in transition and they will really benefit from it.  

The X Factor is Jose Mo.  Love him or hate him he imploded in his final season at real.  He wasn't worth the 1 copa and 1 league title he earned for them.  He might have done some major damage in the locker room that won't easily be repaired.  He took major issue with the Captian of Spain and the team when he battled Iker Cassilas behind the scenes and it seems like a war that no one won.  I think that Jose Mo could be a good boy for the first year or so, but with the potential that Chelsea has they may be better served looking elsewhere, but we will see.

Messi Stats to Brighten your day

Ok, so Barcelona didn't win the Copa or the UCL this season, but they will win the league.  Leo Messi was slowed a bit in the New Year and is likely not going to top last year's haul of 73, but still he's done some amazing things.

Currently he has scored in 21 straight games.  A few of those games he has come on as a late sub, which makes it more than impressive.  So, I wonder if could he finish this season by continuing the streak on to next year?  I think 30 would be ultra impressive.

Messi has 46 League goals.  Last year he set an all Euro league record with 50.  He should score the 5 needed to break the record, but can he score 9 to get to 55?  Would anyone ever touch 55? I bet no.  I think he ends up with 52 though.  He hasn't scored a hat trick in a while and Aletico and Malaga are on the slate.  Two teams that won't making scoring easy.

Last season Messi scored 73 goals in 60 appearances.  This season he has a chance to make 54 appearances.  He needs to hit 64 goals to have a better goals to appearance differential.  Pretty astounding since he did it in less games.  I think he blows the doors off and scores 67.  1.25 goals per game average.  Scary.

Someone mentioned the other day that Messi hasn't done well when surrounded by other World Class strikers.  I guess they are pointing out his time with Ibra and the struggles Alexis has had.  Villa did ok his first season, but had a dry spell.  He still had 23 goals in all competitions while Pedro had 22.  He spent most of the year hurt in 11-12 and this season has battled for time and a few injuries.

My reason for bringing that up is if you gave Messi a world class striker to play along side and any of the other 4 or 5 current strikers I think he would do even better and as a team the sky would be the limit.  I don't believe a guy who attracts that must defensive attention can't make another striker better.

The Best League Banter

With no English teams in the final 8 of the UCL and the Germans taking major leads in the two semi ties over the Spanish giants the best league in the world talk has really fired up this past week.  Many are tipping Germany as the best league in the world now.  Some are saying Spain, but a mass majority probably believe it's still the EPL.

Let me be the first to inform you it is for sure not Germany.  As evidenced by the Gotze move to Bayern this week and the possible Lewandoski move to Bayern.  I would put this on par with Inesta and Messi packing their bags and moving to Real Madrid next season right before a Classico match.  Real would do it in a heart beat, but Barcelona and the players would laugh at the notion.  The players are happy both emotionally and financially at Barca, but add on to that those two clubs rarely do business with each other.  They are in competition!!!

Dortmund and Bayern are openly doing business.  It's apparent that Dortmund can't keep it's players loyal or pay them enough.  If Gotze and Lewandowski were in anyway loyal I would think they would respect their current club enough to put off such dealings until after the completion of the UCL where they will likely meet in the final.  They have put their coach in a very bad position should the German final happen.  The game could be marred if Gotze botches anything up.  Could he really be picked to take a penalty for Dortmund?

It's also clear that Dortmund can't financially appease either player.  Dortmund is on the doorstep of the UCL final the biggest prize in Euro soccer and they had won the last two leagues.  You often here about players leaving clubs to get the UCL experience and win more trophies, but that sure isn't the case in Dortmund.  With both players possibly moving to Bayern in their own league it's pretty obvious it's for a better pay check.  Every player has a right to that, but it's a sad state of affairs.

With the German league officials pretty much unable to do anything about it Bayern Munich is poaching the best players from the league's second best side and therefore sucking the depth right out of the league itself.  How can a league get better under these circumstances?  It's not possible and it's pretty much why the best league talk is kind of silly.  The financial situations of teams within the league dictate how good the league will be because in the long run the best players will head to the teams with the most money and exposure.  When the league is dominated by one team financially, as in the case of Bayern, you have a league that can't get better.

Still for sake of spurring on the conversation here's how I rank the top 5 leagues in Europe.

France is number 5 in my view.  They have a power house team that is developing quickly and will be a force in the UCL for the next few years.  There are some sides like Lyon and Mariselle that have been pretty good, but there is very little star power in France.  Many top talents have moved to England and Spain.  Lyon has been a story of money management and great player selection, but have struggled as of late to make any dents in the UCL.  France has produced some great players, but as of late there is nothing remarkable about their style or player production.  With only one legit UCL threat they are a solid fifth.

Germany ranks fourth in my mind.  People are going to have a big problem with that.  They have the world's best team in Bayern at the moment, but Munich hasn't won the UCL in a long time and lost the last two leagues.  As stated above Dortmund are sellers and they are the second best team. The next two teams are Schalke and Leverkusen are also major sellers who have had some decent results in Europe, but haven't brought home any trophies.  Being an 18 team league means you have two fewer sides and that helps the Munich's of the world stay fresh especially when compared to the grueling English schedule and the two legged league cup in Spain.  The style has been really impressive in Germany, but the net result is no UCL titles and no Europa titles in the past few years, so who can this league be best?  They are likely to lock up the UCL and help their resume, but with Dortmund falling apart it's going to be a one team league for sure next season.  How can a one team league be better than a league with multiple teams that can contend for the league title and UCL every season?

Which is why I have the Italians 3rd.  The Italians have had three sides over the past 6 years win the league.  First we had the Inter era, and the AC had some dominance, and now Juventas has surged up winning what looks to be back to back titles and a good showing in the UCL.  Napoli are going to finish second in the league this season.  They did well last year in the UCL.  I would agree they aren't favored to do anything major in the UCL next season, but they show the depth of the league.  There are a lot of teams like Fiorentina and Roma that also have good global recognition and have threatened to be better.  This is not a one or two team league like Spain or Germany.  The style is a bit boring, but effective and the national team usually does very well recently finishing second in Euro 2012.  The financial situation of Italy has hurt a lot of teams. Fan attendance can be spotty even for the best teams.  It hasn't helped that their has been match fixing, but all and all the Serie A has more depth and three teams that could win the UCL.  The previous two leagues going forward next season will probably only have one each.  One sneaking thing to remember about the Italian league is they are keeping a majority of the best Italian players in their league despite the financial situation.

The Spaniards come in a close second.  Barcelona have been the most consistent side in the world the last few years. Winning 2 UCL's and making 6 straight semis combined with 4 of the last 6 league titles.  Over the past 6 years they are the best team in the world and the 10-11 side might have been the best of all time.  Real Madrid have been a force the last two years.  Deep runs in the UCL and they have grabbed 2 league titles in 6 years.  These two clubs have been tipped back and fourth as the best side in the world with 10 of the most recent fifa 11 coming from them and the 11th player coming from Aletico Madrid.  Aletico have won the Europa league twice in recent memory.  Last season Spain had 3 of the final four Europa participants and 2 of the UCL semi finalist with Barca and Real who repeated the feat this year.  Internationally Spain is considered possibly the greatest team in the history of world football.  A 2014 world cup title will make that inarguable.

So what are the flaws?  The league is very top heavy.  Barca and Real suck up most of the stars and many top Spanish players have gone to other leagues.  The financial situation of the country has hurt teams like Malaga, Aletico, and Valencia who could be threats in the UCL.  That being said only Barca and Real could be considered as a UCL winner, but often they are the favorites to win the competition.  As it stands today Bayern are the best side in the world, but Real and Barca have the resources to grab the players to catch up or pass them quickly.  If it came down to style the Spaniards would be tops, but another another factor is that they have a poor second division where the relegated teams have to face off with Barcelona and Real's B teams!

And then there is England.  England will always get a lot of love because it is the birth place of football.  That is a charm that will never fade.  I have it first by a small margin over La Liga for a few reasons.  The finances are better because the league has a wider appeal than the Spanish La Liga and the country is in better shape.  Attendance is very strong.  Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all recently won the UCL, but not only that Man U and Chelsea played for the final.  Arsenal, Man U, Man City, and Chelsea are all capable of winning the UCL with Spurs and Liverpool just a few players away, but it's that depth that makes the league so great.  The second division has teams that could cause problems for other leagues first division sides.  Therefore from top to bottom the league is usually not very soft with fresh teams like Norwich and Swansea coming up and staying up.  Swansea won a league cup this season to top it off.  The style is a bit mixed with so many different teams playing differently, but it helps to make the league more lively and unpredictable.  The top teams often are upset by the lower sides.  The amount of points needed to win the league is usually more reasonable as compared to Barcelona and Real both breaking 100 the last two seasons to win their league crowns.

There are still quite a few downsides that have almost pulled the league below Spain.  The English players are not sought after to play in other leagues.  Most of the top teams have an international player as their feature players.  Chelsea has Torres or Ba.  Man U had RVP.  Man City has Tevez, and Aguerro.  The list goes on and on.  The quality of play of the teams is often not that good, because they are so thrown together.  Man City are the greatest example of this with players from various countries put together with no common style and Italian coach.  It's like All-star teams that can play amazing one night and seem totally out of sink the next night.  Due to the standards being so high teams are often quick to buy and sell players before a team can jell.  The recent trend this season was to sack your manager during the season.  This doesn't always equal the best looking product on the field and English sides are rarely favored over powerhouses from the other leagues because of it.  The English media overreacts to every result and the clubs seem to buy into what is being said to a fault.  In a recent UCL match Man U sat Wayne Rooney as a tactical decision that appeared to be 100% correct.  The media latched on to the story and have rumored him as being out with the club because of it, this despite that fact that he is having one of his best statistical years.  England has the reputation of playing hard knocking traditional football, but the style seems a bit dated and really hasn't helped them in Europe.  Adapting to new styles has been tough since the roster and manager changes happen so quickly.  The national team has had spotty success for various reasons.

One flaw that I really take issue with, but I'm not so sure that it's the biggest is the heavy schedule teams most take on.  There are two cups in English football that have been around forever.  The League and the FA.  They are both very traditional.  England uses a very outdated replay system where if two teams draw they replay each other again at a later date.  This creates absolute havoc on a sides schedule.  Chelsea are on pace to play a record number of games, but haven't taken home a single trophy to show for it and may not be in the UCL next season.  The amount of Cup games, whether sides take them seriously or not, forces the EPL to play through Christmas with no break.  Compare this to the Germans who get a huge break over the winter and avoid playing in some of the worst weather.  They also play four less league games and have one off legs for their cup.  The FA refuses to do anything about it and frankly is a mistake.

Changing this cup situation to me would solve a lot of problems for the English sides and make them even better in Europe and perhaps untouchable as a league.  The fixes are pretty straight forward.  They can combine the cups into one competition.  That would make the most sense, but traditionalist might freak out.  The second solution, which I think has to happen is for both competitions to simply embrace one off legs that end in penalties if undecided.  This way at least clubs would know when they would play next and how games would be scheduled.  It would also chop about 4 to 5 unnecessary matches from the top sides.

With England having room for improvement I think it's clear they will be the top league for years to come.  The only chance Spain has of knocking them off in the near future is to combine with Portugal to ease the financial problem and bring in some more competitive teams.  Lisbon, Braga and Benfica would all make the league more competitive and would probably get even better because of the financial benefits of the combine league.  Decent sides would be forced to play down and make the second division way more competitive and force the B teams out.  This would hurt Barca and Real who would probably try to stand against this, but ultimately the health of the entire league comes first.

As it stand England is tops.  The Germans have the best team now, but that doesn't make them the best league.  The Spanish need to solve their financial problems.  The Italians need to do the same. The French need to find another PSG and globally brand themselves better.

Ups and Down a Premier League Story

After Spurs signature win today I felt the urge to recap what has been an up and down year for the EPL.  Certain teams seem to be breaking through and it's setting the stage for another interesting summer and maybe a season for the ages.

This season will be remembered in my opinion as a transition year.  It will have a black eye for the goofy coaching changes that occurred along the way.  I worry that success by Southampton and Sunderland after their changes will encourage this behavior in the future.

Here's how I viewed each team from the bottom up as we stand today.

Reading canned their manager and hired the manager from Southampton who had been canned.  That's not a good resume builder for Adkins, but at least Southampton will stay up and he won't be responsible for dragging both teams down.  In reality he was unjustly fired and didn't have a chance to save Reading who was already on life support.

QPR are the LA Lakers of the EPL.  They aren't that loaded with talent, but boy did they try to be.  This team wasn't built right.  I always felt like they were grasping at star power instead of key position players.  They too fired their coach, and this was the one that I agreed with.  Mark Hughes needs anger management.  Harry tried his best, but he needed a training camp or a winter break (huge EPL flaw) to get things turned around.

Wigan may stay up, but it has to be frustrating to be a Wigan fan.  Martinez looks like he's heading for greener pastures every summer and the team hangs on to it's EPL spot by a thread.  This just isn't healthy.

Aston Villa had a run of poor play that had me question if they could compete in the MLS.  Thankfully for them they were able to stop the bleeding.  I think a big part of the reason was not letting go of Lambert and giving him time.  This side just has no fire power and no defense.  How that translates into anything is beyond me.  They will be fighting for their lives until the bitter end.

Newcastle went from competing for a UCL spot to taking the slip and slide to the bottom of the table.  I started to worry for Pardew as right after he signed his huge extenstion the season fell apart.  Letting Ba go was questionable and brought them so little in return it was embarrassing.  I have to remember he has a bad knee that could end his career at anytime, but it added insult to injury for sure.  I don't think they will go down, but if they were too it could spell disaster for the club both financially and emotionally.  They might end up in the third division in a few years.

Stoke just do what they do.  They stay out of the headlines and stay mid pack.  They are close to the bottom, but you figure they will earn enough to stay up.

Sunderland went from stable and ok to threatening to hit the bottom.  I thought O'neil's termination was ill fated especially considering they hired Di Cano, but they have some life and look safe to stay up.  What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I don't see Di Cano hanging in longer than a year or so.  I can't wait to read all the stories after he loses a few.  The English press will have a field day.

Norwich have done enough to stay around and never have really threatened for the top or bottom.  I just have to wonder if Lambert isn't kicking himself for not sticking around.  He will be if Villa fall.  Still it's harsh to play Monday morning QB on that situation.  Norwich had some good results, but Villa as side would have always been tagged to do better.  Really no difference between 16th and 13th if you think about it.

Southampton were the side I was most disappointed in after the firing of Adkins, but they seemed to know what they were doing.  The side stabilized quickly after and were never in danger of the drop after the very slow start.  This will probably have many boards considering mid-season changes that I think are almost always the wrong move unless Mark Hughes is your manager.

Fulham are the most annoying team in the league.  I would rather be a QPR fan.  Fulham love to draw games.  They are the best in world at it.  I won't watch a Fulham match unless it was at gunpoint.

West Ham had a great season in their return to the Prem.  Big Sam got some big wins that kept them out of any trouble, but I think this is about the best they can achieve.  They will benefit from the new TV deal for certain, but will the new Stadium be a blessing or a curse?  At the end of the day Andy Carroll isn't the answer to anyone's problems.  Unless you are looking for a great party!

Swansea and WBA make up the two biggest let downs for me.  Both sides started strong, which insured they would have no trouble staying up, but they stumbled mid season and haven't been able to stay consistent.  Swansea got some hardware winning the league cup, but they will be pressured to keep Michu who they stole from Rayo for peanuts.  If the big dollars come calling I think they will crack.  There coach has done enough to have him rumored with Real Madrid.  (That's almost exactly like coaching for Chelsea if you think about it.  Both sides have fired UCL winning coaches the season after)  WBA needs a marquee goal scorer and they may be able to break through.  Credit the current coach and big Roy for leaving this side in good shape.  I just wish these sides hadn't run out of gas in the new year.

I give Liverpool a lot of credit.  I think the ownership group knew that this was going to be a project.  The landscape of football is changing and Liverpool want to change with it.  The similar style conversion in Arsenal has stalled and failed to bring trophies, but that has a lot to do with management not the style.  The Boston group see what's happening in Barcelona and want to embrace that.  Rodgers is an manager that wants the same vision and style.  Liverpool's slow start and lack of strikers early made getting into a Europe a tough proposition.  They are just a player or two away from being very dangerous.  If they can keep Saurez in check and stick to the plan I think they will be a game changer in the EPL next season.  Perhaps missing Europa will be a boost for them.

If Everton were going to get over the hump this was the season.  Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal were all off form at some point.  There was a spot to be had, but the other draw happy EPL side just lacked the goal scoring and couldn't notch those wins against the bigger clubs.  They did well  for the most part and might find themselves in Europe, but this was their big chance.  Funny that David Moyes is being questioned while having one of his best seasons there.

Spurs are having a revival year.  Dropping Modric hasn't hurt them at all.  Dempsey hasn't been great, but he has given them big goals in big games.  Bale has broke the ceiling.  He's not the best player in the EPL, but he has proven he can score big goals and might have a bigger upside than first thought.  I think key to his success has been the amount of attacking talent and the right coach who knows how to use him.  AVB has come to Spurs and made them look much more dangerous. They have scored big wins over big sides.  The win over Man City was mega impressive considering they were trailing and City has been in really good form lately.  If they can keep Bale one more season Spurs could contend for league and the UCL, but they need a spot.  Chelsea or Arsenal will have to be put to the side.  It's the best story in the EPL left to finish.  AVB did what Chelsea wanted him to do for them.  Make them a fast passing slick team.  The difference his club supported him in doing it.  The results are encouraging.

Chelsea have played in more competitions than any side in the history of the world or at least in recent memory.  They are deep and needed to be deep this year.  Their first major mistake was firing Di Matteo early on.  It was one of the biggest blunders in ownership history.  I'm going to blog on the year that was and save my thoughts for now, but in a nutshell Chelsea have fallen just short over and over again.  They've played so many games this year they have everyone seeing blue.  I just think they will falter and end up fifth.  At that point who do you fire with the coach already leaving???

Arsenal are in third 5 points back of City who hold a game in hand on them.  Arsene Wegner is a magician.  People need to realize something.  They point to the system and say it doesn't work in the EPL and the coach needs to go.  The real reason they can't get over the hump is that they can't afford to keep everyone and they are hoping they are just rich enough to take advantage of financial fair play to stop losing future talents.  Early on you had to feel losing RVP was killing them, but RVP has disappeared as of late and was a non factor against Real Madrid.  Hmmmmm, starting to wonder if they didn't make the right move, but I know if he had stayed they could have won the league and the UCL this year.  Scary that he was there the entire preseason.  Ultimately the right move may have been just to keep him and lose him for nothing.  Could have broke the trophy drought.

Man City look like the best team in England this season at times, but they haven been a little snake bitten.  They've had the opposite luck of last year.  Losing key players to injury at the worst times and catching a UCL group that included the German Champions, the English Champions, and the La Liga Champions.  The three best leagues in Europe with Ajax mixed in for fun.  It was the super group of death.  Still haven't figured out how the UCL pulled that one off.  It's tough to be hard on them for not getting through there.  Balotelli needed to go and they got some of their money back, but they still have some house cleaning to do this summer.  Nasir has to go.  For City this off season will need to be addition by subtraction.  The FA Cup would be a nice consolation prize for the ex-champs.

Man United proved this season that a good early start in league play makes all the difference.  This is the blue print for success in the UCL and League.  If you can draw a safe UCL group, unlike Man City, you can basically focus all your energy on the league and heavily rotate your side.  United lost some games in the first half, but they almost never had a long stumble and they crushed the weaker competition.  Once they got ahead they stayed ahead and were able to focus on the UCL.  They got hard done there, but lately they seem to have run out of gas.  They spilled a game back to Chelsea in the FA Cup and lost replay a few weeks later.  They got beat at home by City, but the foundation of a big lead have them ready to clinch tomorrow.  To me City is a better side right now and Man U are hardly a favorite against any of the top 5 sides in the league right now.  RVP has gone flat after the super start and the rumors around Rooney aren't helping either.  I wonder if this will be the off season where Sir Alex stops buying strikers and starts grabbing quality midfielders.  He will find that it's much easier to score goals when you can give good service to all that talent upfront.  Yet, I feel he will spend most of the season romancing CR7 while patting Rooney on the back as he's pushed out the door.

This season has not been the best for the EPL, but with a bigger TV deal in place for next year the league should not be down for long.  Some of La Liga's best are heavily rumored to be moving with Falcao headed to the EPL and CR7 having question marks surrounding him.  They are already fighting over the best Dortmund has to offer.  This upcoming season reminds me of the NBA the year after Lebron went to the Heat.  So many storylines and something has got to give.

I hate to say it, but the FA needs combine the League Cup and the FA Cup.  I know it would break tradition, but it's killing the league.  England perhaps has the worst weather to deal with in the winter and they are the one league that is playing fixtures with no break.  While the Germans, Spanish, and Italians rest up for the UCL.  I can't see them doing it, but it needs to happen.  That or the top EPL sides need to get even more conservative with the sides they put out for the League Cup and treat it like it isn't important.

Onward and upward.