The Premiership Weekend Winners And Losers
The English top flight is in decline. And that's a fact...
Winners
Lovers Of Nil-Nils
The Premiership isn't scoring.
Both The Observer and The Sunday Times carried features this weekend detailing the decline of the Sky-hyped 'Best League in the World'. If goals are an accurate measuring gauge of entertainment, then the Premiership has become the least rewarding major league in Europe.
With an average of 2.14 goals per game this season, the Premiership offers a goal a game less than the Dutch league and half a goal less than the Bundesliga. Whereas 130 Serie A games have produced 328 goals, and 120 La Liga matches have witnessed 295 goals, the Premiership has served up a league record low of 279.
If the current trend is maintained until May then 'the Premiership would register a mere 822 goals, the lowest total by any 20-team league in the past decade and lower than three seasons in Italy when the league contained only 18 teams'.
So why the regression?
Theories abound, although it is undeniable that the Premiership has partly become a victim of its own financial sense. The fear of missing out on the annual £20m TV windfall is acute and corrosive. "There are a number of factors behind this reduction, most notably the fear associated with the loss of league status which permeates the Premiership and leads to negative play," is the much-quoted lament of Charlton chairman Richard Murray.
Tactically, the once blood-and-thunder league has become refined and increasingly negative. 'It is no coincidence that Chelsea's recent ascendancy under Jose Mourinho has marked a new era of caution in the Premiership,' suggests the Sunday Times. Partly because of the Champions League's prioritisation, and partly in an attempt to ape Chelski, both ManYoo and Arsenal have added defensive ballast in recent years. Liverpool, meanwhile, were attracted to Rafa Benitez after his Valencia side won La Liga with just 51 goals in 2001-02.
Approximately half of the Premiership combatants now operate with an auxiliary defender operating in the Claude Makelele role. The 4-5-1 is as familiar as it is restrictive.
The Big Four are also victims of their own success. Teams no longer strive to beat them, instead settling for soporific constraint. Draws at home against a member of the perceived elite are thus celebrated as wins. Real victories spawn inadvertently self-mocking commemorative DVDs.
The decline has also coincided with a sudden shortfall of outstanding goalscorers. Of the Premiership's top ten all-time top scorers, three - Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and Ian Wright - have retired. A fourth, Dwight Yorke, is in the Championship. Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Andy Cole are in the twilight of their career. Thierry Henry is in a slump, Michael Owen a crock.
'Natural goalscorers' are no longer the Premiership's first among equals - this summer, ManYoo swapped the league's number one predator for a superior footballer. A remarkable upshot is the feasibility of this season's Golden Boot winner scoring less than 20 goals.
The losers of this miserable regression are football's most under-appreciated communities.
The first, obviously, is the fans. What hope of achieving value for money when ticket prices and the number of goals hurtle in diametrically-opposed directions?
The second, less obviously, is the league's unfairly-maligned officials.
This season's perceived 'refereeing crisis' is directly linked to the declining number of goals. One of the reasons I am an advocate of the size of goals being made bigger is because it would reduce the significance and critical nature of officialdom's decision-making. In games of four or more goals, their rulings are merely talking points. Managers can hardly bemoan a dodgy penalty when their side have been beaten 4-1. Yet in games averaging 2.14 goals, the decisions of referees and linesmen become match-turners and match-deciders. The situation is as unhealthy as it is fallible.
Too often managers are blaming defeats on officialdom when the real question to be demanded is whether teams are doing enough to win matches.
The depressing answer this season, more often than not, is that they aren't.
Martin Jol
The competition wasn't fierce but Jol was by a considerable margin Tottenham's best performer on Saturday at the Emirates. Eschewing the traditional manager's cop-out, the Tottenham boss refused to bemoan the dubious award of two penalties by Graham Poll and instead bemoaned his side's own failings.
"If we had created four or five good chances ourselves I might be saying the decisions cost us the game, but I would be embarrassed to talk that way when we were so casual," he admitted. 'Casual' was generous; Tottenham were shockingly poor, devoid of ambition or application. In a north London derby, the lack of fight was inexcusable, as criminal as going to the pub without any money.
Jol was equally frank and honest in his admission that Tottenham have taken two steps backwards this season.
Arsenal
Crisis averted, but perhaps only temporarily. Trips to Anfield await in both the FA Cup and Carling Cup, while a defeat in Porto on Wednesday night could result in the Gunners being eliminated from the Champions League. Arsene Wenger's 'moment of truth' has only just begun.
ManYoo
The ends may not justify the means, but, courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's 'stumble' ManYoo passed another test of their title credentials at Middlesbrough to lead the table by six points. Victory in next Saturday's Manchester derby will result in Chelski trailing by nine points when they face Arsenal a day later.
Reading
A fifth successive victory at Newcastle on Wednesday night could see the Royals climb to third.
Sheffield United
The league table is finally beginning to take credible shape at both ends. The Blades are faring better than expected and, while Charlton and Watford appear doomed, Neil Warnock's side are threatening to relegate one of Newcastle, West Ham or Middlesbrough.
Losers
Bolton Wanderers
The Premiership must in a moribund state when Bolton are a point off third in the table despite scoring less than a goal a game.
West Ham
Ten hours of play have elapsed since the Hammers last scored a goal on their travels.
Charlton Athletic
Having earned a paltry nine points from their first 15 matches, a seven-point deficit to Sheffield United appears unassailable. And that spells relegation.
Thierry Henry
Is it a coincidence that two of the Gunners' best three performances this season have occurred in their skipper's absence? Whether by his presence or by his negative body language, Henry appears to undermine Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor, both of whom excelled against Spurs. Henry's cheerleader routine on Saturday was his first discernable positive contribution as an inspiring captain and, judging by Arsene Wenger's subdued response, still failed to offset the hassle he caused by sulkily storming out of the training ground on Friday.
The irony of Henry claiming he is fit to play is that he has repeatedly complained of requiring a rest following his summer exertions in Germany. The Frenchman has been ordinary this season and appalling against Fulham last week.
Henry's spell on the sidelines may be just what both the player and team require.
Winners
Lovers Of Nil-Nils
The Premiership isn't scoring.
Both The Observer and The Sunday Times carried features this weekend detailing the decline of the Sky-hyped 'Best League in the World'. If goals are an accurate measuring gauge of entertainment, then the Premiership has become the least rewarding major league in Europe.
With an average of 2.14 goals per game this season, the Premiership offers a goal a game less than the Dutch league and half a goal less than the Bundesliga. Whereas 130 Serie A games have produced 328 goals, and 120 La Liga matches have witnessed 295 goals, the Premiership has served up a league record low of 279.
If the current trend is maintained until May then 'the Premiership would register a mere 822 goals, the lowest total by any 20-team league in the past decade and lower than three seasons in Italy when the league contained only 18 teams'.
So why the regression?
Theories abound, although it is undeniable that the Premiership has partly become a victim of its own financial sense. The fear of missing out on the annual £20m TV windfall is acute and corrosive. "There are a number of factors behind this reduction, most notably the fear associated with the loss of league status which permeates the Premiership and leads to negative play," is the much-quoted lament of Charlton chairman Richard Murray.
Tactically, the once blood-and-thunder league has become refined and increasingly negative. 'It is no coincidence that Chelsea's recent ascendancy under Jose Mourinho has marked a new era of caution in the Premiership,' suggests the Sunday Times. Partly because of the Champions League's prioritisation, and partly in an attempt to ape Chelski, both ManYoo and Arsenal have added defensive ballast in recent years. Liverpool, meanwhile, were attracted to Rafa Benitez after his Valencia side won La Liga with just 51 goals in 2001-02.
Approximately half of the Premiership combatants now operate with an auxiliary defender operating in the Claude Makelele role. The 4-5-1 is as familiar as it is restrictive.
The Big Four are also victims of their own success. Teams no longer strive to beat them, instead settling for soporific constraint. Draws at home against a member of the perceived elite are thus celebrated as wins. Real victories spawn inadvertently self-mocking commemorative DVDs.
The decline has also coincided with a sudden shortfall of outstanding goalscorers. Of the Premiership's top ten all-time top scorers, three - Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and Ian Wright - have retired. A fourth, Dwight Yorke, is in the Championship. Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Andy Cole are in the twilight of their career. Thierry Henry is in a slump, Michael Owen a crock.
'Natural goalscorers' are no longer the Premiership's first among equals - this summer, ManYoo swapped the league's number one predator for a superior footballer. A remarkable upshot is the feasibility of this season's Golden Boot winner scoring less than 20 goals.
The losers of this miserable regression are football's most under-appreciated communities.
The first, obviously, is the fans. What hope of achieving value for money when ticket prices and the number of goals hurtle in diametrically-opposed directions?
The second, less obviously, is the league's unfairly-maligned officials.
This season's perceived 'refereeing crisis' is directly linked to the declining number of goals. One of the reasons I am an advocate of the size of goals being made bigger is because it would reduce the significance and critical nature of officialdom's decision-making. In games of four or more goals, their rulings are merely talking points. Managers can hardly bemoan a dodgy penalty when their side have been beaten 4-1. Yet in games averaging 2.14 goals, the decisions of referees and linesmen become match-turners and match-deciders. The situation is as unhealthy as it is fallible.
Too often managers are blaming defeats on officialdom when the real question to be demanded is whether teams are doing enough to win matches.
The depressing answer this season, more often than not, is that they aren't.
Martin Jol
The competition wasn't fierce but Jol was by a considerable margin Tottenham's best performer on Saturday at the Emirates. Eschewing the traditional manager's cop-out, the Tottenham boss refused to bemoan the dubious award of two penalties by Graham Poll and instead bemoaned his side's own failings.
"If we had created four or five good chances ourselves I might be saying the decisions cost us the game, but I would be embarrassed to talk that way when we were so casual," he admitted. 'Casual' was generous; Tottenham were shockingly poor, devoid of ambition or application. In a north London derby, the lack of fight was inexcusable, as criminal as going to the pub without any money.
Jol was equally frank and honest in his admission that Tottenham have taken two steps backwards this season.
Arsenal
Crisis averted, but perhaps only temporarily. Trips to Anfield await in both the FA Cup and Carling Cup, while a defeat in Porto on Wednesday night could result in the Gunners being eliminated from the Champions League. Arsene Wenger's 'moment of truth' has only just begun.
ManYoo
The ends may not justify the means, but, courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's 'stumble' ManYoo passed another test of their title credentials at Middlesbrough to lead the table by six points. Victory in next Saturday's Manchester derby will result in Chelski trailing by nine points when they face Arsenal a day later.
Reading
A fifth successive victory at Newcastle on Wednesday night could see the Royals climb to third.
Sheffield United
The league table is finally beginning to take credible shape at both ends. The Blades are faring better than expected and, while Charlton and Watford appear doomed, Neil Warnock's side are threatening to relegate one of Newcastle, West Ham or Middlesbrough.
Losers
Bolton Wanderers
The Premiership must in a moribund state when Bolton are a point off third in the table despite scoring less than a goal a game.
West Ham
Ten hours of play have elapsed since the Hammers last scored a goal on their travels.
Charlton Athletic
Having earned a paltry nine points from their first 15 matches, a seven-point deficit to Sheffield United appears unassailable. And that spells relegation.
Thierry Henry
Is it a coincidence that two of the Gunners' best three performances this season have occurred in their skipper's absence? Whether by his presence or by his negative body language, Henry appears to undermine Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor, both of whom excelled against Spurs. Henry's cheerleader routine on Saturday was his first discernable positive contribution as an inspiring captain and, judging by Arsene Wenger's subdued response, still failed to offset the hassle he caused by sulkily storming out of the training ground on Friday.
The irony of Henry claiming he is fit to play is that he has repeatedly complained of requiring a rest following his summer exertions in Germany. The Frenchman has been ordinary this season and appalling against Fulham last week.
Henry's spell on the sidelines may be just what both the player and team require.
posted by Hector Ship-Grill at 14:10
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