Final Picks of the Weekend and Season

Sports - Football - Premier League - Final Picks of the Season

So, I haven't blogged in a while and we have already reached the end of the season. A lot has happened over the last month-or-two, so these are my overall picks of the last weeks and season:

Hero: Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp are the obvious picks for their achievements at Fulham and Tottenham, reaching the Europa League final and Champions League place respectively.

However, I think Gianfranco Zola should be recognised and lauded just as much for keeping West Ham up under extraordinarily difficult and chaotic circumstances. Most importantly, he kept a good relationship with the players all the way through and to kept them going. The more surprised I was to find out he has been sacked this morning!

Zero: Dirk Kuyt and Dimitar Berbatov have certainly annoyed me most this season! Being over-over-over-paid for their moaning, diving, whining and being bad losers. Rafael Benitez has also to take a real close look at himself. With Rick Parry's departure from Liverpool he was able to clear and reorganise the back room to his will and choice and look what it has brought him. You can always lay the blame to the ownership fiasco, but that does not hold and directly influence everything what is going on on the pitch - it is the players and the coaches, who are all overlooked and coached by the manager.

Champs: As mentioned above, Fulham and Tottenham have to be lauded for their over-achievements. So too Chelsea for their fourth title, first since the departure of the "Great One". But the sides that have surprised me most are Arsenal and Birmingham. I thought the Gunners were going to be the first to drop out of the top four and the Blues I saw battling relegation - how wrong was I! Arsenal will not be happy with their slip late-on in the season, but it came to no surprise looking at the lack of depth and back-up options in their squad - something they will have to look into and change if they do not want yet another repeat of their slip and fall.

Birmingham will be dreaming of a European spot next season, see what/who they will do/change/buy/sell to see that happen, especially interesting and intriguing as they could not be happier with the display, performances and results of their current squad.

Has-Beens: Liverpool were not even a shadow of the side they were last season whilst Portsmouth and West Ham fought on through the storm, holding their heads up high - the prior failing to avoid the drop whilst the latter was able to withstand all the counterweight.

I know Liverpool the Reds have had their problems and turmoil with their owners, the board, their debts, etc., but as a club of such prestige, history, success, large fan base, global reputation et al, it was sad to see the ship sink so low with hardly any fight or uproar.

You Beauty: So many goals! So many thrashes! Chelsea broke all record books with their 108 goals, achieving that last but not least with their 8-0 destruction of Wigan. Not to forget the 7-goal thrashings of Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa, also by the champions; Manchester City putting 5 and 6 past Birmingham and Burnley respectively; Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham also enjoying their 5, 6 and/or 7 goal thriller-wins. There were so many goal-feasts this season and juicy and action-packed encounters, it is impossible for me just pin it down to one or two!

Ouch! Referees, own goals and divers - this season these three top my lists of outrage, cringes, complaints and criticism. In this day and age where the cameras and advanced technology pick everything and everyone in the finest detail in the matter of seconds, I cannot believe that they cannot be used to assist and support the officials, prevent very unfair and costly errors and stop the cheaters and whiners.

And finally, to see where my picks have come from, here is a comparison table of the last to seasons. It obviously does not include Birmingham, Wolves or Burnley as they were not part of the Premier League last season. Birmingham have certainly exceeded all expectations ending up ninth, whilst Wolves avoided relegation quite comfortably in the end, 8 points clear in 15th place, and Portsmouth, well, they faced an impossible job to stay up, with or without the 9-point-deduction, they had a too high mountain to climb to avoid the drop.

So, the table shows all 17 teams that were in the Premier League in both seasons, comparing how they fared in the 38 games of both seasons. The + and - numbers indicate how many games they won, drew and lost and how many goals they scored and conceded more or less, and finally how many points they gained or lost consequently. It just shows how bad the season has been for Liverpool...

1) Tottenham:

+7 wins, -2 draws, -5 defeats; +22 goals, -4 conceded; +19 points

2) Man City: +3, +8, -11; +15, -5; +17

3) Blackburn: +3, 0, -3; +1, -5; +9

4) Sunderland: +2, +2, -4; +14, -2; +8

5) Chelsea: +2, -3, +1; +35, +8; +3

6) Arsenal: +3, -6, +3; +15, +4; +3

7) Aston Villa: 0, +2, -2; -2, -9; +2

8) Stoke City: -1, +5, -4; -4, -7; +2

9) Everton: -1, +1, 0; +5, +12; -2

10) Bolton: -1, +1, 0; +1, +14; -2

11) Man Utd: -1, -2, +3; +18, +4; -5

12) Hull City: -2, +1, +1; +6, +16; -5

13) Fulham: -2, -1, +3; 0, +12; -7

14) Wigan: -3, 0, +3; -3, +34; -9

15) West Ham: -6, +2, +4; +5, +21; -16

16) Portsmouth: -3, -4, +7; -4, +9; -22 (includes the 9-point deduction)

17) Liverpool: -7, -2, +9; -16, +8; -23

Total Goals scored: 1053 this season, 942 last season; +111

Liverpool thump struggling Portsmouth

Sports - Football - Premier League - Match Report

Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth

Liverpool recorded their seventh consecutive home win on their 118th anniversary against rock-bottom Portsmouth.

The win takes the Reds up to fifth, one point ahead of Manchester City and one behind Tottenham, who both have games in hand, two and one respectively, in the race for the fourth and last Champions League qualification place.

Rafa's usual favourites Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva started on the bench for Liverpool and were not much missed on the night.

Liverpool looked sloppy and shaky again in the opening 20 minutes though, wasting good build-ups and chances high or wide.

However, once broken, Portsmouth caved in conceding three goals in under six minutes.

The first breakthrough came from an error by Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown.

He could just watch and curse himself after he let Steven Gerrard chase down Ricardo Rocha's cross and block the goalkeeper's clearance kick for it to ricochet to Maxi Rodriguez, his cross serving Fernando Torres an easy tap-in to make it 1-0.

Torres was involved in the next two goals, too, slipping and clipping the ball over to Ryan Babel and Alberto Aquilani respectively, for them to make no mistake of netting both chances.

Thanks to Pompey's first blooper, Liverpool got up and going and could go into the break much more confident.

The fans at the ground reflected that change of mood, too, with a subdued and unusually quiet atmosphere taken over by cheers, chants and songs - the more common way and sound of things at Anfield.

The second half continued with Liverpool dominating possession and chances.

Torres to elegantly cornered his way through Pompey's back line to make it four and seal the win for the Reds 13 minutes from time.

Portsmouth did get a consolation goal with just a couple of minutes remaining - Nadir Belhadj taking advantage of some defensive confusion by Liverpool to put the ball past Pepe Reina with ease.

This is a crucial win for Liverpool.

They will be hoping they can take the gained confidence into their next match against Lille, where they have to turn around a one-goal deficit to make it into the last quarter finals.

The fans made it clear on Monday night: They are not happy with the current situation and state of things and want change - off the field especially.

Liverpool Reina; Johnson (Kelly 70), Carragher, Agger, Insua; Aquilani, Mascherano, Rodriguez, Gerrard (Benayoun 75), Babel; Torres (Ngog 80). Subs not used Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Lucas.

Portsmouth Ashdown; Finnan, Wilson, Rocha, Hreidarsson (Abeyie 76); Brown, Bouba Diop (Mokoena 64), O'Hara (Webber 85), Dindane; Piquionne, Belhadj. Bookings Dindane 78, Mokoena 78. Subs not used Mullins, Hughes, Kanu.

1st half stats:

Liverpool-Portsmouth

Attempts: 10-4

On target: 3-1

Offsides: 1-1

Corners: 4-2

Free kicks: 7-3

2nd half stats:

Liverpool-Portsmouth

Attempts: 10-2

On target: 6-2

Offsides: 0-1

Corners: 3-2

Free kicks: 9-5

Sky Sports Stats:

Liverpool-Portsmouth

Possession: 64.5%-35.5% (BBC: 58%-42%)

Passing Success: 86.6%-74.4%

Tackles/Success: 21/61.9%-17./88.2%

Territorial Advantage: 55.9%-44.1%

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Man of the match: Fernando Torres

Lille take one-goal advantage into second leg

Sports - Football - Europa League Last 16 - 1st leg

Lille 1-0 Liverpool

Liverpool's performance at the LOSC Lillie Metropole was summarised in two words by the commentator: Scrappy and meaningless.

Neither goalkeeper had much to do in the first 40 minutes with both sides not able to create many chances and take control.

Just before half time the visitors came to life and made their first real break through Lille's back line.

First the Reds saw Steven Gerrard's free kick from left outside the box brilliantly saved by Mickael Landreau.

Then Fernando Torres' header off a Glen Johnson cross was stopped well again by the French goalkeeper.

Apart from that Liverpool looked unmotivated and uncoordinated for most of the match, similar to their defeat against Wigan in the Premier League last Monday.

Not much changed in the second half, both sides losing balance and possession constantly, Liverpool leaking most on the flanks.

The Reds were lucky not to be trailing after Eden Hazard's strike was harshly disallowed offside soon after the restart.

Liverpool defender Emiliano Insua was not able to cope with the Belgium and his quality breaks from the back with his midfield companion Ludovic Obraniak and defender Da Conceicao Emerson.

Eventually the breakthrough came for the home side from a free kick late on in the match. It was smooth and cheeky, definitely not undeserved.

Hazard swung the ball into the box, to see it elude all of the players, including a frozen Pepe Reina, to glide past them into the back of the net, with no further touch or assistance needed.

Liverpool had about five minutes left to scrape something out of the match, but to no avail.

Like on Monday, the Reds' substitutions made no impact. Their bookings were needless, for pointless rants to the referee, of which, as professionals, they should know better.

All in all the performance just showed once again that the state and mentality of the team and players is in shambles.

Meanwhile, credit where credit is due, Lille will be happy to have kept their good home record on track with only one defeat in the last 17 European matches.

Liverpool Reina; Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Insua; Kuyt (El Zhar 88), Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard; Babel (Riera 73), Torres. Bookings Insua 63, Torres 67. Subs not used Cavalieri, Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Kelly.

Lille Landreau; Beria, Chedjou, Rami, Emerson; Hazard, Balmont, Mavuba, Cabaye (Dument 74); Obraniak (Toure 83), Frau (Aubameyang 77). Bookings Toure 85, Aubameyang 88. Subs not used Butelle, Vandam, Souare, Souquet.

1st half stats:

Lille-Liverpool

Attempts: 4-4

On target: 2-3

Offsides: 0-0

Corners: 1-1

Free kicks: 12-4

2nd half stats:

Lille-Liverpool

Attempts: 5-3

On target: 3-1

Offsides: 2-1

Corners: 3-1

Free kicks: 7-12

Sky Sport stats:

Lille-Liverpool

Possession: 58.3%-41.7% (BBC: 57%-43%)

Passing Success: 75.6%-65.3%

Tackles/Success: 23/87%-36/75%

Territorial Advantage: 51.5%-48.5%

Referee: Alan Larsen

Man of the match: Eden Hazard

Latics beat dire Reds

Sports - Football - Premier League - Match Report

Wigan 1-0 Liverpool

Liverpool continued their disappointing season with yet another defeat against Wigan; their ninth in the Premier League this season, seven of which have come on the road.

At the DW stadium, the visitors looked clumsy, chaotic, uncoordinated, like headless chickens, and everything else but confident with the ball, losing possession too constantly and too easily.

Even Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who are normally their team's talismen and saviours, wasted golden opportunities on more than one occasion.

The first half was a lost cause, the second looked more like an act of desperation than recuperation, for the Reds that is.

Wigan in contrast showed great perserverance and determination - it was clear they were not going to give anything away without a fight.

Wigan took the lead deservedly in the 35th minute thanks to Dirk Kuyt's loss of possession just outside the box.

Emmerson Boyce put a superb cross through to Hugo Rodallega who made no mistake of putting the ball into the back of the net, leaving Pepe Reina helplessly stranded.

Further chances came fiew and far between the two sides - man of the match Charles N'Zogbia coming closest when his goal-bound shot was denied and cleared off the line by Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

Liverpool had uncharacteristically five names added into the referee's book, including Torres and Gerrard in the last 10 minutes, reflecting their desperation and frustration which grew more and more in the second half.

The substitutions did not make much of a change or impact for Liverpool, which the Reds desperately needed on this night and are in need of in general, if they want to keep just a glimmer of hope to end the season in the top 4!

Wigan Kirkland; Caldwell, Scharner, Boyce, Bramble; Figueroa, N'Zogbia, McCarthy, Diame (Thomas 81), Moreno (Moses 67); Rodallega (Scotland 85). Bookings Bramble 40. Subs not used Stojkovic, Amaya, Gomez, Sinclair.

Liverpool Reina; Insua, Kyrgiakos, Carragher, Macherano; Benayoun (Aquilani 68), Gerrard, Lucas (Johnson 54), Rodriguez, Kuyt (Babel 81); Torres. Bookings Insua 22, Lucas 29, Kyrgiakos 33, Torres 79, Gerrard 82. Subs not used Cavalieri, Agger, Riera, Ngog.

1st half stats:

Wigan-Liverpool

Attempts: 1-5

On target: 1-0

Offsides: 1-2

Corners: 0-2

Free kicks: 4-5

2nd half stats:

Wigan-Liverpool

Attempts: 5-2

On target: 1-0

Offsides: 0-0

Corners: 3-3

Free kicks: 8-3

Sky Sports stats:

Wigan-Liverpool

Possession: 37%-63% (BBC: 50%-50%)

Passing Success: 73.1%-78.7%

Tackles/Success: 35/82.9%-44/88.6%

Territorial Advantage: 57%-43%

Referee: Andre Marriner

Man of the match: Charles N'Zogbia

Top Blues lose - Pompey get consolation win

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Champs: Arsenal showed showed team strength and attitude, unity and stamina - so too did Manchester City and Portsmouth. All three of them were put into a situation where other teams would have given up and crumbled but they fought on and got what they deserved - victory.

Hero: Tottenham's goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes made a couple of spectacular saves. Everton will feel unlucky having got nothing out of the match. Liverpool's win against Blackburn summarized their season and problem of how much they have to rely on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to hit the net and net the points for them.

You Beauty! Martin Paterson's equalizer for Burnley against Portsmouth was a sleek showpiece. It was one of those elegant, back-foot flicks, that you will find in any selection of best goals. Tottenham's second against Everton was a fine combination of their Croatian trio.

Has-Beens: Where were Chelsea? They seemed to have forgotten where they and their heads stood. Manchester City cut them open and they could not recover. From the non-existent handshake, some (Henrique) Hilario(s) bloopers, to some red cards and heads - just nothing went their way.

Zero: I think both Wayne Bridge and John Terry should get a grip! The prior's actions I found childish (the non-existent handshake mentioned above), the latter's battered dog-face and fragile display I saw as crude. Both should be more mature and professional and get on with it.

Ouch! I need not mention the most painful incident of the weekend. I just cannot believe it is strike three for Arsenal. After Vassiriki Abou Diaby and Eduardo, now it hit Aaron Ramsey. In all three incidences, you cannot say the fowls were committed with malice, but nonetheless, they are career-threatening tackles and thereby require hard penalties as a consequence.

My Predictions - Actual Results

Birmingham 2:1 Wigan - 1:0

Bolton 1:0 Wolves - 1:0

Burnley 2:0 Portsmouth - 1:2

Chelsea 3:2 Man City - 2:4

Stoke City 1:1 Arsenal - 1:3

Liverpool 2:0 Blackburn - 2:1

Sunderland 1:1 Fulham - 0:0

Tottenham 2:0 Evert0n - 2:1

Premier League clubs earn and owe most

Sports - Football - Premier League - Money Matters

Talk about never judge a book by its cover:

A couple of weeks back, I read a BBC article which labelled the Premier League as "one of the richest sporting series in the world" with its main earnings coming from the sale of TV rights.

In the UK alone these are worth £1.8 billion over three years; overseas tv deals, internet and mobile phone rights add another £1bn. These deals were negotiated in January 2009 - at the hight of the recession.

The League's total assets add up to £3.8bn and constitute 48% of total club wealth across Europe.

However, another BBC article about a study on football club finances, headlined with the Premier League clubs owing more money than all the other European top clubs put together, with a total of 3.8bn euros (£3.4bn).

In other words, the Premier League clubs are top earners and debtors.

The European Club Footballing Landscape study looked at the 2007-08 accounts of all 732 clubs licensed by UEFA.

The total debt of 18 Premier League clubs is about four times that of the next most indebted top-flight league, Spain's La Lige with 978m euros in debt (and assets of 2.5bn euros).

The report says most of the Premier League's debt is linked to the takeover of Manchester United and Liverpool and does not include Portsmouth or West Ham into their research as they were not granted UEFA licences that year because of their financial problems.

And it has not looked any better for them since.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been able to follow more and more of the other side to the glorious game, the downside:

Portsmouth have become the first Premier League team to enter administration with about £70m debt and are most likely facing relegation after they will have points deducted for their financial plight.

But they are not the first, not the only and will not be the last in a sticky financial situation, that is for sure:

UEFA Cup and Champions League semi-finalists in 2000 and 2001 respectively, Leeds United were forced into a mass sale of players when they came into financial difficulties but could not avoid relegation from the Premier League in 2004. Administration followed three years later and a further relegation, from the Championship into League One.

Crystal Palace dropped out of the top-flight in 2005 and went into administration last January with debts of £30m.

Coventry City had nearly the same destiny three years ago but rejected the big spending approach and went back to its roots instead as a community club.

Manchester United have more than £700m debt by the Glazer family. Liverpool are indebted by more than £200m and are looking for new investors.

Their major profits from TV and sponsorship revenue have been covering them so far, but I would rather not dare to predict for how much longer they can survive that way without incurring further debts and similar financial problems, if maybe not as fatal.

Meanwhile, on the only positive financial note this week, Arsenal have announced a profit boost of £35.2m which has drastically reduced their debts (from £332.8m to £203.6m).

They raised £96.6m by selling 261 new apartments at Highbury Square, their former ground, and have also been rejecting the big spending approach other Premier League clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have been getting used to.

Analysts say other clubs should follow their and Coventry City's example.

I feel, rules and regulations should be introduced to draw a line under this multi-million misery and avoid any similar demise to Leeds United's, Portsmouth's, et al.

UEFA president Michel Platini has been pushing for a system where clubs should no longer be allowed to compete in the Champions and Europa leagues when they spend more than they can afford.

I think this is long overdue looking at what has happened over the last few years, but it has also its own risks which could escalate the matter even further.

The clubs need to make profit, which would be more difficult with less competitions, less matches, less tickets to sell, less TV and sponsorship deals, etc. etc. etc. It is a vicious circle which I think we are only getting a first taste of where it can all lead to.

During the last transfer window, Premier League teams have spent only £30m, £100m less than a year ago.

So, does this indicate that the Premier League teams have finally learnt for the better? Or will they continue to walk, dance and prance on very thin, cash-strapped ice?

Everton steal the show against United

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Champs: Everton showed great determination and coordination in their play. The capitalised on breaks which Manchester United could not deal with. United might like to blame the defeat on their tiredness after their win against Milan in the Champions League three days beforehand, however, they should have been full of confidence at Goodison Park, which was not the case this time around.

Hero: Steven Pienaar's performance for Everton was wonderful to watch. He owned the pitch, make or break, he did not let anything come in or past his way. A brilliant contribution to the game. It was only the third win for Everton against the champions in 36 matches, the first against United in five years, which made it the more extraordinary.

You Beauty! Didier Drogba's first goal was a wonderful team goal and made it nine in ten games for the Ivory man. Chelsea carved Wolves open at the back, taking five passes from Petr Cech's throw to Drogba netting it. That took Chelsea four points clear at the top of the table and makes it 25 goals for the striker this season, and counting...

Has-Beens: It was just not Hull City's day. Having gone behind within just three minutes of the match against West Ham, they had Craig Fagan sent off early in the second half and went down to nine men with ten minutes remaining after they had used up all their substitutions and Anthony Gardner had to be stretchered off, making a comeback impossible.

Zero: Returning to his former ground, Wayne Rooney's performance was oblivious. He did not seem able to focus, sending crosses, shots and free kicks high or wide. Everton covered their former striker well, with three or four players constantly covering him, knowing too well what he is capable of.

Ouch! The referees had everything but a good weekend once again. But the biggest howler came at the DW Stadium, where Jermain Defoe's goal was yards offside. He himself checked looking towards the linesman, giving himself away, but the flag stayed down. I know, mistakes are human, but it is so annoying to notice such key errors seconds after they occure, but not being able to do anything about it. Very disappointing.

My Predictions - Actual Results

Arsenal 2:0 Sunderland - 2:0

Everton 1:1 Man United - 3:1

Portsmouth 0:0 Stoke City - 1:2

West Ham 2:1 Hull City - 3:0

Wolves 0:3 Chelsea - 0:2

Aston Villa 1:0 Burnley - 5:2

Fulham 4:1 Birmingham - 2:1

Man City 2:1 Liverpool - 0:0

Wigan 1:1 Tottenham - 0:3

Blackburn 2:0 Bolton - 3:0

Man United 3:1 West Ham - 3:0