Tonight marks the return of the Champions League with Manchester United looking to emulate the European Cup back-to-back success of Nottingham Forest from the early 1980's and retain the trophy they won on a rainy night in Moscow back in May.
The current group format of the pre-Christmas Champions League games makes it very difficult to get excited about what still remains most prestigious trophy in club football. It won't be until the Spring when the knockout stage of the competition kicks in that world-wide TV audiences and match attendance figures will reach their respective peaks. Fans continue to vote with their feet and you can expect plenty of empty seats in Stamford Bridge tonight for the visit of Bordeaux. The additional European group matches with their ridiculous ticket prices continue to turn loyal fans away. It's bad enough having to pay increased prices for domestic league and cup matches so why fork out the extra hard earned quid for a meaningless group fixture against a side likely to feature in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup?
How long more can UEFA (or FIFA for that matter) persist with such an outdated competition structure - full of meaningless group games - that only serves to fill the coffers of the richest clubs through TV rights money? A revised structure could include two opening rounds of home and away fixtures. All the top teams would be seeded against the lowest ranked qualifiers with away goals coming into play. All the winners from the round two would then go into the hat for a straight knockout round 3 and so on all the way to the semi finals. Losers form the opening two rounds would play off for spots in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup. Can you imagine a third round pairing of Man Utd vs. Liverpool, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona or Arsenal vs. Juventus? This proposed structure would also allow for the likes of Athletico Madrid, Lyon or even Celtic to avoid the big boys until the latter stage of the competition (depending on the luck of the draw) and enjoy an extended run.
The G14 (or G3897) clubs would hardly agree to such a dangerous knockout structure on the off chance they would miss out on the extra TV money to be gained in the latter stages of the competition. How long before we have a European Super League with the richest clubs in Europe playing one another home and away in separate league. Sound far fetched? Well which would you rather watch this week: a meaningless group game between Chelsea vs. Bordeaux or a European Super League clash between Real Madrid vs. Liverpool?
The cries for bringing back the straight knock-out tournament structure are becoming louder with each passing season. The introduction of a play-off between the teams that finish 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th in the Premier League (a la the Play-Offs) to decide the final Champions League spot would also generate huge interest.
Now that really would bring in the punters…
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Premier League Weekend That Was 13-Sept-08
Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat of arch rivals Manchester United rightly grabbed all the weekend headlines from the English Premier League. Rafa Benitez’s maiden victory over Sir Alex Ferguson was well deserved yet when you factor in the enforced absences of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard (came on as sub) then it becomes downright impressive. True, Edwin Van Der Sar’s ill advised flap at a cross handed Liverpool a lucky equaliser via the shin of Wes Brown but it was little more than the Reds deserved. Having fallen behind to a sublime Carlos Tevez opener Liverpool bossed Man United all over the pitch.
Mascherano in particular was outstanding and once again the selfless running of converted winger, Kuyt, inspired the hosts to a surprise win where Ryan Babel grabbed a late winner in front of the Kop. Ferguson was surprisingly frank in his assessment of his side’s abject defending after the match and his mood will not have been helped by the stupid dismissal of centre-back Vidic who now misses the eagerly anticipated Chelsea lash next Sunday.
Speaking of Chelsea, the London club won the ‘clash of the cash’ encounter with Manchester City at Eastlands in the late Saturday evening kick off. Once again Deco was in inspired form, prompting his side forward from midfield and creating havoc with his inch perfect passing. City began like a house on fire and record signing Robinho rubbed salt in the Chelas fan’s wounds with a cracking opener from a free kick. Thereafter it was all Chelsea. Three unanswered goals – the best coming from Lampard after a flowing team move that Arsenal would have been proud of – clearly demonstrated to the Abu Dhabi consortium that despite success takes time irrespective of how many millions in oil money you have stashed in your bank accounts.
One other major talking point from that game was the sending-off of England Captain John Terry. The Chelsea centre back was dismissed for a rugby tackle on Brazilian striker Jo, despite Carvalho clearly standing between the City striker and the goal. Terry has since been cleared of the red card and can now line up against Man Utd in a pivotal Stamford Bridge clash next Sunday. The overturning of the Chelsea Captain’s red card is sure to add further spice to an already combustible encounter as it is the two side’s first competitive match since United lifted the Champions League at Chelsea’s expense in Moscow.
Arsenal steam rolled a completely lack-lustre Blackburn outfit 4-0 with Adebayor grabbing a hat-trick. All eyes were on England star, Theo Walcott, fresh from his hat trick heroics in Croatia mid-week. Walcott set up Robin Van Persie’s opener but faded from the game after a bright start. Paul Ince has been tipped as a possible replacement for sacked Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan but his new look Blackburn side are still missing the determination and ‘difficult to beat’ tag that was the hallmark of the side under Mark Hughes. If Arsenal can maintain their current scintillating form then there is no reason to think they cannot challenge for the title this season.
As for the Toon Army this past weekend represented a new low in what is turning out to be a season to forget for the St. James Park club. Current owner Mike Ashley has ceded to the angry fans protestations and agreed to sell the club. Hull City took full advantage with a 2-1 win at the weekend as Phil Brown’s side continue to defy the odds and pick up points in their first ever season in the top flight. Things surely can’t get any worse for Newcastle but a new manager is needed and fast to avoid a season long relegation battle.
The other main headline grabber from the weekend was Spurs’ 2-0 reversal at home to a rejuvenated Aston Villa meaning Juande Ramos’ side have now endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season. All the confidence gained from a successful pre-season with victories over Celtic and AS Roma has been wiped away since the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. The North London side desperately need a win to help kick start their season before it is too late. As for Villa, credit must go to manager Martin O’Neill who has created a young, vibrant side full of running and more than capable of breaking into the top 6 this season.
Mascherano in particular was outstanding and once again the selfless running of converted winger, Kuyt, inspired the hosts to a surprise win where Ryan Babel grabbed a late winner in front of the Kop. Ferguson was surprisingly frank in his assessment of his side’s abject defending after the match and his mood will not have been helped by the stupid dismissal of centre-back Vidic who now misses the eagerly anticipated Chelsea lash next Sunday.
Speaking of Chelsea, the London club won the ‘clash of the cash’ encounter with Manchester City at Eastlands in the late Saturday evening kick off. Once again Deco was in inspired form, prompting his side forward from midfield and creating havoc with his inch perfect passing. City began like a house on fire and record signing Robinho rubbed salt in the Chelas fan’s wounds with a cracking opener from a free kick. Thereafter it was all Chelsea. Three unanswered goals – the best coming from Lampard after a flowing team move that Arsenal would have been proud of – clearly demonstrated to the Abu Dhabi consortium that despite success takes time irrespective of how many millions in oil money you have stashed in your bank accounts.
One other major talking point from that game was the sending-off of England Captain John Terry. The Chelsea centre back was dismissed for a rugby tackle on Brazilian striker Jo, despite Carvalho clearly standing between the City striker and the goal. Terry has since been cleared of the red card and can now line up against Man Utd in a pivotal Stamford Bridge clash next Sunday. The overturning of the Chelsea Captain’s red card is sure to add further spice to an already combustible encounter as it is the two side’s first competitive match since United lifted the Champions League at Chelsea’s expense in Moscow.
Arsenal steam rolled a completely lack-lustre Blackburn outfit 4-0 with Adebayor grabbing a hat-trick. All eyes were on England star, Theo Walcott, fresh from his hat trick heroics in Croatia mid-week. Walcott set up Robin Van Persie’s opener but faded from the game after a bright start. Paul Ince has been tipped as a possible replacement for sacked Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan but his new look Blackburn side are still missing the determination and ‘difficult to beat’ tag that was the hallmark of the side under Mark Hughes. If Arsenal can maintain their current scintillating form then there is no reason to think they cannot challenge for the title this season.
As for the Toon Army this past weekend represented a new low in what is turning out to be a season to forget for the St. James Park club. Current owner Mike Ashley has ceded to the angry fans protestations and agreed to sell the club. Hull City took full advantage with a 2-1 win at the weekend as Phil Brown’s side continue to defy the odds and pick up points in their first ever season in the top flight. Things surely can’t get any worse for Newcastle but a new manager is needed and fast to avoid a season long relegation battle.
The other main headline grabber from the weekend was Spurs’ 2-0 reversal at home to a rejuvenated Aston Villa meaning Juande Ramos’ side have now endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season. All the confidence gained from a successful pre-season with victories over Celtic and AS Roma has been wiped away since the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. The North London side desperately need a win to help kick start their season before it is too late. As for Villa, credit must go to manager Martin O’Neill who has created a young, vibrant side full of running and more than capable of breaking into the top 6 this season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
