Thursday, August 14, 2008 All good things must end By John Dykes Special Contributor
WHAT a lovely, carefree summer that was! Its highlights ranged from the imaginative, positive football on show at Euro 2008, to a concerted global movement toward a greener, trans-fat-free lifestyle, as well as the democrats in America getting excited about a man who speaks like professional wrestler The Rock.
But all good things must come to an end and here we are again in our Football Focus suits and ties, preparing for a bitterly-fought election, fearing war and sharpening our opinions on the great Ronaldo/Blatter slavery debate.
Yes, big-time football’s back. Having filled countless pages online and in print for the past two months with stories of non-existent transfers, the sporting media finally has something tangible to discuss: the big kick-off.
The only problem is that, at least as far as the Barclays Premier League is concerned, it would appear to be a foregone conclusion. Find me a pundit who is tipping anyone other than Chelsea (apparently the favorites) or Manchester United for the title, and I’ll find you very long odds against. You know, it’s remarkable to think one can get odds of about 5-1 against Arsenal winning the league, and about 7-1 against a strengthened Liverpool outfit.
It’s more than just remarkable... in fact it’s frankly disturbing, that Tottenham Hotspur (with a possible lineup of Gomes, Bale, Woodgate, King, Hutton, Modric, Zokora, Bentley, Jenas, Berbatov and Bent/Dos Santos) are offered at no better than 66-1 to win. Not that he would do this of course, but just supposing Dimitar Berbatov gambled one week’s wages on his team winning the league, he would stand to win about 3.5 million pounds sterling if they did.
Even though I am not a Spurs fan, or a fan of any BPL club for that matter, a large part of me hopes that Spurs do win. Perhaps it’s a lingering after-effect of my summer of love, perhaps it’s a reaction to the absurdity of the BPL’s apparent lack of competitiveness (Everton at 200-1 anyone?) but it would delight me if this BPL season turns out to be one that bucks the trend. It would be wonderful to see Richard Scudamore’s juggernaut leave its superhighway and head off to explore a quaint side street or two.
Freshening
No, you’re not about to read an anti-Scudamore, anti-BPL rant. Quite the opposite in fact: it’s a wonderful league, in fact one which we sometimes take for granted, but there is nothing wrong with freshening up the mix a little.
In this spirit of idealism, as well as a changing of the guard at the top of the table, here are one or two things I’d also like to see happen this season:
First, it would be heavenly to not have to listen to Liverpool fans and pundits endlessly debating the merits of Rafa Benitez. The ex-players spent last season going on and on about Rafa’s rotation when the stats demonstrated he didn’t actually change his team any more than Manchester United. The fans got somewhat bogged down in defending the boss and criticizing the critics. The reality of the situation was that Liverpool’s squad simply wasn’t strong enough and those who are passionate about the club were simply looking for anything, anyone to blame for another season without a title.
Here’s hoping that the new, improved Liverpool squad will render the whole rotation debate irrelevant. It would be wonderful to see Fernando Torres recapturing his form of last season and making the Reds genuine challengers.
Similarly, it would be delightful not to have to witness another season of unfulfilled potential from Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has been responsible for some of the most exquisite football ever played by English club sides. An Arsenal Champions League win this season would be a wonderful advertisement for the English game.
David Moyes and Martin O’Neil are taking a low-profile approach to their respective quests for success this season. Villa look the more likely to achieve it and Champions League football would be a great reward for a club with a strong English contingent.
Here’s hoping we don’t get another Derby-style washout of a season for one of the newly-promoted teams. Last season’s “sack race” was grim to watch and hopefully those in charge at the likes of Hull and Stoke especially realize that the odds are against them from the get-go and that BPL success is something that simply cannot come overnight. The minute Football Focus starts running a book on the first manager to be booted out we’ll know that the carefree, dreamy days of summer have been left far behind.
