Is the Premier League boring? Are the results too predictable? It does seem as though the ‘Big Four’ - Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - seem to own the top four spots. But what about the other big leagues in Europe?

Top Four Finishers

England	1	2	3	4
2008	Man U	Chelsea	Arsenal	Liverpool
2007	Man U	Chelsea	Liverpool	Arsenal
2006	Chelsea	Man U	Liverpool	Arsenal
2005	Chelsea	Arsenal	Man U	Everton
Spain	1	2	3	4
2008	R.Madrid	Villarreal	Barca	A. Madrid
2007	R.Madrid	Barca	Sevilla	Valencia
2006	Barca	R.Madrid	Valencia	Osasuna
2005	Barca	R.Madrid	Villarreal	R. Betis
Italy	1	2	3	4
2008	Inter	Roma	Juventus	Fiorentina
2007	Inter	Roma	Lazio	AC Milan
2006	Inter	Roma	AC Milan	C.Verona
2005	Juventus	AC Milan	Inter	Udinese
Germany	1	2	3	4
2008	B.Munich	W.Bremen	Shalke	Hamburg
2007	Stuttgart	Shalke	W.Bremen	B.Munich
2006	B.Munich	W.Bremen	hamburg	Shalke
2005	B.Munich	Shalke	W.Bremen	H.Berlin

Well, five teams in the premier League have contested the top four places in the last four years - Everton being the only team outside the Big Four to get a look in. In La Liga and Serie A there were eight, while in the Bundesliga there were six - very similar to the Premier League. So, on the face of it, La Liga and Serie A look a lot more exciting, but if we look closer - at the top TWO finishers - there were three teams in the Premier League, three in La Liga and four in Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Pretty similar.

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Read the scenario below. If teams were NOT awarded points for wins and draws what DIFFERENT criteria would result in the situation described?

Answer: The team with …………………………. is awarded more points.

“West Ham are crowned champions of the Premier League, while Aston Villa narrowly beat Middlesbrough for the 2nd group stage CL spot. But it’s not all bad for Boro and neighbours Sunderland, who will play in the CL next season. Heartbreak for Derby who miss out narrowly - they’re in the UEFA cup though!

MU are hoping for a back door entry to the UEFA cup via the fair play award and surely they can build on a solid platform for next year.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, French manager, Arsen watches his beloved Arsenal go down - everyone knew they would right from the start of the season. They are joined by fellow Londoners, Fulham, and Blackburn lose out right at the death meaning Liverpool are safe for another season - the Reds finish just one above the relegation places! They’ll need to invest heavily in the transfer market next season!”

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Well, it is only a friendly, but if Capello has got any sense he’ll urge his players to continue their winning ways against the sterner test of France away. A poor display with a host of substitutions won’t do anyone any good. England need to use these friendlies to build confidence and a team that is comfortable playing together - a happy band of brothers. continue reading

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A Languagecaster exclusive! here is the team that Don Capello will be announcing to the waiting England fans before their friendly against Switzerland on the 6th of February. Don’t ask us how we did it, but it’s safe to say that we are all very confident of our source. So here it is:

GK - Ben Foster  

M. Richards——- R. Ferdinand ——– Terry ——– L. Baines

Gerrard ——- O. Hargreaves ———- D. Barry 

Theo Walcott ——–  Rooney ———- Joe Cole

 

• Subs: David James, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, David Bentley, G. Agbonlahor, Gary Neville, M. Carrick

Oh, hang out! Apparently this isn’t ‘offical’ yet. Oh well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Not with a coach like Mourinho. He’s a gadfly. Coaches like him, Capello, Hiddink are the same, get more from the job than the team would get from them. Let’s not be coy, it’s a Premier League fan club, it’s a short term fix, it’s headlines in the newspaper. How about some conviction from the FA, some long term thinking? The national team is English: get someone who is English and give them time to create an English team. If it fails, so what! How may other countries succeed in big competitions? Let the team enjoy their football, win or lose.

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England coach, Steve McClaren, looks like he has decided that the crunch game against Croatia tonight is the time to stamp his authority on the team and drop some big names. Out go David Beckham, painfully two short of a hundred caps, and Paul Robinson after some high profile blunders in goal. I’ll tell you what, a bit more of this strong management style might continue reading

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Steve Coppell, born in Liverpool, former man united player, and current Reading manager, has a proposal to create a strong English national team. This graduate from Liverpool University believes we need to introduce quotas on foreign players to nurture home-grown talent. How someone as intelligent and thoughtful as Coppell undoubtedly is can propose this is beyond me. Here’s why: continue reading

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Now qualification for Euro 2008 is out of England’s hands. England may not go to Europe’s premier competition held in Switzerland and Austria. Is that so bad? I reckon it could be a blessing in disguise. The last major tournament England missed was the World Cup in the USA in 1994. No bad thing given the way continue reading

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It’s Euro qualifiers again and England face two must win games - again. Estonia on Saturday at Wembley then away on an artificial pitch against Russia, England’s rivals for the second spot: theoretically England can still top the group, but realistically, Croatia should stay in the number one position.The last four games for England have seen the three lions continue reading

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