Is the Premier League still the best in the world?

We've just seen two breath-taking Champions League semi-finals in which two Bundesliga teams in Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich destroyed Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Spanish giants. The question now is, what is the best league in the world?

Since the formation of the English Premiership in 1992 and BSkyB pumping so much money into the league through TV rights, the English League has always been seen as the place to play. However, with the English teams struggling in Europe's top competition this year is there now a good reason to question which country has the superior footballing league?

For entertainment value, I don't think you can look past the Premiership in recent years. Sergio Aguero sealing the championship with the last kick of the game in 2012. Tevez keeping West Ham from relegation on the final day in 2007. Philippe Albert scoring "the chip" in Newcastle's 5-0 demolition of Manchester United. The Liverpool-Newcastle with the epic 4-3 thriller in 1996. These are just some of the reasons why the Premiership tops any other league for entertainment values.

For footballing talent however, that is a different matter.

The Premiership for so long has been a "Top 4" league. Yes, the demise of Liverpool and Tottenham and Everton's recent improvement, along with the huge money of Manchester City have seen the league become a bit more open. But besides that, the Premiership is simply becoming a business league. Sheiks and wealthy businessmen are only interested in the Premiership to turn over a profit. This is being reflected on the International stage.

Spain and Germany's football in the International tournaments is second to none. Spain's dominance at international level is beyond repute and with Germany's young team up on the rise and putting in some impressive performances in the big tournaments, it doesn't really surprise me that the four teams in the semi-finals are from these two countries.

Spain and Germany promote players from within their youth academies. If you look at the four Champions League Semi-finalists you will see that the majority of the players in their team have played for the club at youth level. Madrid may be a bit of an exception in terms of buying more players, but they aren't buying foreign talent. Mostly Spanish players play in Spain and German players are playing in Germany. This culture of trusting in youth products is, in my eyes, making the Bundesliga and La Liga start to pull away from the Premiership.

When was the last time England produced multiple world-class talents? Rooney? Wilshere? Besides that, there isn't really anyone else you could name, who is at the top level and still so young. Dortmund have; Reus, Götze, Hummels and Sven Bender. Bayern have; Müller, Lahm and Schweinsteiger. Barcelona have Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. 

                                                                          Mario Götze and Marco Reus

Out of that list, Dortmund have invested heavily in their youth and it has been proven this year. Three times they turned over Madrid in the Champions League. Was it worth it? Of course, the performances by the young German team, not just in the Champions League but in the Bundesliga in recent years, have shown that the Premiership may be more watchable, but for pure talent the Bundesliga is number one.

Some may argue that Serie A is just as good as the Spanish or German Leagues, but the days of the Italian powerhouses have gone. In the mid-90's British television use to show "Gazzetta Football Italia" when the Italian League was at it's height. Those would be the days when Italian teams would poach the best players from across the world. The Zidane's, Henry's and Viera's have all played in Serie A. Now though, it seems like Italy is more of a backwater for footballing talent and the national side is not what it once was.

There is no doubt in my mind that the days of the Premiership being the best league in the world have long gone. Germany and Spain are the new leaders. For entertainment, I don't think anything can compare to the English League, but for pure footballing talent you have to look at the Leagues on the continent.

You're Just A One-Man Team

The days of playing two strikers who complimented each other have well and truly died out. You no longer hear of classic center forward partnerships such as Shearer and Ferdinand, Bergkamp and Henry or Yorke and Cole.

Teams in the Premiership and across Europe have changed formation from 4-4-2 to make 4-5-1/4-3-3 the norm. The lack of a striking partnership and the need for goals from the midfield has left the question to be asked, how many clubs are a one-man team?

Gareth Bale has single handedly kept Tottenham’s aspiration for automatic Champions League football alive this season. Breath taking performances from the Welsh international has seen him mention in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi. I think it is harsh to call Spurs a one-man club, but without Bale I believe they would be a mid-table club rather than challenging in the top four.

Liverpool for a period of time solely relied on Steven Gerrard. The red’s captain has two finals named after him, Champions League Final in 2005 and the F.A cup final in 2006. Gerrard carried Liverpool for a number of games when he had to produce a bit of magic to get the red side of Merseyside 3 points.

This has now changed with the arrival of Suarez and co. coming to help support Gerrard. Suarez at times took over the label of one-man team when Gerrard was out through injury. But it is fair to say that Liverpool as a one-man team have started to be removed.

When Robin Van Persie was at Arsenal it certainly was a case of one-man Van. The loss of Fabregas and Nasri hurt the Gunners, and Arsene Wenger’s reluctantly to spend big in the transfer market saw the red side of London rely on the big Dutch striker more than any other team has in the past.

One of Van Persie’s reasons for leaving was because he wanted to win trophies. Something one player cannot do in Europe’s top footballing league. Depth in squad is key to winning a title.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, prolific goal-scroing partnership

It’s not just at the top where one-man teams prevail. If we look at West Ham in 2007 the only player people will remember from that squad is Carlos Tevez. The Argentinean striker scored seven goals in the Hammer’s last 10 games, including the winner at Old Trafford to keep West Ham in the premiership.

At the end of the day it is a matter of opinion and the fans who start the “one-man team” chants. But how many teams can say they would not one than one player who cannot light up a game for them. Are Fulham happy that they don’t have one player who is above the rest? Can Aston Villa shout of the rooftops because they do not have one player who can score 29 goals a season?

It’s a question that can have many answers. My personal opinion is that if one player is firing in all the goals and leading your club to glory, then what is the problem.

Does Politics Belong in Football?

With Sunderland hiring Paolo Di Canio as manager this week, his political affiliation has come into question. Di Canio, a perceived fascist has caused a lot of controversy at the historic Teesside club. Left wing politician and foreign secretary David Miliband stepped down from Sunderland’s board of directors this week because of Di Canio’s hiring.

The question then is raised does politics belong in the beautiful game?

Politics and football is not something that is new to the sport. Over the last 100 years there have been many counts of politics entering the game. Whether that be right wing fascist salutes in Russia and Greece, or politicians in Italy having control of some of the top flight clubs.

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death… I assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

When Bill Shankly made this memorable quote he may not have had politics in his mind but he certainly proves that you cannot underestimate the world of football.

In 1934 a time of heightening tension throughout Europe, saw Italy take on Austria. It is perceived that Mussolini, the Italian Dictator handpicked the referee’s for the World cup semi-final game. Italy won the game 1-0 and went on to beat Czechoslovakia in the final. But the game itself was one that the expression 12 men could truly be used, “The referee even played for them," said Austrian striker Josef Bican. "When I passed for the ball out to the right wing, one of our players, Cicek, ran for it and the referee headed it back to the Italians. It was unbelievable." Is winning really that important in a political sense?

Another example of politics in football was in 1958. Algeria was in a war of independence at the same time the World cup was taking place. France opted to give some of the Algerian players in France the opportunity of fame and glory by playing for their national team. However when the tournament rolled around the Algerian players fled the French National team, gathered at the headquarters of the Front Liberation National in Tunisia and launched an "illegal" national team, risking arrest for desertion in the process.

National Identity is something that many people feel very strongly about, whether that is political beliefs or just the pride of being affiliated with a nation of great history.

Was Di Canio’s Fascist salute towards the Lazio fans in 2005 then overstepping the mark? He has gone on record as saying “I’m a fascist, not a racist” but does that still justify him to use a salute that is infamously associated with so much evil. In his autobiography Di Canio talks of admiration for the Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini, saying that Mussolini was simply “misunderstood”.

                                                           Paolo Di Canio's Fascist Salute playing for Lazio in 2005

The Greek National team recently banned Giorgos Katidis from playing international matches for life, due to his Nazi salute in a goal celebration. This is the first stance we have seen from a football governing body in relation to political views. In a sport where racism, homophobia and sexism are not treated with enough respect, is fascism going to be added to the list of concerns not tackled in the game?

Maybe football is more than a matter of life and death, maybe it is a sport that is simply bigger than everything else. 

Snow Days

Shoveling snow of football pitches is a scene you may think of when playing against a Russian team in the height of one of their winters. Or something you would associate with apprentices and ground staff for some of the lower league teams in England.

America is seen as the leader in economy around the world and their sporting facilities are something to be rivaled. Most athletes growing up want to play at the highest level they can. In terms of playing during college there is nothing that beats an NCAA Division 1 program, the level of play, the athletic budget and the facilities.

On March 7^th there was a sight taking place at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee that you wouldn’t think of seeing when talking about the university’s soccer program. Players from both the men and women’s teams where out on the pitch shoveling 8 inches of snow in an attempt to get the men’s game under way that was scheduled for March 9^th against DePaul University. With all the money in the sport and a University at the high standards of Milwaukee, you would think that there would be a specialist snow team or student workers designated to clearing off the snow. Not in this case

After two months of training indoors in a dull and dreary gym the players could only take so much. The shovels came out with the odd snowplow and whatever else could be used to remove the snow from the pitch. The scene took me back to my days as a youth apprentice at Tranmere Rovers, when we would have to clear snow off of the training pitches for the first team. To me there is something nostalgic about seeing people shovel snow off of a football pitch. The dedication and love of the sport, just to get the game on. You see images in books and review shows on the television of people from the 70's and 80's up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday trying to get the snow off the pitch so they can see their team play. It is certainly a sight for the purist.

Three hours of shoveling was certainly a valiant effort by both sets of players, but with the weather and temperature as unpredictable as they are in Wisconsin and eight inches of snow lying on the pitch, the soccer players may have bitten off more than they can chew. In a day and age when athletes are considered spoilt rotten or only do things for money; it was good to see those pre-conceived conceptions of prima donnas blown out of the water.

Athletes at times get a bad reputation for being greedy or selfish and it seems like all the unselfish work goes unnoticed. This act by the men and women’s soccer team was good to see that athletes do care. Just this week it was made public knowledge that Bury Football Club’s players when on less than minimum wage, this all as an attempt to stop the club from going into administration. We need more and more examples of this unselfish kind act from athletes around the world. My thoughts on money in sports are that it is ruining the game. But with acts like this then there may just be a chance that not everyone is entirely corrupted. 

Photo courtesy of Swindon Town F.C

Tears On The Road

This past Tuesday Milwaukee men’s soccer team played its last game for the 2012 season as they went down 1-0 to Valparaiso.

It was also the end of an era for the three senior players; John Shakon, Jamie Bladen and Cody Banks, who saw their collegiate soccer career, come to an end in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

The Tournament birth came on the back of a hugely successful career under first year Head coach Kris Kelderman. Kelderman steered the Panthers to an overall record of 8-8-2 and a formidable home record of 6-1-0. However despite the home of the panthers being a fortress it would be another away day blue that brought an end to the season.

Having beaten Valparaiso the previous Saturday 2-1 to clinch a sport as the fifth seed in the tournament we headed into Indiana with optimism tat we could collect a win and see our selves progress to the tournament finals being held at number one seed Detroit.

The game itself was not one of particular flair and skill. It all came down to a mistake from our back line in which Valparaiso were able to capitalize on and record the victory that left us down and out. At the end of the game a lot of emotion was spilt as many of our players were reduced to tears seeing the programs most winning record since 2007, come to an end.

“I’m proud of every single one of you,” Kelderman said. “You’ve fought like dogs all season and worked your butts off. I believe I have made the best decision in my career coming to work with you guys and help rebuild that program. You should all leave here with your heads held high.

On a personal level the season for me has been a memorable one. I was a part of a team that has been on both sides of buzzer beaters. The highs have been high and the lows have been low. But if I could replay the whole season all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Coming To A Close

The last couple of games in the regular season always leave a lasting mood on how the season as a whole has been. It doesn’t matter how well you have been doing throughout the year or how good of a season you had, you are only as good as your last game.

That being said we may have had our biggest amount of season wins since 2005 we still hadn’t clinched a seat at the Horizon League conference tournament table.

Wed, 24, we took on Detroit at Engelmann stadium. Engelmann has been somewhat of a fortress this season, helping us post a 5-0 record. This record came to and end, after the tie finished in a 1-0 loss, Detroit’s winner coming from a dubious penalty decision in the 46^th minute. Senior Jamie Bladen saw a red card after conceding the penalty kick.

Down to 10 men for most of the second half I felt we dominated though as the statistics would show. We out shot Detroit 14-4 and had 7 more corners. With all our pressure though we could not seem to make it pay and unfortunately came out of the game with nothing.

“I am more proud of you tonight than I have been all season,” coach Kelderman said. “You battled liked dogs out there and can leave here as proud as a peacock.” 

Friday we took to the road again, travelling to Ohio. Our fourth trip this year to a state where we haven’t had any success. This time we were heading to Wright State in our final road game of the 2012 regular schedule knowing that a win would guarantee us a place in the post-season tournament.

The brave battling performance of Wednesday against Detroit had long passed, as in the first 45 minutes of soccer there was only one team on the pitch. That unfortunately was Wright State. With a firm and necessary warning from our coach to step up our performance in the second half didn’t help us play any better. We went down 1-0.

There game itself wasn’t one that would be remembered for any soccer talent or moment of magic. It was a simple case of Wright State wanting it and having the will to win more than we did. Perhaps the whole of the raiders team was buoyed be their senior night. Whatever the case was we had left our true selves behind in Milwaukee and didn’t do the great soccer program that we have at UWM any justice.

We head into our game against Valparaiso at the weekend needing a win to make the conference tournament.   

On The Road In Ohio

When it comes to being a division one-student athlete there are many things that one must learn to deal with; practice, lifting, game days and of course school. Many people admire and look up to what these athletes can achieve, and rightly so. Working at the level which most professional athletes do in terms of practice and games is a lot to ask, and then there is the matter of juggling school work along side that too. Here is just a preview into the daily life of a division one soccer player.  

When it comes to match days we unfortunately aren’t able to play every game at Engelmann field in front of our terrific home support. This year sees us host only eight of our 17 regular season games so adapting to being on the road is something that our very young team is starting to learn.

Our second trip to Ohio out of four in the space of five weeks saw us leave for Bowling Green State University on a Monday afternoon for a Tuesday night game. This meant some classes would be missed and many of the players were glued to their laptops on the coach trying to catch up on homework or readings that would be missed.

The normal match day routine consists of spending all the time on the bus before we arrive at the hotel for the night. Once at the hotel we pick a restaurant to go and eat at, usually something that can provide a good supply of healthy food loaded with carbohydrates in preparation for the game itself. The sleeping arrangements are then two to a room, there are no set room mate as the coach believes that each player should build a rapport with each individual team mate, so team chemistry can be improved. The mornings are then complied of breakfast at the hotel, a jog and stretch before a pizza and pasta based pre game meal at a local restaurant.

The game itself was one that we dominated from start to finish. All of the statistics were in our favor; possession, corners, shots on goals. This was probably one of our better performances this season. However the most important statistic is the score, and this is the one area we lost in. A 2-1 victory to Bowling Green State was a bitter blow for the effort we had but in and the nine-hour drive back from Ohio felt a lot longer.

Teams experience a lot of emotions throughout the season. It truly is a rollercoaster ride in terms of highs and lows. We will learn to bounce back from this defeat. I’m a person after all who goes by the motto “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

Our next game is on the road again to Loyola University Chicago. Hopefully the team can learn from this tough pre conference schedule and begin the Horizon League on the right foot, with a win.