A shift in power

The Barclay's English Premier League is going through an exciting phase in its 17th year of existence. As the world's most watched sporting league, and the strongest national league for 2 consecutive years in a row (2007 & 2008), the balance of power is finally being more equally distributed - breaking the traditional 'Big Four' dominance.

A snapshot of the table as of 1st November 2009

At first glance, you may be forgiven for thinking that its business as usual - as all (well, with Liverpool as an exception) the big names are occupying the top 3 spots. A close look will reveal how close these teams are from the rest of the chasing pack. Arsenal with 22 points could go above United if they win the next game (having played only 10 games and with superior goal difference) and City could potentially make it 22 points - having played 1 game less as well. Villa could also move into 5th if they win the next one - having 18 points and having played 1 less as well.

Interesting enough - all top 3 teams have lost twice so far with 11 games played. Gone are the days where title contenders run away with a clear cut lead after playing only 1/3 of the season. All top teams have been going through a tough time so far:-

Chelsea - Woeful away form (2 away losses) and slapped with 2 transfer window ban. Better hope no one gets injured.

United - Lack of creativity in attack and midfield. Hopefully for United, all the rumors of capturing David Silva and David Villa will come through good. Scrapping through 1-0 wins may not be good enough at times - like what the Gaffa always say - At the end of the day, it may come down to goal difference. Right now their 12 is a pale comparison against Arsenal's 19 and Chelsea's 20.

Arsenal - Inexperienced young Gunners tend to collapse towards the end of the season. Games like the one against West Ham are tell tale signs. That being said - when they thump teams, they really do it in style!

Manchester City - Showed promising signs defeating the likes of Arsenal. Like Liverpool, they rise to big occasions, but play poorly against mid table teams. Looking at their performance against Birmingham - Hughes has a lot to do for the remaining season.

Liverpool - Most likely to drop out of the top 4 position. Rafa has got to make up his mind. With a squad like theirs (Lucas & Voronin - need I say more), competing on all fronts for honours, is an impossible task. Now staring at Champion's League exit and with Gerrard possibly out until December - League title should be a foregone conclusion by then.

With a WAG like that, it is no wonder Stevie G's groin injury is so serious..

Consistency - as in the past and now as important as ever - will be the key to winning the Premier League this season.

To celebrate or not to celebrate

Recently the Premier League hosted a series of 'childish' and 'immature' acts by so called professional multi-millionaire footballers.

First this fella run down the entire length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal fans. Claims that they were abusing him.

Just look at that fella's face - feel like slapping him

Then this fella started rambling about how United fans have been unkind to him and how United refuse to pay £30m to buy him.

Tevez - needing a pacifier to shut him up

Then comes this fella who is trying to pretend to be Mr. Nice Guy by not celebrating his goal which led to the 1-1 draw with Manchester City. But Mark Hughes said "It'll be nice if he doesn't score against us". Can you do that Mr. Nice Guy?

Richard Dunne - trying to be Mr. Nice Guy

For crying out loud - Time to act like a professional. Some pointers for the millionaires:-

a. It's ok for you to celebrate your goal. After all if you scored, you deserved it - just don't do it in front of the opposition fans!

b. What do you expect if you leave one club to join another fierce rival? That your old club's fans kiss your feet still when you walk into the pitch? Common - grow up. Let's keep it real.

c. Don't burn bridges - ask any juniors in the working world and you would know this general concept. You never know when you will need another person's help.

d. If you want to be Mr. Nice Guy - try to allow others to see your good deed by themselves. That way it look way less fake.

Think I've seen this tit-for-tat behaviour before, wait hang on - I think it was in the kindergarten. Please grow up - 'Professional Footballers'.

Taken for a ride..

Recently the Malaysian Government has outdone themselves again with the announcement of the 1Malaysia F1 team. In a world full of economic and financial turmoil - where giants such as EU, Japan and America are trying to recover, we somehow manage to find RM1.8 billion (USD500m) to join a sport so lavish that even the likes of Honda and BMW have taken prudent steps to withdraw.

The funniest F1 car ever.

Help me, I am trying to be optimistic. I love and want to support my Government badly, but as a concerned citizen, I have to ask - Is this the right time for this sort of venture? Our participation comes at a time, where we are technically in recession - going through 2Qs of negative growth for 1st and 2nd Q of 2009.

You may argue that it is also in part a privately funded team - with AirAsia, Proton, Naza and Petronas coming in. With the exception of AirAsia, please do remember that the money from these companies comes indirectly from the government too. Proton with Government's 20 years tax protection in the car industry, Naza from the thousands of APs gifted to them by Rafidah Aziz and Petronas from the oil rights given by the government.

The funny thing you may ask on the Government's part of the money - where to find the millions needed to fund the F1 team when it's not even allocated in the 2009 budget? One theory could be the reduction of petrol quality in Malaysia. Many Malaysians don't realise it but the usual RON97 that you have been enjoying has been downgraded to RON95 but the RM1.80 per litre price tag still applies! BRILLIANT! That way, no protest, no anti-gov sentiment but still can find the money to pay for the F1 team! On top of that, I see adds on the newspaper brainwashing the public that using RON95 has made their car more powerful - gosh - how stupid and blind can we be.

There's a fine line between being patriotic and supporting the government blindly - lets not cross it.

Three Lions blaze into World Cup Finals

England demolished Croatia to book their spot in the World Cup Finals. What's even more impressive is the manner they qualified. 100% record of wins making them the only team in Europe to do that.

Played 8 - Win 8 - Goal Scored 31! - Against 5. This man is in line for a £5m bonus:-

And rightfully so. Just one year ago - England couldn't even qualify for Euro 2008. Now they not only qualify - but did it in sheer class. Let's see if they can do well in the finals - odds are against them though..

Really, what's all the fuss with him?

I dun get it.

He's a freaking arrogant football player.

He's good, but I dun think he deserve that much of praise.

Trust me, Real Madrid wont win the title with him.

Good players wont make a team win. It's the teamwork!

Haha. It's good though, that means lesser competition for Liverpool this season!

This season is ours! It's ours!!!

p.s Our season = Liverpool's season! Lol.

The Greats!

I dunno how Roger Federer felt when he got his 15th Grand Slam last Sunday, as he just became the most successful man in the tennis world, but it must be awesome la!
He beat all the other tennis greats before him.and I mean ALL!
Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe

Crazyyy!
I had the luxury to watch the Wimbledon final all the way since my exams was over! Teehee!
and I underestimated the match!
I actually thought that Federer would wrap the game up in four sets, but who knew that Roddick played such an awesome game till 16-14 in the 5th set?!

To be honest, Roddick should have won! Oh wells, sports is cruel!
But you gotta give it to Roger, he's just a legend!!!

Since now he has won everything he can in the tennis world, he should give chance to other tennis players! Lol.

Awesome awesome Wimbledon final! Loved it to bits!! =)

p.s. I miss blogging here!!! Feels so good, although no one reads it anymore!

My hattrick hero!

Really, what can u say about Fernando Torres?

*grins*

He's just absoutely perfect! =D

Three goals in just 17 minutes!! It's crazy! Final score against NewZealand 5-0!!

TOP CLASS I TELL YOU! TOP CLASS!

and I'm pretty excited that Carvalho and Deco are finally going somewhere else.

I mean, come on, Chelsea has been buying so many big names but not many of them shine.

Ballack, Shevchenko, Deco.

Just like Real Madrid! I have a strong feeling that Ronaldo will not be as good as he is in ManU!

Just take the example of Beckham, Ronaldo and Owen. So not effective!
Hahaha.

But I'm all out to see the other big EPL teams to go down, so that we (Liverpool) will get the EPL title next season! Yes, its the same sentence again. 'Next season'. lol.

I really really miss football!
There's nothing to look forward to every weekend night and probably this explains my disappearance in the blog! =/

No la. It's bcuz I'm having exams in a few days time! Noooooooo!

Nightmare!

Till then!

Viva la Espanyol!