I was reading the suggestion this week in the UK-based media about Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore's idea about playoffs for the last Champions League place. Never let it be said he isn't looking for more money making opportunities for the top four. His idea for the last spot is another in a long list of them; even Sepp "lets make female players wear tighter shirts" Blatter might have distanced from such an idea. The owners of Wembley might rub their hands together at the thought of another full house, given how they are still running at a cosmic financial loss.
However, if the scrum to finish fourth to seventh means that we have to endure more risk-averse, excitement-free football, such as the game between Manchester City and Liverpool this morning, then thanks, but no thanks. To get up at 6:30 am to be in town for an 8:00am start in the Ship, while it's -17 outside, to be rewarded with such dross is not a fun way to spend a Sunday. Two coaches terrified of losing, with one lone striker and ten midfielders blundering about kicking one another was just awful to watch. It amazes me, the loyalty shown to Rafa Benitez by the majority of the Liverpool support, when he presides over such an abjectly uninteresting team. "In Rafa we trust" they say. I say he got extraordinarily lucky in the 2005 Champions League final, and similarly so in the 2006 FA Cup Final. Take those fortuitously won pots aside and what has he achieved? Being a Spanish Gerard Houllier?
The most depressing thing about today's game, was the sheer lack of technical competence in supposedly mundane tasks. Like passing a ball ten yards to one another, for instance. Given the amount of money spent on each squad, such a lack of technique, and just plain old fashioned daring doesn't bode well for the supporters of each team. Best league in the world? Er, no. Most entertaining then? Certainly not on the basis of today, and most other games involving Liverpool. Even poor old Alan Green of Radio 5 -who is a pompous, self-aggrandising, bloviating pillock with a job I'd give my right arm for - had a teeny bit of my sympathy today for having to witness such a spectacle.
Still, the cooked breakfast and the company of a mixture of equally cynical expats and interested locals is always nice.
However, if the scrum to finish fourth to seventh means that we have to endure more risk-averse, excitement-free football, such as the game between Manchester City and Liverpool this morning, then thanks, but no thanks. To get up at 6:30 am to be in town for an 8:00am start in the Ship, while it's -17 outside, to be rewarded with such dross is not a fun way to spend a Sunday. Two coaches terrified of losing, with one lone striker and ten midfielders blundering about kicking one another was just awful to watch. It amazes me, the loyalty shown to Rafa Benitez by the majority of the Liverpool support, when he presides over such an abjectly uninteresting team. "In Rafa we trust" they say. I say he got extraordinarily lucky in the 2005 Champions League final, and similarly so in the 2006 FA Cup Final. Take those fortuitously won pots aside and what has he achieved? Being a Spanish Gerard Houllier?
The most depressing thing about today's game, was the sheer lack of technical competence in supposedly mundane tasks. Like passing a ball ten yards to one another, for instance. Given the amount of money spent on each squad, such a lack of technique, and just plain old fashioned daring doesn't bode well for the supporters of each team. Best league in the world? Er, no. Most entertaining then? Certainly not on the basis of today, and most other games involving Liverpool. Even poor old Alan Green of Radio 5 -who is a pompous, self-aggrandising, bloviating pillock with a job I'd give my right arm for - had a teeny bit of my sympathy today for having to witness such a spectacle.
Still, the cooked breakfast and the company of a mixture of equally cynical expats and interested locals is always nice.
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