Sad Crouchie is sad
Look, we’re bored. You’re bored. The Interlull is boring. It’s mostly friendlies this time ’round and some Euro-spot playoff matches (Portugal sans Ronaldo? Uh-oh!). Quite frankly, I wanted to talk about something, so I popped the boys via email and suggested this. The concept is simple. I present ideas, and the lads either “promote” or “relegate” them (I should probably be relegated for this, but credit our boy Magnakai for those names, he’s truly brillz).
So, off we go then.
1. Approximately 1/3 of the way into the BPL season, and Tottenham Hotspur currently hold down the fourth and final Champions League spot. Promote or relegate – Can Spurs hold on and capture a top four spot?
MH: Relegate. If anyone’s going to break in (and I have some thoughts on that in the next question), it’s going to be Aston Villa. And it’s possible that this is more a hopeful answer than a factual one.
Adam: Promote. While they’ve had a dip in form of late, I still think they’re probably the best bet to steal a Champions League spot. The one thing Villa were lacking in the same spot last year was depth, but Spurs look like they’ve got enough depth to hold onto 4th place.
Fuse: Relegate. It won’t shock me if they are able to hold on, but I tend to think that it’s going to be another team- Villa, City, or maybe even Sunderland- that is actually there at the finish line. All I’m sure of is that it won’t be Liverpool.
2Y: Promote, although I think City is an equal threat. Spurs need to right the currently-listing ship, and hope that some injuries heal up. They need to settle the fates of David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko, and get a bit more from Aaron Lennon. But they have the capability.
2. Liverpool are currently sitting in 7th position and are facing a mountain of injuries, potential elimination from the Champions League and all sorts of strife and fear-mongering in the papers. Promote or relegate – Will Liverpool find a way to finish in a Top 6 spot and claim a European cup berth for next season?
MH: Liverpool’s season has completely collapsed thus far; however, it’s still early days in the season to recover a bit, and we’ve seen teams recently overcome much worse deficits than this (remember after Christmas last year, when everyone had already crowned Aston Villa the new heirs apparent to the Big Four after Arsenal struggled? How’d that work out?). I can reluctantly see them missing the top four, but I’d relegate any idea that they’d miss out on all European spots.
Adam: Promote. As I said in the last question depth is the issue. While Liverpool don’t have what seems like a great squad, their 4th bench player at a position is still probably better than most team’s 2nd option at a position. Everyone has a run of bad form, it’s just going to be a matter of Liverpool capitalizing on it. A top 4 finish is pushing it though as I think the gap they have might be rather hard to overcome.
Fuse: Promote. I think they will play in Europe next year, but I don’t think it will be in the Champions League. However, I think this might be a good thing for them- if their “fringe” players can step up during this crisis in their league matches and get some Europa League experience they may find themselves a stronger side going forward- assuming they get healthy!
2Y: Promote, but with a lot of reluctance. I have this feeling that they will get on a roll and make up a lot of ground after the Boxing Day set of matches. Enough to sneak back into the Top 6. I think the Champions League may be a bit out of their reach unless a miracle happens in January and they come up with another credible goal-scoring forward.
3. The last four sides in the MLS playoffs have been finalized. Promote or relegate – The Los Angeles Galaxy are now the favorites to win the MLS Cup?
MH: I’m going to tentatively promote this. I still see Houston as the best team left, but the Galaxy have come up nicely against them every time they’ve met up. Whichever way this goes, I’ll strongly promote the idea that the Western conference champion will win the whole thing; I don’t see either Chicago or Real Salt Lake offering either Houston or L.A. any real competition.
Adam: Promote. I agree with Mags, Houston are probably the better team, but LA matches up with them very well with Houston. Had Seattle managed to get by Houston, I think that they could have given LA a run for their money, same with Columbus, but now that both of them are gone I see LA walking away with the cup.
Fuse: Promote. Argh. It’s the last thing I want- more fuel for the hype machine- but I don’t believe in Chicago, I like the RSL story, but I think it’s run it’s course, and Houston just doesn’t seem to have the killer instinct this season. Perhaps because that “Killer Instinct” now plays in Toronto.
2Y: Relegate. The Galaxy go out tonight because David Beckham cannot stop staring towards the East and Doha. Plus, Brian Ching will probably score 7 or 8 goals just to prove to us all that he’s a legitimate striker.
4. Talks are ongoing about the future of the Barclay’s Premier League. A proposal has been floated in the papers for a divided Premier League with 36 teams, including Celtic and Rangers, with no more relegation. Promote or relegate – Could this idea actually be a savior for some of the lesser-funded clubs?
MH: I’d promote this if they could find a way to include promotion and relegation. Under the current plan, once the 36 teams were set it’d be next to impossible for a team not on the original list to get in at a later date; that effectively kills one of the fundamental principles of the sport in order to bail out teams that aren’t managing their finances.
Adam: Relegate. I don’t think this helps the smaller clubs. It seems (at least before the economic downfall) that teams reach a certain point and then start lavishly spending the money they think they’re going to get. Teams should be rewarded for making wise financial choices and punished for not doing so. Even the lesser funded clubs should have some sort of financial system in place that gives them sustainability for the long term so that if they do drop down a tier they’re not in an astronomical hole.
Fuse: Relegate. That was easy- the Premier League voted against the idea today! Setting that aside, any “scheme” (that’s what you Brits say, right TY?) that doesn’t include relegation and promotion is a non-starter for me. Also, I hear this guy has a whole bunch of ideas for fixing the game in Scotland, so let’s give those a try first before we start pursuing hair-brained ideas like this.
2Y: Promote. I think the Premier League is too quick to dismiss ideas that could help some of the financially strapped clubs. I find their haughty outright dismissal of this idea to be laughable, and when Portsmouth, Hull City and who knows who else are sitting at the brink of Administration, they better be prepared to hear questions about why they fiddled while Rome burned.
5. The World Cup is approximately 7 months away. The USA finds itself having to try to bed in some new players this weekend due to injury and the MLS playoffs. The squad for South Africa is certainly not set in stone at this point. Promote or relegate – Will the USA team make it out of the Group Stages of the World Cup next year, regardless of the draw?
MH: Without considering the possibility of the draw, I’d have to relegate. Sure, we could get an easy draw…but from what I’ve seen of this team, they can’t play on the road, they can’t solidify themselves defensively, and Bob Bradley goes into every game hoping for a scoreless draw. We’re set up way too defensively until it’s too late (the Confederations Cup proves this; it wasn’t until the Egypt game that they played with an attacking impetus). Bradley would need a miracle to get out of the group.
Adam: Relegate. The Confederations Cup should have really been an eye opener for the USSF and made them realize that Bradley needed to go, but they were handed some crazy luck against Egypt and then pulled off the biggest upset in US Soccer history thus cementing the idea that this team was somehow prepared to do well in the World Cup. They aren’t. While this is still the best team the US has ever had, I just don’t see a way that they can compete unless they get a favorable group draw.
Fuse: Relegate. Without knowing the draw, I just can’t see them making it out of the group stage. That being said, if they do get a favorable draw and get their act together during the group stage, maybe they make it out. The most likely scenario for success in my eyes is for them to play out of their minds and squeak out a win against the one good team that will likely be in their group and then hope to pick up a point in the rest of the group matches.
2Y: Sadly, relegate. Until the recent run of major injuries hit this team, I might have promoted this idea. Without Charlie Davies (assuming he doesn’t have a miracle comeback) the USA does not have enough goal-scoring options in major international play. Bob Bradley is not clever enough to react to what the opponents are doing to stop him, he’s only capable of watching his own side. I predict perhaps 2 points in the Group stage at best, and that’s not enough.
Have at it yourselves in the comments.
