Premier League 2010-2011

[BaaBaa.]

Darren Bent to Villa for £18 million, possibly rising to £24 million, yes £24 million!

WTF?

[BaaBaa.]

Liverpool have made the first official move for the Ajax striker Luis Suarez.

And the Uruguay World Cup star has said he wants to quit the Amsterdam club and for Anfield before the transfer window closes.

The Merseysiders have had Suarez watched on several occasions and are in pole position to go in with a firm, cash offer.

Suarez, 23, has scored 81 goals in 108 games for the Amsterdam outfit after notching 11 in 29 for Groningen since arriving in Holland from Montevideo's Nacional in 2005.

But last season's Dutch footballer of the year has demonstrated an excellent eye for goal and has made it clear to Ajax that he feels it is time to test himself in a better league, with Liverpool his preferred option because of the number of Spanish speakers at the club.

Suarez is understood to be particularly keen to line up alongside Fernando Torres, believing the partnership could dovetail as well as his Uruguay link with Diego Forlan.

Talks between the clubs were said by Ajax sources to have begun this weekend, with Tottenham's hopes dwindling as Harry Redknapp needs to offload Robbie Keane and possibly Roman Pavlyuchenko before he can add to his squad.

Suarez has another two and a half years left on his current deal and Ajax will want £23million to be tempted to sell.

But with the striker keen to push the deal through, Liverpool could soon be celebrating a major boost.

I really hope this goes through, he's class!

[JimmyGreaves]

Nah.

I'm sure he would love to play with Crouch more than Torres and there are more uraguayan restaraunts down the seven sisters road than in the whole of Liverpool so I think it's a done deal

[E-Dork]

Striker Bent sealed his £24million switch to Aston Villa last night but was slaughtered by his former boss.

Shocking Really. 'Van Der Vaart' - 8 million. Bent - 24?

[BaaBaa.]

Journalist: Kenny, have you seen a big change in the players over the past few weeks since taking charge?

Kenny Dalglish: Well I wasn't here before I came in, obviously.

Dalglish: I'm not going to sit here and give you names or comment on every question that is asked about an individual player.

Journalist: One name that does keep cropping up, though, is Luis Suarez. Has there been any development with that?

Dalglish: I'd have thought you misheard me.



King Kenny is class!

[Lee1975]

Look at Sky analysis on the game this Saturday between Wolves & Liverpool. WTF? Liverpool are on a great run of form and will be confident????? They obviously haven't done any research or watched any Games that Liverpool have played away from home this season!!!!

[BaaBaa.]

I'd already seen that on a Liverpool forum, pretty much sums Sky up.

[Lee1975]

I'd already seen that on a Liverpool forum, pretty much sums Sky up.

What forum you on? RAWK?

[BaaBaa.]

I'd already seen that on a Liverpool forum, pretty much sums Sky up.

What forum you on? RAWK?

Mainly RAWK, have a look at The Liverpool Way and the Official too.

I don't write, just read.

[Spitfire]

Mainly RAWK, have a look at The Liverpool Way and the Official too.

I don't write, just read.

C'mon, never figured you for a "Lurker", especially if it's to do with footie. How do you keep quiet when reading it?

[BaaBaa.]

Mainly RAWK, have a look at The Liverpool Way and the Official too.

I don't write, just read.

C'mon, never figured you for a "Lurker", especially if it's to do with footie. How do you keep quiet when reading it?

There's not enough confrontation for me.

It's generally pretty knowledgeable stuff. Inside info and stuff. Very very early team news and transfer news etc.

[BaaBaa.]

It looks like El Nino is back!

Roy for England.

[Spitfire]

Maybe we'll be saved be 'La Nina'........

Loy for England?

OK, why don't we all run like lemmings towards the white cliffs?

God save us all, please.

Forgive me SM67 with the divine intervention factor, but it's looking like we are getting close to the end of the yarn and the only help available is 'divine intervention', little other option on this front really.

[PeteC]

News > Sports
Is the English Premier League in crisis?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... -in-crisis

* Published: 23/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: Sports

In my opinion, the English Premier League is in crisis.

England's top flight has lost its status as the best league in the world. It has fallen behind Spain and could soon drop below Germany's Bundesliga as well.

Recently, at the Fifa Ballon D'Or gala, the FIFPro World XI was announced. This dream team was picked by close to 50,000 professional players. It featured eight players from Spain's La Liga and three from Italy's Serie A. Not a single footballer in the line-up plied his trade in England.

So was it just a bad year for English football? You could say that, but I believe it would be closer to the truth to see it as a chink in the once formidable armour of the league that has called itself the best in the world. An empire could be crumbling.

The fact is that the Premier League has seen its top players lose form and status. Quite simply, some of them are getting old, some aren't that good anymore while others are just overrated.

This competition is still living off the reputation gained in the past and is also benefiting from having a fantastic PR machine behind it, but its gravy-train days could soon be over.

Let me get specific. When you think of the Premier League, what names come to mind? Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez, perhaps? OK, well how many of them are world-class stars right now?

I would say out of that group, Tevez is probably the best player at the moment. Rooney has scored one goal from open play for Manchester United since March, Torres has looked like a shadow of his former self for the last year, Fabregas hasn't ever guided Arsenal to any kind of real silverware and continues to struggle with injuries and Drogba's career seems to be in decline after a few amazing seasons.

A harsh assessment? Perhaps. More worryingly though, who is waiting in their wings? Who will be the next generation of Premier League stars? I don't see many exciting players coming through and with the exception of Manchester City, which clubs will have the money to out-muscle the Real Madrids and Inter Milans of this world in the transfer market?

Before I start talking about other leagues, specifically Spain, I will demystify a stereotype that has been around for a long time.

The one that states the best and most exciting attacking football is played in England. This is false. Maybe in the 90s and the early part of the last decade you still saw more goals in the Premier League than anywhere else.

However, over the last few seasons that trend has changed and right now England ranks third behind Germany and Spain for the average of goals scored per game.

Goals per game: Germany 2.79, Spain 2.78, England 2.67 and Italy 2.36.

So, onto Spain. First of all, the league boasts the best team on the planet _ Barcelona. I don't think too many people would disagree with me on that point. They also have the second best team in the world _ Real Madrid. These two sides have exceptional talent and are both superbly coached.

As far as star power is concerned, no other league can say they have anyone close to the stature of Messi and Ronaldo. But there are more stars, many of them unheralded.

I am not going to sit here and tell you about all of the magnificent players at Barcelona and Real Madrid, but there are so many others in La Liga. Players like Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Juan Mata, Ever Banega, Nilmar, Fernando Llorente and many more.

Many of you could be suspicious of the last few players I named and there is one simple reason for that. Marketing.

Spain hasn't marketed its league as well as England has and hasn't sold the image of its teams and players (with the exception of Real and Barca) like the Premier League has. But I issue a challenge. Try to watch more Spanish League games, and not just featuring the top teams.

I guarantee that a match between mid-table teams in Spain will be much better than one in England. It may not be as fast and furious, but it will be of a higher quality and will feature a greater level of skill.

Compare an Espanyol v Sevilla game to a Sunderland v Everton game. Do it and then tell me what you think.

I admit that I would also prefer watching an Atletico v Valencia contest than a Manchester City v Tottenham any day of the week. If one forgets about the hype and focuses on the football, it is no contest.

One final word about the Bundesliga because it could be the most underrated league in Europe. Every time I watch a game from Germany's top flight I am impressed. Most of the teams are extremely well organised, they play positive football and have some of the most exciting players around at the moment.

The nation's World Cup campaign was a testimony to that. Furthermore, they have had five different champions in the last decade. So it would be fair to say that it is a more competitive tournament than England, Spain or any other top league for that matter.

So here is a word of warning for the Premier League. Watch your back, because your days on the throne could be numbered.

Pedro Pinto is a CNN sports anchor.

[caller]

Everton - what is the point of them?

They can't topple the poo when they are at their lowest, from a city of 2 clubs (well, on one side of the Mersey at least). So they are still the support to the reds brassiere, which is drooping in any case.

They have Moyes, whose personality = depression. As a team they are Cahill, the rest are friggin' useless, especially the midfield tart with the stupid afro. Their best player has yet to be identified and the chairman is best known for his part in a manchester soap and no, that doesn't mean palmolive! Although he did bring Miss Saigon to the stage (blab).

Their ground is crap, they share a park (and knives) with the red dicks and their on-site church offers them no saviour.

Just what purpose do they serve and would it worry anyone if they were relegated?