Looking back on the season, you have to say that the acquisition of Robbie Keane was crucial. He scored 53 points since his transfer and was arguably the best striker in the Premiership in the last couple of months. Cech also played his part but some might rue letting Mike get him back so easily after his injury. Overall, a solid defence (Cech, Finnan and Ferdinand especially) and an excellent, consistent forward line (Rooney and Keane) made up for a very poor midfield. Once again, Mike has proved a determined and prescient manager and thoroughly deserves his third trophy [round of applause].
As for Nick, the transfers didn't quite work out (apart from Downing perhaps). Agger and Riise were excellent buys (especially since no one really fancied Agger) and Arteta was an astute choice too. Yakubu was raking in the points up until Easter, then gave up. If you want to blame anyone it has to be him, although Ballack was the laziest cunt in the league.
James's team hung around for much of the season and looked like launching a challenge for a while. Although nearly all his players were consistent, only Pedersen hit a really big score. Taylor was a great buy but the rest hit the 20s and 30s. Had Johnson and Bent been fit for the whole season though, he would probably have taken it.
As for the rest of us, not good enough is the verdict. That's why this game is so great. The final table looks like this:
| Total Points | Diff | ||
| 1st | Mike | 404 | |
| 2nd | Nick Ach | 395 | 9 |
| 3rd | James | 387 | 17 |
| 4th | Nick Ath | 349 | 55 |
| 5th | Sid | 341 | 63 |
| 6th | Steve | 336 | 68 |
| 7th | Rico | 310 | 94 |
| 8th | Donald | 288 | 116 |
| 9th | Theo | 266 | 138 |
| 10th | Stathi | 243 | 161 |
Incidentally, my spreadsheet died again after the last Premiership week. If it had happened a week earlier, there would have been no final table. Not from me anyway.
Also, I really can't be fucked with the scores again next season. Someone else's turn methinks.
6 comments:
Quality summary Nick. Another point to add - it seems that 400 points is the benchmark for winning the title. Oh and Wembley is quality but there are still not enough toilets.
400 points is usually the Promised Land. Maybe the lack of toilets was the reason for the enormous one taking place on the pitch. Worst FA Cup final in history, even worse than Everton's win in 1995.
I out it down to Fergie's 'Mourinho Complex' or a general 'Big Game Complex' (as also witnessed in Milan and numerous Champions LEague aways in the last 5 years. Fergie has this thing about playing 451 and against a team on saturday that play with six behind the ball, leaving Rooney up front by himslef was a tragic dereliction of duty. This is NOT the United way. Oh and Fletcher(son) also played!
I forgot to say - 'prescient' - quality word!
Don't blame Fergie. The game was sh*te because of Chelsea - again. The way I see things, if you look at the top four teams in the country there are two that want to win by playing well and beating the other lot (three teams who aspire to this if you include the fifth best team...), and two that want to win by stopping the other lot from playing. From a fan's perspective we can only hope that its the first style that wins. And you know that this post wouldn't be complete without a quote:
"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."
May be Mssrs Moaninho and Benitez should have that tattooed on their bloody foreheads!
And yes, prescient is a great word.
That must be some kind of record - the same quote (Danny B's) appearing in the blog at least twice!
It was Fergie's fault. We are the champions for fucks sake. We should have GONE FOR THEM. But no lets play Rooney up front by himself. Lets continue with Giggs because he is captain and for sentiments sake Fergie wanted him on the pitch as long as possible. As for Fletcher. Pass (something he can't do in addition to run at medium pace, head etc etc......) The only tactic on Saturday? Knock it long to Ronaldo on the LEFT so he can take on Ferriera and lets see what happens! Rubbish. Utter rubbish.
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