The Window Closes
Today’s the last day until January that players can swap teams. Unlike US sports, teams very rarely “trade” players but rather buy and sell them outright. F365 is providing by-the-minute updates here, if you’re interested.
Gawd, was Liverpool vs. Aston Villa awful yesterday. Both teams played cautiously to a fault and there was very, very little action. Draws killed Liverpool in the league last year. The champs Man Ure actually lost more games (five compared to Liverpool’s four) but drew only six whereas Liverpool drew thirteen. The lesson? Sometimes you have to gamble and go for the winner. Even without Gerrard and Torres, I thought Liverpool looked more likely in the final quarter of an hour but Benitez played it safe. That works in the Champions League where draws can be good results but it’ll kill you in the league. Looks like Rafa still hasn’t figured that out.
Current Mood: Fine | 
I think teams of Villa’s ilk have to stop treating these pathetic draws against the top four as great achievements. Same goes for Newcastle against ManUre the first weekend. They have these teams in a stalemate, and need to press for a win just as much as Rafa should. I understand that any point from a match you’re “supposed” to lose is great, but that makes for ugly football. There is only one Bolton. Let’s leave it at that.
It looks like WordPress ate my comment about Valencia: I watched Valencia-Mallorca the other day. Valencia were awesome. They left steaming piles of class all over the place. Get Dish.
Comment by John League — Mon, Sep 1st, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
Agreed regarding Villa. The problem is that making it into the UEFA Cup brings in a ton of cash and those places are often determined by just a few points, but I guess my opinion is that for every win you snatch that’s equivalent to three games drawn. And since it’s not my job on the line, it’s much easier to yell “Go for it!” from the armchair.
And yes, the lack of Spanish football in my diet might well force the change. My brain understood the situation earlier this summer, but now that the season kicked off, going cold turkey is harder than I would have imagined.
Comment by Trent — Mon, Sep 1st, 2008 @ 6:35 pm