AuthorBoth Outcasts There were plenty of players throughout the year that stood out this EPL league season. The awards are rightly dominated by players who have performed consistently well at the top of the table but what about some of those players lower down the league? Players, who despite the best efforts of a poor supporting cast of team mates managed to consistently perform week in and week out for some of the less glamourous sides in the division?
The only caveat for compiling this list was that we had to pick the players from teams positioned 7th to 20th in the league who we thought had had a good season. It just so happens that we picked very similar squads (7 players to be exact made it in to both our sides). Our teams are below: AuthorBoth Outcasts That’s it; the 2016-2017 season is over. It was a great season, with a record number of wins (30) for Chelsea as they stormed to the title, Sunderland were finally relegated after flirting with it for so long and Leicester fell from grace after winning it last season.
We had Harry Kane winning the golden boot for the second season in a row; he managed 29 goals this year and therefore improving from last season’s 26. We also saw West Ham move to a new home and they really didn’t like it much and we said goodbye to another old ground in White Hart Lane. Overall it was a big season and below is a rundown of how we think each team did. Please note that the player of season award goes to the player we thought was worthy and maybe not the official player of the year of that club. AuthorJeffEyesRimmer At the beginning of this season I predicted a few players that I thought might do well. It was a mixed bag of youngsters, superstars, loaners and last chancers. That article I wrote for our fellow bloggers over at Sporting Mad and that article is linked below.
So how well did I do? Well, there were some good and some bad picks. Below were my predications and some info on how they went this season: AuthorSports Billy So the season has drawn to a close and Arsenal, for the first time since time began, have finished outside of the top 4 of the Premier League. This is probably the unfortunate icing on the cake for manager Arsene Wenger who has endured a torrid time this season from sections of The Emirates stands and other parts of the Gunners fan base.
Yes, Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League title for a very long time, and yes they always get smashed by Bayern Munich in some sort of knock out round for the Champions League, and finally yes some of the players at times this season haven’t looked up for it, so I can see why the fans have been frustrated. But, come on people, let’s get some perspective here. AuthorJeffEyesRimmer Its coming up to the summer holidays (or winter holidays down under) but as the football season comes to a close (mostly) our attentions turn to trips away to beautiful places throughout the world. While many footballers will be heading for the posh resorts they may find few views better than the ones they already enjoy at work.
Here are few amazing, picturesque football pitches from around the world that we really wish we could go play a game on. AuthorJeffEyesRimmer
The season is coming to a close and titles are being decided across Europe with plenty of teams going back to back with championship wins. In a lot of cases more so, Celtic has now won the title six seasons in a row, Bayern Munich have made it five in a row, Benfica four titles in a row and even in my country of birth, Wales, The New Saints have made it six in a row.
So are these up there with the best consecutive title runs ever? Not even close, there are teams that have far exceeded these feats over the years and in several cases are still going. Here are the best title winning runs in Europe. AuthorJeffEyesRimmer It’s not the end of the season yet but the rumour mill is in full swing about the money that will be spent in the summer transfer window. Manchester United’s issues this season have been wildly documented, with gossip columns linking the Red Devils with every attacker known to man. If rumours were to be believed then United would only have attacking players next season.
Well ten attacking players and one goalkeeper, and as fate would have it the goalkeeper is the one area that Jose may well have to address. It’s no secret that David De Gea has been on Real Madrids radar for some time and if were not for some dodgy fax machine 2 years ago he would likely be a Galactico already. However, it seems in recent weeks the potential transfer of De Gea Real has intensified and its looking more and more likely that United will lose another one of their best players to Madrid. So who are the potential replacements to De Gea? Below are a few options that I think Mourinho might want to consider: AuthorJeffEyesRimmer Earlier this month Joey Barton was banned for 18 months for betting on football matches. As per Bartons modus operandi he indicated he was the victim here but not in the way he meant. In a way Barton is a victim, he is the victim of the normalisation of gambling culture associated with football and sport in general nowadays. It’s obscene.
I agree with the ban that does effectively end Bartons career, the threat of match fixing is very real and needs to be dealt with strongly, but the real questions must be asked of the gambling industry. Why was a well-known player like Barton allowed to continue to gamble for 10 years without intervention? Leon Osman, the ex-Everton legend began gambling after retiring but had his account suspended and had to prove he was not a player anymore, so why was this not done for Barton? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer The A League comes to a close this Sunday when the Grand Final between the two best teams this season takes place, Sydney FC versus Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Much of the lead up to the final has been focused on the condition of the pitch due to the rugby that will be played on it the days before. Hopefully the pitch won’t be too destroyed from rugby prior to the final and the two teams provide the spectacle that Australian football deserves. It’s the Big Blue Grand Final and it’s probably still the biggest rivalry in the A League, how will it go? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer It was the story that united the football world late last year, the airplane crash in Colombia that led to the deaths of 71 people, including 19 players and staff from Brazilian club Chapecoense when they were heading for the Copa Sudamericana final. From the 77 people on the plane, only 6 survived, with three of those being players.
So five months on from that crash how have Chapecoense done, how have the club begun to rebuild after such a horrific crash? |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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