The True Reason Why The Premier League Is Europe's Most Exciting Competition

Yesterday like most, I woke up in anticipation of the final day of the Premier League season. Being a Brentford fan, and thus, having no ties to the top tier of English football, I was looking forward to spectating as as a neutral on all the days events. It was on days like yesterday that made me realise just how fantastic the Premier League can be. While the league title became a two horse race, I found it interesting that the relegation battles as well as the battle for third place were just as important as taking the championship.

For those fans of Manchester City, and Arsenal, I say congratulations, as your clubs went in with specific goals yesterday and, albeit making it difficult on themselves, they pulled through. And in essence that is what truly separated City from United this year, as well as what separated Arsenal from Tottenham. Arsenal, though having a torrid time at the beginning of the season, turned everything on its head at the beginning of the year and put in some excellent performances, and bought back their 'never say die' attitude. With a massive assist to Robin Van Persie, the only thing Arsenal fans will be asking is what could have been had they replicated the second half of their season in the first. Sure they had some slip ups during that time, but overall it was a massive improvement.

 Tottenham on the other hand had a completely opposite season to their North London rivals. A truly remarkable start from the beginning, I was starting to think that they were challenging City for the title at one point, but then low and behold, after all the ruckus caused by Harry Redknapp, his trial and the vacant England job, seemed to take the air out of the sails. They have finished strongly this year but they will be asking the same question that Arsenal fans are, and I can only hope that this spurs them on (no pun intended) to try and become more consistent as next season approaches.

 The big question that both clubs will be asking themselves now though is whether or not they will be able to retain their top stars. The likes of Van Persie, and Van De Vaart will be talking points, especially towards the opening of the transfer window, and as always, it is up to the players, and the players alone whether or not they believe silver wear is just around the corner.

 Newcastle United are deserving of an honourable mention, as quite frankly they surprised even me with their quite astonishing performance this year. The last two results aside, a victory and clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, by itself is enough to merit a real pat on the back, and even though they missed out on the Champions League, they are big contenders next year for the Europa League if they can hang on to their big players. Tip of the hat to you Mr Pardew.

 Bolton fought in vain to get the upper hand away to Stoke City, and were, unfortunately sent back down to the Championship. After everything Owen Coyle's men have been subjected to towards the end of this season, I know that many were hoping for the sake of one Fabrice Muamba that they could do the unthinkable and survive. Alas, it was not meant to be and they will inevitably push themselves into the dog fight for the Championship next year, and I for one, will be watching closely.

 And finally to Manchester, where the red and blue armies both had a lot to laugh, and cry about over their respective 90 minute games. United scored, and stubbornly stuck to their one goal lead at the Stadium of Light, and my heart was in my mouth at times, as Sunderland did put up quite a fight at times. But it was at the Etihad Stadium that had my total attention. After what was a blunderous bit of goalkeeping by poor Paddy Kenny, City found themselves one up at half time, but not looking at all comfortable. Shortly after the break, my fears for the City back line were confirmed when a terrible header back from Joleen Lescott let in the one man City had to be weary of, Djbrill Cisse for what was an easy finish to level the score. Joey Barton was sent off shortly after, for something I don't think merited a red card, but considering the raucous caused after card was given, it became a necessity to get him off the pitch. Then the unthinkable happened. A diving header from Mackay gave the visitors the lead, and at this point my heart was in my mouth. Of all the games City could screw up, this was not the one. It was a tense half after that, City throwing men forward in drones, coming close a number of times, before finally on 91 minutes, Eden Dzeko popped up from a corner and headed City to 2-2. For me, this was the end of the game. I had conceded that Manchester United had won their 20th league title. And then came the miracle. Who else but Sergio Aguero to perform one of the defining moments in Premier League history by very coolly placing the ball past Paddy Kenny with left than a minute left of stoppage time to send the Etihad stands into a glorious rapture.

 Anyone that questions the passion of those associated with the Premier League need only put Sunday 13th May 2012 in their diaries to be reminded exactly why we love football as much as we do.

True Class Shine's Through In The Wake Of A Tragedy

In times of major adversity, the true character of people will show itself. That is what I was always taught as a young lad, and over the weekend, the footballing world as a whole, proved that no matter your skin colour, or your shirt colour, we are one in greif.

Fabrice Muamba walked into White Hart Lane with an FA Cup semi-final dream and never walked off. He was carried off the field with no heartbeat and miraculously came back from the dead after two hours. He is currently critically ill after his cardiac arrest and the world of football is holding its collective breath in hopes that he will survive. Anything that happens after that will be a bonus.

Much has been said about football on the whole over the last decade. Inflated wage bills, growing egos, and the never ending stream of infidelity in the English game has put this countries game into disrepute. But the true class of every man and woman who works within the Premier League, whether that be on the field or off it, shone through over the weekend as we came together as a whole to pray, and will Muamba on to recover. The minutes applause at Molenieu, at Anfield and St James Park was just one of the ways in which the league as a whole decided to show its appreciation to a man who may not have had the notoriety of a Wayne Rooney or John Terry, but was an intergral part of the Bolton setup, and in his day was a quality England under 21 international.

Andre Pirlo dedicated Juventus' Serie A win to Muamba, and across Europe in Spain, Real Madrid as a team showed their class runs way beyond what they can do on the field by sporting 'Get Well' t-shirts for Muamba and their ill adversary from the Nu Camp Eric Abidal, who requires a liver transplant after a long battle with illness. These show's of class from all over Europe prove one thing. Football is not in the gutter like so many journalists and the like would have you believe. Football, for all intensive purposes is irrelivant when it comes to the life of a human being. The Tottenham fans proved that when Muamba collapsed on Saturday. They stood, in shocked disbelief at what was happening in front of them, but both sets of fans came together and chanted his name and applauded him as he was rushed off the field.

There are no true villains in the world of football. People come together to share the passion of what their team represents. Harry Redknapp hit the nail on the head in todays papers when he said that everything takes a back seat in a situation like this. The only thing that truly matters here is that the 23 year old man fighting for his life in Bethnel Green makes a full recovery. Unfortunately, it takes situations like this to truly show the world that the footballing world is just one great big family, and while we may fight, and at times hurt one another, we mourn and greive together.

Get well soon Fabrice, I for one will be praying for you.

Kick It Out. But Only Racism, Not Suarez

The 11th February 2012 will go down as a day that was remembered for all the wrong reasons. It was a normal Saturday Premier League line up until Liverpool took to the pitch at Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. Both teams were lining up for the usually obligatory Fair Play handshakes, and any football fan that hasn't lived under a rock for the past few months knew that it would be the first time that Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra would be on the same pitch since Suarez had served his 9 match ban for alleged racism against Evra.

It is first obvious to note that Suarez has always protested his innocence and stated many times that what was said was not meant to be discriminating in any way, but stupidly tried to play it off by saying it wouldn't have been taken so seriously in his own country. The main issue today was simple. Instead of Evra not extending his hand it was the other way around. I don't think that anyone can deny that Patrice Evra showed a great deal of class by being the one who opened up the potential to bury this hatchet. The main issue was that for whatever reason, Suarez did not. This was grossly unfair on both men. Suarez is entitled to feel hard done by in regards to the FA decision, but taking it out on the man with whom he insulted was both tactless and immoral.

Suarez will now forever have this stain on his character, and being that the Premier League has spent so much time and money on their 'Kick Racism Out Of Football' campaign, this and the John Terry/Anton Ferdinand have really taken them back a few steps. Alex Ferguson was spot on in his post match interview. We HAVE come a long way from the days of John Barnes being pelted with banana's, and although the game has come on leaps and bounds since then, there is still so much work to do.

There was, of course far more for the fans to see throughout the game. A half time scuffle in the dressing rooms, Rio Ferdinand not shaking Suarez's hand in protest, and of course, Evra's over the top celebrations at the end. This was probably not the best thing to do, for obvious reasons. While I don't agree with Suarez and his actions, I was always taught that two wrongs do not make a right.

What alarmed me most in this whole debacle was not Luis Suarez though. It was the ramblings of Kenny Dalglish after the game. The man stood there and blamed the man interviewing him by stating that his line of questioning was 'out of order'. No Kenny, I think that would be the actions of your player that were out of order. He swore blind that he has no incline of what had happened at the beginning of the game and even tried to palm off the issue in the dressing room at half time. He then began rambling about how 24 hour news has changed the way that news in the game is presented. If you really hadn't heard about anything that had been going on, maybe if you had just said the situation will be looked into in due course, it may have got the man interviewing you off your back. Ignorance is not an excuse, and even if Kenny Dalglish was not being ignorant, he was still acting it.

Luis Suarez should be punished yes, but I really do think that his reputation will have taken enough of a hit now. I don't agree with Ferguson on one thing, that he should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again. I think that is a bit harsh. But repercussions are bound to come from this, and for the sake of the future of the game, and the abolishment of racism in it, I for one am sure that Luis Suarez will reap what he has sown.

FIFA Ballon D'Or Nominations Prove One Thing: The English Are Not World Class

Dismal as the summer of 2010 was, everyone now seems to have forgotten about the bad times had by England's World Cup players. Although, most people haven't forgiven. The proof of this is seen in the slightly below average attendances at England's last two Euro 2012 qualifiers. People are still down on their luck when it comes to our national squad. Whatever the cause of the problem, it is now clear to most that England are no longer the world power in football that its fans claimed them to be.

There is no bigger example of this than the shortlist for this years FIFA Ballon D'Or nominations, or to the rest of the world, the FIFA player of the year award. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerard have been overlooked by the almost giants of Spanish and German football.

Although like most people, I think FIFA have based their decision of the best players solely on World Cup performances alone. For example, Miroslave Klose is one of the nominations for the award and, apart from an amazing World Cup, he did absolutely nothing in terms of league football at the back end of last season. Most others in the nominations are worthy based on their combined performances, such as Lionel Messi, who had an excellent season with Barca last season, but had a slightly underwhelming World Cup.

Bottom line is simple. English players were not good enough to make the list of the years best. Hopefully now, those soles who believe England have the cream of the crop in terms of players may finally realise that we have fallen behind the likes of the world beaters Spain and Holland, and maybe now, its time for a change in guard.

England Are Never Going To Please The Press...Plain And Simple

England's game against Montenegro was nothing new. Many of England's players were lack lustre. Namely, Gareth Barry who was quite horrible. His passing was off, his pace was non-existent, and his vision needed testing. In fact the only decent player on the field aside from Steven Gerrard was Rio Ferdinand, and he has been out with injury for three months. But people have to start looking at England for what they are. Just as the French people have to look at their national team for what they are.

I am not going to point the finger of blame, but everyone has an opinion. And as the age old saying goes, opinions are a lot like penises and vaginas...everyone has one (or both but that is another story for another time). England are a group of players who will always fail in the eyes of the media. Even if they somehow got passed Germany at the World Cup, even if they won the whole thing, the press would still harp on the early performances because criticism sells.

Fabio Capello knew coming into this job that the level of scrutiny from the press was very high, and as we all know, the press' opinion becomes gospel in the minds of those who read their columns in daily newspapers. But after a quick glance at Yahoo News it seems that all the press want to do is pile more misery on an already frustrating situation. Now I know I am regurgitating things that almost everyone says, but seriously, the press is single handedly destroying our national sport with its expectations.

Sure we have some of the best players in the world, but so do Argentina. Now I don't read much Argentinian press but I'm sure once the initial grilling was over, the press stopped harping on it because they, like I'm sure all of us realise, the national team needs to move forward, and nobody when England played their first Euro 2012 qualification game against Bulgaria had forgiven the dismal performance from the World Cup.

Brush it off and get on with it.

Last night was not cataclysmic as the press lead us to believe. Hell, it happens. It happens to the best of teams. Montenegro, for their lowly world ranking are actually a very strong side who play very deep against teams that are better than them. That is what we saw last night. They also had a great goalkeeper.

I also read some comments left by some disgruntled England fans that insinuate that they reason England are not performing is because our manager isn't English. Pardon my French but that is bollocks. During World Cup qualification those are probably the same people who were licking Capello's balls because of the great job he was doing. STOP BLAMING MANAGERS!

I guess what I'm saying is this, the England team are who they are. One day, sometime in the future, when there is less pressure on them as a whole, who knows, it may happen. But we all need to stop believing in the ideal that England are the best team in the world, because, quite frankly, we aren't, and the sooner the press realise that, the less time they can spend blaming the manager, because that is the done thing in football now days. Patience is dead.