The End is Nigh

No, the world isn't ending, well for some of us it feels that way. Every year millions of grown men around the world bemoan this weekend that is coming, it signals the end of weeks of anguish, excitement and glory, it's the last weekend of the English Premier League. While this year saw Chelsea secure the title with 2 games to spare, it wasn't plain sailing from the 5 times winners of the trophy. They started off the season on a bit of a shaky note with loses at home and dropped points against silly teams but Antonio Conte and his men then put their heads down and while focus wasn't so much on them anymore went about their business notching up 3 points every weekend and slowly started building momentum for their title charge. While many tried but fell away, there was no denying that Chelsea deserve their title. After a small stumble towards the end of the season, well more like a sudden surge from fellow London club Tottenham Hotspurs but a loss to Westham a week ago saw that one put to bed.

While Chelsea will are in celebrations mode, it will have to be cut short for the final league game as well as the final of the FA Cup which they will be facing another London rival, Arsenal. While on the subject of the Gunners, over the last decade, Arsenal's claim to fame is finishing in the top 4, in fact in the 2015/16 season they celebrated finishing in the top four as though they won the title. This year however saw many other clubs push their way into their seat, with the resurgence of Liverpool and Mauricio Pochettino men making progress from last season to nudge into second place, this season could see Arsene Wenger's team finish outside a Champions League place. There is however a small chance that Arsenal still could get fourth place, with the Top 3 places almost already decided with Manchester City's win over Westbrom last night, Liverpool have to win their last game against Middlesbrough to guarantee they Merseyside club a return to Champions League football. 

Having had a terrible second half to the season, most of the damage was done in January, Jurgen Klopp's men have found a last bit of fight in them to end the season on a high, following a triumphant rout at Westham over the weekend, spirits are high in the camp and they hope to transpire this onto the field on Saturday when they end their campaign at home in front of the Anfield faithful. Anfield normally being a good hunting ground for the reds was the scene for many disasters this season, goalless draws against minnows and even defeat from teams who were fighting relegation. The Reds have found themselves being complacent at times and other times, looked like the best team in the world. It's a Jekyll and Hyde complex that Klopp needs to figure out and fix before the start of the new season as this team has potential to go on and win trophy's. Obviously there needs to be some changes in the team, our defence isn't the best and it's become a problem for us with teams knowing how to exploit this issue.

One can't do a season wrap up and not talk about the teams from Manchester, lets give the Red side a break and talk about the Blue side for a bit. There was much fanfare at the start of the season with the appointment of Pep Guardiola as their manager, he is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and given the kitty City have at their disposal, we were all expecting big signings and a strong City challenge but Pep quickly learnt that the English league isn't like the Spanish or German one, he didn't make any notable signings apart from Jesus in January who gave his team that spark which kick started them and helped finish 3rd, I feel if he didn't get injured City would have been there with Spurs fighting Chelsea for the title but alas it wasn't to be. 

Now the Red side, well with the leagues favourite manager taking charge at the most successful club in the Premier League, you know everyone's eyes would be cast onto Old Trafford checking their transfers, results and what colour tie Jose is wearing. And Jose is one to never shy away from the media, so that coupled with his breaking of the transfer record fee by acquiring Paul Pogba at an astronomical price, he was only heaping more pressure on him and the team. Suffice to say, while they didn't do as badly as previous seasons since Alex Fergurson departed but they didn't do that great either with them pretty much cemented in 6th place, even after their long stint of unbeaten games that saw them move no where. They have a lot of work to do but are still holding on to their hopes of reaching the Champions League by winning the Europa League where they will face a very tough Ajax team. Knowing Jose thought, he'd park the bus and hope the game goes to penalties so you never know. 

Never the less, this season was great entertainment as always, it provided us with much to talk about, whether it be bad refereeing of which we saw plenty of, or great games such as Monday nights 7 goal thriller with Chelsea and Watford. One thing we can be sure of is next season is going to be a whole lot more interesting with teams back in the Champions League and competing for the title. It's going to be a busy summer and the Confed Cup coming up in Russia should seal the void that we might have over this break period. 

Never give up

Like many out there, I got up yesterday morning in disbelief, Leicester City, Champions of England. For many who don't follow the league, you might be wondering what the big fuss is all about? Well there have been many miracle stories in football, Man Utd in 99, Liverpool in 05 and Segio Aguero's last minute goal to win the league in the dying seconds of the 2011/12 season but nothing can top this. 

As the saying goes, "the league is a marathon and not a race" so for Leicester City, a team whom had to dig themselves out of a relegation spot last season, to come in and perform consistently every week to stay ahead of the pack is no mean feat. I know they didn't have that many competitions to par-take in like the other top flight teams and they've been lucky with hardly and major injuries during the season but all that forms part of the luck you need to win England's most coveted trophy.  

Claudio Ranieri came in at the beginning of the season to try and steady the team to a respectable position in the table, I doubt he even thought it would have been possible to achieve what they have done. For many years the league was dominated by the formidable "big four" but as the years went on and big money came into the league, it saw things change and maybe for the better. Yes many might say money is killing the game with certain teams having the bank balances to pay for big name players but Leicester City went and showed the world that you don't need money or big names to win. The total cost for their starting 11 for most of the games never exceeding 400,000 pounds, which some players earn in 2 weeks... It was hard work, belief and pure passion for the game that got them where they are. 

That's what Leicester did this season, it reminded people why we play and watch this sport, and what makes it the beautiful game. With odds against them at 5000/1 to win the league at the start, for them to prove the bookies and world wrong is something extraordinary and will be spoken off in years to come. Whether or not they would be able to replicate this form next season is questionable but what they've taught everyone is that nothing is impossible.

 As a Liverpool supporter it is a sore point that Leicester managed to win the Premiership before us as well as with less points that we've managed to score on more than 3 seasons but that's football for you. They were ready for the challenge and kept going till the end. You ride your luck during the season and make the effort when need be, every season has it's own challenges but you got to overcome them to secure that prize. 

One thing is for sure, next season I don't think anyone would be able to predict what can happen and whether or not bookies will be putting outrages odd's on teams to win the league will be interesting to see after having to pay out a lot of money this season. To Leicester, the football world salutes you on what you have achieved, slaying giants along the way to earn respect in a sport that's dominated by money and superstars, you showed the world you don't need all of that to be winners. 

Close but no trophy

The Barclays English Premier concluded this past Sunday with Manchester City claiming their second title in 3 years. It was a 2 horse race till the last day but it was obvious with City having the advantage that they would do the business. For my team Liverpool, at the onset there was always doubt by others on whether achieving a top four finish was possible but they proved everyone wrong, surpassing their target and challenging for the title till the very last day. 

Although disappointed, after the games were over I was damn proud of what they achieved in the season, they didn't get the trophy but they got the respect they deserved and made it known that Liverpool were back and they mean business. Brendan Rodgers and his troops brought back the old Liverpool, the one that sent shivers down opponents when playing against us, we were ruthless against teams, the fast style passing caught many off guard and most of the games were sealed within the first 25 minutes. The passing, the flow and the dedication of the players needs to be commended but what let us down was our defence.

Even though we scored 101 goals, just 1 behind champions City, we conceded 50 goals which is not champion quality. Hopefully over the summer break, the manager and his scouts will find the necessary players needed to strengthen the squad in that particular area. It's difficult to pin point players because they all had good and bad performances, Martin Skrtel for example, he was always in the spot light for tugging on players shirts during set pieces, also he had a habit of tracking back instead of going for the attacker, he also scored 4 goals in the wrong net but on the other hand he made countless goal saving tackles and blocks not to mention the 7 goals he scored in the right net which was a record for a defender. 

Other positives to come out of this season was the transformation of the younger players, Sterling, Henderson, Allen and Flanagan all who relatively young proved the doubters wrong. By the end of the season all of them were good as any of the first team choices, the maturity they showed in their game play, passing, thinking and vision only means that they have a bright future ahead for them. Henderson and Sterling have been rewarded with call ups to the England World Cup squad with Flanagan on standby.

I'll touch on it again, it hurts us the fans for coming so close to that elusive 19th title but imagine how the players feel. We saw the raw emotion come out the night after the Crystal Palace draw, as much as we are gutted they were even more so. Many mocked them but at the end of the day, it's them who are snapping up all the prizes now. Luis Suarez has been named Player of the season by many organisations as well as getting the golden boot for most goals scored in the league, the other night, Brendan Rodgers was name Manager of the season by the League Managers Association, so all was not lost.

But to quote the great Bill Shankly, "If you're first, you're first. If you're second, you're nothing" which is a very strong sentence but I believe we were not entirely nothing, with some tweaking this summer and the players keeping the belief we could be a force to be reckon with come the start of the 2014/15 league. We'll come back stronger, hungrier and with bigger challenges in store in terms of Europe, with our long standing captain, he'll rally the players as he always does for the challenge, WE GO AGAIN!

The up's & down's

THE UP's: Its the weekend, Springboks vs All Black, Sharks vs Western Province & Liverpool vs Man City.

Big game at Soccer City/ National Stadium/ FNB stadium/ Calabash/ beer bowl/ round orange thing tomorrow & quite historic for a number of facts.

1. First match between Springboks & All Blacks being played in Soweto
2. Crowd attendance could break the record for most at a game being played by the 2
3. Our most capped Captain runs out for the 100th time wearing the Green & Gold
4. Also a record for "most waving flags" is trying to be set at Soccer City tomorrow

Im sure there will be many other records being broken tomorrow since it will have the largest crowd present eg: most people drinking beer & chomping biltong, most number of fans simultaneously saying "Bliksem" & other random crap like that. Its a must win game for the Bok's, not so they stand a chance to win the competition, its more of a "save face" & to get rid of that 0 on the table next to our name. Plus being so historic I doubt we'd want to lose. As the great PDivvy said

"There's little difference between winning and losing, except you feel better after winning."

Another rugby game tomorrow is the Sharks  vs Western Province, a top 2 table clash which will sure have most rugby fanatics drooling. WP are on a roll, but so are the Sharks. We're packing the feisty little Pat Lambie, the kid can do nothing wrong even if he tried! Its sure to be an exciting encounter down at the tank!

Okay so the Man City vs Liverpool game isnt exactly on the weekend but its a good start to the week? Our not so easy start to the season continues & with us missing Cole wont make things any easier. Last night we struggled to beat off that Turkish team that hardly anyone could pronounce, but a win is a win I suppose.

The Down's: No one can turn a blind eye to the civil servants strike thats going on, Im not saying that they have no right to strike. It just needs to be done in a peaceful manner.

The morons that go around intimidating those who chose not to strike are just that, morons. Bringing violence into this situation helps no one. I for one feel that guys that commit these barbaric acts have no reasoning as to why they are striking in the first place! Story's of teachers being shambocked because they wanted to teach & nurses being hauled out of hospitals for simply doing their duties is disgusting to say the least, one would think that these guys arent civilised, which is ironic since it is a "civil servants strike". Its not a nice way to end off the blog post but it has to be said, if we as South Africans want to move forward, we need to stop acting like barbaric fools & learn to behave in a controlled manner. Dont mess up 2010 for us, please.