Those of you with access to Fox Soccer Channel probably tuned out the annoyingly upset-free NCAA tournament around 12pm yesterday to catch the Liverpool/Aston Villa showdown. Liverpool sat 3rd in the league, but a victory would push them into 2nd thanks to Chelsea's loss on Saturday (to Tottenham).
Earlier Saturday, Manchester United lost to Fulham (Fulham!), marking their first set of back to back losses in league in over 4 years. That's before most three year olds were born!
Aston Villa is in a slump. Only two months ago, they looked a sure bet to finish 4th and earn a spot in the lucrative Champions League. Now they are in a battle to earn the 5th spot, which ensures automatic qualification to the UEFA Cup (the NIT of European international soccer tournaments).
Scoreboard provided by the 1980s
I am delighted to report that Liverpool walloped, trounced, and otherwise dismantled Aston Villa. Two weeks ago I looked at this game as Villa's shot to prove they were ready to hang with the big dawgs of the EPL. Well, it is hard to shoot when your pistol is this limp, Villa fans.
As good as Liverpool was (and even with Dirk Kuyt on the field they looked sexy), Villa has to point to the poor tactics of manager Martin O'Neill as a big reason why they were more off the pace than Derek Jeter chasing a Matsuzaka fastball.
O'Neill was a shoo-in to be the EPL Manager of the Year before Villa's slump, but this latest loss falls heavily on his shoulders. A devotee of the 4-3-3 formation, O'Neill panicked and implemented a 4-4-2, leaving the speedy striker Agbonlahor on the sidelines in favor of twin titans Emile Heskey and John Carew up top. Carew is an impressive player - and a massive human being - but he doesn't often make his own shot. Heskey is like Carew except he pretends to work harder by repeatedly falling down on the edge of the 18-yard box and never wiping the chalk from his face. Neither striker made much of an impression.
On the other hand, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, just a few days after signing a 5 year contract extension, handed Steven Gerrard free reign of the midfield. Playing their favored 4-2-2-1-1 (which my friend Nicolas "knowing"ly told me is actually a secret code that predicts Manchester United's impending destruction), Liverpool moved the ball quickly from side to side, creating holes through the middle that Gerrard ran through to great effect.
Even great players forget how to do the shocker sometimes.
Captain Fantastic finished the game with a hat trick - 2 penalty kicks and a side-footed free kick that left American goalie Brad Friedel shaking his head in disbelief. Moment later, Friedel would be shaking with tears after he was shown a straight red card for taking out Fernando Torres in the box.
But Great Red Rectangle, have I not been your most loyal servant? EPL Soccer enters a weeklong hiatus as players join their international teams for a round of World Cup 2010 qualifiers. I won't report back on those, but I'm going to start giving a bigger perspective on EPL soccer post-break. I'll preview big matches on Friday, then give a brief summary on Monday. That way all you non-Liverpool supporters who keep writing invisible comments will get off my back.
Highlights:
Liverpool - Aston Villa
Liverpool v Aston Villa
Manchester United Loss to Fulham (Fulham!)
Fulham v Manchester United
Let's take a look at the current standings. Remember, each team plays 38 games total. Bottom 3 get relegated to the 2nd division.
| # | team | points | g.dif. | overall | streak | home | streak | away | streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 65 | 49:18 | 20-5-4 | lost 2 | 12-1-1 | lost 1 | 8-4-3 | lost 1 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 64 | 54:21 | 18-10-2 | won 3 | 9-6-0 | won 2 | 9-4-2 | won 1 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 61 | 49:17 | 18-7-5 | lost 1 | 8-5-2 | won 2 | 10-2-3 | lost 1 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 55 | 48:27 | 15-10-5 | won 3 | 8-5-2 | won 1 | 7-5-3 | won 2 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 52 | 43:36 | 15-7-8 | lost 3 | 5-7-3 | lost 1 | 10-0-5 | lost 2 |
| 6 | Everton | 48 | 40:31 | 13-9-8 | lost 1 | 6-5-4 | won 3 | 7-4-4 | lost 1 |
| 7 | Wigan | 41 | 30:28 | 11-8-11 | won 2 | 7-4-4 | won 1 | 4-4-7 | won 1 |
| 8 | West Ham | 41 | 35:35 | 11-8-11 | draw 2 | 7-2-6 | draw 1 | 4-6-5 | draw 1 |
| 9 | Fulham | 40 | 30:26 | 10-10-10 | won 2 | 9-3-3 | won 1 | 1-7-7 | won 1 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 38 | 46:37 | 11-5-14 | won 1 | 10-0-5 | won 6 | 1-5-9 | lost 2 |
| 11 | Tottenham | 38 | 36:34 | 10-8-12 | won 2 | 6-5-4 | won 2 | 4-3-8 | won 1 |
| 12 | Bolton | 34 | 32:44 | 10-4-16 | draw 1 | 6-2-7 | lost 1 | 4-2-9 | draw 1 |
| 13 | Hull City | 33 | 35:52 | 8-9-13 | lost 1 | 3-4-8 | draw 1 | 5-5-5 | lost 1 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 32 | 29:39 | 8-8-14 | lost 2 | 5-3-7 | lost 1 | 3-5-7 | lost 2 |
| 15 | Portsmouth | 32 | 32:46 | 8-8-13 | won 1 | 6-2-7 | won 1 | 2-6-6 | draw 2 |
| 16 | Stoke City | 32 | 29:47 | 8-8-14 | won 1 | 8-4-3 | won 2 | 0-4-11 | lost 1 |
| 17 | Blackburn | 31 | 33:49 | 7-10-13 | draw 1 | 3-6-6 | draw 2 | 4-4-7 | lost 1 |
| 18 | Newcastle | 29 | 36:49 | 6-11-13 | lost 1 | 4-6-5 | lost 2 | 2-5-8 | draw 1 |
| 19 | Middlesbrough | 27 | 21:42 | 6-9-15 | lost 1 | 4-7-4 | draw 1 | 2-2-11 | lost 8 |
| 20 | West Brom | 24 | 26:55 | 6-6-18 | draw 2 | 5-3-7 | draw 1 | 1-3-11 | draw 1 |
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