Friedel, Reyna have chances to save their clubs from relegation dogfights {R's}

With it being pretty much of a foregone conclusion that Arsenal will win the title in England’s Premiership, I thought a look at the opposite end of the table would be in order here. And for the followers in the Yanks Abroad forum, this seems rather pertinent.

While the likes of Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride have had mixed success, at best, for their teams in the upper half of the Premiership table, here is a link to the up-to-date ladder, from one of my most trusted sources -- and with it, we can see what kind of a role our men abroad have to play in assuring that their representative clubs remain in the English top-flight next season.

As of this writing, at noon hour on 13 April 2004 (Melbourne time, of course), the relegation quagmire looks like this (just in the way of basic details, defined as games played, points gained, and goal difference):

13. Tottenham Hotspur 33, 38, -10
14. Everton 32, 37, -5
15. Manchester City 33, 34, -1
16. Blackburn Rovers 33, 34, -10
17. Portsmouth 32, 34, -11
18. Leeds United 32, 31, -29
19. Leicester 32, 28, -16
20. Wolves 33, 25, -40

The teams with Yanks Abroad playing for them have been highlighted in bold, for sake of reference.

My list begins with Tottenham Hotspur, because they seem like the safest team amongst that lot. And in that case, Blackburn Rovers -- despite gaining three priceless points in a 4-3 win over Fulham overnight -- are still not clear from the woods yet, with only their goal difference keeping them about fellow strugglers Portsmouth and with some space between themselves and current relegation favourites Leeds, Leicester and Wolves.

So how did Blackburn get into this precarious position? Just two seasons ago, Rovers manager Graeme Souness picked up Brad Friedel on the open market and helped lead Blackburn back into the top flight. And Friedel, coming off a stellar World Cup for the USA, had a fantastic season for Rovers, staking his claim as the best goalkeeper in the Premiership.

However, it seems that the defense around Friedel has gone to tatters, and that Friedel cannot win games or get points for his club all by himself.

And let’s not forget the plight of Manchester City, either, as they are also in the same group of trouble at the moment. Granted, there’s been a great deal of flux around the blue half of Manchester all season, ranging from manager Kevin Keegan’s “squad system” rotation not working out as planned, a general lack of goal-scoring punch outside of Nicolas Anelka, and Keegan himself missing preparations for key late-season games due to his own back problems. Certainly, with Claudio Reyna’s usual pattern of play a few games and miss a few more due to his assorted injuries over a long season, that cannot be helping matters, either.

Tottenham appear to be safe, but they too have suffered from the same by-product that has affected both Blackburn and Manchester City at various points of the season, and that’s the quality of its defense. Spurs’ back four has been inconsistent at best, but fortunately American goalkeeper Kasey Keller has had just enough quality of form throughout the season to virtually guarantee their place in the Premiership for the 2004-05 season.

In truth, however, there seems to be a general lack of quality defenders in the Premiership across the board at many clubs, and not just at the teams like Blackburn, Manchester City or Tottenham which have endured more than their fair share of troubles this season. Even when a key international defender like Manchester United and England’s Rio Ferdinand is forced out of duty for club and country, his team suffers in terms of its overall cohesion along the back line… just ask Tim Howard.

But getting back to the relegation dogfight – fortunately for the likes of Friedel and Reyna, they can play a vital role in helping their teams survive for next season in the top flight, as both Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City are in control of their respective destinies.

Aside from a visit to Ewood Park by Manchester United on 1 May, Rovers have remaining games against Leicester, Everton, Spurs and Birmingham that they are fully capable of gaining points from. The trip to White Hart Lane to face Spurs, however, may be the trickiest match of the lot.

And as for Manchester City, the Sky Blues have a run-in that is slightly harder. Following a visit by Southampton to the City of Manchester Stadium this weekend, trips to Leicester and Middlesbrough are sandwiched around a home match against Newcastle, a team that in its own right is trying to sew up an outside Champions League berth for next season. But if they’re able to gain a fair amount of points from those games, a win against Everton on the final day could very easily guarantee Premiership survival.

So with about a month to go, there’s a lot to play for, among teams with Yanks Abroad in England’s Premiership.


LATE SEASON RUN-IN’S

Tottenham Hotspur:

Saturday, 17 April: Bolton (A)
Sunday, 25 April: Arsenal (H)
Sunday, 2 May: Aston Villa (A)
Saturday, 8 May: Blackburn Rov. (H)
Saturday, 15 May: Wolves (A)


Manchester City:

Saturday, 17 April: Southampton (H)
Saturday, 24 April: Leicester City (A)
Saturday, 1 May: Newcastle United (H)
Saturday, 8 May: Middlesbrough (A)
Satrday, 15 May: Everton (H)


Blackburn Rovers:

Saturday, 17 April: Leicester City (H)
Saturday, 24 April: Everton (A)
Saturday, 1 May: Manchester United (H)
Saturday, 8 May: Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Saturday, 15 May: Birmingham (H)

 

Thanks LTBM.

And other synonyms for words relating to relegation battles, such as "dogfight", and so forth.

I think I had the mental thesaurus working well today.

And not a bad effort of research on my part, either.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Russ. I hope I was writing about the relegation race with at least some form of objectivity for all the teams involved, as opposed to the American players first and the teams they play for second. Although I did preface the article as saying that the American players such as Friedel and Reyna have a lot to play for to ensure their teams' Premiership survival.

But overall,I chose to focus on the plights surrounding our guys based overseas in the Premiership. Because, week in and week out, that's what we do over on the YA forum.

Not to mention, Milan Mandaric was one of the pioneers of what is now Silicon Valley, and also the original owner of the San Jose Earthquakes back in their NASL incarnation.

So I guess if I was truly biased, I should be barracking for Mandaric and Pompey, right?

But if I were to make my tips on who will go down, I would like to see Portsmouth stay up because it would make a great story (IIRC, many experts had them tipped as dead certs for relegation at the start of the season). However, Portsmouth, Wolves and Leicester will all be playing Division One soccer next season, that's my official pick.

 

OK, time to defend my piece (although it is somewhat refreshing not to have everyone agree with me 100 per cent of the time, opposite to that of last week's Blog article)...

Re-read my lede. I repeat, re-read my lede.

I believe I prefaced everything with the statement (OK, this may have been buried deep into the lede, but it's in the lede nonetheless) that this analysis was going to be written towards the perspective of the Americans playing for teams in the Premiership.

That's an angle and a point of view, and far from being a bias. There is a difference there, after all.

Also, I doubt that Spurs, Man City and Blackburn will be in contention for the almighty drop on the final weekend, and not because of the fact that they have Americans playing for them (although the YA's they have can aid greatly in their respective survivals). At the moment, that trio of clubs benefits from advantageous schedules as well as their goal differences that help them stay above the fray at the moment.

And although I expect my words to come back and haunt me should I be wrong, all three of those clubs-- Tottenham Hotspur , Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers-- will remain on the right side of the table.

 

Fair counter-point, in return. But I nonetheless stand by my article.

However, your assessment poses the curious question of mine (and I'd hope that I am presenting this without bias)-- as long as Friedel is a constant in both of Rovers' teams, last year's and this year's, how does the defense go from one that is fairly good to something that is less than adequate?

Surely the form of one player (in this case, Friedel) cannot dip markedly that much in the space of less than 12 months. There are others involved, albeit not 100 per cent of the time.

Granted, Brad's a part of the team's defensive effort, but we're talking about the team here. There are others to blame, too (and to praise, when praise is warranted).

Brad's been guilty of letting in some soft goals this season-- case in point, a couple (at least) in the Fulham match yesterday. And if an American 'keeper is at fault, I'll be more apt to say so than would some other Americans on the YA forum would. And Brad has let in some softies this year, and that's not an indictment on American 'keepers... all goalkeepers, regardless of nationality or anything else, let in soft goals from time to time.

 

Which I respect.