EPL, Premiership, English Premier League

Luis Felipe Scolari has been named by Chelsea as the new manager to suceed Avram Grant. “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club’s new manager from July 1, 2008. Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world’s top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice. Out of respect for his current role as head coach of the Portuguese national team, and to ensure minimum disruption to this work, there will be no further comment from Chelsea FC nor from Felipe about his new role until his employment with us commences.”

Scolari is currently coaching the Portugese national team in the Euro Cup. While Avram Grant was in no way a bad coach I am sure that Scolari is an excellent choice and will bring a new style of play to Chelsea. Grant also appeared to be rather unexciting and unemotional. The Brazilian International coached the Brazilian national team and won the World Cup in 2002. He also guided Portugal to the Euro Cup finals in 2004 and the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup. He also turned down the opportunity to coach England’s National team in 2006 after Sven-Goran Eriksson was fired. He has also won the Copa Libertadores (South American equivalent to the Champions League) with two different club teams. However, the 59 years old has never coached a European club team.

Chelsea’s keeper Peter Czech welcomed the appointment saying, “He is a manager with great charisma, great experience, great results. I look forward to working with him. For the club to progress further, I think it’s a wise appointment.”

Reportedly his contract will be worth €6 million, though no details have been revealed officially yet. The decision came less than a week after Scolari said, “What’s going to happen to me after Euro 2008 - if I am going to stay or leave - concerns (only) me and I am not going to talk about it now. If I decide to leave or stay, I am only going to make a public declaration at the end of Euro 2008.”

“I think it’s a top-class appointment. They have got a top-class manager. When he was manager of Brazil their emphasis was on attacking style - I think he will bring that into Chelsea football club.” said Ron Harris (former Chelsea player and legend).

Chelsea midfielder Ray Wilkins described Scolari as “A manager of top quality. It appears that he’s up for a challenge. He’s a big guy, he’s charismatic. This will be a breath of fresh air.”

Carvalho also supported the new manager saying “We were all shocked by the news. We heard the rumours but didn’t guess he would be going to Chelsea after the Euros,’ said the 30-year-old. He is a great manager and a big personality. He’s the kind of guy that players respond to and I think we can go forward with him.”

Fellow Portugese player Paulo Ferreira said “I think Scolari is a good manager and he can do a good job there and it will be good for the club.”

French International Nicolas Anelka is unsatisfied with the position he currently holds at Chelsea. He currently plays as a winger but has wanted to play as a forward. “When I came (to Chelsea), I was told I would play in a 4-4-2 system. I didn’t come here to play on the right or on the left. In England, I need to prove my worth as a center forward.”

Anelka is currently starting in the Euro Cup for France as a striker. “Up to now I didn’t say anything because I was a new player coming from Bolton. But from next season I will no longer be a new player - I will be a Chelsea player.”

Some may speculate that his bargaining position will be hampered by the penalty he took in the Champions Legaue Final against Manchester United. His penalty was blocked by Edwin Van der Saar.

“I stayed 110 minutes on the bench and suddenly I was asked to play less than a minute after being sent to warm up. I don’t know if it ever happened in a Champions League final, in a game so intense, that a player was sent on without having warmed up.”

When asked if he wanted to take one of the first five penalties Anelka said he responded by saying, “No way. I came on practically as a full back and you want me to shoot a penalty?.” After the game Anelka was impervious to the fact that his penalty kick had lost Chelsea the Champions League saying “Good for him (Van der Saar). That’s the game.”

Scolari will be Chelsea’s new manager next season though he is currently coaching for Portugal in the Euro Cup.

The number of players of English nationality is at a new low in the EPL:

2000/2001 season: 207
2001/2002 season: 199
2002/2003 season: 179
2003/2004 season: 182
2004/2005 season: 184
2005/2006 season: 186
2006/2007 season: 191
2007/2008 season: 170

Out of 498 players only 170 were English in the EPL, or about 34.1%. “The number is important because that’s what I can choose from” said Fabio Capello (the English National Coach). “The work being done in the academies is very important. We probably have to change the system of training for young players. At Under-21, and younger national teams, we have a lot of good players. For the future, I hope next season is not 34% but 40%. It will be better for me and England football.”

However, he states that “more importantly the quality - the level of the player. At the moment the total is 34% but the (quality) level is high.” This does make some sense when you think about the Champions League where Chelsea and Manchester United (both EPL teams) had 10 English starters out of 22 players. Sepp Blatter (President of the world football’s governing body Fifa) suggested that EPLE club teams restrict the number of foreign starting players to 5. This would hypothetically improve the number of quality English players. This would also of course, completely destroy the EPL and we would see a drastic drop in viewership and the amount gross earnings; every Club team would resist this move. Despite the obstacles, he continues to press his agenda.

Teams such as Arsenal with only 0.34% English players per match would have to completely change their teams.

West Ham: 6.61%
Aston Villa: 6.42%
Middlesbrough: 5.26%
Wigan: 4.92%
Everton: 4.89%
Derby: 4.86%
Newcastle: 4.76%
Tottenham: 4.37%
Man Utd: 4.28%
Bolton: 4.24%
Sunderland: 4.11%
Portsmouth: 3.79%
Birmingham: 3.74%
Reading: 3.68%
Chelsea: 3.63%
Manchester City: 3.42%
Blackburn: 2.68%
Fulham: 2.42%
Liverpool: 2.34%
Arsenal: 0.34%

In response however, the Premier League released a statement: “Merely looking at numbers of England players in the Premier League is a blunt and misleading measure as to how well the national team should be doing. After all, in the 70s and 80s the vast majority of players in the top flight were eligible for England yet we routinely struggled to qualify for tournaments, let alone perform in them. Our figures show this season nearly 40% of the starting XIs were qualified to play for England, 10 of whom played in the Champions League Final, arguably the highest standard of football in the world. There is no shortage of players at the highest level to pick from but we all want to see more Englishmen capable of performing at this level.”

“That is why Premier League clubs invest more than £40m a season in youth development, that is why the Premier League, along with the FA and the Football League, are driving through reforms to ensure the quality of coaching and player development is of the highest standard. We must raise standards, not implement something that will never happen under European law and would only create a broader pool of average players rather than a deeper one of the right level of talent for Premier League clubs and England.”

However, we can also compare other European nations’ Club Leagues:

Italian Serie A: had 7.3 Italians per team
Spanish La Liga A: had 6.9 Spaniards per team
German Bundesliga: had 4.9 Germans per team

Grant joined Chelsea 8 months ago and has now been fired largely as a result of the chief executive Peter Kenyon as well as Bruce Buck. Avram Grant had only lost 2 of all Premiership games. He brought Chelsea to 2nd place in the EPL and Champions League behind Manchester United. “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract as manager terminated today. This follows meetings over the last two days. Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September. We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”

As of now, Rijkaard, Eriksson, Brian Laudrup, Roberto Mancini, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Mark Hughes have all been linked as possible new managers.

Grant had never managed a team in England before coming to Chelsea from Portsmouth. When Morinho left in December of 2007 and signed a 4 year deal with Chelsea. “We have very high expectations at Chelsea and a couple of second place finishes is just not good enough for us. So although we never would have thought in September when Jose Mourinho left that we would be able to make it into a Champions League final as we did - and that is fantastic - Chelsea are here to win trophies. So although it was an excellent season, we are still disappointed.”

Either way, Avram Grant did an excellent job at Chelsea. He came 2nd in the English Premier League. Probably the best club league in the world. Not only that but he played against what could easily be considered one of the best teams to ever play football : the 2007/2008 season Manchester United team. This team was incredibly versatile with some of the most innovative passing that anybody has ever seen. Consider just what Ronaldo has done this season: he has made every player at Manchester United bloom, not only that, but he has shown what can be accomplished by using English passing and foresight with the Hispanic style of dribbling and finishing. This was, and may well continue to be, one of the best teams to ever be assembled. Tevez himself kept West Ham in the Premier League by saving them from relegation. One season later after transferring to Manchester United he continued to show the same skill and ability. His innovative quick cuts and bulldog attacking style has fumbled many a defense.

Its unfair to criticize, or fire, a manager for competing with what could be considered the best team ever (Man Utd) and coming within inches of taking both the English Premier League Title and the Champions League Final. Think about it, he only lost 2 games in the EPL, and he almost won the Champions League, by only losing in penalties. He gave his players the opportunity to win both Titles, a manager can only do so much for the players. I believe that in this case Avram Grant gave the Chelsea players every opportunity to win both Titles.

After the end of the English Premier League season Manchester City went to Asia to play games with Club teams there. Their first game was against the Thailand-Premier All Stars. Unfortunately for City, they lost 3-1 to them as the former Primer Minister of Thailand and current owner of City Thaksin Shinawatra watched. Sven-Goran Eriksson is still managing City and is digging himself into a hole. The last game of the season City lost 8-1 against Middlesbrough. Then to top off the voyage to Asia, City played South China XI and again lost 3-1. All these losses help justify Shinawatra’s decision to sack Eriksson which we can expect to happen soon.

I’m not sure why anybody would think for a moment that Cristiano Ronaldo would leave Manchester United; nor do I understand why anyone would think why United would let Ronaldo go. But, I might as well address the idiotic rumors that have been circulating.

“He’s got four more years (on his contract) until 2012, he’s been with us for five years and we’re sure he’ll be with us for many years to come. He’s clearly one of the best players in the world and he’s at a great club, winning trophies. He enjoys it immensely here, you can tell that when you speak to him privately. Why would he want to leave? We have no intention of letting him go, we will make sure that he’s very happy here, as we do with all our top players. Manchester United is not a club that sells its main assets. In order to service our debts we need a very successful team on the pitch, and you don’t achieve that by selling Cristiano Ronaldo.” said Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill.

United currently has a debt of €764 million to various banks. There are provisions in Uefa licences that deal with clubs being able to meet their obligations, you have to give forward-looking accounts for coming years to show you can meet them, which is quite right,” he said. “Look at the debt in isolation and, yes, it’s a concern, but look at our income generation. Our revenue is well over £200m. Banks wouldn’t loan those sums unless they were fairly confident they’d get their money back and if we didn’t have a business plan which showed they’d get it back. In Manchester United, we have one of the best clubs in the world and we have a significant amount of income which can service those debts, so let’s not just look at one side (of the equation).” It’s truly astounding to think what many people consider to be ‘the most successful’ club teams in the world could have such an astounding debt.

United was taken over by American billionaire Malcolm Glazer in 2005 when he bought up 75% of Uniteds stock.

By the end of the 2007/2008 season Bolton barely avoided relegation by only one point. After Bolton’s miserable season, it seems like several players feel like they no longer belong with Bolton and have decided to leave. Three of the clubs midfielders including Andranik Teymourian, Stelios Giannakopoulos, and Ivan Campo have left. “Ivan, Stelios and Andranik have all done well for Bolton Wanderers and I’d like to express my gratitude to them. It’s time for them to move on and I wish them all the best.” said the Bolton manager Gary Megson.

Not only that but Jussi Jaaskalanen and Ricardo Gardner’s contracts will be expiring at the end of June; Megson, of course will be trying to stem the tide of fleeing players who sense the danger of relegation. “Jussi and Ricardo have both been excellent servants and are still very much part of my future plans for this football club. Hopefully, we can get them secured on new deals as soon as possible.” said Megson.

Chelsea has agreed to sign Portugese International Jose Bosingwa from FC Porto; however, he still has to agree with the personal terms of the contract. Bosingwa joined FC Porto in 2003 and played under Jose Morinho and has been considered by Chelsea for signing for the past few seasons. “Chelsea can confirm it has reached agreement with FC Porto for the transfer of Jose Bosingwa. The player is now in England to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical.” Bosingwa can play either as a right fullback or less frequently as a winger. He will likely sign a 5 year contract for about €16 million. Chelsea already has several competing defenders for the position including Julian Belletti, Michael Essien, and Paula Ferreira (who recently signed a 5 year deal). United have stated their interest in Bosingwa who would replace Gary Neville as an attack minded defender. 25 year old Bosingwa is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa; however, he moved to central Portugal (Seia) when young and played for Boavista in midfield and later played for FC Porto, he will be playing for Portugal in Euro 2008.

The last few games of the season ended with Manchester United obtaining their 10th League Title. United played Wigan who were at home; some wondered if Heskey could once again cause an upset as e did against Chelsea. Ronaldo scored a penalty kick in the 33rd minute (his 31st EPL goal) and Giggs scored in the 80th minute (his 758th appearance for United). United enjoyed 67% of possession. Chelsea needed to win their own game and have United to lose or tie their game; in the end Chelsea was unable to get the win against Bolton, who they tied 1-1. United obtained the League Title by 2 points with 87, Chelsea had 85, Arsenal 83.

Other struggles were underway on the last day of games in the EPL; Tottenham had the opportunity to reach 10th place in the upper half of the League Table. Tottenham had 46 points in 11th place and West Ham had 48 points in 10th place. Both teams were fighting to earn an extra €720,000 in extra merit payment from the League. Tottenham were unable to secure the coveted upper tier table position because they lost to Liverpool 2-1 with Torres scoring his 33rd goal in all competitions. Benitez was proud of Fernando and exclaimed how his prolific scoring justified his approximately €20 million cost. “Always when you sign a player you do not know if he will settle down and how he will do in the Premier League, but Torres is a young player who is hungry and wanted to do well. Sometimes you sign a player for a free transfer and people say he is bad signing. Then other times you can sign a player for a lot of money and he does well and everyone is happy, so lucky for us he is a good signing. He is one of the best strikers in the Premier League and is the best for us. We had spoken about the record. After the last game he said he wanted to play in this one and score here.” West Ham managed to tie Aston Villa (who were fighting for a position in the UEFA Cup, they needed Everton to lose against Newcastle, however Newcastle lost 3-1) 2-2 in an exciting game with multiple great goals by Nolberto Solano, Dean Ashton, and Ashley Young. The extra money will certainly bolster West Ham for the coming season and transfer season.

For Liverpool this season has been a disappointment, despite all of Torres’ goals they were unable to produce any Trophies. “Torres, he was terrific at scoring and 76 points is a good total for us. There are a lot of positive things from this season, but the most important thing is we did not win a trophy. Our idea is to finish as high up as possible and to win trophies was a priority, but we know this season has been very difficult for us. We are working hard to improve the squad. Throughout the whole season we are watching players and trying to sign the players we need. We want to sign the best players as soon as possible and I think we will get investment from the owners, so we can go forward. Some of the players here are under contract and they are our players and we are waiting now to see if clubs are interested in them.” In the meantime we can certainly expect Peter Crouch to leave Liverpool, he wasn’t even on the bench and hasn’t played very many games this season. At least they finished with a win beating the Spurs 2-0.

In the meantime Fulham was fighting to stay in the Premier League. Reading and Fulham were both tied at 33 points (Fulham had them beat with on goal differential by 3). Fulham played Portsmouth, and Reading played Derby. Reading managed to destroy Derby (probably the worst team to ever play in the EPL) 4-0, and they would have stayed in the EPL if Fulham had lost or tied their game. Unfortunately for Reading, Fulham managed to win the game 1-0 with a season winning header by Danny Murphy.

Birmingham succeeded in winning against Blackburn 4-1 while at home; it mattered little because both Fulham and Reading won their games forcing Birmingham into relegation. However, if either Fulham or Reading had lost their games Birmingham could have stayed in the Premier League.

Sven-Goran Eriksson ended his season in humiliation as Manchester City lost a stunning 8-1 against Middlesbrough. “You can use whatever word you want and I would probably agree.” said Eriksson. “It started badly when Benjani was injured after just a couple of minutes. A little bit later penalty and a red card for our captain. I don’t think he (Dunne) tried to foul him. I think they crossed but it is difficult to be the ref in this case. It was a collision and it was the wrong place. I don’t think the ball has gone to the striker, it has gone straight to Isaksson but I think the referee maybe must send him off in a place like that.” Alfonso Alves scored 3 goals, Stewart Downing scored 2 (one off a penalty where Richard Dunne received a red card for a foul in the box in the 15th minute).

Manchester City has a total of 8 appearances in the final with 4 FA Cup wins. The last FA Cup win for Manchester City was in 1969 against Leicester City. Their most recent FA Cup final appearance was against Tottenham in 1981.

Manchester City FA Cup Appearances and Wins: