Barca Stay Composed

            Despite a relatively hard struggle for the top of the Spanish league table between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the latter seems to have no thoughts of giving that place up. In a Catalan derby today against Espanyol, there seemed to be some doubt going into the game today, at least for us viewers. Espanyol has been having a fairly good run recently and Barcelona surely has other matches on their minds, so most saw some chance at an upset. The Barcelona squad apparently had no notion of this, and their focus never strayed from the game at hand. In just the opening minutes, the Barcelona attacking end had already tested the keeper, and took just 17 minutes for them to open the game with a goal. The game was not all lopsided, but the team had few difficulties pulling off the 2-0 victory. Let’s take a second to look at Barcelona’s three up top. They have been nothing short of phenomenal lately, and it seems no defense can withstand their power. When Neymar came in last season, him and Messi definitely had a disconnect for a while, but this season the pair has been inseparable. I can’t tell you how many goals a scored between these two, and it seems like it’s assist after assist for either of them. Then, when Suarez came in this season, it took some time before he was well integrated with the two. Now, there is no question of their group performance, let alone their individual.

            Also, it is quite reassuring to see that the team was able to keep their focus at such an important time. Luis Enrique must have been able to convince the team to forget about anything besides this game, and it definitely worked. When fans and analysts alike doubted their ability to bring their top performance to this game, Barcelona just played their game as always. Barcelona has never lost away to Espanyol, and they were not able to continue this, but to further reinforce their table standings. It is nice to see at least one team keep their cool as the season approaches a close, and this type of composure is one that wins leagues.

Relegation and Newcastle

            It is truly a bad time to be a Newcastle United fan, and it would definitely be hard to support a team going on a 7 game losing streak; which is their worst Premier League performance yet. It seems as if they are trying to put themselves in a bad position, as they are seemingly toying with the reach of the Premier League relegation. For those of you who don’t know, the English football system is based on promotion and relegation, and as the end of the season is arriving, I figured I might as well talk about it. There are four tiers of league football, and below that is considered non-league. The top two tiers are the well-known Premier League and then The Championship coming in at second tier. I will only explain the relationship between these two leagues, but just know that the rest of the system follows the same principles for the most part. At the end of the regular season, the bottom three teams of the Premier League (based on points accumulated throughout the season: 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, and none for a loss) are relegated, meaning they move down to the Championship league, not to be confused with the Champions League, for the next season. The top end of the Championship league is promoted, although in a slightly different fashion. The number 1 and 2 teams are guaranteed promotion to the Premier league, and then the third through the sixth have playoffs to secure the final position to be promoted.

            This system has many implications for the league, and it is very influential for some teams much more than others. The system leaves some teams that are being promoted and relegated year after year, sitting at the top of one league and the bottom of another. For others, mostly in the mid-table of the Premier League, relegation is something to be feared, and for obvious reason. I can guarantee that there are plenty of people that have heard of the Premier League and can name a few popular teams, and it is often on TV here in the U.S. On the other hand, if many of those people read this post, it would contain completely new information, and this would be the first time that they had heard of the Championship, and, to be honest, it was the first time that I completely understood how some of the lower ends worked, such as the non-league play. For a club, the difference is night and day. How many people want to buy apparel from a team in the Championship that very few people talk about? Compare that with the popularity and publicity of the Premier League, and at least financially wise, relegation could seem like the end of the world.

            All this, yet Newcastle still aren’t showing any signs of desperation or a desire to stay in the Premier League. Just today against Swansea, a team that had nothing to play for, Newcastle scored early and fans were hoping the end to the nonsense had finally ended. They were nothing but wrong, as Swansea came out of halftime flying; scoring three goals to take the win at 3-2. Next week, Newcastle look to take on Leicester City, a team that has been fighting off relegation all season and, for now, has overcome the bottom three. Leicester has been doing exactly what they needed to the last few games, and Newcastle really should learn something from them. If Newcastle continues this run, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go to the dreaded relegation, and I can’t say that they won’t have deserved it. To be fair, I am not saying anything about the legitimacy of the lower leagues and their competitiveness, but the Premier League is obviously where a team would rather be.

            

Easy Win for Aston Villa

            Today marked another sad day for Liverpool fans, the kind that has not been lacking in the slightest this season. Following lost Champions League dreams due to a Manchester City win, Liverpool took on Aston Villa in an attempt to continue their FA Cup efforts. Unfortunately, these fell apart today as well, leaving Liverpool, and its manager, in a poor position. The loss was not undeserved, however, as the team remained in a lack of formation and played with little creativity. When given a chance to go up with a free kick just outside the box, it was wasted with a sorry attempt that was easily taken by Villa goalkeeper Shay Given. Liverpool’s Gerrard also had a sad performance, and the team lacked any competitive edge overall.

            Aston Villa, on the other hand, played with an attitude quite the opposite of Liverpool’s. They came out and played with excitement, using their energy to blow past a slow Liverpool side. Even 19 year old Jack Grealish made one of his few competitive debuts, fighting just as the rest of his team, looking better than many of Liverpool’s players. At one point Liverpool did seem to still be in the game, as Sterling’s assist for Coutinho’s goal in the 30^th minute gave them a slight boost to their energy, but it did not last. Villa simply outfought the Reds, and the win was easily deserved and won.

            This game shows that Sherwood obviously got his tactics right and Rodgers still is not able to control and organize his team. Sherwood employed simple tactics and stuck to his lineup from the start, and it beat out Liverpool in the end. Rodgers, on the other hand, tried switching things around, but he was unable to find anything to bring success to the already failing team. Many are questioning Rodgers capability as manager already, and this game only solidifies those claims.