As the New Year approaches this seasons title race is one of the most open in the history of the Premier League. No one is showing form that suggests they will run away with it and five teams will seriously still believe that could become Champions come the end of the season. Let’s take a look at the contenders.
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Manchester United 
Sir Alex Ferguson and his side currently lead the way and that will certainly make them favourites with the bookies and perhaps rightly so. United will enter 2011 undefeated and have yet to consistently produce the form that they are capable of. If Wayne Rooney can find his scoring boots in the New Year then the race for the title could be over before it begins. One thing that will concern the United manager and fans alike is their away form. With just one away win all season United have drawn far too many games on the road. With Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea all still to face away from Old Trafford United will need to pick up more points on the road if they are to regain the title.
Manchester City 
Currently second in the table are United’s noisy neighbours Manchester City, who arguably have the best squad in the league with an array of internationals throughout the side. With the transfer window opening City also have funds at their disposal. They look to set to be spending again with a deal to bring Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko to Eastlands from Wolfsburg already close. The problem that Roberto Mancini faces is keeping the squad a happy one. Everyone will want to play in the run in and with so many top players some are bound to be unhappy. The depth and cover they have though is enough to deal with all but the biggest injury crisis and that could be key come May.

Arsenal 
After an emphatic win against Chelsea confidence was high in North London but the Gunners did what they have continued to do in recent years and that is drop points against the lesser sides in the league. A 2-2 draw away at Wigan has certainly dampened the euphoria around the Emirates Stadium and raised the ongoing questions about their need for a leader in the side. As Wenger’s men proved against Chelsea they are capable of blowing anyone in the league away on their day but that day doesn’t seem to come round enough for them to win the Premier League. Defensive and goalkeeping concerns still need to be addressed too.
Chelsea 
Chelsea have been on terrible run of form of late which they finally ended with a narrow win against Bolton last night and many pundits and fans have already begun to dismiss the Blues hopes of retaining the title. This is far too premature. Chelsea have been without John Terry and Frank Lampard for large parts of the season and that is the focal point of their team. With both of these players now back along with Drogba and Essien Chelsea are more than capable of stringing a significant run of results together. Like Manchester United they have a squad full of players who know how to deal with the pressure in the final stages of a title run in and that could prove vital. Talk of them missing out on the top four altogether is nonsense.
Tottenham 
Harry Redknapp and his Spurs side have been a revelation this season playing some mouth-watering football. Tottenham now have a very strong squad that are capable of competing with anyone across Europe as there results in the Champions League have proven and there is no getting away from the fact that they are in the title race. One problem that could hurt them is there goal difference which is poor in comparison to the other contenders .Whether they are capable of staying in the race right down to the wire remains to be seen but I wouldn’t bet against them being there.
With the race as open as it is you could make a good claim for anyone of the above sides winning the league but I see the title going to either the red side of Manchester or staying at Stamford Bridge. Experience is key in at the back end of the seasons when surprise results always occur and these two teams have it in abundance. Where do you see the league ending up?

Who Is Best Positioned To Win The Title?  - World Soccer Talk

Who Is Best Positioned To Win The Title?

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Full disclosure: I’m a Spurs fan.&nbsp; Have been for round about six years, which just so happens to be just before the last time Mark Clattenburg took charge of a Manchester United v Spurs fixture at Old Trafford.&nbsp; For any who needed their memory jogged (or who weren’t fans at the time):
Look, Tottenham didn’t deserve to win on Saturday.&nbsp; They were undone by the same problems that have plagued the entire season to date.&nbsp; Falling behind early, a few naive moments in defense, poor set piece defending.&nbsp; While they generally pass the ball well through the midfield, striker play has been awful, for the most part.
That said, Spurs shouldn’t be forced to beat the referee as well.&nbsp; Old Trafford is tough enough to begin with.&nbsp; Some might remember Spurs going into halftime with a 2-0 lead at this fixture two seasons ago, before Howard Webb called an incorrect penalty on Gomes, after which point the floodgates opened and United won 5-2.&nbsp; Getting back to Clattenburg, I also remember him taking charge of a Spurs-United match at White Hart Lane two or three years ago, and it sticks in my mind because Paul Scholes got away with three bad and cynical fouls without being shown any card at all.
Needless to say, when I saw who the referee was for this match, I went in expecting an uphill battle.&nbsp; Nani’s goal has been discussed ad nauseum on here, on pundit shows, and everywhere else so I’ll be brief when I get to it.&nbsp; I’m more concerned about the other incidents in what was a very clean match with few other talking points at all.&nbsp; But close examination does provide some enlightening details, in my opinion.&nbsp; Here’s a short rundown – by minute – of all the other incidents in the match (I’ve tried to put away my lilywhite colored specs to do this, please cut me a little slack!):
1’st minute – Nani goes up for a 50/50 ball with Benoit Assou-Ekotto, clean play but Nani decides to roll around on the pitch for a few seconds and make an appeal to Clattenburg.&nbsp; A pretty tame moment, but bares mentioning for all that happened later…
2′ – …including because of what happens in the next minute.&nbsp; Nani, now popping up on the opposite side, attacks Alan Hutton.&nbsp; There might’ve been minor (incidental) contact with Hutton, but not even close to being a foul.&nbsp; Nani then loses control of the ball as it goes out for a goal kick, takes 3 more steps and dives with no one around him.&nbsp; He then puts out his arms to appeal for God-knows-what.&nbsp;&nbsp; At this point Clattenburg should’ve at least given Nani a telling-off to stop all the complaining and play-acting (a yellow card for this sort of crap should be the way forward IMO), yet does nothing.
17′ – William Gallas receives the first yellow of the match for a foul on Javier Hernandez.&nbsp; The foul occurs near midfield, was not malicious but a fraction late, and was Gallas’ first foul of the match.&nbsp; Extremely harsh on Gallas, and of course now he has to be careful for the rest of the match.
21′ – The linesman makes a mistake in Spurs’ favor, as the ball goes over the touch line before Bale crosses to win a corner.&nbsp; Although the cynical side of me thinks that the only refereeing&nbsp; mistakes likely to go in Spurs’ favor in a match like this are the objective ones (was the ball out of play, who was last to touch it, etc), rather than the subjective ones.
30′ – Younes Kaboul makes a silly rash challenge on Hernandez which earns United a dangerous free kick and himself a yellow card.&nbsp; Which then led to Vidic’s goal.&nbsp; No complaints here, Kaboul’s defending in this instance was poor.
40′ – Park Ji-Sung fouls Aaron Lennon in Spurs’ half of the pitch; a slide tackle from behind while Lennon was away on a counter.&nbsp; Considering Lennon’s pace, the space in front of him, and the lack of United defenders back, it’s obvious Park knew what he was doing.&nbsp; Clattenburg doesn’t think this warrants a yellow however.
45′ – Michael Carrick fouls Assou-Ekotto from behind while he’s attacking in United’s half.&nbsp; Not a dangerous foul though, and didn’t deserve a card in my opinion.&nbsp; However, after Clattenburg whistles for the foul, Rio Ferdinand kicks the ball 50 yards up the field in frustration.&nbsp; I was under the impression this constitutes an automatic yellow, just like taking your shirt off after a goal.&nbsp; Guess not.
84′ – The Nani “goal”.&nbsp; For video, analysis, and discussion of the incident here’s <a title="the Gaffer&apos;s post" href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/did-nani-cheat-with-his-controversial-goal-against-spurs-video-26074">the Gaffer’s post</a> on the subject.&nbsp; I found an article in the <a title="Wall Street Journal" href="http:\/\/online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703708404575586263114858670.html">Wall Street Journal </a>of all places which pretty much sums up my viewpoint on the incident.
What I do feel the need to mention is why on earth Rio Ferdinand was allowed to take part in the discussion between Clattenburg and the linesman (Simon Beck) after Beck raised his flag when the goal was scored.&nbsp; And yes,&nbsp; I realize that it isn’t that dissimilar to the protests Tom Huddlestone made to the referee after his goal was originally disallowed two weeks ago at Fulham.&nbsp; But surely players shouldn’t be allowed to take part in decisions which are supposed to be made by the officials alone.&nbsp; It hurts the ability of the referees to do their job, and the integrity of the game, so that people like me can watch on TV and make an argument that something sinister is going on.&nbsp; Since there’s no culpability of the officials after the fact, one never truly knows how a decision is reached.
Finally, after the goal was given, and all the Spurs players protested for the better part of a minute, Luka Modric was given a yellow card after Clattenburg had had enough.&nbsp; I thought that as captain, Modric was entitled to an explanation of his decision to award the goal (especially as Ferdinand – the opposite captain – was allowed to confer before it was given) ?
All in all, an appalling display by the referee.&nbsp; 3 yellow cards to Spurs, 1 of which was deserved (Kaboul) ; none to United, who deserved 3 (Park, Ferdinand, and Nani for persistent play acting).
This is all an account of what my eyes have seen in one match, and isn’t meant to project what happens in all matches of this sort.&nbsp; But for marquee matches between two top teams, there’s only a pool of four or five generally recognized “elite referees” which do most of the big matches (of which Clattenburg and Webb are two), and at least with recent United-Spurs matches, they consistently get big decisions wrong, and in favor of the so-called “bigger club”.
So what do you think?&nbsp; Am I just a whining Spurs fan?&nbsp; Is there a shred of truth there?&nbsp; Are there other good examples in recent history of major decisions going in favor of the Uniteds and the Chelsea’s when they shouldn’t have?&nbsp; Are there major changes needed in the way matches are officiated, and the officials assigned to them?&nbsp; Please share in the comments.

United at Old Trafford: Lucky, Good, or Something Else? - World Soccer Talk

United at Old Trafford: Lucky, Good, or Something Else?

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It seems incredible now when we view some of the impressive grounds that make up the home stadia of the Premiership clubs that in just 17 years how many of them have changed beyond all recognition from those far away days of the Premierships beginning. Looking back, the speed that some of the grounds changed is now, with hindsight, quite amazing. Back in 1992, football was still reeling from the after effects of the Hillsborough disaster and the implementation of the Taylor report.
Contrary to what some people may tell you, the majority of grounds in Britain were dirty,decrepit bowls with dreadful facilities, hard to get to and you were made to feel as if you were an inconvenience to the local constabulary. With the announcement of the Premiership’s formation though, all that changed. Coupled with the Taylor Reports recommendations, all terracing was to be removed and stadia had to become all seater by 1995 in the the top two divisions. English football was about to witness the most dramatic rebuilding process it had seen for over 100 years.
For the first of my stadium tours, where else can we start than Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United. United were one the clubs hit hardest by the Taylor Report recommendations.&nbsp; United were planning to rebuild the Stretford End with a new terracing section which had to be completely scrapped, so when the Premiership started, Old Trafford had the incredible capacity of just 44,000!&nbsp; As you can see from the picture, it seems like a different ground to the one we see week in, week out these days.
What caused a massive boost to the ground though was the decision by UEFA to award England Euro 96. This allowed the participating grounds to begin to undertake major redevelopments to the stadiums to be ready for the Championships and in 1994, United unveiled ambitious plans to increase the capacity by a whopping 11,000. The club decided to completely rebuild the North Stand with an individual capacity of 26,000, with 3 tiers and what was at the time, the largest cantilever roof in Europe.
Work began in 1995 to be ready for Euro 1996 and I remember going to Old Trafford for the Euro’s. The stand was mesmerising and tickets for it had a vertigo warning printed on the back of them. It seemed gigantic at the time and with United’s continued success in the Premiership and the Champions League, the club soon decided that the capacity needed to be increased further. On every subsequent visit, Old Trafford has always impressed me, it seems something is always being added to the ground.
The next stand to get attention was the East Stand with an additional tier which brought the ground up to 61,000. The stand was opened in September 2000 and was then joined by the increase to the Stretford End in 2001 to make that a two tiered cantilevered stand pushing the capacity up to a whopping 68,217 and had the seal of approval from U.E.F.A when it was awarded the 2003 Champions League final.
The increase in Old Trafford’s capacity also came to the aid of the England national team. Wembley was demolished in 2001, not before time and during 2001 and 2007, England played 23 home games around various grounds but Old Trafford hosted the national side in 12 of those matches and England certainly benefited from the atmosphere and the attendances.
The next alteration has so far been the last, as the club decided to complete the corners that book ended the North Stand, between both the East and West Stands. These North East and North West Stands had another tier fitted to them, which saw the club open some sections of it to record a new Premiership record high attendance of 69,070 against West Ham United on March the 26th 2006.
The corners were finally fully completed and used for the first time in a Premiership match in 2007, as United entertained Blackburn Rovers on March 31st, winning 4-1 setting another attendance record of 76,090. That brought the capacity up to it’s current level of 76,212 fans making it easily the largest league ground in Britain but it’s only the 3rd largest stadium overall in the UK behind Twickenham (82,000) and Wembley (90,000).
Yet, it may not be third for much longer, the club have mooted further expansion by adding a further 19,000 seats on the South Stand, using the South West and South East corners and adding a second tier along all 3 sections. It seems that United will be continually improving what is one of the best stadiums and one of my favorite away grounds in world football even more in the next few years.

The Changing Face Of Premiership Grounds: #1 Old Trafford

The Changing Face Of Premiership Grounds: #1 Old Trafford - World Soccer Talk

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