World Club Rankings: EPL Team There’s a New No 1 ! Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea
Dec 1, 2008 Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, world club rankings
From our freinds at World Club Rankings
WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Liverpool Goes Top Edition
We have a new number one in the World Club Rankings, but it’s probably not who it should be. Who is number one? Liverpool. Who should be? I think it’s pretty clear to most people that Barcelona should be. So, why aren’t they? Several weeks ago, I went into some detail about how the rankings are generated. I short, it’s a combination of how a club is doing domestically along with how those clubs’ domestic leagues have performed in recent continental championship tournaments, e.g., the UEFA Champions League. The problem for Barcelona is that the English Premiership has a pretty overwhelming lead with respect to the domestic league coefficients. Scoring six of the last eight Champions League semifinal spots and having three different clubs appear in the Champions League finals over the past two years will give you such an overwhelming domestic league coefficient advantage.
What does this mean for Barcelona? Will they never be able to take over the number one spot? Actually, they can, but they will have to earn it on the field – even more so than they already have. Right now, the system sees Barcelona as the leader of a domestic league and a qualifier for the Champions League knockout stage. Meanwhile, Liverpool is first place in a better league and also a qualifier for the Champions League knockout stage. Because of bonus points given for advancement in continental competition, Barcelona likely will advance past the top club in England if it advances further than that club in the Champions League. It is also possible if a club advances to the top of the Premiership with a significantly below average goal differential, but that is unlikely to happen between now and the Champions League knockout stages.
These league rankings also explain why we have two Scottish Premier League clubs in the rankings despite the fact that there soon will be none left in European competition. Celtic and Rangers’ dominance in the league allow them to jump over clubs from better leagues and the SPL is benefitting from successes in recent competitions, despite doing so poorly this season. Coefficients will be adjusted after the group stage ends, so we can see how that affects the SPL. It certainly won’t help it.
I didn’t get much of a chance to talk much about last week’s matches. Or this week’s matches. Or anything at all, really. I guess I’ll do that in the course of the WCR Top 25, below.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 1, 2008
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Tags: Array, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bonus Points, chelsea, Coefficients, Continental, Continental Championship, Continental Competition, Differential, england, English Premiership, Freinds, Knockout Stage, Knockout Stages, Liverpool, Man Utd, People, Premier League Clubs, Scottish Premier League, Top Man, Uefa Champions League
Merson says Zola has it all Wrong
Nov 21, 2008 Gianfranco Zola, West Ham News
Paul Merson has spoke out and said Gianfranco Zola’s style of football is what is making West Ham slide 1 point from the relegation zone.
Merson said this on SkySports:
What’s the point of playing nice passing football if it doesn’t win you anything? They won the first FA Cup final I can remember in 1975 and they won it again in 1980, but since then they haven’t won anything. They’ve clung to this way of playing since the 1960s when they had top players like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters but I don’t understand why they keep doing it if it doesn’t achieve anything.
Merson who admitted that he suffers from addictions such as cocaine, alcohol and gambling was once a manager himself but failed miserably after the team he managed Walsall slipped from Div 1 to Div 2 and in Div 2 Walsall went out of all cup competitions against lower league teams, and it was reported that Merson had had a rift with his wife, and had started drinking and gambling again.
So should Zola take advice from Paul Merson? on how to ruin your life i agree he should but as a pundit or manager then you make your own mind up, i am sure if Merson asked the West Ham supporters how we feel about Zola and his style of play, the fans would say Zola needs time, after all, Zola bases his style on the team that Merson once played for and that is Arsenal.
Loading ...Some very funny moments with Merson as a SkySports pundit.
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Tags: 1960s, Addict, Addictions, Advice From, Alcohol, Arsenal, Bobby Moore Geoff Hurst, Cocaine Alcohol, Cup Competitions, Div 2, Fa Cup Final, fans, Funny, Gambling, How To Ruin Your Life, Paul Merson, Poll Id, Pundit, Relegation Zone, SkySports, West Ham
Scott Parker Challenge sends Theo Walcott to Hospital
Nov 19, 2008 Arsenal, Injuries, Scott Parker, West Ham News, england
Walcott adds to England’s and Arsenal’s injury problems after he dislocated his shoulder in a tackle against Scott Parker near the end of Tuesday nights training session at the Olympic Stadium.
Walcott was rushed to hospital where his shoulder was put back into place.
Theo Walcott will fly home to London where Arsenal Medics will assess how bad the injury is and could be sidelined for up to 10 weeks.
Capello told the media:
“Our priority is Theo and making him as comfortable as possible before he returns to England,” said Capello. “We’re all very disappointed, but the most important thing is for Theo to travel home and make a quick recovery.”
Walcott’s place will more than likely be given to Shaun Wright-Phillips, West Ham United’s Scott Parker played well during training but is yet to find out if he plays on Wednesday Evening.
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Tags: Arsenal, Capello, england, Fly, London, Medics, Olympic Stadium, Priority, S Scott, Scott Parker, Shaun Phillips, Shaun Wright Phillips, Theo Walcott, Training Session, Travel, Wednesday Evening, West Ham United
Zola: Everything will be Better! Will Man Utd Suffer?
Oct 29, 2008 Arsenal, Carlton Cole, Featured Article, Gianfranco Zola, Man Utd, West Ham News
Gianfranco Zola speaking about his game with Man Utd tonight is as disappointed as any West Ham fan at losing the last 3 games but is not disappointed with the performance of his players and we have to admit, against Arsenal a majority of the game, we were actually on par.
Zola believes West Ham will climb back up the table and compete for a European place in the months to come, he said to the Media about tonight’s game against Man Utd:
“It’s never a good time to play them but we have to play them. We do respect them but we don’t fear them,”
he added.
“We are going to go there and play our game and we are going to try to win the game as we always try to do that. It’s a difficult moment but at this moment I’m sure the good teams come out.”
Zola knows that West Ham United could have possibly won 2 of the last 3 games but lost to silly mistakes, but praised the excellent fast flowing passing skills of his players, he said :
“I feel really bad about this because it never happened to me that I saw a team playing that well and then not getting any points for three matches but I know that in football things can change quickly,”
he added:
“We just need a game to get it right and then everything will be better.
“It’s a good starting point to play well, results are a consequence. That’s my philosophy and I will pursue it.”
Zola will have to do without Cole in his strike force tonight, his options are limited, so this could be where we see Sears play a some part of tonight’s game.
It is possible for West Ham United to beat Man Utd, it surely will be a game Man Utd will be taking very seriously if they watched the video of West Ham v Arsenal last Sunday, I am pretty sure that Zola will want a win and prove that his tactics are paying off, but a draw will without doubt please many Hammers fans and upset many Man Utd fans.
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Tags: Arsenal, Consequence, Doubt, fans, Game Man, Games, Good Starting Point, Good Time, Last Sunday, Lost, Man Utd, Many Man, Par, Philosophy, Play Game, sears, Silly Mistakes, Strike Force, West Ham United
CityWire want West Ham United and Iceland Stores
Oct 8, 2008 Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, Landsbanki, West Ham News
I thought i would find something humorous because i can see in my mystic eye 34,000 dismal West Ham fans either at work or at School or College wishing things for once would improve.
I found this article from CityWire demanding some sort of compensation for IceSave customers in the UK who invested with Landsbanki and will not be covered for their losses in saving under Icelandic law but will be with British law, (As if they will ever get it back)
I think they forgot the 6% shares that Landsbanki financed with a director of Arsenal.
Witty comments only please.
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Tags: Arsenal, Citywire, iceland, Landsbanki, Losses, Mystic Eye, Shares, West Ham Fans, West Ham United, Witty Comments
World Club Rankings TOP 25 - 8 New Entries - West Ham Bubbling Under, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa,
Sep 30, 2008 West Ham News, world club rankings
I warned everybody last week that all hell was going to break loose in the WCR Top 25 and I didn’t lie. This week we have eight new clubs in the WCR Top 25, including five teams debuting in the Top Ten, including Lazio, Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen. The reason for this is that last season’s results were removed from the statistics used to determine the countdown and the numbers got jumbled in England, Germany, Italy and Spain. (Rather than explaining the criteria for the WCR Top 25 each week, I’ve posted an entry detailing the efforts, to which I’ll occasionally link.) Of the domestic leagues that are still taking last season’s data into consideration, only the Dutch and Portuguese leagues have clubs in the WCR Top 25.
Among the clubs that have departed from the WCR Top 25 are Manchester United, Roma, AC Milan and Bayern Munich. I expect all of these clubs will return to the Top 25 soon, but since none of these clubs are in the top five of their domestic leagues their numbers for the season thus far are not high enough to qualify for the Top 25. Don’t worry, I’m sure that if your favorites are gone, they will be back once they have managed to work their way up their respective leagues. They just have a little work to do.
If those clubs have departed, then who took their place? Chelsea is on top of the Premiership, but other leagues have some surprise visitors at the top spot, if only temporarily. Lazio currently is on top in Serie A, Valencia in La Liga Primera Division and Hamburger in the Bundesliga. The difference is particularly clear in Serie A, where the top clubs include not only Lazio but also Napoli and Udinese, while AC Milan,
Fiorentina and Roma are nowhere to be found in the top five.
Early in the season, and for the next several weeks, the Top 25 is very volatile and promises vast changes on a weekly basis. How volatile? If Arsenal had not been upset by Hull City at Emirates Stadium, it may very well have been ranked number one. It lost, however, and is ranked thirteenth.
Even though much has changed, some things remain the same. Most notably, Chelsea remains at the top spot of the WCR Top 25 for a third consecutive week. And with eight new clubs, that still means that sixteen other clubs join Chelsea in its return trip to the rankings.
This week will see Matchday Two in the Champions League, so we will, of course, see lots of great matchups including Top 25 clubs. Over the weekend, there will be one matchup between a pair of ranked clubs, when Chelsea takes on newcomer Aston Villa. Without further adieu, below is the all new WCR Top 25.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – September 29, 2008
1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Chelsea remains at Number One despite losing all of its statistics from last season. Chelsea appears to be even better this season that they were last season, especially at this point of the season. This week, Chelsea defeated Portsmouth to advance in the Carling Cup and defeated Stoke City 2-0 to advance to the top of the Premiership. This week, Chelsea attempts to improve upon Roma’s result against CFR Cluj in Champions League action. This weekend, Chelsea will host Aston Villa in a battle of clubs near the top of the Premiership.
2. Lazio (Ita)
(NR) – From the poorhouse to the penthouse, Lazio has started this season 180 degrees differently from the disappointments of last season. This week, Lazio defeated Fiorentina 3-0 and Torino 3-1 to move into the top spot of the Italian Serie A and the upper echelons of the WCR Top 25. This week, Lazio takes on Atalanta in the Italian League Cup and will attempt to maintain its place on the Serie A pinnacle when it hosts
Lecce this weekend.
3. Valencia (Esp)
(NR) – Like Lazio, Valencia is coming back from its disappointing season of a year ago with a vengeance, leading the Primera Division after five matches, defeating Malaga 2-0 and Deportivo La Coruna 4-2 this week. Coming up, Valencia will host Maritimo in the UEFA Cup return leg and will play Real Valladolid this weekend.
4. Liverpool (Eng) (14) – I’ve been telling you for weeks that Liverpool was destined for a higher spot in the rankings and here it is. Liverpool defeated Crewe Alexandra to advance in the Carling Cup and defeated Everton 2-0 in the Merseyside Derby this week. Coming up, Liverpool will host PSV Eindhoven in Champions League action and will take on a new and improved Manchester City club in the Premiership.
5. Villarreal (Esp)
(13) – Last season, I thought that Villarreal’s success may have been a fluke, but it is following up last season’s successes with even more, defeating Racing Santander 2-0 and Sporting de Gijon 1-0 this week. On Tuesday, Villarreal gets another international test when it hosts Celtic. This weekend, the Yellow Submarine will host Real Betis in Primera Division play.
6. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (NR) – Okay, this one really surprised me, but the numbers do whatever they want to do. After advancing in the DFB Pokal, Leverkusen defeated Bochum 3-2 in its Bundesliga match. Next weekend’s match will take place against Hertha Berlin.
7. Lyon (Fra) (8) – Lyon extended its lead in Ligue Un by defeating Nancy Lorraine 2-1. Lyon goes to Germany in the Champions League to take on Bayern Munich. This weekend, Lyon stays on the road when it takes on Stade Rennais.
8. Real Madrid (Esp)
(3) – Real drops after having last season’s numbers fall away, despite having a great week, defeating Sporting de Gijon 7-1 and Real Betis 2-1. This week, Real Madrid heads east to play Zenit St. Petersburg in Champions League action, then returns to take on Espanyol in domestic play.
9. Napoli (Ita) (NR) – Napoli is another of the surprise entrants into the Top Ten, arriving, in part, due to victories this week over both Palermo and Bologna. This week, Napoli will play two away matches, against Benfica in the UEFA Cup and Genoa in Serie A.
10. Udinese (Ita) (NR) – For a while last season, Udinese challenged for a Champions League spot. Will it finally break through this season? We’ll see. It’s there for now, though, after defeating Bologna 3-0 and Siena 2-1 this week. Udinese will take on Borussia Dortmund in UEFA Cup play this week and will host Torino domestically.
11. Porto (Por) (12) – Porto’s only match this week saw it defeat Pacos de Ferreira 2-0 on Friday. This
will be a huge week for Porto as it will take on Arsenal in Champions League play and will take on Sporting CP domestically over the weekend.
12. Aston Villa (Eng) (NR) – After “bubbling under” for most of the season, Aston Villa finally debuts in the WCR Top 25 after defeating Sunderland 2-1 and despite falling from the Carling Cup by virtue of a loss to Queen’s Park Rangers. This week, Aston Villa will take on PFC Lovech in the UEFA Cup and will face
it’s biggest test of this young season when it takes on Chelsea this weekend.
13. Arsenal (Eng) – What a shocking loss. I don’t know if anybody could have predicted Arsenal losing to Hull City at Emirates Stadium, but it did. Can’t do anything but bounce back now. In the Champions League, Arsenal will host Porto this week before heading northeast to take on Sunderland over the weekend.
14. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (11) – Despite victories over Jong PSV in the KNVB Beker and Volendam in the Eredivisie, PSV is still in second place. This week will be much tougher as PSV travels to England to take on Liverpool and then take on De Graafschap domestically this weekend.
15. Gremio (Bra) (9) – Gremio is still in first place in the Brasileiro, but only by virtue of goal differential, after falling 1-4 to Internacional on Sunday. Things are starting to look bleak for Gremio as numerous clubs are now moving closer to the top of the league. Gremio will see if they can slow the inevitable fall this weekend against Botafogo.
16. Ajax (Ned) (17) – Ajax was victorious twice this week, first 2-0 against Utrecht in the KNVB Beker and later 3-0 against Vitesse in the Eredivisie. This week, Ajax will take on Borac Cacak in UEFA Cup play and will play a good Heerenveen club over the weekend.
17. Werder Bremen (Ger) (19) – Werder advance in the DFB Pokal and then outscored Hoffenheim 5-4 to move closer to the top of the Bundesliga. This week, Werder Bremen will attempt to somehow perform better against Inter Milan than it did Anorthosis Famagusta in the Champions League
and will take on VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.
18. San Lorenzo (Arg) (20) – San Lorenzo defeated Arsenal de Sarandi 2-0 to maintain its lead in the Argentine Apertura. To maintain that lead, San Lorenzo likely will have to defeat Velez Sarsfield this weekend.
19. Hamburger (Ger) (NR) – Hamburger SV is on top in the Bundeliga after beating Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0, but is having problems gaining traction in the rankings with a goal differential of only +2 in five matches. This week, Hamburger plays two away matches, against Unirea in the UEFA Cup and against Energie Cottbus in the Bundesliga.
20. Rangers (Sco) (21) – Rangers defeated Partick Thistle 2-1 to advance in the Scottish League Cup and defeated Hibernian 3-0 on Sunday to maintain its lead in the SPL. This week, Rangers take on St. Mirren to see if it can maintain that position.
21. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Uninspired play led Internazionale to fall 0-1 to its cross-town rivals in the best matchup of the weekend after defeating Lecce by the same score at midweek. The Inter Milan match against Werder Bremen promises to be entertaining. Over the weekend, Inter will take on Bologna as it tries to climb its way back to the top of Serie A.
22. Sevilla (Esp) (NR) – Sevilla scored a huge victory in Madrid this weekend against Atletico, 1-0. This week, Sevilla will try to recapture some past glory when it takes on Salzburg in the UEFA Cup. In Primera Division action, Sevilla will host Athletic de Bilbao this weekend.
23. Barcelona (Esp) (15) – After a rough start to the season, Barcelona had a great week this time around, defeating Real Betis 3-2 and Espanyol 2-1. We’ll see if the good times continue in the Ukraine when Barcelona takes on Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League play. Domestically, Barcelona will take on Atletico de Madrid in what promises to be the Primera Division game of the week.
24. Palmeiras (Bra) (22) – Palmeiras played two matches this week and didn’t score a single goal. Nevertheless, Palmeiras managed to tie Gremio at the top of the Brasileiro Serie A after a goalless draw with Nautico. This
week, Palmeiras follows up its scoreless draw against Sport Ancash with the return leg in the second round of the Copa Sudamericana. Domestically, Palmeiras will take on Atletico Belo Horizonte as it waits for Gremio to further self-destruct.
25. Marseille (Fra)
(18) – It’s beginning to look like this isn’t the season that somebody challenges Lyon in Ligue Un after Marseille managed only a 1-1 draw against Le Mans after Sochaux eliminated Marseille from the Coupe de Ligue. This week, Marseille goes to Spain to take on Atletico de Madrid in
Champions League play and then returns home to host Caen in La Championnat.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Catania (Ita), Celtic (Sco), Sao Paulo (Bra), Schalke 04 (Ger), West Ham United (Eng).
From our Friends at WCR
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Tags: Ac Milan Fiorentina, Ac Roma, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, bayern munich, Bundesliga, Countdown, Hamburger, Hell, lazio, Liverpool, Man Utd, Manchester United, Nbsp, New Clubs, New Entries, Primera Division, Roma Ac, Surprise Visitors, Top Clubs, West Ham
West Ham beat Arsenal Portsmouth & Newcastle to win 2 HOT Signings but makes Chelsea Fans Excited!
Sep 8, 2008 Featured Article, Gianfranco Zola, New Manager, Stephen Appiah, Talks, West Ham News
Zola
By Thursday West Ham will announce the signings of its new Manager Gianfranco Zola and the sensational signing of the Stephen Appiah (The Tornado)
Gianfranco Zola has been hinted by Kia Joorabchian to be the choice that the West Ham board have made , Kia Joorabchian who is acting as an official advisor to the Upton Park board in the hunt for a new manager, He said to the Media:
“Zola has got a lot of experience in the Premier League as a player and he has built a big reputation in Italy with the U21s,” It is also well known that Zola is Nani and Duxbury’s favourite to succeed Curbishley
Appiah
Stephen Appiah the Black Stars captain flew to London after the Ghana game and told KickOffGhana.com that,
“by the close of the week, I will see where I am going to play my club football.”
and the only club known to have had any talks and medical with Appiah is West Ham, Arsenal manager Wenger has and will not show interest in Appiah according to Gooner Talk because of 3rd party ownership of the player.
Appiah has made it quite clear that his dream is to play in the Premier League and in London.
West Ham are sitting in 5th place and only 1 point behind the leaders Chelsea, the next 5 games will be the big test for West Ham and its new manager and by the end of October we might even see West Ham above Chelsea, how ironic would that be for Zola.
Chelsea fans are excited about West Ham signing Zola but only because they believe if he succeeds in getting West Ham to Europe by at least a 5th place finish, then they will be wanting Zola for manager in the near future, and who can blame them, we have the same passion for Bilic.
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Tags: Arsenal, Black Stars, Chelsea Fans, Club Football, Deliberations, Duxbury, First Choice, Formal Announcement, ghana, Hot Signings, Kia, Kia Joorabchian, London West, nani, Newcastle, Poll Id, Portsmouth, premier league, Reputation, Roberto Donadoni, S Board, Stephen Appiah, striker, Tornado, upton park, Wenger, west bromwich albion, West Ham, West Ham United, Zola
Struggling Sheff Utd to get what they Deserve
Sep 5, 2008 West Ham News
And that is Sweet FA.
For some strange reason, struggling Sheffield Utd are under the presumption that they will be getting £30m from West Ham.
The facts are that Sheffield Utd will be getting absolutely nothing for their own mishap of not winning or drawing the final game of 2006 season, they made their own destiny by believing West Ham would lose to Man Utd, the season where West Ham beat Man Utd and Arsenal both home and away.
Sheffield Utd owner cry baby McCabe has made the poor struggling club suffer since the day they were relegated, instead of concentrating on promoting success to the club in way of promotion back to the Premier League, he gave them promises of Re-Promotion which never progressed and humiliated the club to an extent where other clubs cut themselves off from the original plan to sue West Ham, so they had to do it alone, and failed every time.
My advice to Sheff Utd is concentrate on promotion and try to seek revenge in a way that makes you proud again, not that you ever will!!
This post was submitted by Sheff Wed Fan.
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Tags: 30m, advice, Arsenal, Cry Baby, Cur, Drawing, Extent, Final Game, Man Utd, Mccabe, Mishap, Own Destiny, premier league, Presumption, revenge, Sheff Utd, Sheffield Utd, Strange Reason, success, Sweet Fa, West Ham
Appiah Decision in the next few Days
Sep 4, 2008 West Ham News
Stephen Appiah
Stephen Appiah has spoken about his dream to play in the English Premier League but has no pointers into the team that he would be playing for.
According to speculation, Appiah is being tracked by 3 clubs, West Ham, Arsenal, and Portsmouth, but the only club in any talks with him is West Ham.
Appiah Said:
“There are contacts, there are talks - I can’t say anything yet,”
he said to skysports.com.
“I am not going to put people off, my agents are talking so I have nothing else to say.
“My dream is to play in the Premier League and with the help of God, I will realise that dream.”
WHUFC have confirmed that negotiations are ongoing to which a move to West Ham seems to be the only firm option that is on the table for the Ghanian.
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Tags: Arsenal, English Premier League, Few Days, Ghanian, God, Negotiations, Pointers, Portsmouth, Speculation, Stephen Appiah, West Ham
West Ham to make £8m bid for Arsenal Defender
Aug 31, 2008 West Ham News
According to the Mirror, West Ham are set to make an £8m bid for Johan Djourou.
Johan Djourou is a central defender and also is a Swiss international could fill in where Anton used to play.
Wenger could be tempted to cash in on Johan Djourou after securing the signing of Mikael Silvestre.
West Ham’s are looking to strengthen their defence and especially after yesterdays match where bad
defending gave way to Blackburn’s only goal.
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Tags: Arsenal, Bid, Central Defender, Johan Djourou, LIVE FOOTBALL, Match, Mikael Silvestre, Mirror, West Ham
