People love lists and we are people who love football. With this in mind, it is our pleasure to introduce UF's first semi-weekly European Power Poll.
The formula was simple. Each of our intrepid scribes posited his own Top Ten. Then, using an algorithm specially designed by the foremost quantum physician at Nassau Community College, we came up with the following results. Enjoy. Debate.
1) Barcelona - 1.14
Unbeaten in their last 20 league matches. One loss in 21 games total. That, in their first match, aaaall the way back in August. Messi is unstoppable-- two more goals off the bench this weekend. Barca are 12 points up in the table, +33 over second place Real Madrid in goal differential. Lock for Champ League, surely...
2) Manchester United - 1.86
...Oh, but for those devils at Old Trafford. If anyone can suppress the Barcelona attack it must the Death-defying van der Saar and his now famous backline. They also have this guy... this Portuguese jerk.
3) AC Milan - 4.71*
Sorry Lingering, but they are a whole lot better with Beckham in the lineup.
4) Liverpool - 4.71
Rafa is either a demented genius or just demented. Or fat and ordinary. We'll know soon enough.
5) Inter Milan - 5.14
I think the consensus here is that any club managed by that other Portuguese jerk (just kidding, much love for the Jose) is a threat. Along with a pretty safe hold on Serie A, that's enough to earn a place in the Top 5.
6) Real Madrid - 6.28
Damn, these guys have been real good since... yea yea... since Juande took over. That Raul and Robben have scored in almost every game since New Year's doesn't hurt.
7) Aston Villa - 7
Will a bargain move for Emile Heskey put the Villans over the top? We're officially at the point where it'd be a disappointment if they didn't crack the Champs League.
8) TSG Hoffenheim - 8.43
We're hot for the Hoff. Simple as that. (But the Ibisevic thing hurts... a lot.)
9) Chelsea - 10.86
By far our most controversial entry. Bigus's opinion to follow later this afternoon.
10) Arsenal - 14.14
Like toilet paper stuck to your sole (or soul in my case), they've trailed into the room unnoticed and uninvited. To be fair, if Arshavin is half the magic man he seemed in Austria/Switzerland and Cesc can get back on the field, Arsenal become kind of threatening again.
In the mix - AZ Alkmaar, Bordeaux, Juventus, Roma, Bayern, Olympiakos, (Genoa!)
*had 2 Third Place votes to Liverpool's 1.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
UF POWER POLL - Debut Edition
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
17 comments:
Hertha wuz robbd.
Liverpool is too high. Playing like shite for the past two months.
I think Hoff is better than Ibisevic.
Bigus' comments may be coming tomorrow. But to encapsulate his argument, Chelsea's form blows right now. He has all sorts of facts and stats to back this up, I just go off of what I think.
And, for the sake of full disclosure, here was my top 10.
1. Barcelona
2. Manchester United
3. Inter Milan
4. AC Milan
5. Real Madrid
6. Hoffenheim
7. Liverpool
8. Aston Villa
9. Lyon
10. Hertha Berlin
The late March-Early April stretch is where we'll know about Villa fo'real. Assuming we see off CSKA Moscow around our match with Spartak London, we've got the UEFA Cup quarterfinals (OK, that'll likely be against Spurs, but could be Shakhtar) and trips to Anfield and OT in a two week span, followed by hosting the Blue Scouse. In the same stretch, the Gunners have Newcastle away, home to Citeh and away at the Rugby Ground. If we can get 5 points or more from that stretch, 4th should be locked up.
5 points from Spartak, LFC, Man U and Everton?
ps. I know we frown upon this, but the Word Verification was "Hullatio", and it made me think that should be a new word for those people who flocked to ordain the Tigers in the first half of the season. Thus, from this point forth, any fawning love for Phil Brown and co. shall be known as Hullatio.
I didn't have Chelsea either. Their appearance is looking more and more suspicious.
1.Barca
2.ManUre
3.AC Milan
4.Real Madrid
5.Liverpool
6.Inter
7.Aston Villa
8.Bordeaux
9.Bayern
10.Arsenal
5 points from LFC, ManU and Everton, which is how we end March/begin April. Spartak is in 3 weeks, which may color how O'Neill approaches CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup, and thus whether we're also in the UEFA quarters as we enter that Red/ManU/Blue stretch. I figure Aresnal will get 7 from the same time period (win at St. James, Win to Citeh, draw against Fat Jay Leno and the Latics). To keep at least a game's lead over Aresnal (figure that we'll match points up till then), Villa will need to get at least one win in that stretch, and not lose. It'll be tough, but not Mission Impossible.
and Hullatio is simply brilliant.
Roma got screwed.
Chelsea may suck on form but they've got a pitch littered with world class players. Of course they are English world class players (Cole, Terry, Lampard), so adjust your curve accordingly
And TFA, to be honest, Villa's unbeaten in 12, but haven't really played a solid full match for a while.
Keith.
Have to agree with you 100%. Shocked to see Villa at 7.
Great list but AV is not a European elite (right now) "in real time" despite their lofty league position. A month or two ago with A Young dominating and the clean sheets coming in, perhaps... but the team's recent FA Cup and PL performances don't look like a Top 10 team in the world to me...
fair nuff. I like Villa. great totals over the past two months, new striker, young coming off suspension...great manager. think they are going places...third place and CL to be specific.
AZ wuz robbed, you mean. Unbeaten in a dog's age in league.
Mine:
1. Barcelona
2. Manchester United
3. Real Madrid
4. Liverpool
5. Hoffenheim
6. AZ Alkmaar
7. Aston Villa
8. AC Milan
9. Inter Milan
10.Bordeaux
No Chelsea. Weird.
Not really weird. Chelsea's average rating of 10.6 means that most of us likely left them off. I don't have my ratings handy, but I think I had Chelsea around 7.
I will say that Chelsea's place in this poll is arguably MORE valid because One Blue supporter voted and a whole bunch of Gunners and Reds voted.
Thus, from this point forth, any fawning love for Phil Brown and co. shall be known as Hullatio.
This is the best thing to happen to me all day long. Simply hilarious.
As a Spurs fan, I feel wildly unqualified to speak on any list such as this. But I had to give JT some respek. Booyakasha.
All in all, this has been a really interesting season of continental footie. Hoffenheim and Hertha in the Bundesliga. Multiple teams threatening Lyonnais in Ligue 1. AZ pushing around the "traditionally" strong sides of PSV, Ajax, and Feyenoord.
Here's mine:
Barca
Man U
Liverpool
AC Milan
Hoffenheim
Inter
Aston Villa
AZ Alkmaar
Chelsea
Everton
I was going to add Bayern but saw them lose over the weekend and they looked inept. I'll probably add them once they return to form. I know Bigus thinks it is a sin, but I included Chelsea because they're still #3 in the EPL, which I consider the best league in the world. And yes, I picked Everton over Arsenal, so at least I can claim that I'm unbiased.
MIT-trained math wizard Autoglass is correct, Chelsea were left off a number of lists. The resultant penalties carried their average above 10. Those who DID include the Blues generally had them in the 7-9 range. So it could've been a lot worse for Bigus. We await his Rainman-style rebuttal tomorrow AM.
I can't wait for April so I can put the Galaxy on my list.
PR: without Becks and Landy, surely they'll slip down the rankings a little.
Post a Comment