The last one year has been that of mixed emotions for various sets of football fans across Europe, depending on what side of the success or failure table your team find themselves. 2011 has been a great year for football and football fans in more ways than one, some teams broke records, won titles, won promotion, got relegated, went into administration; the outcomes endless. We look at the season so far across the top five leagues in Europe, the stand out performers, the surprise packages and what we expect to be the outcome come seasons end.
The Landscape as a whole has been transformed by the influx of Arab Money into the major leagues, today in England; Manchester City top the Premiership after heavy funding from Abu Dhabi; PSG are on the verge of reclaiming its place as a power house in French Football; the Island of Malaga is also not left out. Money definitely talks and its making things work for these teams that have been staved of success or have had limited success.
The season got off to a flier in some parts; whilst in some it was all about players strike, industrial actions, take overs; major investments and just lately issues of the socio-economic upheavals have taken center stage.
France
Forget about the recent unnerving stories concerning the PSG hot seat; Antoine Kombouare has done a decent job with the Parisians; however with big investments come huge pressure, this is not helped by the presence of Leonardo in his Director of Football capacity. PSG have held their own in Ligue 1, with standout performances from Nene, Pastore and Gamiero; PSG have the title in their sites after just 19 games played; defending champions Lille on the other hand have achieved great strides this season in keeping Eden Hazard and top scorer Moussa Sow whilst signing Joe Cole on loan from Liverpool; who has rediscovered his form. Lyon are the team that confuses me in France; i think since their six straight titles, they have become somewhat drunk and lacked direction over the last two season, more so they are yet to get the best out of Yohan Gourhuff; that I believe is the key to Lyon recapturing the title. Other teams like Rennes, Bourdeaux, Montpellier have huffed and puffed so far this season especially Montpellier who currently lie second have punched above their weight; the exploits of Olivier Giroud has been the catalyst for their recent success.
End of Season Predictions
League Champions : PSG- with all that investment; that's the logical prediction; the Parisians will end their 17 year wait to add to their 2 previous titles.
Relegation Bound: Dijon, Ajaccio and Caen
Top Scorer : Kevin Gamiero
Player of the Year : Javier Pastore
Surprise team of the season : Montpellier (expect them to finish in the European places)
Germany
Borussia Dortmund got their just reward for the fantastic brand of football they played last season by been crowned Champions of Germany; this season however Dortmund started slowly with the Bavarians setting the early pace. Bayern Munich under Jupp Heynckes have looked very solid especially with their defensive signings of Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng adding to the team's solidity setting clean sheet records for fun. Schalke on the other hand have settled down and coped with the loss of Neuer with solid performances by Huntelaar; Borussia Monchengladbach have been the surprise package with Marcos Reus showing leadership qualities beyond his years, especially with their opening day victory over Bayern at the Allianz Arena. The highlight of the season so far was Dortmund's dramatic victory at Bayern which set Dortmund back on track in the league after a somewhat shaky and slow start. The goal scoring prowess of Mario Gomez has caught the eye, on this form Bayern and Germany will take some stopping in 2012.
End of Season Predictions
Champions - Bayern Munich
Relegation - Augsburg, Nurnberg and Freiburg (Papa Demba Cisse's goals won't keep them up)
Top Scorer - Klass Jan Huntelaar
Player of the year - Mario Gotze
Surprise team of the season - Borussia Monchengladbach
Italy
Serie A, the boring league, its too slow, too tactical, little or no goals; but my this has been a fantastic Calcio season; i hate to admit it but i have fallen in love with Serie A lately, but seriously what's there not to love;maybe the empty stands still remain a major concern. Juventus and Roma have been a breathe of fresh air to Serie A with the free flowing football they have been playing along with the dynamic and enigmatic Napoli. I just love watching these three teams. Luis Enrique has gotten Roma to play to his philosophy not like Barcelona (No team can play like Barcelona) without inhibitions, with freedom and of course the American investment has come good and importantly he will need time to make this team his. Juventus have used their lack of participation in European tournaments to good effect, the lack of distraction has helped return them to the pinnacle of Italian football where the Old Lady belongs. Also the move to a stadium of their own,purposely built gives them the added incentive to creating an astonishing atmosphere; as far as i am concerned the Stadio delle Alpi as it was before didn't have the required atmosphere for such an illustrious team. The Milan teams on the other hand have had contrasting starts to the season; Milan have gotten their campaign on track whilst Internationale continue to suffer from their 2010 hangover, but the tinker man has brought some much needed stability. The outsiders for the Title; Udinese and Lazio continue to punch above their weights, do not get me wrong both teams have played good football this year, but believe me when the business end of the season approaches; the usual suspects will remain,but these teams will act as spoilers.
End of Season Predictions
Champions - Juventus (Conte's 4-2-2-2 formation will be rewarded with a Scudetto)
Relegation - Lecce, Novara and Siena
Top Scorer - Antonio Di Natale (Yes,he will do it again, but not enough to take Udine to the Title)
Player of the Year - Andrea Pirlo (The Old man of Turin will work his magic to the Title)
Surprise team of the season - Udinese
Spain
A lot is said about El Classico been the only notable happening in La Liga, however; i do not agree. I believe there are a lot of other games that catch the fancy during the course of the season; the primary reason for this assertion is because Barcelona and Real Madrid are so into each other is like a divorce gone really bad.
The exploits of Levante has been a joy to behold and has been some kind of needed distraction from the Barca V Real madness; Valencia have also been quite great to watch this season particularly with their strength on their left side with Mathieu, Alba and Hernandez as well as their great match ups with Levante, Barca and Real so far this season; Unai Emery has drilled this team well despite the loss of David Silva, David Villa and Juan Mata in the last two seasons. Athletico Madrid, on the other end continue to implode; received good money for Aguero and Forlan; invested in Falcao; but just cannot get the recipe right; now Diego Simone is saddled with the responsibility of taking them to the pinnacle of Spanish Football for the first time since 1996; the performances of Sevilla and Villareal have left very little to desire so far.
End of Season Predictions
Champions - Barcelona (since the El Classico may decide who wins, we all know Real can not cope with Barca right now in these games).
Relegation - Zaragoza, Racing Santander, Sporting Gijon
Top Scorer - Now this is a personal quarrel between Ronaldo and Messi; Ronaldo's selfish attitude will win him the Pichichi crown once more.
Player of the Year- Lionel Messi
Surprise team of the season - Osasuna (Levante's performance is no longer a surprise)
England
Despite the socio-economic and cultural distractions of the last couple of weeks, this English Premiership season is heading for a record breaking conclusion in the new year. We may have record breaking points total, record breaking number of goals etc. Manchester City have already proven that they have spent well and expect more spending in the January Transfer Window, maybe the title should be handed to City right now; but then has we have become accustomed to; Manchester United always have a funny way sneaking up on their Title rivals. Chelsea on the other hand have surprised me with the way they have struggled, however; more of the same is needed as done in January Roman has to dig deep into those pockets of his to resurrect Chelsea's fading title challenge. Tottenham Hotspurs have been good to watch this season, but do not have the X Factor that's needed to win the league; Football's team (Arsenal) have looked impressive since their early season hiccups, great performance at City by the way; with the right investments in January;watch out for the Gunners. Liverpool, as always this is the year campaign continues; but then without Steven Gerrard there are a very ordinary team.
End of Season Predictions
Champions - Manchester City
Relegation - Wigan, Blackburn and QPR.
Top Scorer - Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero (There will be a tie)
Player of the year - Robin Van Persie
Surprise team of the season - Norwich City.
As we all know every year, all the major leagues go on a winter break except for the English game, which has festive football embedded in its cultural fabric; we look forward earnestly and eagerly to see if I will fall completely on my face with my prediction, particularly the Manchester City winning the Premiership prediction, till then we say a big thank you to all that have read, commented, subscribed and follow this blog.
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From all of us at Tactics IQ Limited, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year.
