Relegation For Norwich and Newcastle
Never bet against Sam Allardyce in a Premier League survival race. I said that when he was appointed, I said it a few weeks ago and once again it seemed prudent to say it now. I also said that unless Newcastle sacked McClaren before Christmas, they were getting relegated. And sure enough...
I didn't anticipate, however, how easy it would be for Sunderland last night, with how little vigour Everton were swept aside as a brace from central defender Kone compounded Roberto Martinez's misery, as Everton lost 3-0. An absolutely dreadful result that keeps them rooted on 44 points. Last season they secured their worst finish in the league for 9 years and their lowest points total since they were almost relegated in 2004. This season is on the verge of being worst than last, and unless Everton win against Norwich on the final day, it will be their worst Premier League showing in over a decade. To turn in your worst league performances in over a decade twice in a row simply isn't acceptable. Everton could end up finishing as low as 16th, although that's highly unlikely at this stage, but to finish only one place above tonight's opposition and maybe even only three points, is utterly shambolic from Martinez.
The eSelfixact specifics are irrelevant, suffice to say that Martinez's last two seasons have been the worst for Everton since Wayne Rooney was at the club, and far from moving the club forward after Moyes left, the club has gone drastically backwards.
As for Sunderland, there will be time to dissect what is yet another lucky escape, following another dreadful all round season. In nine Premier League seasons, this could well be the sixth one in which Sunderland have secured less than the magical 40 point mark yet survived. They've only secured one top ten finish in that time and this will be the fourth year in a row that they've dodged relegation. In the five years since Asamoah Gyan guided them to a 10th place finish, Sunderland have been hovering tastily above the drop zone.
But that's a problem for another day. Today is a day for celebration for Sunderland fans. Because as much as almost getting relegated every season must be extremely annoying and repetitive, at least they haven't actually been relegated. And after five seasons of slightly more success, with one top five finish thrown in amongst the points tallies in the low forties, Newcastle are relegated, joining newly promoted Norwich and league fodder Aston Villa in the Championship next season.
Norwich seemed to remember too late that they were in a relegation dogfight, as they turned up to the party with a thumping 4-2 win over Watford that meant absolutely nothing, as a previous run of four straight defeats meant that the best that they could hope for was moving level on points, goal difference, goals scored and goals conceded (no really) with also relegated Newcastle, as Sunderland's win kept them four points ahead of the Canaries with one game to play.
It was a really thrilling match, as Deeney seemed to have consigned Norwich to the Championship before goals from Redmond and Mbokani gave them a sliver of hope. But by the time Craig Cathcart put through his own net to seeming give Norwich a lifeline, Sunderland were moving ahead of Everton and Norwich's fate was sealed. Igahlo and Mbokani shared goals in the second half but the result by that point was academic.
Liverpool Sluggish But Secure Valuable Momentum
Selfishly, I didn't watch the relegation battle, but kept both of my eyes peeled on Liverpool v Chelsea, a game which in many ways epitomized both how far Liverpool have come under Klopp and how far there is left to go.
Overall it was a poor game, there's no denying that. Liverpool were totally dominant for the opening half hour or so, but failed to take any of the two or three good chances created, before Eden Hazard scored a superb solo goal which caused Liverpool to completely lose their game plan and their heads. The second half in particular was woeful, and Chelsea could have been out of sight after Bertrand missed a sitter after another error from Mignolet, and Pedro raced through on goal late on, only to fail to beat the Liverpool keeper, who in fairness to him made some decent stops over the game.
But Liverpool looked headless. Shooting from miles out, meaning that we recorded a shot tally in the high 20s without ever really looking like scoring in the second half. There's something about Chelsea that makes this team lose it, and they cannot afford to lose their heads like they did today if something goes wrong in Basel next week.
However, it's a credit to this side that they never give up, and deep into stoppage time, Klopp's substitutions came good, with Ojo recording his 4th assist in just 370 minutes in 2016 with a wicked ball in that Asmir Begovic could only spill onto Christian Benteke, the other sub, whose 10th LFC goal this season secured a valuable point.
It's a good haul for Benteke. No matter how poor he's been this season, and no matter how much he doesn't fit into our system, unlike the likes of Balotelli last season, he is a goalscorer, and a double digits haul in his first season isn't significantly less than I expected or would have wanted from him, especially when nine of his goals have been in the league and most of them have earned us vital points. He's scored four winning goals and two more to secure draws, and only two of his nine in the league have been worthless. For a man who has always looked out of place at Anfield, and been widely considered an abject failure, that's good going, especially when you consider that his tally of 159 minutes per goal is better than Defoe, Lukaku, Mahrez and Martial to name a few.
Don't get me wrong, Benteke still isn't necessarily a good fit for LFC, but he's provided vital goals to the team and we shouldn't sell him unless we're replacing the goals that he brings to the table (I think we will and should replace him but still). Obviously with such a big price tag on his head, he's always going to be judged harshly, but when we compare him to some other high profile, big money signings, has he not performed pretty well? Scoring two less goals than 40/50m Martial and three less than Diego Costa with significantly less screen time?
Look Benteke is probably going to leave in the summer and be remembered as a failure, but given the goals he's scored for this side and the points that he's earned us, I think he deserves a little more credit than that.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Vince and Ball in the test side. Excited.
- New Spurs deal for Pochettino. Deserved.
- De Boer steps down as Ajax coach. Everton?
- RIP Tony Cozier and Seb Adeniran-Olule.
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