No man is a prophet in his own land
No man is a prophet in his own land, ask Fernando Torres about it. He, who joined Liverpool has matured a lot as a player and has become a Premier League star. With 21 goals on the Premier, the Spanish player is succeeding and developing a well known play style in Spain, but not admired as much as in England nowadays. Fernando Torres, the young natural from Madrid who started to shine on Atletico de Madrid, has become a fundamental player for Liverpool and Premier League while also competing to achieve the title of Golden Boot. Only Luiz Fabiano is opposing him with 23 goals.
The Torresfever as it’s known in England the passion for Fernando Torres, has become a new fashion of the current season, where match after match all talk about how wonderful is the Liverpool’s striker performance. His coach, Rafa Benítez, qualifies him as one of the best world’s strikers because “to score so many goals is not easy, even less for a recently arrived foreigner like Fernando. It is great for him and wonderful for the team”.
With this, Fernando Torres is the second more chanted name by Liverpool’s supporters, behind the so loved captain Steven Gerrard. With only the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals and the last Premier League matches left, we will see how many goals will Fernando score!
With four Premier League clubs through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League the question today is: Will two English teams attend the Final in Moscow next May? The prospect of Liverpool meeting Manchester United or a London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea, as in the last eight in 2003/04, is one for which the players would rather wait. Save it for the semis or Moscow is the general consensus.
It is the first time four sides from one country have reached the last eight and it is a measure of the Premier League’s dominance that two sides were able to win in San Siro to advance. No English side had ever beaten Milan there before Arsenal knocked out them last week and Liverpool’s victory against Inter was their first in the famous stadium, albeit at only the second attempt.
In 2003 three Italian teams reached the semi-finals, with Juventus and Milan ultimately contesting the final in Manchester. With the financial riches on offer, packed stadiums and the lure of European success, there is no doubting why the Premier League attracts the world’s top players. But there is a downside to this success. In the second legs only two English players started in Liverpool’s win at Inter, four in Chelsea’s victory against Olympiacos, none in Arsenal’s San Siro triumph and four in United’s defeat of Olympique Lyonnais.
That, though, is a matter for another day. For the moment, one man at least is looking forward to the possibility of facing off with the likes of Arsène Wenger and Rafael Benítez on an even bigger stage. “We will relish the chance to face another English team in the quarter-finals if that happens,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. “But it doesn’t really matter who you play in the quarter-finals, they’re all going
Some Premier League matches could be played in other countries
In a in London on February 7, the 20 Premier League clubs supported an international round proposal and agreed to further examine a proposal that will create 10 competitive fixtures to be played across the world in cities like, for example, Hong Kong, Dubai, Los Angeles or Singapore over one weekend in January beginning season 2010/11.
This international round would be in addition to the traditional 38 home and away matches each of the 20 Premier League Clubs currently play.
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We are proud the Barclays Premier League is viewed as the stongest domestic football competition in the world by fans at home and abroad, and we are committed to maintaining this position”.
The ‘international round’ is an exciting and innovative proposal that needs careful consideration before being introduced. The additional matches could be determined in a draw but the five principal clubs could avoid to fight between them. Anyway the final decision will be taken next summer in the annual meeting of Premier League.