A rollercoaster of a season!

As the Barclays Premier League progresses and nears to the season end with only nine games remaining, most soccer fans can agree that the 2011-2012 season has been the most aberrant season to date.

 First Chelsea, a usual top four finisher, has failed to maintain any type of consistency and is struggling just to secure a place in the top four.  After firing Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea hired Porto boss, Andre Villa Boas.  Andre’s goal was to rebuild the franchise and make room for younger players such as Daniel Stouridge.  Chelsea’s team was similar to soccer’s senior’s home with 9 out of 10 players being over the ripe age of 30.  Even the younger players did not agree with his unorthodox methods and mutiny quickly arose in the locker room.  Lampard publicly criticized Andre and Didier Drogba had not a trace of effort in his atrocious Premier League campaign.

Another team that has flabbergasted the futbol world for all the wrong reasons is Liverpool.  They have only been able to satisfy the Anfield crowd twice at home and their play and attitude has been anything but stellar.  The team has been beaten to the ground by many scandals involving Luis Suarez, Kenny Danglish, Pepe Reina and Andy Caroll.  The team would have more success as a reality show than a soccer team. 

Luis Suarez fed the British paparazzi a three course meal with his alleged racist remarks to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and Pepe which gave them one more reason to beat them to the ground by fighting a Tottenham fan in a local tavern.

A resurgent Arsenal has been one of the biggest stories in the Premier League.  The Gunners started the year off terribly ranking 17^th after 6 games.  The Gunners managed to climb back into the Champions League picture and currently sit third place in the league table.

Many of these stories found themselves on the news for weeks, but without a doubt the most significant change in the Barclays Premier League this season is New Castle United’s rebirth.  The club has demonstrated their potential to be a top four team in the Premier League and have crushed all the critics’ doubts from last year.

At the end of last season, English striker Andy Carroll decided to leave St. James Park’s grounds for a move to Anfield.  New Castle United manager, Alan Pardew seemed in disbelief with Andy Carroll’s rash decision.  The manager was caught flatfooted and was unable to immediately react.

Fortunately, all of New Castle’s squad seemed extremely determined and devoted to the club’s success.  The club finds themselves tied for fourth place with Tottenham at fifty nine points to show for the season.

One of the biggest reasons for New Castle’s triumph is Senegalese striker, Demba Ba.  The 26 year- old striker has 14 goals and is fifth place in the scoring race.  Ba uses his six foot two frame has proved to be a nightmare for defenders to contain and it seems he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. 

Another factor in New Castle’s resurgence is newly acquired striker, Papa Cisse.  Papa was bought for just nine million pounds on January 14^th and seems to be a blockbuster deal. 

Carroll’s departure from the club has turned out to be a great move for the Toons financially and on the pitch.  Carroll cost the club 35 million pounds and Cisse only cost 9 million.  The club now has 26 million dollars to spend and Liverpool is paying top dollar for a striker who has only scored five goals in 36 appearances. Cisse has found the back of the net in each one of his eight appearances with a tally of nine goals to mark his formidable debut at St. James Park.

The last reason that New Castle has been able to compete with the big boys has been Ben Arfa’s change in attitude and solid relationship with fellow forwards, Demba Ba and Papa Cisse.  Arfa seems to have matured from last season.  Last season,  Arfa’s arrogance seemed to have gotten the best of him as he received more than ten bookings and his temper resembled that of a spoiled five year old.

NewCastle’s center midfielder, Tioté says “I see a bright future for the team and it would mean the world to our loyal fans if we managed to finish in the top four.”

Unlike most Premier league clubs, New Castle prioritizes scouting and avoids large transfer fees unlike Liverpool or Manchester City.  New Castle has developped players such as Yohan Cabaye, Peter Lovenkrands, Gabriel Obertan and of course Ben Arfa.

It looks like the Toons’ tactics are beginning to pay off and their future is extremely promising compared to Premier League giants such as Chelsea and Liverpool and their rise to the Champions’ League seems inevitable.

                                         Demba Ba heading  the ball against Liverpool!