BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Brew Euro Football Rankings

1. FC Barcelona -- It took them a season to learn how to integrate the new parts and jettison the non-working ones. And they are atop of the Primera Liga with style. Averaging three goals per game -- can you say -- "fun to watch?" Geez -- Lionel Messi, Sam Eto'o, Thierry Henry, and Bojan Krkic. Goooaaaaaaaaaaal!

2. Internazionale - Going for a fourth straight Serie A title, can the Nerazzurri hold off the challenge by Juventus which has once more found its winning touch behind a rejuvenated Alessandro Del Piero? Inter is still up in the standings but one has to wonder how much more can they take before their glory-seeking manager Jose Mourinho sabotages the season? How many players has he feuded with thus far? There's Adriano and Mario Balotelli. For a while Zlatan Ibrahimovic had his concerns. Questions. Questions. Questions.

3. Liverpool FC - You'd like to say, "let's just play football." But with Rafa taking shots at Alex Ferguson now that Manchester United have started to click and Steve Gerrard in an assault case and in danger of losing a spot on the English National Team, the issues aren't simply on the pitch but in the tabloids. And how many games has Liverpool drawn? They're in the hunt for a Treble and that keeps them clicking, hungry, and focused.

4. Manchester United - The best club in the world just keeps on trucking. Rapdily climbing the charts, after their shellacking of Chelsea, they served notice that they aren't giving up their Premier League and Champions League title easily.

5. Bayern Munich - Can this club get any better? Lukas Podolski may be on the way out but they have Landon Donovan off the bench. And with Jurgen Klinsmann back in the saddle this time as manager, their offense has opened up; a far cry from the traditional mechanical and boring brand of German football.

6. Olympique Lyonaiss - If this club is going for its eighth straight French Ligue 1 crown why are they only at seven? Don't snicker when you say, "Aww. It's just French football. They can't beat anyone." For one, this isn't the Champions League. It's all about club rankings and Lyon has shown that they can win even if they change managers like musical chairs.

7. Juventus - It only took them a year to get out of relegation to Serie B. It took them a year to get into the groove and find replacements for those who left in the wake of the calciopoli -- Cannavaro, Ibrahimovic, Vieira, Thuram, Emerson, Zambrotta, and a few others left. This year the bianconeri have rode on the golden boot of Amauri who they obtained in the off season from Palermo and Alessandro Del Piero who seems to have found the fountain of youth. They may not have the All-Star line-ups of the two Milan squads but they are no less solid.

8. Sporting Lisbon - What? No Porto? This Portuguese side is walking on thin ice as a number of their side are out on injuries and suspensions. However, they remain tied with Benefica in the Portuguese Liga.

9. AZ Alkmaar - On top of the Dutch Eredivisie, Louis Van Gaal's star-less squad is playing without pressure. And they're doing it with many of their players in sick bay.

10. TSG Hoffenheim - The surprise co-leaders of the German Bundesliga. Sure they lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, but they're hanging in there even if there are six squads on their coattails.

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