The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 14 Dec 2012 04:16 PM PST DEC 15 — At the end of last season, Manchester City won the Premier League ahead of Manchester United by the narrowest of margins — goal difference. Third-placed Arsenal were 19 points behind. In Spain, Real Madrid were champions with a record-breaking tally of 100 points, nine more than second-placed Barcelona and no less than 39 ahead of third-placed Valencia. German champions Borussia Dortmund held off the challenge of Bayern Munich and ended up 18 points clear of the next best team, Schalke. And in Italy, Juventus won their first title since their later-revoked triumph of 2005 by edging out AC Milan, who were 16 points ahead of third-placed Udinese. Spot the recurring theme? In each of Europe's "big four" leagues, the championship race was the exclusive domain of just two genuine contenders, with everybody else left scrapping for the remaining Champions League qualifying spots. It would be nice to think that this season's title challenges will be spread around a bit more generously, but I doubt it. In England, United and City have already streaked well clear of the pack despite a bright start from Chelsea, while Real Madrid are slowly making ground on their cross-city rivals Atletico following a slow start to the season. Things are looking more interesting in Italy, where Juventus hold a narrow lead over Inter, Napoli, Lazio, Roma and Fiorentina — however, I wouldn't put much money on that still being the case at the end of February. The German Bundesliga is even more predictable than ever, with runaway leaders Bayern Munich already 11 points clear of the rest following a slow start by champions Dortmund. Never mind a two-horse race — the Bundesliga's already looking like a solo canter for Bayern. I'll be attending this weekend's big game in Europe: Spanish league leaders Barcelona against second-placed Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp. I have to admit that, although I'm a huge admirer of Barca's style of play and they're my new "local" team, I'm hoping that Atletico can upset the odds and claim an unexpected away victory — for the simple reason that it would make the league more interesting. A Barca win would move them nine points clear of Atletico, who would in turn see their lead over Real cut to just two points following Jose Mourinho's team's inevitable home victory over strugglers Espanyol. There's no way that Atletico would be able to recover such a large deficit, so it would more or less be a case of "league over; Barca champions." And it's only mid-December. Although it's extremely unlikely that Atletico will be able to maintain their form all the way until the end of the season, an away win for Diego Simeone's hard-working team tomorrow would at least keep them alive in the race for a little while longer. They would be just three points behind Barca — still very much in contention — and we'd have a three-team league... even if only for a few more weeks. The more likely outcome, though, is that Lionel Messi will inspire Barca to victory, Atletico's financial problems will force them to sell Radamel Falcao in January and they'll fall into a downward spiral which will see them end up at least 20 points behind Barca. This is the age of the two-team league. It used to only happen in Scotland, where Rangers and Celtic would embark upon their annual bun-fight for the title while the rest of the world looked on and scoffed: "It would never happen here." But it has happened, and the main reason is the Champions League. Much as I love Europe's leading club competition — which I believe provides a higher quality of football than any other competition in the world, including the World Cup — its success and growth in the last few years has inevitably led to it becoming akin to a "closed shop": once you're in, you stay in; if you're out, there's no way in. The riches on offer allow clubs to enter a virtuous circle once they've qualified for the group stages — especially if they can do so for two or three consecutive seasons. Prize money awarded by UEFA to clubs competing in the group stage is at least RM40 million, with successful teams earning at least double that amount if they progress into the knockout rounds. Champions League teams, therefore, automatically earn large chunks of revenue which allow them to strengthen their squads — thus increasing their chances of ensuring their qualification for the following season's competition... and so on. The other side of the coin, of course, is that clubs outside the magic circle are effectively excluded, unless they enjoy an exceptional season or receive external funding in the style of Manchester City and Paris St Germain. The end result is that — with a few exceptions — the same clubs end up reaching the latter stages season after season, claiming the prize money that allows them to continue to dominate their domestic leagues, putting more and more distance between themselves and their domestic rivals... creating the current situation of two-team leagues that proliferates throughout Europe's major leagues. What's the solution? There probably isn't one, unless clubs agree that Champions League prize money should be more equally split amongst a wider spread of clubs — including those who don't even qualify. But that, quite clearly, is not going to happen. Perhaps the eventual answer will be for the monster clubs — Manchester United, Barcelona, AC Milan and so on — to split away from their domestic leagues altogether and form a new competition reserved exclusively for themselves, leaving a more level playing field for everybody else. Watch this space. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| My five favourite albums of 2012 Posted: 14 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST DEC 15 — I didn't even realise the year was coming to an end, and that we're now at that time of the year again where every music geek will be busy whittling down the countless number of albums he or she has listened to throughout the year to make either a best-of list, or as in my case, a favourite of the year list. Since I've been spending the year recording my band's new album, you can bet that I've been spending way more time listening to new music compared to when I'm not doing a new album, just to pick up on any interesting production or musical ideas that I might not have been aware of before. Again, the best I can do this year is list only five new albums released in 2012 that really had me hooked or excited. I'm sure there are more albums out there that I've missed out on, but of the many that I've listened to, here are the ones I've been loving dearly. Redd Kross — Researching The Blues Quite a low-key release on Merge Records (the cool indie label owned by the Superchunk guys and home to Arcade Fire, Spoon and lots more), as I didn't really see that much ink spilled on this album. But this is far and away my favourite album of 2012, and I actually found it quite shocking that 15 years have passed since the release of the last Redd Kross album, Show World, and even more shocking that this new one displays the kind of infectious energy and melody that only new/young power pop bands manage to muster on their debuts, not a band who released their debut album 30 years ago! If you're familiar with them, this one is like a glorious combination of everything that made their albums Third Eye, Phaseshifter and Show World so fantastic. One to be played with the volume up and the car window down. fun. — Some Nights Many will dismiss them as overnight sensations after the first single from this album, We Are Young went supernova and is basically THE song of the year, but for someone who's been following frontman Nate Ruess' career ever since he fronted The Format, right through the band's awesome debut Aim & Ignite (produced by Steve McDonald, of Redd Kross above!), their mega-success now with this second album is completely deserved. By working with uber-producer Jeff Bhasker, they have brilliantly fused their baroque indie pop with the modern chart sounds of hip hop and pop, without sacrificing the essence of their sound. A rare case of a great band finding huge chart success, I couldn't be happier for them. There is still hope! Cloud Nothings — Attack On Memory What started as a lo-fi one man band suddenly became a full band because of their unexpected cult success and a solid couple years of touring together really shows as this new album rocks hard, without sacrificing their trademark hooky melodies. Produced by underground legend Steve Albini, they've significantly toughened up their sound, now sounding a bit like a much tighter Cap N'Jazz, with far more confident pop songwriting skills. Even the supposedly noisy and emo songs here like No Future/No Past and Wasted Days will stick in your brain like glue, let alone the all-out pop ones like my personal favourite Stay Useless, which I think has the most fist pumping chorus of the year, in which the singer sing-shouts the words "I need time to stop moving, I need time to stay useless" endlessly. Joyce Manor — Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired Of all the new punk pop or emo bands of the last few years, this fres- faced bunch of kids is undoubtedly my favourite. If their self titled debut from last year reminded you of The Get Up Kids' classic second album Something To Write Home About, this one sees them confidently spread their wings as they slow things down, speed things up, and generally just did whatever they feel like doing, but all in service of songs so brilliant that you just surrender to their melodic genius. Bride Of Usher, Violent Inside and album opener These Kinds Of Ice Skates are songs so melodic, so enchanting that it's a wonder that no major label has snapped them up yet. Hujan — Sang Enemy This may sound strange, because like most Hujan fans out there, my favourite Hujan songs are Bila Aku Sudah Tiada and Pagi Yang Gelap, but this fourth album, in which they went all metalcore and emocore on us, is hands down my favourite Hujan album. Forget the accusations of bandwagon jumping some people are throwing at them, like it or not this is a brilliant fusion of their trademark The Strokes-meets-Sheila On 7 sound and the current craze that is metalcore, and a successful and natural fusion like this can only happen when the artist truly and honestly loves the genre. Just have a listen to Janji Kita and Mana Mungkin, and tell me if there's anything remotely fake about their blend of heaviness, screaming and melody. And just for old times' sake, they've included the incredible DBS for those of us who want pure melody. Great stuff! * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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