EPL this month

Feb 08 is over and Tottenham is the new holder of the Carling Cup. Who else is hot this month?

Top Teams this month
Tottenham Hotspur- Juande Ramos did what he was paid to do; win trophies for title starved Spurs. What’s surprising is how fast he managed to do it. The Tottenham team got their first trophy in 9 years and they did it while playing good, attacking football. Maybe now striker Dimitar Berbatov will be willing to stay at White Hart Lane.

Manchester United – Like in past years, United seems to have gone into an extra gear once the season is going to end. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spent over $60 million to get the Champions League and the EPL title together, and thus far it has works. As usual, people are talking about their attacking powers in the form of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Carlos Tevez but it’s still that defense that has impressed me. It will be between them and the Gunners for the title.

Everton- Manager David Moyes has put together a team that is strong, hardworking and very hard to beat; the result is fourth place in the EPL and a possible place in the Champions League. They still can’t beat any of the top 4, but Everton is beating the teams they are supposed to beat. They keep this up and Liverpool better be careful.

Surprise Team this month
Chelsea- I admit; I was expecting Chelsea to beat Tottenham for the Carling Cup. However, once I saw the lineup Avram Grant sent out; I thought they would be in trouble. Why did Grant sent out the over-rated Frank Lampard (who just came back from injury I might add) in place of in-form Michael Ballack? That was a strange one for me. Add that to stories of how captain John Terry and first-team coach Henk ten Cate had a training ground bust-up prior to the final, and you wonder if Avram Grant has lost the plot. But one game (even if an important one) is not the season, Chelsea is still in the Champions League and frankly, that’s the one Grant need to win to keep his job.

Disappointing Teams this month
Newcastle- Newcastle fans hounded old manager 'Big' Sam Allardyce out of the job because the team was playing boring football under him. How they wish they can have him back? I have said last month that Kevin Keegan is not the right manager for Newcastle at this time and the results have proved me right. No wins, no points and if they are not careful, I think Newcastle may be in danger of the drop. The biggest problem Keegan has is that he is trying to get Newcastle to play attacking football, but when your central midfield is Joey Barton and Nicky Butt; that’s a tall ask. Keegan need to change his tactics or else Newcastle may really be in trouble come end of the season.