The UF Power Poll: Spring springs eternal

Typical German, French, Dutch… Portuguese, English, Ivorian, etc.

It hit 90 in the heart of Manhattan on Wednesday, right around the time a certain Arjen Robben vollied United 2010 into eternity. We probably should have waited another few days to take this poll, but I like its results. This is an aggregate of how UF (and you, YOU, facebook voters) felt on Monday. So think of the poll as a snapshot of a moment– snapshots can be cruel… United… Arsenal… Bordeaux… young lovers– but they are honest. So without further ado, the first UF Power Poll of 2010′s fairer months.

1 — BARCELONA (Unanimous; 1)

I don’t have the words– or at least any way of arranging them– to do justice to Messi’s performance against Arsenal Tuesday. I suspect Galeano will be re-releasing Soccer in Sun and Shadow with a new chapter dedicated to those fantastical 21 minutes at the Nou Camp.

But in the meantime, let’s talk a second about Barcelona (as opposed to Messi’s Barcelona.) It’s just no coincidence that Leo is so much more impactful for club than country. That team is tailor-made to exploit every boiling drop of his sumptuous fluid talent. That’s a credit to Pep Guardiola as much as anyone else; he puts his players in a position to win. And by god, this lot does it in some fashion. Contrast that with Maradona’s handling of Argentina (not the comparison you were expecting, ehh??) and you can see why Messi has had less of an impact with the national side.

So then as far as the more popular debate goes: it’s hard to imagine Maradona being shackled by any amount of hopeless managing. Maradona the manager might’ve been the only one capable of stopping Maradona the player.

2 – CHELSEA (2.27)

Another year, another inglorious exit from the Champions League. You must hand it to the West Londoners, they do find creative and entertaining ways to lose out in the world’s greatest annual football championship, even if the Drogba business was a bit reminiscent of last season. Still, it’s hard to blame them for losing to a Jose Mourinho side. We suspect The Special One took an especial amount of time to prepare for this tie.

Champs League hopes dashed again, Chelsea supporters can take no small amount of heart in the fact they have nothing standing in their way in the Premier League race. United are a ragged and tired bunch, and Arsenal don’t do trophies. The big question now for the Blues: will it be a domestic double? Villa and errr either Spurs or Pompey stand in their way.

3- INTER MILAN (3.18)

Speak of the devil. Neck and neck with Roma for yet another Scudetto, but more importantly The Vanquishers of Spartak London are now one small step—though a giant leap—from that long sought-after Champions League final. Ironic, wouldn’t it be, if both Inter and Lyon were to make it in the same year?

Inter are strong and well-organized, girded for battle in a way that Arsenal haven’t been for years. That said, can they be expected to beat Barcelona over two legs? It’d be improbable, but surely possible. I imagine a tie much like last year’s Barca-Chelsea boondoggle.

One more note to boost Inter: While you’d be a fool to pay literal attention to Mourinho’s cranky quotes in the Italian press, the idea that he’s is hellbent on winning a CL then making a dramatic return to the Premier League is entirely believable. And a hellbent Mourinho is a good Mourinho to have on your side.

4 – MANCHESTER UNITED (4.9)

Number four with a bullet through their eye.

The “bad” news: Out of the Champions League.

The “good” news: Fewer fixtures and a chance to both heal Rooney and focus on chasing Chelsea. The Bayern tie was when I first really noticed how much they missed that Ronaldo fella. Obviously they weren’t and haven’t been as good without him, but Rooney has been so spectacular that it almost didn’t matter. Didn’t matter until Rooney was hobbled a bit and the competition got a bit more inspired.

United was never about Ronaldo and Rooney. No, the impossibility was not in their play together, but in the knowledge that should one falter, the other would be present to pick up the slack. In the case they both disappeared, the rest of the team was enough to fill in the blanks. Now with Rooney alone as the in-his-prime superstar, United are a lot like the rest of the world: at the whim of an ill-timed injury.

(On the bright side, United faithful, you can really have a run at the Glazers now, really show ‘em what’s what! Get dem green and yellow scarves out… send them American boys swimming back ‘cross the pond!)

5 – REAL MADRID (5.1)

What do these clubs have in common: Racing Santander, Atlético Madrid, Sporting Gijon, Getafe, and Valladolid.

Answer: They’re all s**t and they all play in Spain and they’ve all been beaten by Real Madrid as Real have taken over La Liga (plus one on GD with Barca.) In the meantime, Barcelona has played a few impressive matches… but anyway.

Madrid’s season is on the line Saturday at the Bernabeu. If they can’t triumph en El Clasico against a tired and injured Barca squad, then really, what’s the point? Yes, they’ll still be in the hunt. But I don’t think you spend that kind of cash to maintain your place in the hunt. So enjoy the five-hole Madridistas, and hope Iker has his covered (lest he end up like Almunia after goal four.)

6 – BAYERN MUNICH (6.64)

Ahh, those typical Germans. But wait. What is that was so typical about Bayern’s performance at Old Trafford Wednesday? The high-scoring nature of the tie was one– the Bundesliga is routinely Europe’s best league for scoring goals. And then… then… hmmm… Bayern’s progression to the tournament’s semifinal is not typically German, at least not in the last few years. (To be fair, they’ve got to be the biggest mystery left in the CL. The Germans looked lost for large swaths of the United tie, but when they turn it on, when Ribery is on his game…Der Scheiza!)

Alas, I went and found the picture at the head of this post and noticed the very odd composition of this typically German exercise in referee intimidation. Yes, there’s Ribery, the Frenchman, and here comes Van Bommel, Dutch, and fine, there’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, but he’s an ugly mope, slight of build– hardly your typical German. Ferguson is low on cash-at-hand and positively bankrupt of ideas these days. Even his craggly sense of humor seems to have escaped… perhaps off to Spain with Ronaldo?

7 – ARSENAL (7)

How fantastic was Messi and Barca on Tuesday? This fantastic: I didn’t even care that it was Arsenal they were beating. Coulda been anyone. The show was just so good to watch that the opponent didn’t matter. Might as well have been the Washington Generals.

But about Arsenal. I may have chosen visceral delight over schadenfreude Tuesday, but the fact is Arsenal might have been the only team in Europe that could elicit such a display from the Catalans. No other team is so open and willing to run up and down and play ze beautiful football (though they made their share of cynical tackles as the wheels came off…)

That said, Arsenal was missing their two, three, or four most skilled and important players. So really, if they were ever going to get a result, there had to be a change in tactics. But that’s not what Arsene Wenger does. His teams will play his way– and it’s a fine way to play, they do quite well– the situation be damned. The problem though is that without any real muscle in the team, without any versatility in how the manager picks his XI, Arsenal are damned to lose– sometimes beautifully, sometimes at Stoke.

8 – LYON (7.27)

No Benzema, no problem yo! Finally, the French giants (hey, they won the league like 15 times in a row before last season) are into the nut of the tournament. And still neck and neck for another Ligue 1 banner. Granted, they only had to knock off a top-heavy and soon-to-be dismantled Bordeaux side to get their semifinal date with Bayern… but, well, they’ve done it and you need a bit of luck to get through these competitions.

Lyon are a team of true professionals, diverse and with goals coming from all about (eight players with at least a deuce.) It also helps to have that Hugo character between the pipes. It was Lloris who held steady as Bordeaux ran wild for parts of that second leg. If they’re to carry on, he’ll have to massive, even more so than his counterparts in Munich, Milan, and Catalunya.

9 – ROMA (7.28)

Need a reason to root for AS Roma? How bout tittays? No? Anyways… Roma are a good team to watch. For an Italian side, they actually push the play a bit. And now with the profligate but ultimately impressive Luca Toni at the head of the attack, they can score goals. I saw them fend off Udinese a couple weeks ago in a game my brother– who watches them for lack of options– pretty much sums up their approach: score a few, give up a few, score a few more. Lovely! Roma, in a fight for their first Scudetto in more than a decade, are your number nine.

10 – BORDEAUX (14.45)

Fifth-place in Ligue 1. Cast asunder of the Champions League at the hands of Lyon. Chamakh and Gourcuff on their way out. We (read: I) really should’ve waited another week to do this poll.

Honorable mention: Benfica, AC Milan, Tottenham (not me!), Bursaspor!