After Chelsea's somewhat surprising but certainly comprehasive defeat at home to Sunderland last weekend, the title race is 'wide open again'. Sure is. If Arsenal beat Spurs in today's lunchtime kick off, the Premier League will have a new leader for the first time since the opening afternoon. Man Utd face Wigan at home (a team that has not beaten them at 10 tries in the Premier League) coming off the back of a Great Escape against Aston Villa last week, and Wayne Rooney could see some action (on the pitch). Chelsea go on the road without Terry, Lampard and Essien to face a Birmingham team that held them to a 0-0 draw last season (the now departed Joe Hart had a large part to play in that result). Momentum appears to be shifting.
Losing John Terry for what could be an extended period (althought I suspect may only be a few weeks-especially since Alex has delayed what is presumably necessary surgery) will not help-he's not the best centre back in England, but he gives 100% and at least he knows the position-starting a game with 2 nominal full backs, one of which was playing on the wrong side of the centre, is not a recipe for a clean sheet. In addition, Chelsea lack impact players on the bench-Kalou aside, you don't expect to see goals from Sturridge, Kakuta or McEachran. On last weekend's evidence, Chelsea looked to have taken the wrong Danny from Manchester-Welbeck looks a much better prospect than Sturridge.
Looking ahead for each of the Top 3 is interesting:
Chelsea
20/11 A v Birmingham
28/11 A v Newcastle
4/12 H v Everton
12/12 A v Spurs
Prediction 5 points from 12
Arsenal
20/11 H v Spurs
27/11 A v Villa
4/12 H v Fulham
13/12 A v Man Utd
Prediction 7 points from 12
Man Utd
20/11 H v Wigan
27/11 H v Blackburn
4/12 A v Blackpool
13/12 H v Arsenal
Prediction 12 points from 12
If I'm right, by xmas the table will be
Man Utd 37 points
Chelsea 33 points
Arsenal 33 points (trailing by a few goals)
Italian managers really got people's goat on Wednesday night. Fabio Capello played Steven Gerrard for longer than he agreed with Liverpool in England's friendly over France, and Gerrard ended up aggrevating a hamstring injury and will miss a few weeks. 'Il Trap' decided that a meaningless home friendly against Norway was not the time to give a debut to Seamus Coleman, who is perhaps Ireland's outstanding/in form player in the Premier League at the moment. What exactly anyone was to learn from watching Aiden McGeady for 20 minutes at the end of the game is beyond me, and much of the Irish support as well I would think. The old Italian man is living off 60 minutes of football against a wretched French team and a reputation forged long ago in European club football (his record with Italy-a 2nd round exit on the 2002 World Cup to South Korea and a dismal Euro 2004).
And on a more sombre note....on my way to work on Wednesday morning I was listening to Des Cahill reading the sports news on RTE Radio 1. Des was singing the praises of the Munster rugby team, who had beaten the Aussies the night before. 'Thank God for Munster, they've lifted the mood in the province....' This after these stories were reported in the news the day before. Stay classy Des.
Friday 19 November 2010
Friday 12 November 2010
Warning-may contain inappropriate content
Well, at least I'm not writing this on my laptop at work, and I'm not actually going to rate anyone, just give my opinion, without pictures.
I always thought that Ray Wilkins was a dull enough individual to be honest, and dull is an apt description of what we have seen from league leaders Chelsea since I last posted. Since the Special One departed, I am alaways worried when Chelsea go a goal down-they are no longer a team that seems to be able to wrest momentum from the opposition. For much of the 2nd half last weekend, they bossed the game, but never really looked convincing to the point you could say that they deserved anything more than they got from the game. The difference in the end was a timely return to form for Fernando Torres-without his goals Liverpool will not amount to much. Fortunately for them, he is certainly showing signs of life of late, and it's hard to believe that this team was in the bottom 3 around a month ago.
For Chelsea, Michael Essien was both hero and villan during the week. A crucial goal, and then an ill-judged (and potentially dangerous) lunge at Clint Dempsey deep in injury time, means that Chelsea will now be without both him and Frank Lampard for at least the next 3 Premier League games (home to Sunderland, away to Birmingham and Newcastle), at a time when they are struggling to score goals (5 in the last 5 domestic games, after starting with 21 in their first 5). Of course, the opposition has been better in some cases, but all through those 6-0 victories, Chelsea never convinced me that they were going to run away with the Premier League this year. A case of "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" I guess.
Man Utd had cut Chelsea's lead to 1 point before their stalemate at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday night, and that was without the recuperating Wayne Rooney, who, you have to believe, will come back from the US with a vengance in time for the glut of fixtures over the festive period. At the moment, I'm watching them struggle against Villa, but they are very much still in the game, and Villa are missing some key players, especially in the middle. Remember, Chelsea were held here not so long ago, it will be interesting to see if Utd can better that result.
Arsenal, shorn of their better players through injury much of the time, appear too inconsistent to mount a season long challenge, and this weekend face perhaps the toughest test of the Top 4 with a trip to Everton, who, like their Merseyside rivals, have begun to get things going. History is on Arsenal's side; they are unbeaten in the last 6 games at Goodison and won the corresponding fixture 6-1 last season. Still, I don't have much faith in a centre back pairing of Djourou and Squillaci doesn't augur well in an away game. Arsenal do have van Persie back in the frame, and can pair him with a striker in form in Marouane Chamakh.
Elsehere in the league, Spurs may be winning plaudits for their exploits in Europe, but conceding 4 to Bolton isn't likely to help should they wish to play in next season's Champions League. Rafael van der Vaart certainly looks worth every penny of the reported £8m transfer fee, and Roman Pavlyuchenko is beginning to show more and more flashes of class. However, at the back, they are a mess and this will be their downfall. Also, at home to Inter Milan, they showed the usual British shortcomings-they cannot keep the ball, their only have 'attack' and 'defend' modes, with little control exhibited in between.
Ian Holloway had a good old rant during the week (on whether the Premier League would fine him for making 10 changes to his lineup for a midweek game away to Villa, fielding a nominally weaker team), I have to say I probably agree with him, he's the manager, and a 3-2 defeat doesn't smack of a team that wasn't in a postion to get something from the game. Good for you Ian, let's hope the LMA come out and support you.
I always thought that Ray Wilkins was a dull enough individual to be honest, and dull is an apt description of what we have seen from league leaders Chelsea since I last posted. Since the Special One departed, I am alaways worried when Chelsea go a goal down-they are no longer a team that seems to be able to wrest momentum from the opposition. For much of the 2nd half last weekend, they bossed the game, but never really looked convincing to the point you could say that they deserved anything more than they got from the game. The difference in the end was a timely return to form for Fernando Torres-without his goals Liverpool will not amount to much. Fortunately for them, he is certainly showing signs of life of late, and it's hard to believe that this team was in the bottom 3 around a month ago.
For Chelsea, Michael Essien was both hero and villan during the week. A crucial goal, and then an ill-judged (and potentially dangerous) lunge at Clint Dempsey deep in injury time, means that Chelsea will now be without both him and Frank Lampard for at least the next 3 Premier League games (home to Sunderland, away to Birmingham and Newcastle), at a time when they are struggling to score goals (5 in the last 5 domestic games, after starting with 21 in their first 5). Of course, the opposition has been better in some cases, but all through those 6-0 victories, Chelsea never convinced me that they were going to run away with the Premier League this year. A case of "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" I guess.
Man Utd had cut Chelsea's lead to 1 point before their stalemate at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday night, and that was without the recuperating Wayne Rooney, who, you have to believe, will come back from the US with a vengance in time for the glut of fixtures over the festive period. At the moment, I'm watching them struggle against Villa, but they are very much still in the game, and Villa are missing some key players, especially in the middle. Remember, Chelsea were held here not so long ago, it will be interesting to see if Utd can better that result.
Arsenal, shorn of their better players through injury much of the time, appear too inconsistent to mount a season long challenge, and this weekend face perhaps the toughest test of the Top 4 with a trip to Everton, who, like their Merseyside rivals, have begun to get things going. History is on Arsenal's side; they are unbeaten in the last 6 games at Goodison and won the corresponding fixture 6-1 last season. Still, I don't have much faith in a centre back pairing of Djourou and Squillaci doesn't augur well in an away game. Arsenal do have van Persie back in the frame, and can pair him with a striker in form in Marouane Chamakh.
Elsehere in the league, Spurs may be winning plaudits for their exploits in Europe, but conceding 4 to Bolton isn't likely to help should they wish to play in next season's Champions League. Rafael van der Vaart certainly looks worth every penny of the reported £8m transfer fee, and Roman Pavlyuchenko is beginning to show more and more flashes of class. However, at the back, they are a mess and this will be their downfall. Also, at home to Inter Milan, they showed the usual British shortcomings-they cannot keep the ball, their only have 'attack' and 'defend' modes, with little control exhibited in between.
Ian Holloway had a good old rant during the week (on whether the Premier League would fine him for making 10 changes to his lineup for a midweek game away to Villa, fielding a nominally weaker team), I have to say I probably agree with him, he's the manager, and a 3-2 defeat doesn't smack of a team that wasn't in a postion to get something from the game. Good for you Ian, let's hope the LMA come out and support you.
Sunday 3 October 2010
A chance to make a statement
This should be an interesting game. Both teams are coming off Premier League defeats, Chelsea having failed their first true test of the season, and Arsenal succumbing to West Brom at the Emirates. Arsenal have been impressive at times, but their record against Chelsea of late has been awful, losing the last 4 in a row and winning only twice in the last 17 meetings. Their team is not set up to beat Chelsea, who have much more power and a more settled first XI. Add to that uncertainty at the goalkeeper position and a glut of injuries and all signs point to a Chelsea win. What better way to get back on track after last weekend's defeat and Man Utd's failure to beat Sunderland yesterday.
Chelsea play without Lampard, but Arsenal will miss Fabergas more than Chelsea miss Lampard. Gilberto has been somewhat of a passenger in limited action so far, it will be interesting to see if he can make his mark this afternoon. Didier Drogba returns to the starting XI after missing the midweek game against Marseille through suspension, and being surprisingly substituted during last week's defeat at Man City. His record against Arsenal is tremendous-12 goals in 10 games. He could be the difference this afternoon, on the back of a dominant midfield platform built by the dyanamic Essien and the impressive Mikel, who has surprised me this season as I haven't been his biggest fan. Look for Anelka to shine against a wobbly Clichy as well.
Chelsea to win, 3-1 perhaps.
Chelsea play without Lampard, but Arsenal will miss Fabergas more than Chelsea miss Lampard. Gilberto has been somewhat of a passenger in limited action so far, it will be interesting to see if he can make his mark this afternoon. Didier Drogba returns to the starting XI after missing the midweek game against Marseille through suspension, and being surprisingly substituted during last week's defeat at Man City. His record against Arsenal is tremendous-12 goals in 10 games. He could be the difference this afternoon, on the back of a dominant midfield platform built by the dyanamic Essien and the impressive Mikel, who has surprised me this season as I haven't been his biggest fan. Look for Anelka to shine against a wobbly Clichy as well.
Chelsea to win, 3-1 perhaps.
Monday 27 September 2010
Blue Moon rising, but the sky is not falling
So Chelsea have been defeated. I for one wasn't surprised-beating West Ham, Blackpool, West Brom and Wigan are hardly the test of champions, and I didn't see anything in those games to suggest that Chelsea were worthy of being crowned champions for 2010/11 at this point. Man City are strong in midfield, and took their goal very well. A draw or even a Chelsea win wouldn't have been an unfair reflection, but thanks to Joe Hart (double save from Ivanovic in the 1st half) and Carlos Tevez, City shaded Chelsea's first true test. For Chelsea, it was surprising to see Didier Drogba being substituted with the game far from over, and it's clear that Ramires is still getting used to life in the Premier League.
Luckily for Chelsea, Arsenal inexplicably lost at home to West Brom and Man Utd had to come from behind to save a point at Bolton, and so Chelsea still lead the chasing pack by 3 points and have a very healthy goal difference (12 better off than their nearest challengers).
Chelsea's next 2 games will give them the chance to show their mettle-away to Aston Villa and home to Arsenal offer the chance to get back on track, but won't be easy (Villa were the only team to take 6 points from Chelsea last season), and they will have to face both teams without Frank Lampard. Man Utd don't look like regaining form any time soon-but for the Ghost of Michael Owen, they would have lost yesterday-Bolton certainly looked the more likely winners for much of the 2nd half. Wayne Rooney's issues and absence aren't helping-but neither is leaking goals at a rate of over 1 per game-a record worse than nearly 50% of the other Premier League teams. Arsenal can make a real statement by beating Chelsea at the Emirates, but how likely is that given that the form of Manuel Almunia (I fully agree with George Graham's views here) and the potential absence of Fabergas and van Persie, not to mention Theo Walcott?
In other news, Spurs have already lost to both Wigan and West Ham (18th and 19th in the latest Premier League table), Liverpool will do well to match Fulham's record under Roy Hodgson last season, and Everton continue to struggle,finding themselves at the bottom of the table after the weekend's games. Early days for sure, but these putative Champions League place challengers have a lot of ground to make up on the current front runners.
Luckily for Chelsea, Arsenal inexplicably lost at home to West Brom and Man Utd had to come from behind to save a point at Bolton, and so Chelsea still lead the chasing pack by 3 points and have a very healthy goal difference (12 better off than their nearest challengers).
Chelsea's next 2 games will give them the chance to show their mettle-away to Aston Villa and home to Arsenal offer the chance to get back on track, but won't be easy (Villa were the only team to take 6 points from Chelsea last season), and they will have to face both teams without Frank Lampard. Man Utd don't look like regaining form any time soon-but for the Ghost of Michael Owen, they would have lost yesterday-Bolton certainly looked the more likely winners for much of the 2nd half. Wayne Rooney's issues and absence aren't helping-but neither is leaking goals at a rate of over 1 per game-a record worse than nearly 50% of the other Premier League teams. Arsenal can make a real statement by beating Chelsea at the Emirates, but how likely is that given that the form of Manuel Almunia (I fully agree with George Graham's views here) and the potential absence of Fabergas and van Persie, not to mention Theo Walcott?
In other news, Spurs have already lost to both Wigan and West Ham (18th and 19th in the latest Premier League table), Liverpool will do well to match Fulham's record under Roy Hodgson last season, and Everton continue to struggle,finding themselves at the bottom of the table after the weekend's games. Early days for sure, but these putative Champions League place challengers have a lot of ground to make up on the current front runners.
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Week 1 Review
It's never to early to have a recap, right?
Woeful Wigan
I didn't expect Wigan to combust this early, and certainly not at home to Blackpool, but this team looks doomed.
A Change is as Good as a Rest
Aston Villa looked rejuvenated under the watch of Kevin McDonald. Young players like Albrighton didn't look out of place. West Ham were poor and James Milner is gone, so Week 2 will be interesting. For West Ham, this could be a close run thing come May.
No Cesc? Big Problems
Arsenal were poor against a pretty solid Liverpool. Liverpool coped much better without Torres than Arsenal did without Fabregas. Only an uncharacteristic error by Reina and a moment of madness from Joe Cole spared Arsenal. Chamakh was a peripheral figure and the only good thing you could say was that he showed himself capable of 'scoring' the type of goal Arsenal don't score often enough. Winning ugly ain't easy, but it's necessary.
In with the Old, out with the Young
For a 2nd consecutive week, Paul Scholes looked like Man Utd's best player and Wayne Rooney looked as out of sorts as he did in the World Cup. Surely the better teams will find a way to stymie Scholes and then Rooney will need to step up. Time is on their side at this point.
Hit for 6
Ominously for the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea start where they left off-scoring lots of goals against weak opposition. The performance wasn't great (seriously), but the win was convincing. Wigan should be running scared.
Getting there
Ok, so if it wasn't for Joe Hart, Man City could have been 3-0 down at half-time. But they weren't, and the 2nd half performance against Spurs was much better. This team has too many good players in too many positions not to succeed at some point, the question is when? A point at Spurs is a good start.
Plastic Dreams
Ironic that the poor effort to keep out Bassong's header that gave Spurs any hope was down to one Scott Sutter.
Pavlyuchenko showed what he could do with the 2nd goal-he's a player that has much more to give than we have seen so far in my view.
In other news
It looks like Real Madrid have landed Mesut Ozil-but surely they've picked the wrong Germans from the World Cup team-unless money is an object (and maybe it is?) I would have gone for Schweinsteiger and Muller over Khedira and Ozil myself. I thought Khedira was just ok in the World Cup (and might not have played at all were it not for the absence of Michael Ballack, among others), bar the 3rd place game maybe, and Ozil was very hit and miss.
Shay Given will hopefully have a new club before August 31. I really like Joe Hart and don't have a problem with him being 1st choice at Man City, but Shay is still too good a keeper not to be starting somewhere, and why not Arsenal? His perceived lack of command in the box coupled with Arsenal' lack of height at the back might not be a good fit.
Woeful Wigan
I didn't expect Wigan to combust this early, and certainly not at home to Blackpool, but this team looks doomed.
A Change is as Good as a Rest
Aston Villa looked rejuvenated under the watch of Kevin McDonald. Young players like Albrighton didn't look out of place. West Ham were poor and James Milner is gone, so Week 2 will be interesting. For West Ham, this could be a close run thing come May.
No Cesc? Big Problems
Arsenal were poor against a pretty solid Liverpool. Liverpool coped much better without Torres than Arsenal did without Fabregas. Only an uncharacteristic error by Reina and a moment of madness from Joe Cole spared Arsenal. Chamakh was a peripheral figure and the only good thing you could say was that he showed himself capable of 'scoring' the type of goal Arsenal don't score often enough. Winning ugly ain't easy, but it's necessary.
In with the Old, out with the Young
For a 2nd consecutive week, Paul Scholes looked like Man Utd's best player and Wayne Rooney looked as out of sorts as he did in the World Cup. Surely the better teams will find a way to stymie Scholes and then Rooney will need to step up. Time is on their side at this point.
Hit for 6
Ominously for the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea start where they left off-scoring lots of goals against weak opposition. The performance wasn't great (seriously), but the win was convincing. Wigan should be running scared.
Getting there
Ok, so if it wasn't for Joe Hart, Man City could have been 3-0 down at half-time. But they weren't, and the 2nd half performance against Spurs was much better. This team has too many good players in too many positions not to succeed at some point, the question is when? A point at Spurs is a good start.
Plastic Dreams
Ironic that the poor effort to keep out Bassong's header that gave Spurs any hope was down to one Scott Sutter.
Pavlyuchenko showed what he could do with the 2nd goal-he's a player that has much more to give than we have seen so far in my view.
In other news
It looks like Real Madrid have landed Mesut Ozil-but surely they've picked the wrong Germans from the World Cup team-unless money is an object (and maybe it is?) I would have gone for Schweinsteiger and Muller over Khedira and Ozil myself. I thought Khedira was just ok in the World Cup (and might not have played at all were it not for the absence of Michael Ballack, among others), bar the 3rd place game maybe, and Ozil was very hit and miss.
Shay Given will hopefully have a new club before August 31. I really like Joe Hart and don't have a problem with him being 1st choice at Man City, but Shay is still too good a keeper not to be starting somewhere, and why not Arsenal? His perceived lack of command in the box coupled with Arsenal' lack of height at the back might not be a good fit.
Thursday 12 August 2010
Predictions eh?
So after a relatively mundane World Cup, we had what seemed to be one of the quietest and less interesting off seasons in recent memory (Word Cup aside, I seem to recall saying something similar at this time last year...). So here we go, a few lines on each of the 20 Premier League teams, in the order I expect them to finish.
1. Man Utd
Wayne Rooney should have plenty left in the tank after the World Cup, and Javier Hernandez looks a live-wire, as well as possessing enough talent to score the type of goal we saw in the Community Shield last weekend, so Utd should once again score plenty of goals. There's also a chance that the languid Bulgarian could come alive but that would be stretching things I suppose. Utd should have plenty of motivation this year, and still look like the most dangerous team on the attack in the Premier League. As Chelsea showed last year, loads of goals can make up for deficiencies in other areas of the pitch.
2. Arsenal
Arsenal strengthened their team where they were weak (centre back and centre forward) and perhaps now only a decent goalkeeper stands between Arsene and some silverware. Shay Given would do the job (but why now and not 2 years ago?), but I don't realy know enough about Laurent Koscielny or Marouane Chamakh to say how they will adapt to an away game at Bolton or the attentions of Ryan Shawcross. And, as Alan Smith says, 'who will mark Drogba?' Still, Fabergas is still here and is fit starting the season, and Aaron Ramsey could be back before Christmas. Plenty for the Gunners fans to look forward to in the year ahead.
3. Chelsea
Ramires could be very good, and there is no Afrcian Nations Cup this year, so why do Chelsea drop 2 places? Last season, they relied on other teams failures as much as their own strenghths to win the title. I see a small drop off in their own form and a slight uptick in those of Man Utd and Arsenal leaving Chelsea just off the pace this season. John Terry and Petr Cech especially seemed to have regressed from the Mourinho years, and Ashley Cole doesn't seem to want to play in, let alone for, England these days. Most of the squad is free of serious injury at the outset, and the importance of the return of Michael Essien cannot be understated, so a hot start (their first 5 games should be considered very winnable) could change my mind, but for now, the glass is half empty. The pressure to win the Champions League could also impact the title run in (assuming Chelsea make it past the group stage).
4. Liverpool
Roy Hodgson restores some pride on the red half of Merseyside, and a potential takeover could provide funds to strengthen the XI, either now or during January. This prediction is only valid as long as Fernando Torres reverts to the 2009 edition and not the sorry sight we saw during the World Cup.
5. Man City
David Silva. Yaya Toure. Jerome Boateng. Mario Balotelli. James Milner. Some Serbian guy. Yes, half a team arrived at the Middle Eastlands this summer as Man City keep on keeping on. How will all these new arrivals blend with a team that was good enough to finish within 3 points of Champions League football last year? Maybe not this year, but soon, Man City are likely to get there, just as Chelsea did before them. What they don't have is a manager of the pedigree of Jose Mourinho, who had a lot to do with Chelsea's recent success.
6. Everton
It's hard not to like what David Moyes has done at Goodison. A solid team, with a lot of nice players. Hopefully Donegal's own Seamus Coleman makes the right back spot his own this season. Jermaine Beckford gets the chance to prove himself at a higher level than League 1.
7. Spurs
All this talk of signing William Gallas should worry Spurs fans. Another team that has pretty much stood pat this summer, with Brazilian Sandro that only signing of note.
8. Stoke City
Signing Kenwyne Jones for £8m is a statement of intent-and Stoke are well placed to consolidate last years 11th place finish. One of the most fervent home crowds and a positive style of play make them one of the best of the rest.
9. Sunderland
Can Darren Bent repeat last season's scoring feat? If he can, Sunderland could improve on last season's 13th place-which came about largely as a result of 14 consecutive matches without a win. Manager Steve Bruce has made some good moves in both the transfer and loan markets.
10. Aston Villa
A bad start before a ball is even kicked. I'm not Martin O'Neill's biggest fan, but he brought a fair bit of solidity to Villa. I can understand his frustration at a lack of signings, but look around the league and many other teams have stood pat this summer as well. As for losing James Milner, well, if someone offered me £18m and Stephen Ireland, I'd probably take it (even though a little less money and Craig Bellany thrown into the package might have made it more appealing...). Villa will regress, and barely fend off the Brummies for the right to call themselves Birmingham's first team in 2011.
11. Birmingham
Losing Joe Hart will hurt, but Ben Foster is probably going to turn out to be a decent keeper, once he gets regular playing time. Birmingham had the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League, but managed and average of only 1 goal a game at home. Nicola Zigic will need to hit the ground running for Alex McLeish's side this season, or Birmingham may struggle to stay on the top half. I'm not really sure what to expect from them this time round.
12. Blackburn
Unless he's coaching Newcastle, Sam Allardyce's teams have tended to be pretty solid. Phil Jones looks like a decent centre half and the supporting cast looks pretty solid, but Nikola Kalinic will need to up his scoring rate, otherwise Blackburn could struggle.
13. Newcastle
Let's be honest, Newcastle probably belong in the Premier League. However, they are in arguably the most competitive tier, i.e. those that find themsleves fighting to stay out of the relegation zones for much of the season.
14. Bolton
Owen Coyle looks like he made the right move in leaving Burnley for Bolton earlier this year. Ivan Klasnic is now on board full-time and has a record of 1 goal in 3 wherever he has played, which isn't bad.
15. Fulham
A good manager and the same sqaud as last season-so why not a higher league position this time round? I don't know, I just don't trust London clubs.
16. West Ham
West Ham will rely heavily in Scott Parker again this season. Avram Grant gets a crack at managing in the Premier League with less expectation than he faced at Chelsea and much less pressure (or an impending sense of doom) than he faced at Portsmouth last season.
17. Wolves
I'm surprised that Mick McCarthy's bunch stayed up (with something to spare) last season. If they can do it once, they can do it once more.
18. Wigan
Just how many Caldwells should you field in a team? Wigan held on to Rodallega and N'Zogbia, so might stay up. But I doubt it, and, once this team goes down, I don't know if we'll see them in the Premier League for a long time.
19. West Brom
Brom goes up, Brom goes down. I'd like to see Roberto Di Matteo (and indeed Steven Reid) do well, but I can't see West Brom doing much better than this.
20. Blackpool
A fantastic achievement to reach the Premier League, and that's probably as good as it gets, bar a few tasty Ian Holloway soundbites.
1. Man Utd
Wayne Rooney should have plenty left in the tank after the World Cup, and Javier Hernandez looks a live-wire, as well as possessing enough talent to score the type of goal we saw in the Community Shield last weekend, so Utd should once again score plenty of goals. There's also a chance that the languid Bulgarian could come alive but that would be stretching things I suppose. Utd should have plenty of motivation this year, and still look like the most dangerous team on the attack in the Premier League. As Chelsea showed last year, loads of goals can make up for deficiencies in other areas of the pitch.
2. Arsenal
Arsenal strengthened their team where they were weak (centre back and centre forward) and perhaps now only a decent goalkeeper stands between Arsene and some silverware. Shay Given would do the job (but why now and not 2 years ago?), but I don't realy know enough about Laurent Koscielny or Marouane Chamakh to say how they will adapt to an away game at Bolton or the attentions of Ryan Shawcross. And, as Alan Smith says, 'who will mark Drogba?' Still, Fabergas is still here and is fit starting the season, and Aaron Ramsey could be back before Christmas. Plenty for the Gunners fans to look forward to in the year ahead.
3. Chelsea
Ramires could be very good, and there is no Afrcian Nations Cup this year, so why do Chelsea drop 2 places? Last season, they relied on other teams failures as much as their own strenghths to win the title. I see a small drop off in their own form and a slight uptick in those of Man Utd and Arsenal leaving Chelsea just off the pace this season. John Terry and Petr Cech especially seemed to have regressed from the Mourinho years, and Ashley Cole doesn't seem to want to play in, let alone for, England these days. Most of the squad is free of serious injury at the outset, and the importance of the return of Michael Essien cannot be understated, so a hot start (their first 5 games should be considered very winnable) could change my mind, but for now, the glass is half empty. The pressure to win the Champions League could also impact the title run in (assuming Chelsea make it past the group stage).
4. Liverpool
Roy Hodgson restores some pride on the red half of Merseyside, and a potential takeover could provide funds to strengthen the XI, either now or during January. This prediction is only valid as long as Fernando Torres reverts to the 2009 edition and not the sorry sight we saw during the World Cup.
5. Man City
David Silva. Yaya Toure. Jerome Boateng. Mario Balotelli. James Milner. Some Serbian guy. Yes, half a team arrived at the Middle Eastlands this summer as Man City keep on keeping on. How will all these new arrivals blend with a team that was good enough to finish within 3 points of Champions League football last year? Maybe not this year, but soon, Man City are likely to get there, just as Chelsea did before them. What they don't have is a manager of the pedigree of Jose Mourinho, who had a lot to do with Chelsea's recent success.
6. Everton
It's hard not to like what David Moyes has done at Goodison. A solid team, with a lot of nice players. Hopefully Donegal's own Seamus Coleman makes the right back spot his own this season. Jermaine Beckford gets the chance to prove himself at a higher level than League 1.
7. Spurs
All this talk of signing William Gallas should worry Spurs fans. Another team that has pretty much stood pat this summer, with Brazilian Sandro that only signing of note.
8. Stoke City
Signing Kenwyne Jones for £8m is a statement of intent-and Stoke are well placed to consolidate last years 11th place finish. One of the most fervent home crowds and a positive style of play make them one of the best of the rest.
9. Sunderland
Can Darren Bent repeat last season's scoring feat? If he can, Sunderland could improve on last season's 13th place-which came about largely as a result of 14 consecutive matches without a win. Manager Steve Bruce has made some good moves in both the transfer and loan markets.
10. Aston Villa
A bad start before a ball is even kicked. I'm not Martin O'Neill's biggest fan, but he brought a fair bit of solidity to Villa. I can understand his frustration at a lack of signings, but look around the league and many other teams have stood pat this summer as well. As for losing James Milner, well, if someone offered me £18m and Stephen Ireland, I'd probably take it (even though a little less money and Craig Bellany thrown into the package might have made it more appealing...). Villa will regress, and barely fend off the Brummies for the right to call themselves Birmingham's first team in 2011.
11. Birmingham
Losing Joe Hart will hurt, but Ben Foster is probably going to turn out to be a decent keeper, once he gets regular playing time. Birmingham had the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League, but managed and average of only 1 goal a game at home. Nicola Zigic will need to hit the ground running for Alex McLeish's side this season, or Birmingham may struggle to stay on the top half. I'm not really sure what to expect from them this time round.
12. Blackburn
Unless he's coaching Newcastle, Sam Allardyce's teams have tended to be pretty solid. Phil Jones looks like a decent centre half and the supporting cast looks pretty solid, but Nikola Kalinic will need to up his scoring rate, otherwise Blackburn could struggle.
13. Newcastle
Let's be honest, Newcastle probably belong in the Premier League. However, they are in arguably the most competitive tier, i.e. those that find themsleves fighting to stay out of the relegation zones for much of the season.
14. Bolton
Owen Coyle looks like he made the right move in leaving Burnley for Bolton earlier this year. Ivan Klasnic is now on board full-time and has a record of 1 goal in 3 wherever he has played, which isn't bad.
15. Fulham
A good manager and the same sqaud as last season-so why not a higher league position this time round? I don't know, I just don't trust London clubs.
16. West Ham
West Ham will rely heavily in Scott Parker again this season. Avram Grant gets a crack at managing in the Premier League with less expectation than he faced at Chelsea and much less pressure (or an impending sense of doom) than he faced at Portsmouth last season.
17. Wolves
I'm surprised that Mick McCarthy's bunch stayed up (with something to spare) last season. If they can do it once, they can do it once more.
18. Wigan
Just how many Caldwells should you field in a team? Wigan held on to Rodallega and N'Zogbia, so might stay up. But I doubt it, and, once this team goes down, I don't know if we'll see them in the Premier League for a long time.
19. West Brom
Brom goes up, Brom goes down. I'd like to see Roberto Di Matteo (and indeed Steven Reid) do well, but I can't see West Brom doing much better than this.
20. Blackpool
A fantastic achievement to reach the Premier League, and that's probably as good as it gets, bar a few tasty Ian Holloway soundbites.
Friday 9 July 2010
Football isn’t total without victory
Could this slogan sum up Sunday’s World Cup final any better? 2 sides that epitomise the beautiful game but have find success hard to come by in times past. Holland suffered defeat at the hands of Germany and then Argentina in the World Cup finals of 1974 and 1978 when they were arguably the best side in the world, perhaps one of the best of all time. Spain, built on the back of Barcelona’s recent domestic and European dominance, have never come so close as Holland to global glory, but have failed to deliver on the promise of their (at times) breathtaking countless occasions in the past decade-the 2008 European Championship was only their 2nd title (they have 1 more than Holland in that respect).
So are we seeing teams worthy of the World Cup Final on Sunday night? I think so. Spain took out both Germany and Portugal, while Holland beat my favourites Brazil in their quarter-final. Spain are reigning European champions-Holland have not lost a game in qualifying or in the World Cup proper. Germany was my favourite after the quarter-finals, but looked more like what I expected to see before the tournament began against Spain. At times, Brazil looked like they were ready to cut loose and destroy the Dutch-but after conceding early on, Holland hung tough, grabbed a fortunate equaliser, and then the Brazilians ran out of ideas and temperament. So, it’s hard to argue that either side shouldn’t be there-let’s hope they prove my point on Sunday night and give us the type of quality game that has been in short supply at this tournament.
On Wednesday night’s evidence, it was apparent to me that David Villa is a more effective player with someone to lead the line playing alongside him, allowing him the opportunities to attack from the wing. Well as Pedro played against Germany, and as impressive as his 20 odd goal tally for Barcelona was this past year, I feel that Torres should probably get the nod for the final. He still cuts a forlorn figure, but has the ability to keep centre backs occupied enough to ensure Villa has the opportunities to worry a suspect Dutch defence. I’ve expressed surprise at the decision of Del Bosque to start Torres and then sub him after 60 minutes for a midfielder (with the exception of Llorente coming on against Portugal), but then Spain don’t tend to set up like many teams-they seem to rely on overloading the midfield with ball players to fashion opportunities for 1-on-1s for a solitary front man or advanced midfield player taking a shot from the edge of the box. It will be a surprise if the coach changes much from the semi-final, where they gave their most impressive display of the tournament so far.
Holland is available at odds of nearly 3/1 for Sunday’s final, surprising in my opinion. They are in the final on merit, and should Spain revert to the low tempo approach that has characterised most of their play in this World Cup, Holland could very well atone for the shortcomings of their 1974 and 1978 predecessors-teams that played total football, but ultimately failed to complete the course. In Robben and Sneijder they have match winners who have stepped up to score goals in the World Cup and in the Champions League when counted on. Indeed, Sneijder could end up with the Golden Boot, thanks in part to FIFA’s decision to award him the 1st goal in their clash with Brazil. They have experience, they are well organised, and other than a minor tiff between Sneijder and van Persie, have been relatively settled, for a nation that seems to make a point of falling out publically at major tournaments. You can be sure van Bommel will make Xavi and Alonso feel his presence-it will be interesting to see how much leeway Howard Webb (yes, an Englishman in the Final!) in this regard-he has proven to be an expert at avoiding bookings so far in the tournament, despite his propensity to hack.
Prediction
Form is temporary, class is permanent. Spain have most of the class, and their form has been average, while Holland’s form has been excellent. Spain should add the World Cup to their European Championship crown on Sunday night. They may even score more than 1 goal in the process.
So are we seeing teams worthy of the World Cup Final on Sunday night? I think so. Spain took out both Germany and Portugal, while Holland beat my favourites Brazil in their quarter-final. Spain are reigning European champions-Holland have not lost a game in qualifying or in the World Cup proper. Germany was my favourite after the quarter-finals, but looked more like what I expected to see before the tournament began against Spain. At times, Brazil looked like they were ready to cut loose and destroy the Dutch-but after conceding early on, Holland hung tough, grabbed a fortunate equaliser, and then the Brazilians ran out of ideas and temperament. So, it’s hard to argue that either side shouldn’t be there-let’s hope they prove my point on Sunday night and give us the type of quality game that has been in short supply at this tournament.
On Wednesday night’s evidence, it was apparent to me that David Villa is a more effective player with someone to lead the line playing alongside him, allowing him the opportunities to attack from the wing. Well as Pedro played against Germany, and as impressive as his 20 odd goal tally for Barcelona was this past year, I feel that Torres should probably get the nod for the final. He still cuts a forlorn figure, but has the ability to keep centre backs occupied enough to ensure Villa has the opportunities to worry a suspect Dutch defence. I’ve expressed surprise at the decision of Del Bosque to start Torres and then sub him after 60 minutes for a midfielder (with the exception of Llorente coming on against Portugal), but then Spain don’t tend to set up like many teams-they seem to rely on overloading the midfield with ball players to fashion opportunities for 1-on-1s for a solitary front man or advanced midfield player taking a shot from the edge of the box. It will be a surprise if the coach changes much from the semi-final, where they gave their most impressive display of the tournament so far.
Holland is available at odds of nearly 3/1 for Sunday’s final, surprising in my opinion. They are in the final on merit, and should Spain revert to the low tempo approach that has characterised most of their play in this World Cup, Holland could very well atone for the shortcomings of their 1974 and 1978 predecessors-teams that played total football, but ultimately failed to complete the course. In Robben and Sneijder they have match winners who have stepped up to score goals in the World Cup and in the Champions League when counted on. Indeed, Sneijder could end up with the Golden Boot, thanks in part to FIFA’s decision to award him the 1st goal in their clash with Brazil. They have experience, they are well organised, and other than a minor tiff between Sneijder and van Persie, have been relatively settled, for a nation that seems to make a point of falling out publically at major tournaments. You can be sure van Bommel will make Xavi and Alonso feel his presence-it will be interesting to see how much leeway Howard Webb (yes, an Englishman in the Final!) in this regard-he has proven to be an expert at avoiding bookings so far in the tournament, despite his propensity to hack.
Prediction
Form is temporary, class is permanent. Spain have most of the class, and their form has been average, while Holland’s form has been excellent. Spain should add the World Cup to their European Championship crown on Sunday night. They may even score more than 1 goal in the process.
Wednesday 7 July 2010
Well, they deserved it.
So we have a Spain v Holland World Cup Final, and this means new champions at around 9.30 Irish time Sunday night. Spain passed Germany by in Durban on Wednesday night-literally. They certainly overdo it at times, but they held possession so well that the Germans didn’t have enough of the ball to fashion the chances for ace poacher Miroslav Klose, who, unless he scores in the 3rd place play-off on Saturday night, will likely fall just short of Ronaldo’s World Cup record of 15 goals.
There was still a lack of cutting edge to Spain’s play against the Germans-witness Pedro’s failure to score late in the 2nd half to kill the game-and 1 goal is cold comfort for me. Germany had their chances, but it took too long for Mesut Ozil to find his groove, and their naivety in defence that gave Carles Puyol the chance to power the Spanish into their first World Cup final was perhaps a sign that this was a tournament too soon for a pretty young team.
Too often in the first half, Spain passed their way into the ‘red zone’, only to find themselves crowded out by the generally well organised Germans, or failing to see a man in front, the ball holder was forced to go lateral, or backwards. But nearly always, possession was retained-seldom did the Germans have the chance to counter-attack as they had done to such devastating effect against both the English and the Argentinians in previous rounds (it’s worth remembering that Thomas Muller-a key component of that success-was suspended on Wednesday night).
In Sunday’s final, Spain will face one of the surprises of the tournament in a Dutch team that can make history by going through qualifying and the tournament itself with a perfect record. With a mixture of class (goals 1 and 3) and a bit of luck (goal 2), Holland disposed of Uruguay in the other semi-final. They haven’t set the world on fire with their football, but they are surprisingly solid and I’m sure most fans would trade the chance to play in their first World Cup final in over 30 years for the type of high scoring and exciting defeats Holland have tended to suffer in recent history. In Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder they have world class players, both of whom are well capable of finding the net. In Mark van Bommel, they have someone who appears to be a licensed thug, who seems to have an almost infinite allowance of kicks and cynical tackles before earning a yellow card.
There was still a lack of cutting edge to Spain’s play against the Germans-witness Pedro’s failure to score late in the 2nd half to kill the game-and 1 goal is cold comfort for me. Germany had their chances, but it took too long for Mesut Ozil to find his groove, and their naivety in defence that gave Carles Puyol the chance to power the Spanish into their first World Cup final was perhaps a sign that this was a tournament too soon for a pretty young team.
Too often in the first half, Spain passed their way into the ‘red zone’, only to find themselves crowded out by the generally well organised Germans, or failing to see a man in front, the ball holder was forced to go lateral, or backwards. But nearly always, possession was retained-seldom did the Germans have the chance to counter-attack as they had done to such devastating effect against both the English and the Argentinians in previous rounds (it’s worth remembering that Thomas Muller-a key component of that success-was suspended on Wednesday night).
In Sunday’s final, Spain will face one of the surprises of the tournament in a Dutch team that can make history by going through qualifying and the tournament itself with a perfect record. With a mixture of class (goals 1 and 3) and a bit of luck (goal 2), Holland disposed of Uruguay in the other semi-final. They haven’t set the world on fire with their football, but they are surprisingly solid and I’m sure most fans would trade the chance to play in their first World Cup final in over 30 years for the type of high scoring and exciting defeats Holland have tended to suffer in recent history. In Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder they have world class players, both of whom are well capable of finding the net. In Mark van Bommel, they have someone who appears to be a licensed thug, who seems to have an almost infinite allowance of kicks and cynical tackles before earning a yellow card.
Thursday 1 July 2010
World Cup Quarter Final Weekend
Holland take on Brazil in tomorrow’s first Quarter-Final at the 2010 World Cup. The names conjure up images of creative and attacking play-but what we have seen from Holland so far has been efficient, while Brazil have not yet scaled the heights of the likes of Pele and Co.
Despite his 4 goals, if Robert Vittek was truly world class, he would have taken either or both of the 2 great chances he had against the Dutch. If the game had gone to 1-1, it would have been interesting to see the reaction of the Dutch. As it was, a lack of concentration from Martin Skrtel and a moment of madness from ‘keeper Jan Mucha did for Slovakia as smart play from van Bronckhurst and Kuyt set up Sneijder for Holland’s second and effectively sealed the deal, Vittek’s penalty coming too late to matter. Holland advanced, one wonders if they can move on to the next level in football terms.
Brazil eased past Chile in their 2nd round game-a header from Juan-a ‘an English goal’ as described by ITV, opened the scoring early on, and Chile never really looked in at after that. Brazil have never looked in danger of losing a game so far, but haven’t always been convincing (witness a narrow victory over North Korea and a dull draw with Portugal-granted they were shorn of key players for that game through injury and suspension and had qualified anyway). Luis Fabiano has come up with the goals-I had questioned his temperament before the tournament. Their defence has been as impressive as any attacking qualities they have shown.
Let me digress for a minute....England’s international shortcomings were (cruelly) exposed against a ruthless German side. Players like Matthew Upson and Gareth Barry looked like they have no business playing football on the international stage-granted Upson was at least 4th choice at the centre back position, but surely Ledley King shouldn’t even be considered until he completes an injury-free season? What Fabio Capello is doing for his £5m odd salary is a mystery to me-a team should always be greater than the sum of its parts (see USA), but it could be argued that England are less a team than a collection of Premier League players. Surely it is Capello’s fault that this is the case? Thomas Muller looked a pretty ordinary player when I saw him in the Champions League (granted his nominal position was as a striker), but throughout the World Cup he has been excellent, especially on Saturday.
Interesting-Robinho, Elano and Gilberto Silva were deemed surplus to requirements of Premier League clubs and yet are lighting up the World Cup for Brazil. Arsenal play nice, but ultimately unsuccessful football in the Premier League, with a team staffed largely by non-English internationals. So, is it fair to say that what works in the Premier League will not translate to success on the international stage?
But, there are deeper issues at work. Other than Joe Cole (and this is a stretch), who in England’s squad would fit the role of a Messi, Sneijder, Kaka or Ozul? No matter whom the manager is for Euro 2012 and beyond, it’s hard to see what English born players are ready to step into such a role on the international stage.
The Germans face Argentina in what could be the tie of the round (I don’t honestly expect that Brazil v Holland will produce the game we would like to see)-neither side counts defence as a strength-and they produced 7 goals between them in their 2nd round ties. Maradona is doing a good job silencing the doubters-witness his decision to replace Gutierrez at right back and Veron in midfield for their 2nd round tie with Mexico. He certainly seems to enjoy himself on the sideline and doesn’t face the sort of pressure Dunga faces around the style of his team’s play. Gonzalo Higuan looks like the right choice up front given his 4 goals to date and Germany might struggle to contain both Messi and Tevez. Argentina should prevail, hopefully without the penalties and ugly scenes we witnessed 4 years ago.
Uruguay scraped through against South Korea, but based on the fact that they have the strikers, I fancy them to beat Ghana, who are solid but have trouble finding the net.
Spain came through their group and their 2nd round tie without always convincing. Their defence seems suspect enough and they suffer from the same ‘passing fatigue’ as the Barcelona team that provides the bulk of their side. The bright spark and match winner has been David Villa-a striker in awesome form. If only Fernando Torres could produce the sort of class we know he can Spain might not seem so fallible. They face a Paraguay side that have been miserly at the back so far-1 goal conceded, but even in Italy they have faced no-one in the class of the Spanish. 4 South American teams in the semi-finals? A long shot, but if there is to be one upset in the quarter-finals, I fancy Paraguay.
Despite his 4 goals, if Robert Vittek was truly world class, he would have taken either or both of the 2 great chances he had against the Dutch. If the game had gone to 1-1, it would have been interesting to see the reaction of the Dutch. As it was, a lack of concentration from Martin Skrtel and a moment of madness from ‘keeper Jan Mucha did for Slovakia as smart play from van Bronckhurst and Kuyt set up Sneijder for Holland’s second and effectively sealed the deal, Vittek’s penalty coming too late to matter. Holland advanced, one wonders if they can move on to the next level in football terms.
Brazil eased past Chile in their 2nd round game-a header from Juan-a ‘an English goal’ as described by ITV, opened the scoring early on, and Chile never really looked in at after that. Brazil have never looked in danger of losing a game so far, but haven’t always been convincing (witness a narrow victory over North Korea and a dull draw with Portugal-granted they were shorn of key players for that game through injury and suspension and had qualified anyway). Luis Fabiano has come up with the goals-I had questioned his temperament before the tournament. Their defence has been as impressive as any attacking qualities they have shown.
Let me digress for a minute....England’s international shortcomings were (cruelly) exposed against a ruthless German side. Players like Matthew Upson and Gareth Barry looked like they have no business playing football on the international stage-granted Upson was at least 4th choice at the centre back position, but surely Ledley King shouldn’t even be considered until he completes an injury-free season? What Fabio Capello is doing for his £5m odd salary is a mystery to me-a team should always be greater than the sum of its parts (see USA), but it could be argued that England are less a team than a collection of Premier League players. Surely it is Capello’s fault that this is the case? Thomas Muller looked a pretty ordinary player when I saw him in the Champions League (granted his nominal position was as a striker), but throughout the World Cup he has been excellent, especially on Saturday.
Interesting-Robinho, Elano and Gilberto Silva were deemed surplus to requirements of Premier League clubs and yet are lighting up the World Cup for Brazil. Arsenal play nice, but ultimately unsuccessful football in the Premier League, with a team staffed largely by non-English internationals. So, is it fair to say that what works in the Premier League will not translate to success on the international stage?
But, there are deeper issues at work. Other than Joe Cole (and this is a stretch), who in England’s squad would fit the role of a Messi, Sneijder, Kaka or Ozul? No matter whom the manager is for Euro 2012 and beyond, it’s hard to see what English born players are ready to step into such a role on the international stage.
The Germans face Argentina in what could be the tie of the round (I don’t honestly expect that Brazil v Holland will produce the game we would like to see)-neither side counts defence as a strength-and they produced 7 goals between them in their 2nd round ties. Maradona is doing a good job silencing the doubters-witness his decision to replace Gutierrez at right back and Veron in midfield for their 2nd round tie with Mexico. He certainly seems to enjoy himself on the sideline and doesn’t face the sort of pressure Dunga faces around the style of his team’s play. Gonzalo Higuan looks like the right choice up front given his 4 goals to date and Germany might struggle to contain both Messi and Tevez. Argentina should prevail, hopefully without the penalties and ugly scenes we witnessed 4 years ago.
Uruguay scraped through against South Korea, but based on the fact that they have the strikers, I fancy them to beat Ghana, who are solid but have trouble finding the net.
Spain came through their group and their 2nd round tie without always convincing. Their defence seems suspect enough and they suffer from the same ‘passing fatigue’ as the Barcelona team that provides the bulk of their side. The bright spark and match winner has been David Villa-a striker in awesome form. If only Fernando Torres could produce the sort of class we know he can Spain might not seem so fallible. They face a Paraguay side that have been miserly at the back so far-1 goal conceded, but even in Italy they have faced no-one in the class of the Spanish. 4 South American teams in the semi-finals? A long shot, but if there is to be one upset in the quarter-finals, I fancy Paraguay.
Thursday 17 June 2010
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Fortune may favour the brave...or so we hope
This afternoon saw the first round of group games in World Cup 2010 draw to a close with Switzerland upsetting many people's favourites Spain. Hopefully this is the result that spurs underdogs to give it a go, and favourites to play more like favourites.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Thursday 10 June 2010
Olé, Olé, Olé...oh wait
That doesn't look like Ireland playing Uruguay tomorrow night! Of course its not, it's France with arch-cheat Thierry Henry warming the bench! Oh well, World Cup 2010 kicks off in Soccer City tomorrow afternoon regardless. I'll be watching of course, more in hope than expectation of a good tournament-recent experience would suggest that the standard has fallen and that negative play will win the day. Add to the fact that an ever growing list of stars look like they will miss some (Arjen Robben) or all (Michael Essien) of the tournament
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
Friday 14 May 2010
The countdown begins
And so it was confirmed-Chelsea are Premier League Champions for 2009-10. Not much drama in the end, Drogba's histrionics aside, but I'll not complain. Chelsea probably deserving champions, if even for their record against the rest of the Big 4* (*I guess Sky Sports don't consider Spurs as part of the Big 4 and I would have to agree with them!), where they finished 6 from 6. Their victories over Arsenal home and away were certainly convincing enough, but last month's victory at Old Trafford was far from perfect, and, until Steven Gerrard decided to play in Didier Drogba to gift Chelsea the lead after 20 largely unconvincing minutes, they didn't look great against Liverpool 2 weeks ago (their play in the final third has been awful at times this season). Still, aside from a loss to Wigan (who would have thought after watching Sunday's game?), any of their defeats were generally against 'quality' opposition, so they were as deserving as anyone else. The fact that they scored over 100 goals in the process did their case no harm either. Where the Premier League title mind end up next year is a discussion to leave for another day-all contenders have plenty of question marks hanging over them for 2010-11.
During the week, we have several 'preliminary' World Cup 2010 squads named. And, no shortage of surprises (from where I'm sitting). Who would have thought that Argentina would feature 2 Newcastle players but cannot find room for either Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambassio from Champions League finalists Inter Milan? Who would have thought that Kaka would be preferred to Ronaldinho (if we look at form)? France don't include Karim Benzema but have Andre Pierre Gignanc? And so on. For now, let's assume my predictions made (elsewhere) on Monday hold true-Spain are dumped out early and we have a Brazil v Italy final, with Brazil prevailing. Not much imagination on my part, but I'm only going on what I've seen and read.
Chelsea go against the hapless Portsmouth in tomorrow's FA Cup Final. If there's one team and manager I wouldn't mind losing to it's Portsmouth and Avram Grant. Let's hope for an exciting encounter, but if I'm honest, anything better than 2/1 on Chelsea at -3 is generous...
During the week, we have several 'preliminary' World Cup 2010 squads named. And, no shortage of surprises (from where I'm sitting). Who would have thought that Argentina would feature 2 Newcastle players but cannot find room for either Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambassio from Champions League finalists Inter Milan? Who would have thought that Kaka would be preferred to Ronaldinho (if we look at form)? France don't include Karim Benzema but have Andre Pierre Gignanc? And so on. For now, let's assume my predictions made (elsewhere) on Monday hold true-Spain are dumped out early and we have a Brazil v Italy final, with Brazil prevailing. Not much imagination on my part, but I'm only going on what I've seen and read.
Chelsea go against the hapless Portsmouth in tomorrow's FA Cup Final. If there's one team and manager I wouldn't mind losing to it's Portsmouth and Avram Grant. Let's hope for an exciting encounter, but if I'm honest, anything better than 2/1 on Chelsea at -3 is generous...
Thursday 6 May 2010
And now, the end is near
So it's been a whole 2 months since I last posted. Laziness and volcanic ash are to blame I guess. Plus a lack of material. Well, not really.
The last time I was composing a post for this blog, I was going with the theme that Chelsea were going nowhere and I'd like to see them break up the team and start from scratch. Now, it looks as if they will win the Premier League, despite my misgivings back in March and a schizophrenic series of results along the way, Chelsea only need to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to deny Man Utd a historic 4th in a row and record breaking 19th English league title. Thanks to Steven Gerrard's errant pass last weekend, Chelsea are in the driving seat-surely they will be able to overcome a Wigan side that beat them 3-1 earlier in the season? The bookies make them 9-1 on, which I would say is about right. Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan have been making all the right noises this week about Wigan giving it the full gun, and I believe they will, but surely Chelsea will be able to put together 90 minutes from the 1st minute to reclaim the league crown after what has been a poor Premier League seasons all round.
All 3 English clubs have since exited the Champions League, as have Barcelona, and we are left with a final featuring 2 former sons of Stamford Bridge set to play key roles for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Chelsea and Arsenal can have no complaints, Man Utd can feel somewhat unlucky to go out on away goals with Wayne Rooney not being fit enough to play a full part in their defeat to Bayern Munich. Barcelona finally met their match in a dogged and well drilled Inter Milan team, who managed to withstand the Catalans despite being a player down for over 60 minutes at the Nou Camp.
The Champions League final is scheduled to kick-off on May 22 around 45 minutes after the European Rugby Cup champions are crowned. No Irish representation this year, as Toulouse take on Biarritz. Last weekend saw Leinster bow out during an exciting 2nd half in the rain, while Munster went out without a whimper in sunny San Sebastian. Home advantage and injuries had a large bearing on both games I'm sure, but both teams rode their luck at stages this year (Munster in their final pool game with Northampton and Leinster in the quarter-final with Clermont Auvergne. Let's hope both sides rebound for 2011.
The last time I was composing a post for this blog, I was going with the theme that Chelsea were going nowhere and I'd like to see them break up the team and start from scratch. Now, it looks as if they will win the Premier League, despite my misgivings back in March and a schizophrenic series of results along the way, Chelsea only need to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to deny Man Utd a historic 4th in a row and record breaking 19th English league title. Thanks to Steven Gerrard's errant pass last weekend, Chelsea are in the driving seat-surely they will be able to overcome a Wigan side that beat them 3-1 earlier in the season? The bookies make them 9-1 on, which I would say is about right. Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan have been making all the right noises this week about Wigan giving it the full gun, and I believe they will, but surely Chelsea will be able to put together 90 minutes from the 1st minute to reclaim the league crown after what has been a poor Premier League seasons all round.
All 3 English clubs have since exited the Champions League, as have Barcelona, and we are left with a final featuring 2 former sons of Stamford Bridge set to play key roles for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Chelsea and Arsenal can have no complaints, Man Utd can feel somewhat unlucky to go out on away goals with Wayne Rooney not being fit enough to play a full part in their defeat to Bayern Munich. Barcelona finally met their match in a dogged and well drilled Inter Milan team, who managed to withstand the Catalans despite being a player down for over 60 minutes at the Nou Camp.
The Champions League final is scheduled to kick-off on May 22 around 45 minutes after the European Rugby Cup champions are crowned. No Irish representation this year, as Toulouse take on Biarritz. Last weekend saw Leinster bow out during an exciting 2nd half in the rain, while Munster went out without a whimper in sunny San Sebastian. Home advantage and injuries had a large bearing on both games I'm sure, but both teams rode their luck at stages this year (Munster in their final pool game with Northampton and Leinster in the quarter-final with Clermont Auvergne. Let's hope both sides rebound for 2011.
Friday 5 March 2010
One way or another, Manchester will deny Chelsea the title this season
4-2? At home? To Man City? Really? Yes, it was that bad. Chelsea succumed to a team that had failed to win any of their other games this season against the putative top 4. After taking a (deserved) lead late in the 1st half, indecision and incompetence allowed Man City to equalise and it all went downhill from there. Jon Obi Mikel is clearly not good enough to play a key role in a championship contending team, and to me, John Terry no longer instils a sense of confidence in the rest of the team. Mikel's replacement, the ageing Beletti, also showed his lack of quality in earning himself a red card in conceding a penalty that made the score 3-1 (although, it begs the question, what was the difference between Beletti's offense and that committed by Walter Samuel in the San Siro earlier that week?).
If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, it is going to require what would appear to be a flawless 2 months on the run-in. You can argue the point, but I think that it's fair to say that with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and a visit from Aston Villa that they have a pretty tough run-in. And they must do it without both 1st choice full backs after Jose Bosingwa joined Ashley Cole on the 'out for the season' list earlier this week. I'm pretty sure Zhirkov will be an excellent replacement if he can stay fit, and Ivanovic has shown he has decent attacking abilities (see his run in the San Siro),so maybe they will be ok. Time will tell, but Michael Owen's loss could be a factor in determining whether or not the title returns to London-I don't believe that Wayne Rooney's run of goalscoring from can run all the way to the end of the season, and Dimitar Berbetov hasn't shown that he is ready or willing to pick up the slack. But, let us not forget that there is always the chance another Fedrico Macheda will surface (Mame Diouf?)
The other London team were hit with yet another broken leg last weekend. Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas were understandably upset after the game, but I thought their comments were out of order. Still, when I saw Liam Fox of Burnley (who escaped with merely a talking to) dive 2 footed at Theo Walcott (who was lucky to avoid injury) earlier today, I wonder if maybe they have a point.
The long and ridiculous saga at Fratton Park appears to be drawing to a sadly inevitable close with administration, the loss of 9 points and almost certain relegation assured. This sort of scenario isn't unusual in the lower leagues or the League of Ireland, and I'm not surprised it has happened in the Premier League, but it's not something you want to see in the putative 'best league in the world'.
If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, it is going to require what would appear to be a flawless 2 months on the run-in. You can argue the point, but I think that it's fair to say that with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and a visit from Aston Villa that they have a pretty tough run-in. And they must do it without both 1st choice full backs after Jose Bosingwa joined Ashley Cole on the 'out for the season' list earlier this week. I'm pretty sure Zhirkov will be an excellent replacement if he can stay fit, and Ivanovic has shown he has decent attacking abilities (see his run in the San Siro),so maybe they will be ok. Time will tell, but Michael Owen's loss could be a factor in determining whether or not the title returns to London-I don't believe that Wayne Rooney's run of goalscoring from can run all the way to the end of the season, and Dimitar Berbetov hasn't shown that he is ready or willing to pick up the slack. But, let us not forget that there is always the chance another Fedrico Macheda will surface (Mame Diouf?)
The other London team were hit with yet another broken leg last weekend. Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas were understandably upset after the game, but I thought their comments were out of order. Still, when I saw Liam Fox of Burnley (who escaped with merely a talking to) dive 2 footed at Theo Walcott (who was lucky to avoid injury) earlier today, I wonder if maybe they have a point.
The long and ridiculous saga at Fratton Park appears to be drawing to a sadly inevitable close with administration, the loss of 9 points and almost certain relegation assured. This sort of scenario isn't unusual in the lower leagues or the League of Ireland, and I'm not surprised it has happened in the Premier League, but it's not something you want to see in the putative 'best league in the world'.
Friday 19 February 2010
I guess some people never change. Or, they quickly change and then quickly change back
Well, well, well. Or, to put it another way, was anyone surprised by Wednesday night's carry on in the Champions League?
First off, we had Arsenal drafting Sol Campbell in as defensive cover. You're a team that has pretensions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. You need a centre back to cover for your 2 first choice stoppers. Where do you turn? To a 35 year-old who latterly played (1 game) in League 2 and who you allowed to leave the club on a free transfer over 3 years ago. Is this some sort of mid-life crisis for Arsene Wenger? I always thought his preference was to fill the team with as many 16 and 17 year olds as possible? Not with clearly washed up players like Campbell (just witness his reaction to the backpass that ultimately cost his side the game) or Man Utd cast-offs (Mikael Silvestre). But, Arsene quickly reverted to type post game. His ridiculous assertion that Campbell's poking of the football with his foot towards his goalkeeper did not constitute a back-pass was truly Arsene at his best, although, I would have got more of a kick if he had said he didn't see it!
Now, where Arsene might have had a point, was in his criticism of referee Martin Hansson in the way he 'handed' the ball to a Porto player and then allowed him to take the indirect free-kick straight away (it's hard to believe the ref could have asked the Porto player did he wish to take the free-kick quickly in the time that elapsed between the award of and taking of the free-kick. Of course, the same referee also had a significant role in 'handing' France their place at the World Cup. Was his attempt at appeasing Irish fans anger at the French (by playing a key role in the downfall of a team managed by a Frenchman and one who would count Thierry Henry as one of its greatest ever players)? I don't know. What I do know is that we will still get to see Mr. Hansson officiating in South Africa this summer. It's small minded of me, but I would like to see him turn up at an England game.
For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like Italian club football was going to redeem itself after several years in the wilderness. AC Milan had an early lead and played plenty of good football agianst Man Utd, but ultimately faded and were outdone by their failure to take chances and the English side's clinical taking of goals from a limited pool of chances. A late goal from Milan means that they only have to win but 2 clear goals at Old Trafford. I expect that odds might be long on that happening.
But the cruelest demonstration of incompetence, past performance being a predictor of the future and downright thivery was at the Allianz Arena, where a certain Tom Henning Ovrebo wronged the Viola not once, not twice but three times. The decision not to punish Bayern players van Bommel and Klose for dangerous tackles and the decision to allow Miroslav Klose's late winner ensured that Bayern escaped with a narrow advantage. Fiorentina, unlike Chelsea last May, have 90 minutes to right the wrongs visited upon them by Mr. Overbo. Let's hope for the sake of football that they do just that.
First off, we had Arsenal drafting Sol Campbell in as defensive cover. You're a team that has pretensions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. You need a centre back to cover for your 2 first choice stoppers. Where do you turn? To a 35 year-old who latterly played (1 game) in League 2 and who you allowed to leave the club on a free transfer over 3 years ago. Is this some sort of mid-life crisis for Arsene Wenger? I always thought his preference was to fill the team with as many 16 and 17 year olds as possible? Not with clearly washed up players like Campbell (just witness his reaction to the backpass that ultimately cost his side the game) or Man Utd cast-offs (Mikael Silvestre). But, Arsene quickly reverted to type post game. His ridiculous assertion that Campbell's poking of the football with his foot towards his goalkeeper did not constitute a back-pass was truly Arsene at his best, although, I would have got more of a kick if he had said he didn't see it!
Now, where Arsene might have had a point, was in his criticism of referee Martin Hansson in the way he 'handed' the ball to a Porto player and then allowed him to take the indirect free-kick straight away (it's hard to believe the ref could have asked the Porto player did he wish to take the free-kick quickly in the time that elapsed between the award of and taking of the free-kick. Of course, the same referee also had a significant role in 'handing' France their place at the World Cup. Was his attempt at appeasing Irish fans anger at the French (by playing a key role in the downfall of a team managed by a Frenchman and one who would count Thierry Henry as one of its greatest ever players)? I don't know. What I do know is that we will still get to see Mr. Hansson officiating in South Africa this summer. It's small minded of me, but I would like to see him turn up at an England game.
For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like Italian club football was going to redeem itself after several years in the wilderness. AC Milan had an early lead and played plenty of good football agianst Man Utd, but ultimately faded and were outdone by their failure to take chances and the English side's clinical taking of goals from a limited pool of chances. A late goal from Milan means that they only have to win but 2 clear goals at Old Trafford. I expect that odds might be long on that happening.
But the cruelest demonstration of incompetence, past performance being a predictor of the future and downright thivery was at the Allianz Arena, where a certain Tom Henning Ovrebo wronged the Viola not once, not twice but three times. The decision not to punish Bayern players van Bommel and Klose for dangerous tackles and the decision to allow Miroslav Klose's late winner ensured that Bayern escaped with a narrow advantage. Fiorentina, unlike Chelsea last May, have 90 minutes to right the wrongs visited upon them by Mr. Overbo. Let's hope for the sake of football that they do just that.
Tuesday 16 February 2010
And it came from a partially cleared David Beckham free-kick....
Jebus. Sky would have to find a way to ensure David Beckham had a starring role in the opening Milan goal on Tuesday night. Name: Martin Tyler. Favourite film: 6 Degrees of Separation from David Beckham. Given the choice between watching on Sky and TV333333333333, it really is a case of the lesser of 2 evils.
Monday 15 February 2010
Far from Good My Son
Will the defeat on Merseyside mark a pivotal point in Chelsea’s chase for the title? Bad enough to surrender an early lead, but the loss of Ashley Cole, possibly for the remainder of the season, made a bad night worse. All of this while Man Utd were down to 10 men and level with Aston Villa. Chelsea stay top, but their form away from Stamford Bridge, their propensity to concede from set pieces and the fact they still have to travel to both Old Trafford and Anfield doesn't fill me with confidence for their prospects for the months ahead.
Chelsea have Michael Essien to come back of course, but Man Utd have managed ok without Ferdinand and Vidic. And, I think it would be fair to say that Chelsea will miss Ashley Cole more (and for a longer period of time) than Man Utd will miss Ryan Giggs. At least expensive Russian recruit Yuri Zhirkov can step in-a proper left sided player, but he lacks Premiership experience, and I would question his defensive qualities at this point.
Let’s face facts-Ricardo Carvalho ain’t getting any younger, John Terry ain’t getting any better and Petr Cech hasn’t looked or played like Petr Cech since he met Stephen Hunt. Chelsea’s Achilles heel may very well be the centre of their defence and their goalkeeper. Someone like (confessed Chelsea fan) Roger Johnson would fit in very well at Stamford Bridge next season, but for the remainder of this season, Chelsea must make a better fist of the basics of defending than they have done to date.
Around the league, Liverpool did their best of making a mockery of my prediction that they would finish ahead of Arsenal in 3rd place by losing 1-0 at the Emirates. Spurs stay 6th and within a point of 4th, despite losing 1-0 to Hull City, underling what a truly mediocre Premier League this has been to date. Man City have still not established any kind of consistency, but get the chance to make a statement when they visit Chelsea on February 27.
The January transfer window closed without much to get writing about-all I’ll say about Robbie Keane’s move to Celtic is that his career appears to have come full circle.
Saturday 6 February 2010
It's What You Do on the Pitch that Counts
Apologies for the lack of new material loyal followers-matters of an automotive nature have monopolised my thoughts of late, but the fog is beginning to clear and a resolution (of sorts) appears imminent...
Chelsea certainly spluttered on Tuesday night-badly as Man Utd played at Hull over the Christmas period, they still managed a 3-1 victory. The returning Didier Drogba managed to score, but it was not enough-it would be ironic if Chelsea suffer a dip in form with the return of Drogba!
What better way for Chelsea to get back on track than by taking on a wounded Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal's performance last Sunday did not suggest that they belong in the Title conversation-and you would have to assume that a victory by Chelsea tomorrow would put that issue to bed-we should remember that Arsenal have been beaten convincingly by both Chelsea and Man Utd at the Emirates, while they contrived to turn victory into defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season. Given that they face an in-form Liverpool at the Emirates on Wednesday night, we will soon find out just how much 'mental strength' Arsene Wenger's 'youngsters' really have in what could be the defining weeks of the 2009/10 season.
We can assume Man Utd will beat Portsmouth today, we cannot say the same about Chelsea in the clash with Arsenal. Wednesday night has some interesting fixtures as well as Arsenal v Liverpool, Man Utd face Aston Villa at Old Trafford and Chelsea travel to Everton. It's hard to see Man Utd dropping more than 2 points, while draw draw is not an improbable outcome for Chelsea.
As I started to write this, 10 man Liverpool have beaten Everton and now sit in 4th place. A draw in the 5.30 game between Spurs and Villa would do the red half of Merseyside very nicely. Mark my words-Liverpool will play Champions League football next season, and, when/if Torres returns, I wouldn't be surprised if they catch Arsenal. As TMQ likes to say 'all predictions wrong or your money back'!
In other news, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy owing to his affair with Wayne Bridge's publicity shy former girlfriend. And who has been been appointed has his replacement? Why it's suspected drug cheat and drunk driver Rio Ferdinand! Seriously, I could care less about John Terry's antics off the football pitch-I'm sure his moral compass points towards the same version of north as that of most other professional footballers in the Premier League today. For me, scoring away from home last weekend at Burnley is of more interest than his playing away from home off the pitch.
Chelsea certainly spluttered on Tuesday night-badly as Man Utd played at Hull over the Christmas period, they still managed a 3-1 victory. The returning Didier Drogba managed to score, but it was not enough-it would be ironic if Chelsea suffer a dip in form with the return of Drogba!
What better way for Chelsea to get back on track than by taking on a wounded Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal's performance last Sunday did not suggest that they belong in the Title conversation-and you would have to assume that a victory by Chelsea tomorrow would put that issue to bed-we should remember that Arsenal have been beaten convincingly by both Chelsea and Man Utd at the Emirates, while they contrived to turn victory into defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season. Given that they face an in-form Liverpool at the Emirates on Wednesday night, we will soon find out just how much 'mental strength' Arsene Wenger's 'youngsters' really have in what could be the defining weeks of the 2009/10 season.
We can assume Man Utd will beat Portsmouth today, we cannot say the same about Chelsea in the clash with Arsenal. Wednesday night has some interesting fixtures as well as Arsenal v Liverpool, Man Utd face Aston Villa at Old Trafford and Chelsea travel to Everton. It's hard to see Man Utd dropping more than 2 points, while draw draw is not an improbable outcome for Chelsea.
As I started to write this, 10 man Liverpool have beaten Everton and now sit in 4th place. A draw in the 5.30 game between Spurs and Villa would do the red half of Merseyside very nicely. Mark my words-Liverpool will play Champions League football next season, and, when/if Torres returns, I wouldn't be surprised if they catch Arsenal. As TMQ likes to say 'all predictions wrong or your money back'!
In other news, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy owing to his affair with Wayne Bridge's publicity shy former girlfriend. And who has been been appointed has his replacement? Why it's suspected drug cheat and drunk driver Rio Ferdinand! Seriously, I could care less about John Terry's antics off the football pitch-I'm sure his moral compass points towards the same version of north as that of most other professional footballers in the Premier League today. For me, scoring away from home last weekend at Burnley is of more interest than his playing away from home off the pitch.
Sunday 31 January 2010
The Post without a title
As January turns to February and the snows melt, we enter a few weeks that could go some way to deciding Premier League Champions 2009/10.
Chelsea have weathered the African Nations Cup absences without dropping points, and scoring goals at an impressive clip-19 goals in 5 games without their African quartet, and a 100% record in both league and FA Cup. Aside from the injury to Michael Essien (which to me seemed like it was caused during a challenge with Didier Drogba!), Chelsea go into next weekend's (pivotal?) clash with Arsenal in rude health (an update on Ashley Cole's early departure at Burnley yesterday is pending). I have to say that Carlo appears to have got his team selections right of late-I lamented the fact that he opted for a lone striker at home to woeful Sunderland, yet they scored 7 goals. Against Burnley, Drogba was omitted from the squad, yet Anelka's early tap-in and John Terry's late winner got them 3 points. In addition, Ricardo Carvalho has received regular rest, with Alex proving to be an adequate replacement (albeit against some of the Premier League's lesser attacking forces).
Meanwhile, Man Utd and Arsenal have maintained their challenge, despite ceding top spot to Chelsea. Wayne Rooney's form has been excellent (I was hugely unimpressed with his performance at Hull on the December 27, but he's been all goals since.
In the battle for scraps, my money remains on Liverpool. As unimpressive as they have been for so long this season, they remain in the hunt, and despite the fact that they lacked both Gerrard and Torres in their Anfield clash with Spurs, they never looked in danger of losing the game, and were worthy of the 3 points. Prior to this, Spurs has failed to beat (or score on) Hull City at White Hart Lane.
Check back during the week when I'll react to Arsenal v Man Utd, preview Chelsea v Arsenal, and give my predictions for top 6 and bottom 3.
Chelsea have weathered the African Nations Cup absences without dropping points, and scoring goals at an impressive clip-19 goals in 5 games without their African quartet, and a 100% record in both league and FA Cup. Aside from the injury to Michael Essien (which to me seemed like it was caused during a challenge with Didier Drogba!), Chelsea go into next weekend's (pivotal?) clash with Arsenal in rude health (an update on Ashley Cole's early departure at Burnley yesterday is pending). I have to say that Carlo appears to have got his team selections right of late-I lamented the fact that he opted for a lone striker at home to woeful Sunderland, yet they scored 7 goals. Against Burnley, Drogba was omitted from the squad, yet Anelka's early tap-in and John Terry's late winner got them 3 points. In addition, Ricardo Carvalho has received regular rest, with Alex proving to be an adequate replacement (albeit against some of the Premier League's lesser attacking forces).
Meanwhile, Man Utd and Arsenal have maintained their challenge, despite ceding top spot to Chelsea. Wayne Rooney's form has been excellent (I was hugely unimpressed with his performance at Hull on the December 27, but he's been all goals since.
In the battle for scraps, my money remains on Liverpool. As unimpressive as they have been for so long this season, they remain in the hunt, and despite the fact that they lacked both Gerrard and Torres in their Anfield clash with Spurs, they never looked in danger of losing the game, and were worthy of the 3 points. Prior to this, Spurs has failed to beat (or score on) Hull City at White Hart Lane.
Check back during the week when I'll react to Arsenal v Man Utd, preview Chelsea v Arsenal, and give my predictions for top 6 and bottom 3.
Friday 22 January 2010
The Magnificent Seven!
Last Saturday, I went to my first Chelsea game. Was it worth it? Given they won 7-2, then the answer should be yes, but the curmudgeon in me has to say the following:
P.S. You and now Follow Me! Yes, that's right, I'm now on Twitter. I'm sure it will be just as interesting as this blog...
P.P.S. If you like that Uncle Kracker song, please stop following this blog and don't ever talk to me again.
- Sunderland presented no opposition-Ashley Cole was allowed to operate as an auxiliary forward for crying out loud! So even though there were 9 goals, it wasn't really a great game (Still, my fear about going to a Premier League game was always that it would finish 0-0 or Chelsea would lose, so I really shouldn't moan).
- Florent Malouda was the most skilful player on the pitch. His recent comments about Frank Lampard haven't endeared him to the Chelsea faithful (there were more than a few boos when his name was read out and when he was on the ball) and himself and Lampard certainly seemed to get in each others way more than I would like to see.
- Joe Cole ain't the player he was. I'm not entirely surprised about these rumours.
- I would have liked to see Anelka get his hat-trick (and he should have-the shot that rattled the woodwork would have been a fine goal)
- I would have liked if I could have seen the video screens (if only for the fact that because it was my first time in the stadium I kept looking around me and missing the on-field action...)
- Beer in the stadium? Great. Heineken only? Not so much.
- And lastly, no Drogba, or Essien-how I would have loved to seen the Bison rampage!
P.S. You and now Follow Me! Yes, that's right, I'm now on Twitter. I'm sure it will be just as interesting as this blog...
P.P.S. If you like that Uncle Kracker song, please stop following this blog and don't ever talk to me again.
Thursday 7 January 2010
Don’t forget your shovel if you want to go work....
If you had a shovel.
If you had work.
Lucky me, I didn't have to brave the snow/slush/shit/frost/ice and venture out into the white today-I can work from home! So here's what caught my eye on the Beeb (and elsewhere) as I worked.
Portsmouth 'do not need to sell'
Odd-I was sure this headline read 'Portsmouth to sell stars' earlier. And so it did! The situation at Pompey reads like a League of Ireland saga involving the likes or Cork or Derry (more on that later). How on earth did whatever Sheikh/Sultan/Caliph/Ayatollah who currently owns the club pass the FA's 'fit and proper' test given that Pompey cannot seem to play their players on a timely basis (I wouldn't have thought bank loans are the best method of financing for a monthly expense like wages, but that's just the accountant in me....). Of course the situation isn't helped by the fact that the FA are withholding £7m in TV rights payments from the club and distributing directly to other clubs who are owed TV rights money from Portsmouth-Watford (who could use the money themselves I'm sure), Spurs (well 'Arry has to have readies to engage in his usual 'wheeling and dealing') and Chelsea (!!!).
Clive Delaney vents at the LoI
And who could blame him-given the fact he hasn't been paid for over 4 months? By the sounds of it, the days of the full-time footballer could be coming to an end in Ireland. And this might be no bad thing, right?
Disclaimer-I know Clive quite well and would consider him a mate. I hope he does well in Oz-I'd like to see him up against Robbie Fowler at some stage!
Opta Stats-they never lie!
Ok, I don't agree with the 'Lampard is the best player of the decade', but it sure is interesting that Kevin Kilbane has featured on more losing teams than any other player in that time. (I heard this story on Newstalk the other night, but the only links I could find were from that off forum above or the Sun. Easy choice which one to pick)
Birmingham are making moves
They've just signed Michel, enquired about Aiden McGeady, and had a £8m bid for Ryan Babel rejected. Egad-what are you thinking Rafa-take the money and run! At least someone in the Premier League is generating the right kind of headlines during the transfer window. Fair play to them-I'm seriously considering heading over to Stamford Bridge on 27 January to seem them play Chelsea-the last game wasn't bad. Hopefully Ghana and Ivory Coast will have exited the African Cup of Nations at that stage....
And finally, if you haven't caught the Winter vomiting bug, this should bring it on.
If you had work.
Lucky me, I didn't have to brave the snow/slush/shit/frost/ice and venture out into the white today-I can work from home! So here's what caught my eye on the Beeb (and elsewhere) as I worked.
Portsmouth 'do not need to sell'
Odd-I was sure this headline read 'Portsmouth to sell stars' earlier. And so it did! The situation at Pompey reads like a League of Ireland saga involving the likes or Cork or Derry (more on that later). How on earth did whatever Sheikh/Sultan/Caliph/Ayatollah who currently owns the club pass the FA's 'fit and proper' test given that Pompey cannot seem to play their players on a timely basis (I wouldn't have thought bank loans are the best method of financing for a monthly expense like wages, but that's just the accountant in me....). Of course the situation isn't helped by the fact that the FA are withholding £7m in TV rights payments from the club and distributing directly to other clubs who are owed TV rights money from Portsmouth-Watford (who could use the money themselves I'm sure), Spurs (well 'Arry has to have readies to engage in his usual 'wheeling and dealing') and Chelsea (!!!).
Clive Delaney vents at the LoI
And who could blame him-given the fact he hasn't been paid for over 4 months? By the sounds of it, the days of the full-time footballer could be coming to an end in Ireland. And this might be no bad thing, right?
Disclaimer-I know Clive quite well and would consider him a mate. I hope he does well in Oz-I'd like to see him up against Robbie Fowler at some stage!
Opta Stats-they never lie!
Ok, I don't agree with the 'Lampard is the best player of the decade', but it sure is interesting that Kevin Kilbane has featured on more losing teams than any other player in that time. (I heard this story on Newstalk the other night, but the only links I could find were from that off forum above or the Sun. Easy choice which one to pick)
Birmingham are making moves
They've just signed Michel, enquired about Aiden McGeady, and had a £8m bid for Ryan Babel rejected. Egad-what are you thinking Rafa-take the money and run! At least someone in the Premier League is generating the right kind of headlines during the transfer window. Fair play to them-I'm seriously considering heading over to Stamford Bridge on 27 January to seem them play Chelsea-the last game wasn't bad. Hopefully Ghana and Ivory Coast will have exited the African Cup of Nations at that stage....
And finally, if you haven't caught the Winter vomiting bug, this should bring it on.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
Rough justice?
"The red was obscene. He'll miss three games unless the ref has the guts to rescind it"
Steve Bruce is to be charged by the FA following the comment above. Link.
Meanwhile, 'Sir' Alex Ferguson had this to say about Chris Foy adding 5 minutes of injury time at the end of Man Utd's home defeat to League 1 side Leeds Utd on Sunday:
"That is an insult to the game and the players out there."
The only insulting thing is the beetroot faced Scot himself. No FA charges are expected for "Sir" Alex of course. This comment was deemed to be within the rules (i.e. it did not imply bias, question integrity or be personal in the nature of his comments). I guess it's all a matter of interpretation.
Steve Bruce is to be charged by the FA following the comment above. Link.
Meanwhile, 'Sir' Alex Ferguson had this to say about Chris Foy adding 5 minutes of injury time at the end of Man Utd's home defeat to League 1 side Leeds Utd on Sunday:
"That is an insult to the game and the players out there."
The only insulting thing is the beetroot faced Scot himself. No FA charges are expected for "Sir" Alex of course. This comment was deemed to be within the rules (i.e. it did not imply bias, question integrity or be personal in the nature of his comments). I guess it's all a matter of interpretation.
Saturday 2 January 2010
A Festive Feast of less than Fantastic Football
Watching games over the Xmas period, I am beginning to think that a festive break might be in order for the Premier League. The quality of play in the Hull v Man Utd and Aston Villa v Liverpool games was such that it would have been more entertaining for a supporter to stay home and watch the Great Escape or Wallace and Gromit. For the armchair fan, like myself, it's great having live sport to watch when pubs are closed or it's too icy too venture outside safely, but the quality of much of what was on show in the back end of 2009 was such that I wondered whether some players were guilty of eating and drinking as much as an above average slob as myself-there certainly were a lot of sluggish performances.
As to some of the results themselves:
As to some of the results themselves:
- Birmingham 0-0 Chelsea. Chelsea's less than impressive sequence of results continued, albeit away to in-form Birmingham, for whom on loan Joe Hart was in inspired form. Christian Benitez scored a perfectly good goal but was incorrectly flagged for offside (thanks to Didier Drogba lying prone in his own 6 yard box.....), and Alex hit the bar with a thunderous free kick. Chelsea certainly didn't play well enough to win and a draw was probably a fair result.
- Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa. The beginning of the end for Aston Villa's Champions League quest? I think so. Villa were ok for the first 15 minutes or so, but really lost their way after that-Stillian Petrov looked a spent force and James Milner looked out of place in the centre of Villa's midfield. For Arsenal-the same old story-some lovely passing and counter-attacking, but a serious lack of execution in the basics of heading and shooting meant that it needed the introduction of not fully fit Cesc Febergas to change the game for Arsenal. Eduardo is really lacking confidence up front and Andrey Arshavin was largely anonymous. Arsenal could really do with adding a striker (not just a forward player), or hope that the return of Nicklas Bendtner can help make up for the loss of Robin van Persie for much of the rest of the season.
- Hull 1-Man Utd 3. What an awful game. After watching Chelsea play just ok and fail to win at Bermingham, I was worried that Man Utd would come out and crush Hull and gain the upper hand in the title race. Not exactly. What an awful game-it was hard to see why Wayne Rooney could be considered one of Europe's best, and why Ryan Giggs was in the running for player of the year less than 6 months ago. Hull look doomed-the loss of Jimmy Bullard until February is a blow for sure, but they look a worse team than West Ham and even Portsmouth based on what I saw on December 26th. Their comeback from 2-0 down away to Bolton did for Gary Megson-and rightly so I would say-but they are not a team I want to see staying in the Premier League.
- Wolves 0-3 Man City. The Roberto Mancini era has started well at Man City, but when the opposition is as toothless as Stoke and then Wolves, it's nothing that should excite the blue half of Manchester too much. Wolves play a nice enough brand of football-but never looked like scoring a goal in this game-Kevin Doyle is good worker and runs the channels tirelessly, but he never looks like regaining the scoring form of his Reading days. Chris Iwelumo? Well, he's not bad as a target man, but this suggests that he won't score many in the Premier League. As for City, they remain indebted to Shay Given for keeping them in may games and to Craig Bellamy for always giving 100%. Robinho looks desperately out of shape and disinterested-it will be interesting to see whether Mancini can succeed in getting him in shape and contributing like a player that cost Man City £25 million. Stories linking him with Bercelona don't hold any water with me-isn't this the same club that cut loose another Brazilian malcontent (Ronaldinho) at the start of the Guardiola era? It's hard to believe they would risk disrupting the best team in Europe with an overweight, out of form ex-Real Madrid player.
- Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool. 2 of the top 6 sides in the Premier League? Jesus wept. There are very few strikers who have the finishing touch of Fernando Torres-he was the only difference between what looked like 2 very average teams.
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