1. Chelsea remain a genuine title threat.
If they had taken more of their 30 chances at Old Trafford last month it would be Chelsea, not Utd, who would remain unbeaten and lie level with points with Man City at the top of the Premier league pile. Everton is a bogey fixture for the boys in blue but it is a growing sign of their assurance under AVB that they swept them aside with comparative ease on Saturday evening. Whilst they still look vulnerable to the counter attack, the same can be said about both the teams above them and Chelsea’s midfield is growing in strength. Juan Mata looks the real deal and Ramires is getting better with every game. Sturridge is playing with the sort of pace and fluency that made his recent overlooking from the England squad all the more baffling (he should be starting ahead of Theo Walcott on this form) and despite the ongoing Drogba and Torres debate, Chelsea’s system looks solid again with one of them in that lone role. With the Manchester clubs all set for battle next Sunday, Romans Russian Army have the chance to go within a point of the top of the pile. A position that will far from flatter them on this form.
If they had taken more of their 30 chances at Old Trafford last month it would be Chelsea, not Utd, who would remain unbeaten and lie level with points with Man City at the top of the Premier league pile. Everton is a bogey fixture for the boys in blue but it is a growing sign of their assurance under AVB that they swept them aside with comparative ease on Saturday evening. Whilst they still look vulnerable to the counter attack, the same can be said about both the teams above them and Chelsea’s midfield is growing in strength. Juan Mata looks the real deal and Ramires is getting better with every game. Sturridge is playing with the sort of pace and fluency that made his recent overlooking from the England squad all the more baffling (he should be starting ahead of Theo Walcott on this form) and despite the ongoing Drogba and Torres debate, Chelsea’s system looks solid again with one of them in that lone role. With the Manchester clubs all set for battle next Sunday, Romans Russian Army have the chance to go within a point of the top of the pile. A position that will far from flatter them on this form.
2. Arsenal simply cannot lose Van Persie.
Arsenal turned in their best performance of the season on Sunday and, in truth, deserved to win by a greater margin than 2-1. That they won at all though was largely due to the finishing prowess of Robin Van Persie. Scoring two and almost snaring a simply delicious third, the Dutchman remains the one world class attacking player in Wenger’s squad. The Arsenal manager will be heartened by his captain’s comments before the match that he has no intention of leaving, but he must remain on edge until he signs a new contract. Injury of course, never tends to stay away from Van Persie for long and if Arsenal are to have even the slimmest of chances of playing Champions league football again next year, you feel he has to complete over 30 league games for them this season. Something, it has to be said, he has never managed to do...
Arsenal turned in their best performance of the season on Sunday and, in truth, deserved to win by a greater margin than 2-1. That they won at all though was largely due to the finishing prowess of Robin Van Persie. Scoring two and almost snaring a simply delicious third, the Dutchman remains the one world class attacking player in Wenger’s squad. The Arsenal manager will be heartened by his captain’s comments before the match that he has no intention of leaving, but he must remain on edge until he signs a new contract. Injury of course, never tends to stay away from Van Persie for long and if Arsenal are to have even the slimmest of chances of playing Champions league football again next year, you feel he has to complete over 30 league games for them this season. Something, it has to be said, he has never managed to do...
3. Wigan already need a miracle.
Bottom of the table and their only win coming over a ragged QPR side via two deflected goals, Wigan needed a miracle to stay up before the season began and they need even more of one now. Shorn of their two best midfielders in the close season, Roberto Martinez has nowt but coppers in the kitty and a defence more porous than a fishing net. Up front Hugo Rodallega has badly lost his way, Victor Moses looks like he’s played football once in his life and their main striker is Franco Di Santo... who is arguably the worst main striker not just in this league, but in any league. Ever. If Martinez keeps this side up he deserves every accolade going. But the smart money is on them being out of it come Easter.
Bottom of the table and their only win coming over a ragged QPR side via two deflected goals, Wigan needed a miracle to stay up before the season began and they need even more of one now. Shorn of their two best midfielders in the close season, Roberto Martinez has nowt but coppers in the kitty and a defence more porous than a fishing net. Up front Hugo Rodallega has badly lost his way, Victor Moses looks like he’s played football once in his life and their main striker is Franco Di Santo... who is arguably the worst main striker not just in this league, but in any league. Ever. If Martinez keeps this side up he deserves every accolade going. But the smart money is on them being out of it come Easter.
4. Greed the order of the day on Merseyside
This week’s comments from Ian Ayre have thankfully been condemned by pretty much the entire football community. Greedy and pathetic at worst, naive at best, Ayre’s comments came only a week or so after Ferguson had publicly backed the current system and slated the Spanish model. One wondered then who was going to support Ayre’s proposal when the grandfather of the Premier league and leader of the biggest club had already cast disproval on such a motion. Regardless of that, it cannot be allowed to happen. English football already has a huge problem with financial disparity, with the gap between the top two leagues growing every year. To create an even bigger chasm within the top division itself would give teams no chance at all of ever competing. Comparison with the otherwise successful American model is so far off the mark it barely deserves a comment. The last time I checked English football didn’t have a draft system. Hopefully Liverpool’s MD can now crawl away into a hole again and be fed raw fish until he learns his lesson.
This week’s comments from Ian Ayre have thankfully been condemned by pretty much the entire football community. Greedy and pathetic at worst, naive at best, Ayre’s comments came only a week or so after Ferguson had publicly backed the current system and slated the Spanish model. One wondered then who was going to support Ayre’s proposal when the grandfather of the Premier league and leader of the biggest club had already cast disproval on such a motion. Regardless of that, it cannot be allowed to happen. English football already has a huge problem with financial disparity, with the gap between the top two leagues growing every year. To create an even bigger chasm within the top division itself would give teams no chance at all of ever competing. Comparison with the otherwise successful American model is so far off the mark it barely deserves a comment. The last time I checked English football didn’t have a draft system. Hopefully Liverpool’s MD can now crawl away into a hole again and be fed raw fish until he learns his lesson.
5. Steve Bruce just doesn't like strikers does he.
Sunderland’s indifferent start to the season continued at the Emirates where they essentially defended for 90 minutes and ended up losing. Whilst Arsenal remain a potent threat going forward, a four year old child could have told Brucie that the best form of defence against the Gunners is attack. Their defence, inexplicably still containing Car Crash Koscielny, looks like it could crumble at any time and indeed on the 2 times Sunderland did decide to try and get in Arsenals half, they carved them open easily. Pundits continue to talk about how Bent leaving has cost Sunderland but you wonder now if the problem was even deeper than that. Was Bruce sleeping with Dazza? Did he cradle him after games like a mother to a newborn pub? Sordid tales aside, Bruce looks like he was so personally scarred by Bent leaving that he now won’t play his strikers incase one of them starts scoring and leaves for another club. It’s an interesting tactic, but one that will probably result in them losing most games. Sessegnon is a decent player, but a centre forward he is not and Sunderland effectively played a 4-6-0 formation on Sunday whilst two strikers warmed the bench. When they did both come on, one scored a disallowed goal and the other had a great chance. It’s not rocket science Steve, just fucking play them.
Sunderland’s indifferent start to the season continued at the Emirates where they essentially defended for 90 minutes and ended up losing. Whilst Arsenal remain a potent threat going forward, a four year old child could have told Brucie that the best form of defence against the Gunners is attack. Their defence, inexplicably still containing Car Crash Koscielny, looks like it could crumble at any time and indeed on the 2 times Sunderland did decide to try and get in Arsenals half, they carved them open easily. Pundits continue to talk about how Bent leaving has cost Sunderland but you wonder now if the problem was even deeper than that. Was Bruce sleeping with Dazza? Did he cradle him after games like a mother to a newborn pub? Sordid tales aside, Bruce looks like he was so personally scarred by Bent leaving that he now won’t play his strikers incase one of them starts scoring and leaves for another club. It’s an interesting tactic, but one that will probably result in them losing most games. Sessegnon is a decent player, but a centre forward he is not and Sunderland effectively played a 4-6-0 formation on Sunday whilst two strikers warmed the bench. When they did both come on, one scored a disallowed goal and the other had a great chance. It’s not rocket science Steve, just fucking play them.
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