1. Christmas came early at the Etihad Stadium
The scoreline told not even a tenth of the picture here in what was hands down the game of the season. Other matches may have seen goals galore but the flipside of that have been error strewn games with some of the most rancid defending seen in years. The quality level at the Etihad never dipped below top drawer in what was a pulsating and largely even contest for 90 brilliant minutes. Ultimately City won because their defence doesn’t defend such an absurdly high line, but Arsenal deserve enormous credit for not giving up and picking apart City’s back line several times, only to find Joe Hart in imperious form. As the English game is being questioned from all sides following the exits from the Champions League and the re-emergence of Serie A as a high quality division, this match could be held up as all that is still wonderful about the Premiership. All 22 players can hold their heads high; in what was one of those rare matches when everything else becomes secondary and you remember, simply, how exhilarating a sport football can be. A true Christmas cracker.
The scoreline told not even a tenth of the picture here in what was hands down the game of the season. Other matches may have seen goals galore but the flipside of that have been error strewn games with some of the most rancid defending seen in years. The quality level at the Etihad never dipped below top drawer in what was a pulsating and largely even contest for 90 brilliant minutes. Ultimately City won because their defence doesn’t defend such an absurdly high line, but Arsenal deserve enormous credit for not giving up and picking apart City’s back line several times, only to find Joe Hart in imperious form. As the English game is being questioned from all sides following the exits from the Champions League and the re-emergence of Serie A as a high quality division, this match could be held up as all that is still wonderful about the Premiership. All 22 players can hold their heads high; in what was one of those rare matches when everything else becomes secondary and you remember, simply, how exhilarating a sport football can be. A true Christmas cracker.
2. David Moyes team selection needs work.
I’m a big admirer of Moyes, he doesn’t tend to complain with his lot and he has coaxed fine performances time and time again from a team filled with players who largely would not get in any of so called bigger clubs. He is however, like most Glaswegians, a stubborn bastard and it is now costing his team. It probably isn’t a coincidence this season that Everton have regularly saved their best efforts for the last 20 minutes of matches. This is a less a compliment on their fitness levels, but on Moyes finally bringing people off the bench who probably should have started. This week, the continued and mystifying selection of Tim Cahil (statistically the worst “forward” in the league - 2011) was trumped by leaving Drenthe on the bench for Magaye Gueye. For what must be at least the 5th time this season, Drenthe entered the fray and injected pace and power to an Everton team lacking in both. He created the equaliser and then almost scored the winner. Moyes... it’s time to stop picking your mates.
I’m a big admirer of Moyes, he doesn’t tend to complain with his lot and he has coaxed fine performances time and time again from a team filled with players who largely would not get in any of so called bigger clubs. He is however, like most Glaswegians, a stubborn bastard and it is now costing his team. It probably isn’t a coincidence this season that Everton have regularly saved their best efforts for the last 20 minutes of matches. This is a less a compliment on their fitness levels, but on Moyes finally bringing people off the bench who probably should have started. This week, the continued and mystifying selection of Tim Cahil (statistically the worst “forward” in the league - 2011) was trumped by leaving Drenthe on the bench for Magaye Gueye. For what must be at least the 5th time this season, Drenthe entered the fray and injected pace and power to an Everton team lacking in both. He created the equaliser and then almost scored the winner. Moyes... it’s time to stop picking your mates.
3. If Luiz Suarez could shoot he’d be the best player in the world.
No player has had more shots this season than Luiz Suarez. No player has hit the woodwork more. No player has created more chances for himself. No player has won more man of the match awards. But the cold hard facts are that Suarez has scored 5 goals in 16 games. Hardly the world’s worst return, but on the one currency that strikers are judged, he is currently not as good as Grant Holt, Steve Morison and Heider Helguson. There is an argument to say he’s been unlucky and that a streak is just around the corner. However people were saying that ten games ago and on Sunday he still contrived to hit the bar, post and fluff two more clear chances. Perhaps it’s just as well, in every other aspect of his game he’s currently the best player in the league. His touch and vision are sublime and he has the added bonus of pantomime charm. Still young, you wonder how far Liverpool could go if they could actually get him and Carroll scoring goals regularly.
No player has had more shots this season than Luiz Suarez. No player has hit the woodwork more. No player has created more chances for himself. No player has won more man of the match awards. But the cold hard facts are that Suarez has scored 5 goals in 16 games. Hardly the world’s worst return, but on the one currency that strikers are judged, he is currently not as good as Grant Holt, Steve Morison and Heider Helguson. There is an argument to say he’s been unlucky and that a streak is just around the corner. However people were saying that ten games ago and on Sunday he still contrived to hit the bar, post and fluff two more clear chances. Perhaps it’s just as well, in every other aspect of his game he’s currently the best player in the league. His touch and vision are sublime and he has the added bonus of pantomime charm. Still young, you wonder how far Liverpool could go if they could actually get him and Carroll scoring goals regularly.
4. Hillsborough is worth going to again.
The stock of Sheffield’s football teams has never been lower (in my lifetime) then it was at the end of last season when United, joined Wednesday in the 3rd flight. As the New Year looms though, some sense of pride has at least been injected back into the city with the clubs lying in 2nd and 3rd and firmly on the tails of the runaway Charlton. Better than that though, Hillsborough has finally become the entertaining fortress it was of old. Wednesday have played 10, won 8 and drawn 2 at home and this Saturday saw one of the games of the season as Huddersfield took a 2 nil lead, before conceding 4 and then coming back with an equaliser scored so late it would have made Alex Ferguson shudder. Almost 30,000 watched the game, around 25,000 more than watched Blackburn & Wigan two divisions higher up. The steel city is far from back just yet, but this is certainly a start.
The stock of Sheffield’s football teams has never been lower (in my lifetime) then it was at the end of last season when United, joined Wednesday in the 3rd flight. As the New Year looms though, some sense of pride has at least been injected back into the city with the clubs lying in 2nd and 3rd and firmly on the tails of the runaway Charlton. Better than that though, Hillsborough has finally become the entertaining fortress it was of old. Wednesday have played 10, won 8 and drawn 2 at home and this Saturday saw one of the games of the season as Huddersfield took a 2 nil lead, before conceding 4 and then coming back with an equaliser scored so late it would have made Alex Ferguson shudder. Almost 30,000 watched the game, around 25,000 more than watched Blackburn & Wigan two divisions higher up. The steel city is far from back just yet, but this is certainly a start.
5. Mario Balotelli, the gift that just keeps giving.
Whatever you think of “Super” Mario – only Garth Crookes, a man whose opinion on football is worth less to me than Gwyneth Paltrow’s, could deny his place in the Premier League gives us box office week in week out. In the last two months alone Balotelli has been sent off, won matches, scored wonder goals, had two training ground bust ups, destroyed his own home, broke curfew, had some audacious hissy fits and smiled twice. Sunday was relatively subdued by his standards but there was still the bizarre sight of him, Sammi Nasri and Theo Walcott in hysterics at him telling a joke before kick off... followed by the obligatory ground thump when he missed one, superbly created chance. All of this however, pales into insignificance with the rumour that his pregame preparation saw him dress up as Santa Claus and give money out on the streets of Manchester. If that is even partly true then that is just a brilliant story. One supposes that like Santa himself, we will never find out the whole truth... For now, for all his boo hiss qualities, only a fool would want to see Mario exit the league stage left.
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