Dzeko deserves more
8 of Manchester City’s goals this season have come in the last 10 minutes of their matches and no man has been more prolific in that period than Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian boasts the best goals per minute ratio of anybody so far and has won his team 9 ill-deserved points already, half their total haul. Mancini is a member of the “Rafa Benitez Rotation for Rotations sake” club but there is a time when you have to put you most in form players on the pitch and just be done with it. Right now, Mario Balotelli is nowhere near worthy of a starting position. The maverick Italian has been in fine form for his country but has been woeful so far for his club. With Aguero returning from injury, surely Mancini has to start Tevez and Dzeko for a run of games and see what happens. Indeed, when he started the latter for such a run at the beginning of last year he scored freely. Dzeko is clearly a player who needs an arm round his shoulder and consistent, regular game time. He is far too good to be City’s fourth choice striker. Initially cumbersome, he took time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League but has now been his club’s MVP in four of their eight games already. If it wasn’t for him City would lie in 13th. Behind Liverpool…
8 of Manchester City’s goals this season have come in the last 10 minutes of their matches and no man has been more prolific in that period than Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian boasts the best goals per minute ratio of anybody so far and has won his team 9 ill-deserved points already, half their total haul. Mancini is a member of the “Rafa Benitez Rotation for Rotations sake” club but there is a time when you have to put you most in form players on the pitch and just be done with it. Right now, Mario Balotelli is nowhere near worthy of a starting position. The maverick Italian has been in fine form for his country but has been woeful so far for his club. With Aguero returning from injury, surely Mancini has to start Tevez and Dzeko for a run of games and see what happens. Indeed, when he started the latter for such a run at the beginning of last year he scored freely. Dzeko is clearly a player who needs an arm round his shoulder and consistent, regular game time. He is far too good to be City’s fourth choice striker. Initially cumbersome, he took time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League but has now been his club’s MVP in four of their eight games already. If it wasn’t for him City would lie in 13th. Behind Liverpool…
Chelsea’s three
musketeers can be as good as anyone
The preferred system for top clubs these days is a 4-2-3-1 with two screening midfielders allowing the protection for three attackers to float behind a lone striker. Barca & Spain have sometimes used a false 9 to turn this more into a more fluid 4-2-4-0 but in the most part, this is the system for teams to attack at will with the knowledge that they shouldn’t get caught too easily on the break. Barcelona currently have Messi, Pedro & Iniesta behind Villa whereas Real boast Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil behind Benzema. Chelsea, whilst nowhere near as strong as those teams in the other positions, have a trio themselves of Mata, Hazard & Oscar who have the potential to be as good as anyone. White Hart Lane is not an easy place to go, especially for Chelsea, but the passing, movement and creativity that these three produced on Saturday was mesmerising. Oscar & Hazard are just 21, yet both play like seasoned pros. Mata was Chelsea’s best player last season and since a two week break in September has come back even stronger still. Last week, he must have been the best player in World Football not to be selected for an International squad (such is the absurd depth of Spain’s talent). Mata’s second goal on Saturday contained a first time pass of such beauty from Hazard that all the Spaniard had to do was take four strides and pass it into the net. I dismissed Chelsea’s challenge at the start of the season, pointing to their defence and the complete uselessness of John Obi Mikel as the reasons why. Neither of those flaws have been corrected, but if Chelsea’s three musketeers can keep playing like this and scoring four goals every game… it will hardly matter.
The preferred system for top clubs these days is a 4-2-3-1 with two screening midfielders allowing the protection for three attackers to float behind a lone striker. Barca & Spain have sometimes used a false 9 to turn this more into a more fluid 4-2-4-0 but in the most part, this is the system for teams to attack at will with the knowledge that they shouldn’t get caught too easily on the break. Barcelona currently have Messi, Pedro & Iniesta behind Villa whereas Real boast Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil behind Benzema. Chelsea, whilst nowhere near as strong as those teams in the other positions, have a trio themselves of Mata, Hazard & Oscar who have the potential to be as good as anyone. White Hart Lane is not an easy place to go, especially for Chelsea, but the passing, movement and creativity that these three produced on Saturday was mesmerising. Oscar & Hazard are just 21, yet both play like seasoned pros. Mata was Chelsea’s best player last season and since a two week break in September has come back even stronger still. Last week, he must have been the best player in World Football not to be selected for an International squad (such is the absurd depth of Spain’s talent). Mata’s second goal on Saturday contained a first time pass of such beauty from Hazard that all the Spaniard had to do was take four strides and pass it into the net. I dismissed Chelsea’s challenge at the start of the season, pointing to their defence and the complete uselessness of John Obi Mikel as the reasons why. Neither of those flaws have been corrected, but if Chelsea’s three musketeers can keep playing like this and scoring four goals every game… it will hardly matter.
The Premier League is
a very different beast to the Championship
It’s always one of the strange things each year that the team who comes up via the play off’s tends to fair better than those who gained automatic promotion. People can talk about momentum all they want, but the truth is that some teams are just better suited to play in this division than others (in the same way that Darren Huckerby was the greatest Championship player of all time… and nigh on useless in the Prem). Last season Reading and Southampton eased to automatic promotion at the expense of West Ham, who eventually went up by the skin of their teeth via the play offs. Thus far this season West Ham have amassed 14 points and sit in 7th. Reading and Saints meanwhile, lie in 18th and 19th with seven points and one win between them. West Ham have bought some new players of course, but then so have the other two clubs and they haven’t been able to gel with anything like the sort of speed that Big Sam’s new players have. No, the simple fact is that you need to be a more physical, rounded team to survive in the Premiership whereby you can get by playing light weight, fast attacking football in the league below. West Brom were a yo-yo club for years before they realised this and added solidity to their passing style, learning that in order to make it in the top flight defence has to come first. As it is, I would rather pay money to watch Saints play football 100 times over than West Ham, but that won’t change the fact that come May, the former will be heading back down to the fiery chasm from whence they came.
It’s always one of the strange things each year that the team who comes up via the play off’s tends to fair better than those who gained automatic promotion. People can talk about momentum all they want, but the truth is that some teams are just better suited to play in this division than others (in the same way that Darren Huckerby was the greatest Championship player of all time… and nigh on useless in the Prem). Last season Reading and Southampton eased to automatic promotion at the expense of West Ham, who eventually went up by the skin of their teeth via the play offs. Thus far this season West Ham have amassed 14 points and sit in 7th. Reading and Saints meanwhile, lie in 18th and 19th with seven points and one win between them. West Ham have bought some new players of course, but then so have the other two clubs and they haven’t been able to gel with anything like the sort of speed that Big Sam’s new players have. No, the simple fact is that you need to be a more physical, rounded team to survive in the Premiership whereby you can get by playing light weight, fast attacking football in the league below. West Brom were a yo-yo club for years before they realised this and added solidity to their passing style, learning that in order to make it in the top flight defence has to come first. As it is, I would rather pay money to watch Saints play football 100 times over than West Ham, but that won’t change the fact that come May, the former will be heading back down to the fiery chasm from whence they came.
Martin O’Neill is
limping
Martin O’Neill did everything right. He started his career at a lower league club, forging an impressive reputation before stepping up to manage Leicester. Here, he guided the club through their golden years adding cup triumphs to impressive league finishes. It was the year 2000, Martin O’Neill was 48 and he was being talked about as having the potential to manage any club in the land. He opted to manage Celtic. Whilst an unqualified success in Scotland, there is an argument that five years spent managing a club who essentially nobody respects your achievements for, was a potential waste of time for a manager of O’Neill’s abilities. When he did return to England some six years later, he took over at Aston Villa and guided them to three successive top six finishes. A feat that looks even more impressive when you consider Aston Villa both before and after that period. Eventually he quit and spent a season in exile being linked to every major job under the sun. His eventual appointment to the club he supported as a boy, smacked of a final and sentimental move. O’Neill is now 60 and in danger of greatness passing him by. He started well at Sunderland but so far this season his team have retreated into their shells. Sessegnon is yet to get going, likewise James McClean. His team have created fewer chances than anyone in the league and scored fewer goals, a feeble six in eight matches. Nobody apart from Stephen Fletcher has yet scored at all. O’Neill needs to arrest this creative lull and fast. Johnson and Fletcher are good signings and his team have enough talent to push for a top 8 finish. It would be a crying shame if a manager of his abilities finished his career languishing in mid table with no trophies since a Scottish Cup with Celtic.
Martin O’Neill did everything right. He started his career at a lower league club, forging an impressive reputation before stepping up to manage Leicester. Here, he guided the club through their golden years adding cup triumphs to impressive league finishes. It was the year 2000, Martin O’Neill was 48 and he was being talked about as having the potential to manage any club in the land. He opted to manage Celtic. Whilst an unqualified success in Scotland, there is an argument that five years spent managing a club who essentially nobody respects your achievements for, was a potential waste of time for a manager of O’Neill’s abilities. When he did return to England some six years later, he took over at Aston Villa and guided them to three successive top six finishes. A feat that looks even more impressive when you consider Aston Villa both before and after that period. Eventually he quit and spent a season in exile being linked to every major job under the sun. His eventual appointment to the club he supported as a boy, smacked of a final and sentimental move. O’Neill is now 60 and in danger of greatness passing him by. He started well at Sunderland but so far this season his team have retreated into their shells. Sessegnon is yet to get going, likewise James McClean. His team have created fewer chances than anyone in the league and scored fewer goals, a feeble six in eight matches. Nobody apart from Stephen Fletcher has yet scored at all. O’Neill needs to arrest this creative lull and fast. Johnson and Fletcher are good signings and his team have enough talent to push for a top 8 finish. It would be a crying shame if a manager of his abilities finished his career languishing in mid table with no trophies since a Scottish Cup with Celtic.
Hatred of other clubs
is all relative
Manypeople who just insult my blog of my fans have asked me over the
past couple of years why I dislike the teams I do and why some make me go all
warm and fuzzy inside when I think about watching them try and defend (Spurs). There
are of course, a myriad of reasons for this from the fans of the club to the
managers, youth policies, transfer dealings and historical incidents.
Ultimately though, you can’t always rationalise why you like the clubs you do.
Whilst I try to remain impartial on this blog, there is little doubt that I
favour writing about clubs that interest me in either their approach or ethos.
As such, I have decided to once and for all clarify my stance on all the
current Premier League clubs on the official “Hindu Monkey Scale.” The scale
features eight categories, to which clubs fall into rank order within. Any
questions, please contact the management…
Many
Man Utd
Soft Spots
Spurs
Everton
Swansea
Sympathist
Fulham
Arsenal
Wigan
Southampton
Little Interest
West Brom
Sunderland
Reading
Norwich
No Interest (at. all.)
Aston Villa
Mild Disdain
Newcastle
Stoke
Total Loathing
Man City
QPR
West Ham
Liverpool
Unrivalled Hatred
Chelsea
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