1. Liverpool remain an inconsistent work in progress
With 6 games left of their season and looking increasingly likely to finish 7th, it’s hard in many ways to see how Liverpool have moved forward from the King Kenny era. Ok so they’ve cut the wage bill, play an easier on the eye passing game and when they have won, they’ve won well… but they are going to finish the season trophy less and just one position higher than last season. Probably without even a Europa League spot to console themselves with. The main problem with Liverpool this season has not been dissimilar to that seen by Arsenal last year… that of a complete and almost total reliance on one player. Liverpool have won just a single league game all season when Suarez hasn’t either scored or assisted a goal. They haven’t played much without him in the team, but in it almost every attack goes though him. The Uruguayan has been outstanding over the past 9 months, but he can’t always be at his best and when he’s not Liverpool look abject. The consistency of the team have been badly lacking for some time. Every time Liverpool move forward, they seem to take another step back. They have not won four games in a row all season and no team can have their sights set on the top four without the ability to put those sort of runs together. Spurs went a dozen games unbeaten between December and March and Arsenal have just won 7 of their last 8 league games. Even Everton started the season losing just once in their first 11 matches. There are other issues beyond this, not least Brendan Rodgers’ desire to seemingly cast himself as the David Brent of football. Why has Daniel Sturridge not started the last few matches after making such an impressive start to his Anfield career? Granted he’s hardly the marquee signing that the Liverpool of old would have gone in for, but when Stewart Downing is playing ahead of you it’s time to ask some serious questions. The big worry for Liverpool fans is looking at the clubs above them, it’s impossible to make a case for them finishing above any bar Everton next time around. A Gareth Bale less Spurs at a push, but even then AVB has a well-oiled ship and if they can actually buy a striker or two you have to think they’ll be stronger again come August. West Ham made Liverpool look very ordinary on Saturday… and because I’m not really prepared to give West Ham any credit unless it’s absolutely 100% necessary… it’s probably because without Suarez having one of his good days, Liverpool are… well, very, very ordinary.
With 6 games left of their season and looking increasingly likely to finish 7th, it’s hard in many ways to see how Liverpool have moved forward from the King Kenny era. Ok so they’ve cut the wage bill, play an easier on the eye passing game and when they have won, they’ve won well… but they are going to finish the season trophy less and just one position higher than last season. Probably without even a Europa League spot to console themselves with. The main problem with Liverpool this season has not been dissimilar to that seen by Arsenal last year… that of a complete and almost total reliance on one player. Liverpool have won just a single league game all season when Suarez hasn’t either scored or assisted a goal. They haven’t played much without him in the team, but in it almost every attack goes though him. The Uruguayan has been outstanding over the past 9 months, but he can’t always be at his best and when he’s not Liverpool look abject. The consistency of the team have been badly lacking for some time. Every time Liverpool move forward, they seem to take another step back. They have not won four games in a row all season and no team can have their sights set on the top four without the ability to put those sort of runs together. Spurs went a dozen games unbeaten between December and March and Arsenal have just won 7 of their last 8 league games. Even Everton started the season losing just once in their first 11 matches. There are other issues beyond this, not least Brendan Rodgers’ desire to seemingly cast himself as the David Brent of football. Why has Daniel Sturridge not started the last few matches after making such an impressive start to his Anfield career? Granted he’s hardly the marquee signing that the Liverpool of old would have gone in for, but when Stewart Downing is playing ahead of you it’s time to ask some serious questions. The big worry for Liverpool fans is looking at the clubs above them, it’s impossible to make a case for them finishing above any bar Everton next time around. A Gareth Bale less Spurs at a push, but even then AVB has a well-oiled ship and if they can actually buy a striker or two you have to think they’ll be stronger again come August. West Ham made Liverpool look very ordinary on Saturday… and because I’m not really prepared to give West Ham any credit unless it’s absolutely 100% necessary… it’s probably because without Suarez having one of his good days, Liverpool are… well, very, very ordinary.
2. Nobody would miss Stoke dropping into the Championship
Tony Pulis has been a loyal servant to Stoke City and he has been backed throughout by a fine board and a terrific set of fans; but right now he has six games left to save his Premier League career. The pressure is on managers more than ever to not just win, but win well. There is talk of Big Sam again being cast aside this summer despite guiding West Ham to mid table safety. A victim not of the results game but of the bore game. The Premier League is a cash rich industry and people want entertainment for their buck. With that in mind, it’s hard to see how any other Premier League club would take a punt on Pulis given they would know as a cast iron fact they were paying for anti-football that now does not even yield results. Pulis has tinkered with his favourite 4-4-2 formation this season and it’s been a disaster. His strikers are starved of service, his midfield lacking in width and creativity and his defence, which carried them until January, has finally started to creak. Stoke have won once in the last 14 league games. They have scored 1 goal in the last 5 and haven’t played any of the bigger clubs in that period. Their next game is against Manchester Utd before facing QPR, Norwich and Sunderland in what have suddenly all become “six pointers.” They will probably have enough to survive, especially when you consider Sunderland are in an even worse position… but in truth, nobody will miss them if they go down.
Tony Pulis has been a loyal servant to Stoke City and he has been backed throughout by a fine board and a terrific set of fans; but right now he has six games left to save his Premier League career. The pressure is on managers more than ever to not just win, but win well. There is talk of Big Sam again being cast aside this summer despite guiding West Ham to mid table safety. A victim not of the results game but of the bore game. The Premier League is a cash rich industry and people want entertainment for their buck. With that in mind, it’s hard to see how any other Premier League club would take a punt on Pulis given they would know as a cast iron fact they were paying for anti-football that now does not even yield results. Pulis has tinkered with his favourite 4-4-2 formation this season and it’s been a disaster. His strikers are starved of service, his midfield lacking in width and creativity and his defence, which carried them until January, has finally started to creak. Stoke have won once in the last 14 league games. They have scored 1 goal in the last 5 and haven’t played any of the bigger clubs in that period. Their next game is against Manchester Utd before facing QPR, Norwich and Sunderland in what have suddenly all become “six pointers.” They will probably have enough to survive, especially when you consider Sunderland are in an even worse position… but in truth, nobody will miss them if they go down.
3. White Hart Lane still usually delivers the drama
The weekend’s stand out game by a long, long way unfolded at White Hart Lane on Sunday as Everton and Spurs shared the points in a pulsating draw. Inexplicably placed third in the MOTD2 schedule, this was a game that deserved a show in its own right. With both sides shorn of several of their best players, I was not alone in thinking this game would be a drab affair with few chances. On the contrary, the absences seemed to galvanise the players on show and helped create an end to end match which featured 28 chances, 13 corners, some fantastic saves and four goals, two of which were of the highest quality. For Spurs, positives came from the continued form finally found by Gylfi Sigurdsson (perhaps he could pass on some advice to the woeful Clint Dempsey) and another imperious end to end display by Jan Vertonghen. Everton meanwhile are being boosted by the knowledge that even if one Belgium leaves in the Summer, they have an almost perfect replacement already there. If Mirallas can sort his hamstrings out, he could easily be the focal point to the Toffees attack next year. He can play in any of the front or wide positions and has now scored two simply brilliant individual goals in as many games. These teams both remain in the hunt for 4th place and a draw probably suited neither when it comes to the crunch, but this was very much a result born out of positivity rather than negativity and it was a joy to watch.
The weekend’s stand out game by a long, long way unfolded at White Hart Lane on Sunday as Everton and Spurs shared the points in a pulsating draw. Inexplicably placed third in the MOTD2 schedule, this was a game that deserved a show in its own right. With both sides shorn of several of their best players, I was not alone in thinking this game would be a drab affair with few chances. On the contrary, the absences seemed to galvanise the players on show and helped create an end to end match which featured 28 chances, 13 corners, some fantastic saves and four goals, two of which were of the highest quality. For Spurs, positives came from the continued form finally found by Gylfi Sigurdsson (perhaps he could pass on some advice to the woeful Clint Dempsey) and another imperious end to end display by Jan Vertonghen. Everton meanwhile are being boosted by the knowledge that even if one Belgium leaves in the Summer, they have an almost perfect replacement already there. If Mirallas can sort his hamstrings out, he could easily be the focal point to the Toffees attack next year. He can play in any of the front or wide positions and has now scored two simply brilliant individual goals in as many games. These teams both remain in the hunt for 4th place and a draw probably suited neither when it comes to the crunch, but this was very much a result born out of positivity rather than negativity and it was a joy to watch.
4. Saints hoist the English Strikers flag.
Much praise has been heaped upon Rickie Lambert’s shoulders this season and rightfully so. The Saints forward has been in impressive form, leading the line, scoring and creating goals and showing every red blooded Englishman up and down the land how to actually take a penalty. Of late though, he hasn’t quite being doing it all himself. After a slow start to his Southampton career, Jay Rodriquez suddenly looks like a real talent. The two of them have now scored 20 goals between them this season, creating 8 for each other and a further 8 for their teammates. Rodriquez had only played 90 minutes once this season until the arrival of Pochettino, but has done so six times since, finding the net in 4 of them. Alongside Lambert the two of them look a real handful and if time is against the older player, Rodriquez is just 23 and surely in with a shout of an England cap if he continues in this vein. Of course, that is on the proviso that entire first team, reserve and youth squads of Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal & Spurs spontaneously combust… but still.
Much praise has been heaped upon Rickie Lambert’s shoulders this season and rightfully so. The Saints forward has been in impressive form, leading the line, scoring and creating goals and showing every red blooded Englishman up and down the land how to actually take a penalty. Of late though, he hasn’t quite being doing it all himself. After a slow start to his Southampton career, Jay Rodriquez suddenly looks like a real talent. The two of them have now scored 20 goals between them this season, creating 8 for each other and a further 8 for their teammates. Rodriquez had only played 90 minutes once this season until the arrival of Pochettino, but has done so six times since, finding the net in 4 of them. Alongside Lambert the two of them look a real handful and if time is against the older player, Rodriquez is just 23 and surely in with a shout of an England cap if he continues in this vein. Of course, that is on the proviso that entire first team, reserve and youth squads of Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal & Spurs spontaneously combust… but still.
5. City have let everyone down this season
As the dust settled on the Manchester Derby one thing was abundantly clear, Manchester Utd are not, by any stretch of the imagination, a team who should be 12 or 15 points ahead of their neighbours. Player for player City remain a vastly superior outfit, with Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Toure, Silva & Aguero all walking into the Utd team, let alone squad. Ferguson’s men could not get near a City team who, for the vast majority of the match, played as if they were the team leading a procession to the finish line. The superb Phil Jones aside, no Utd player could be pleased with their performance and that has been the case for many of them all season long. The reason why Utd will win the title and not City isn’t because they have a better team or squad. It’s because they have a manager who knows how to motivate his players for games like Reading and Stoke away. City have thrown away points too often in games where they have lacked the mentality to realise that three points is three points, no matter who it is against. They were terrible against Sunderland, dreadful against Southampton and saw their title chances all but vanish when they drew with an Everton team reduced to ten men. Despite the strange decision by the board to weaken rather than strengthen their squad in the summer, Mancini has been hugely culpable in their failure to defend their crown. He has rotated his defence at random, fallen out with almost his entire squad and has not been tactically intelligent enough to chase games when the “Edin Dzeko Plan B” has failed. He is likely to be given another crack of the whip next year, especially with Pep off the scene and Jose unlikely to risk his lengthy courtship for the Utd job. If City play like they did tonight for even half their 38 games next time around, it will be them as the team that everyone else has to chase and not a Utd team still reliant on the craft, guile and legs of a 39 year old Welshman.
As the dust settled on the Manchester Derby one thing was abundantly clear, Manchester Utd are not, by any stretch of the imagination, a team who should be 12 or 15 points ahead of their neighbours. Player for player City remain a vastly superior outfit, with Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Toure, Silva & Aguero all walking into the Utd team, let alone squad. Ferguson’s men could not get near a City team who, for the vast majority of the match, played as if they were the team leading a procession to the finish line. The superb Phil Jones aside, no Utd player could be pleased with their performance and that has been the case for many of them all season long. The reason why Utd will win the title and not City isn’t because they have a better team or squad. It’s because they have a manager who knows how to motivate his players for games like Reading and Stoke away. City have thrown away points too often in games where they have lacked the mentality to realise that three points is three points, no matter who it is against. They were terrible against Sunderland, dreadful against Southampton and saw their title chances all but vanish when they drew with an Everton team reduced to ten men. Despite the strange decision by the board to weaken rather than strengthen their squad in the summer, Mancini has been hugely culpable in their failure to defend their crown. He has rotated his defence at random, fallen out with almost his entire squad and has not been tactically intelligent enough to chase games when the “Edin Dzeko Plan B” has failed. He is likely to be given another crack of the whip next year, especially with Pep off the scene and Jose unlikely to risk his lengthy courtship for the Utd job. If City play like they did tonight for even half their 38 games next time around, it will be them as the team that everyone else has to chase and not a Utd team still reliant on the craft, guile and legs of a 39 year old Welshman.
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