Palace continue to impress
6th in the league entirely on merit, Palace have taken their game to a new level of late, adding defensive steel to their attacking intent. Palace have a high class squad brimming with talent and full credit has to go to Alan Pardew for the continued success his team are having. There are few more entertaining players in the league than Yannick Bolasie, the Congolese winger is the star on top of the Christmas Tree that Pardew has decorated. Under his current manager, Bolasie has matured into a consistent menace with genuine end product. He terrorised Southampton at the weekend and the 1-0 score line flattered Saints a little. With Mane and Pelle not delivering, Koeman has seen his side slide gradually down the table and needs to find the same winning formula that Pardew currently has to arrest their decline. Palace’s meanwhile, will take their impressive form to the best defence in the land next weekend, as they try and find a way past the house that Jack built.
Butland is breathing
down Joe Hart’s neck
Since Ryan Shawcross has returned to action, Stoke have played six games and only conceded two goals, both in a 40 minute spell when their captain was dismissed. During that run, Stoke have built a defensive fortress to which Jack Butland is simply refusing to relinquish the keys to. On form, Butland is far and away the best keeper in the league. He has made the most saves, kept the most clean sheets and is slaughtering every other keeper bar Watford’s Gomes in his Opta stats and, more importantly, Fantasy Football points. Butland is 22, English and breathing down the neck of our number one keeper Joe Hart. To Hart’s credit, he has been superb for club and country since he was dropped in the middle of last season. He was Manchester City’s best player at the weekend as they stole an undeserved win in true title chasing fashion. In a national side which lacks world class players in almost every conceivable position, it should be noted that Goalkeeper is not one of them.
Since Ryan Shawcross has returned to action, Stoke have played six games and only conceded two goals, both in a 40 minute spell when their captain was dismissed. During that run, Stoke have built a defensive fortress to which Jack Butland is simply refusing to relinquish the keys to. On form, Butland is far and away the best keeper in the league. He has made the most saves, kept the most clean sheets and is slaughtering every other keeper bar Watford’s Gomes in his Opta stats and, more importantly, Fantasy Football points. Butland is 22, English and breathing down the neck of our number one keeper Joe Hart. To Hart’s credit, he has been superb for club and country since he was dropped in the middle of last season. He was Manchester City’s best player at the weekend as they stole an undeserved win in true title chasing fashion. In a national side which lacks world class players in almost every conceivable position, it should be noted that Goalkeeper is not one of them.
Van Gaal is running
out of ideas
First things first, there are no mitigating circumstances when you have spent over a quarter of a billion pounds in 18 months. United may have had a patched up defence on Saturday, but they had a front four of Mata, Depay, Martial and Fellaini, who cost around £140 million between them. United lost on Saturday because they didn’t take their chances and then failed to respond to a Bournemouth side who simply cared about winning the football match more. In truth, playing against the bookies favourites to get relegated this season, United were given a lesson in every aspect of the game. The Bournemouth fans, all 28,000 of them, made more noise than the 75,000 of Old Trafford do on most weeks. The defence was more committed to the cause, the midfield more creative, the wingers faster and more penetrative and upfront Josh King, a player United let go, gave the most expensive teenager in World Football an education in how to play as a lone striker. United never looked like getting back into the game once the Cherries took the lead, and the game came to an end with the defenders pumping long balls seventy yards forward to Fellaini… who had been substituted with 15 minutes left. Van Gaal has ran out of ideas. He cannot get his team to attack as a unit and he cannot coax individual brilliance out of obviously talented players. Each of his forwards look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders and he has to take responsibility for the profligacy of their finishing and their lethargic approach to attacking. On the other side of the pitch stood Harry Arter, a man who had just lost his new born baby daughter. His performance was better than any single United player this season and no player deserved the victory more. As he walked emotionally off to be hugged by his manager, it was clear how much of a superb job Eddie Howe has done at getting his players to play for him… and to care about the future of this football club. Right now, that could not be further from the truth at United. A once great club getting drained at the teat by the Glazers, the leech like presence of Ed Woodward and managed by an arrogant bastard coasting on past glories. Manchester United are broken, and to be frank, most people couldn’t be happier about it.
First things first, there are no mitigating circumstances when you have spent over a quarter of a billion pounds in 18 months. United may have had a patched up defence on Saturday, but they had a front four of Mata, Depay, Martial and Fellaini, who cost around £140 million between them. United lost on Saturday because they didn’t take their chances and then failed to respond to a Bournemouth side who simply cared about winning the football match more. In truth, playing against the bookies favourites to get relegated this season, United were given a lesson in every aspect of the game. The Bournemouth fans, all 28,000 of them, made more noise than the 75,000 of Old Trafford do on most weeks. The defence was more committed to the cause, the midfield more creative, the wingers faster and more penetrative and upfront Josh King, a player United let go, gave the most expensive teenager in World Football an education in how to play as a lone striker. United never looked like getting back into the game once the Cherries took the lead, and the game came to an end with the defenders pumping long balls seventy yards forward to Fellaini… who had been substituted with 15 minutes left. Van Gaal has ran out of ideas. He cannot get his team to attack as a unit and he cannot coax individual brilliance out of obviously talented players. Each of his forwards look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders and he has to take responsibility for the profligacy of their finishing and their lethargic approach to attacking. On the other side of the pitch stood Harry Arter, a man who had just lost his new born baby daughter. His performance was better than any single United player this season and no player deserved the victory more. As he walked emotionally off to be hugged by his manager, it was clear how much of a superb job Eddie Howe has done at getting his players to play for him… and to care about the future of this football club. Right now, that could not be further from the truth at United. A once great club getting drained at the teat by the Glazers, the leech like presence of Ed Woodward and managed by an arrogant bastard coasting on past glories. Manchester United are broken, and to be frank, most people couldn’t be happier about it.
Aston Villa surely
can’t get out of this
A full 8 points clear from safety, only York City can lay claim to be in worse form in the entire football league than Aston Villa. They have scored the least amount of goals and conceded the most to boot. They have not kept the same eleven in any game and Remi Garde has inherited an absolute train wreck of a side that he has no idea how to pull clear of the debris. Villa have flirted with relegation for a couple of years, indebted largely to the goals of Christian Benteke to pull them clear when it’s mattered. This season Benteke is gone, and Rudy Gestede is in. Surely… surely… this time they can’t survive. When Alan Hutton is your current player of the season… you don’t deserve to be in the top flight.
The Toon – taking the piss out of bookmakers since the start of the Premier League
What a fascinatingly curious side Newcastle are. Is there any team in the land capable of looking like they’ve never played together one week, and putting together such a seamless, impressive performance the next? Two weeks ago, going one nil down to Spurs would have been the signal for the flood gates to open. Yet Newcastle, buoyed by last week’s hard fought win against Liverpool, inexplicably rallied with match winning substitutions and came back to win the match. How Newcastle fans must crave a season of actual consistency. A season where they never know from one week to the next if they are to get slaughtered or return a famous victory. After being dead and buried in November, Newcastle are now above Chelsea in the league. Not a hugely impressive achievement this season granted, but still amusing to say nonetheless…
A full 8 points clear from safety, only York City can lay claim to be in worse form in the entire football league than Aston Villa. They have scored the least amount of goals and conceded the most to boot. They have not kept the same eleven in any game and Remi Garde has inherited an absolute train wreck of a side that he has no idea how to pull clear of the debris. Villa have flirted with relegation for a couple of years, indebted largely to the goals of Christian Benteke to pull them clear when it’s mattered. This season Benteke is gone, and Rudy Gestede is in. Surely… surely… this time they can’t survive. When Alan Hutton is your current player of the season… you don’t deserve to be in the top flight.
The Toon – taking the piss out of bookmakers since the start of the Premier League
What a fascinatingly curious side Newcastle are. Is there any team in the land capable of looking like they’ve never played together one week, and putting together such a seamless, impressive performance the next? Two weeks ago, going one nil down to Spurs would have been the signal for the flood gates to open. Yet Newcastle, buoyed by last week’s hard fought win against Liverpool, inexplicably rallied with match winning substitutions and came back to win the match. How Newcastle fans must crave a season of actual consistency. A season where they never know from one week to the next if they are to get slaughtered or return a famous victory. After being dead and buried in November, Newcastle are now above Chelsea in the league. Not a hugely impressive achievement this season granted, but still amusing to say nonetheless…
Team of the Weak
Mignolet – statistically the most error prone keeper in the
league, one can only assume Klopp is contractually obliged to continue to
praise him
Clyne – has yet to show his Southampton form for his new club. Solid and dependable but was poor on Sunday and is much less of an attacking threat than Moreno
Bacuna – looks overweight and immobile, was given a lesson by Arsenal
Blind – was pulled all over the place by King. Not a centre back
Mangala – the most overpriced defender in world football. And that includes David Luiz…
Veretout – simply terrible, didn’t deserve to be on the same pitch as the opposition
Mata – touched the ball seven times in the second half, did nothing with it
Rodwell – Who? Exactly
Mane – A poor man’s Bolasie. An absolutely flat broke man’s Mahrez
Kane – Not his day, restricted to shooting from deep and didn’t get involved in the game
Martial – Two good chances, missed them both and looks like he has no idea what to do for the team
Clyne – has yet to show his Southampton form for his new club. Solid and dependable but was poor on Sunday and is much less of an attacking threat than Moreno
Bacuna – looks overweight and immobile, was given a lesson by Arsenal
Blind – was pulled all over the place by King. Not a centre back
Mangala – the most overpriced defender in world football. And that includes David Luiz…
Veretout – simply terrible, didn’t deserve to be on the same pitch as the opposition
Mata – touched the ball seven times in the second half, did nothing with it
Rodwell – Who? Exactly
Mane – A poor man’s Bolasie. An absolutely flat broke man’s Mahrez
Kane – Not his day, restricted to shooting from deep and didn’t get involved in the game
Martial – Two good chances, missed them both and looks like he has no idea what to do for the team
What you may have missed
Everton absolutely battering Norwich for 45 minutes and then only coming away with a draw… you know, because it’s a game of two halves son; Swansea looking like a completely different team following the sacking of their manager; Watford winning again; Ighalo scoring again; West Brom scoring two goals in a football match; Liverpool scoring two goals in a home football match and Arsenal drawing Barcelona in the Champions League yet again, right after we’ve all praised them for doing so well to finish second in their group…
Everton absolutely battering Norwich for 45 minutes and then only coming away with a draw… you know, because it’s a game of two halves son; Swansea looking like a completely different team following the sacking of their manager; Watford winning again; Ighalo scoring again; West Brom scoring two goals in a football match; Liverpool scoring two goals in a home football match and Arsenal drawing Barcelona in the Champions League yet again, right after we’ve all praised them for doing so well to finish second in their group…
Oh well, it could be
worse Wenger, you could be in the Europa.
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