As much as I hate to say this, but the rule of Premier league soccer is definitely held in Manchester, with the Red Devil's and Man City proving this weekend that any chanlenger MUST be prepared to play defense. Right now, only Chelsea and Liverpool have a remote chance of rivaling the Manchester clubs in the race for the title. But that's not all that happened this weekend. A Midlands derby, Tim Howard and Wigan featured this weekend.
In the Midlands derby which featured last year Wolves winning for the first time in 31 years, the story was missed chances for Aston Villa. 6 or 7 times the Lions tested goalkepper Wayne Hennessey. Alex McLeish cannot be satisfied with that draw, but Wolves certainetly will be. They have not lost a game out of 4 possible opportunities.
Back to Manchester. To start off Sunday, Man City pounded Tottenham 5-1. Dzeko scored 2, with Nasri providing an assist on one. The large sums of money Man City have spent prove well worth the financial setback. With Aguero, Dzeko, and Nasri all leading the movement of newbies, Man City have assured their place in the title race.
On the other side of town, Man U have also proved wise in the transfer markert, buying youngster Danny Welbeck, and Ashley Young, both of whom have scored. Man U too have bought cheap talent.
Although it is still early, a few canidates are knocked out of the title run. Arsenal and Tottenham are both definetly out, with the new "Big 4" being the real contenders. Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Man U are the largest contenders for this year's trophy, at least in my eyes.
Tim Howard had an amazing game, saving a penalty and forcing another miss. This was easily his best game in a long time.
Wigan beat QPR 2 nil, bringing QPR down to 12th in the table, and they will definetly be lower than that. If the pieces come together for Neil Warnock's men, then they could finish mid-table.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The League Returns....
Europe's most premier league returned today with the draw for the group stages. I will break down the groups and give my predictions later, but for now I would like to talk EPL.
This weekend saw host to Andre Villas-Boas' first home game as manager of Chelsea. He must have been feeling great. 4 minutes later though, he most surely was not. After an aggressive play by Shane Long to steal the ball from Alex, and a defensive mishap by the latter mentioned, the ball was in the back of the net and AVB was in the dog house. In fact, the first 35 minutes played host in a statistically off game, where Chelsea had 70% of the possession, but West Brom was dominating the game. WBA could have scored again, in the 24th minute. If Shane Long had played the ball back a few feet to Tchoyi, then the ball would be in familiar territory and AVB might as well have bought his ticket home on the spot. But, the ball was over-hit, and Chelsea fans could breathe easy. An unusual first half substitution brought Florent Malouda on and West Brom's dominance off. For the rest of the game, 55 minutes, Chelsea set the tempo. Nicholas Anelka scored the goal that had only been a question of when, not if. Bosingwa then made a beautiful play to split 2 defenders then crossed the ball to Malouda, who put Chelsea on top for good. 3 points won.
The Champions League Groups have been decided, and I shall give my best group, worst, and predictions.
The Best: Group A, the "group of death" has Man City, Bayern Munich and Villareal and Napoli, making it easily the toughest group.
The Worst: Group G, with Porto, Shakhtar, Zenit and Apoel, is easily the worst of this year.
Predictions: Man City and Bayern, Lille and Inter, Man U and Benfica, Real Madrid and Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia, Arsenal and Marsellie, Porto and Zenit, Barca and Milan have my predictions to get out of the group stages. I also believe the Bayern and Barca will play in the final, with Barca winning their 2nd in a row and 3rd in 4 years. That just about wraps it up for pitch view this week.
This weekend saw host to Andre Villas-Boas' first home game as manager of Chelsea. He must have been feeling great. 4 minutes later though, he most surely was not. After an aggressive play by Shane Long to steal the ball from Alex, and a defensive mishap by the latter mentioned, the ball was in the back of the net and AVB was in the dog house. In fact, the first 35 minutes played host in a statistically off game, where Chelsea had 70% of the possession, but West Brom was dominating the game. WBA could have scored again, in the 24th minute. If Shane Long had played the ball back a few feet to Tchoyi, then the ball would be in familiar territory and AVB might as well have bought his ticket home on the spot. But, the ball was over-hit, and Chelsea fans could breathe easy. An unusual first half substitution brought Florent Malouda on and West Brom's dominance off. For the rest of the game, 55 minutes, Chelsea set the tempo. Nicholas Anelka scored the goal that had only been a question of when, not if. Bosingwa then made a beautiful play to split 2 defenders then crossed the ball to Malouda, who put Chelsea on top for good. 3 points won.
The Champions League Groups have been decided, and I shall give my best group, worst, and predictions.
The Best: Group A, the "group of death" has Man City, Bayern Munich and Villareal and Napoli, making it easily the toughest group.
The Worst: Group G, with Porto, Shakhtar, Zenit and Apoel, is easily the worst of this year.
Predictions: Man City and Bayern, Lille and Inter, Man U and Benfica, Real Madrid and Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia, Arsenal and Marsellie, Porto and Zenit, Barca and Milan have my predictions to get out of the group stages. I also believe the Bayern and Barca will play in the final, with Barca winning their 2nd in a row and 3rd in 4 years. That just about wraps it up for pitch view this week.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
A Transfer, 2 Thrasings, and 5 Draws
The opening weekend of the EPL was one of a transfer, 2 thrasings and 5 draws. Cesc Fabergas returned home to Barca, Man City beat Swansea 4 nil, QPR lost to Bolton 4 nil at home, and Sunderland, Liverpool, Chelsea, Stoke, Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham, Ashton Villa, Wigan and Norwich all drew their games.
Just as I predicted last week, if not this year but next, Fabergas would return to Catalan. He made that return yesterday, as he agreed to a 5 year deal with the Spanish giants. Some may say that he will now sit the bench, and that will certainly be prospect for debate, but with the aquisition of the 25 year old midfielder, Barca have surely assured themselves a treble. Even if Xavi or Inestia get injured, they have a first rate replacement just waiting to get onto the pitch for the club he grew up in.
Speaking of transfers, Man City have surely provided themselves with a franchise player in Sergio Augero. In his 30 minute debut, he scored twice, and provided a beatuiful assist to top it all off. Manchester City have surely proved their tenacity for scoring, winning by a 4-0 margin. Newly promoted QPR also got whipped at home, against Bolton. 2 own goals did not brighten the day for Neil Warnock. They play Everton next week, but the first game against a championship contender comes in week 6, where they play Chelsea, and then Tottenham and Man City. They will be fighting to stay up the whole time.
Man U won their game, but lost 3 defenders, including captain Rio Ferdinand. David De Gae didn't have a good debut, and it was on his mistake that West Brom even scored. But, the rule of thumb says never to contradict Sir Alex, so I won't, but I will end on this. The transfer market is a double edged sword. You can win for little, or lose big. The best way to go is to use as little as possible.
Just as I predicted last week, if not this year but next, Fabergas would return to Catalan. He made that return yesterday, as he agreed to a 5 year deal with the Spanish giants. Some may say that he will now sit the bench, and that will certainly be prospect for debate, but with the aquisition of the 25 year old midfielder, Barca have surely assured themselves a treble. Even if Xavi or Inestia get injured, they have a first rate replacement just waiting to get onto the pitch for the club he grew up in.
Speaking of transfers, Man City have surely provided themselves with a franchise player in Sergio Augero. In his 30 minute debut, he scored twice, and provided a beatuiful assist to top it all off. Manchester City have surely proved their tenacity for scoring, winning by a 4-0 margin. Newly promoted QPR also got whipped at home, against Bolton. 2 own goals did not brighten the day for Neil Warnock. They play Everton next week, but the first game against a championship contender comes in week 6, where they play Chelsea, and then Tottenham and Man City. They will be fighting to stay up the whole time.
Man U won their game, but lost 3 defenders, including captain Rio Ferdinand. David De Gae didn't have a good debut, and it was on his mistake that West Brom even scored. But, the rule of thumb says never to contradict Sir Alex, so I won't, but I will end on this. The transfer market is a double edged sword. You can win for little, or lose big. The best way to go is to use as little as possible.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Drips and Drabs
With the BPL only a week away, I would like to discuss the upcoming year.
The noisy neighbours are getting a bit too noisy for Red Devils fans. This summer, Manchester City have seemed to greatly increased their chances, with new signing such as Sergio Augero, and returning veterans like the Toure brothers, David Silva, and Carlos Tevez, City are a sure bet to make a run in the Champions League, BPL and every cup.
On contrast, Man U has only made really 1 big signing this summer, and that is David De Gea, the replacement for legendary Edwin Vander Sar. The young Spainard has large shoes to fill, with the championship trophy to defend. Sir Alex Ferguson will surely be looking to utilize his attacking fowards, with Rooney, Berbatov and Hernandez creating possibly the best front in the game, maybe only rivaled by Chelsea's Torres, Drogba, Anelka, or Barca's Messi, Pedro, and Villa(though not to forget the returning Abromavic from his loan at Milan). All around, Man U have a very high chance.
Chelsea has just signed Oriol Romeu, making that their 2nd signing of the summer. With a mixture of youth and experience, Andre Villas Boas will surely turn it into a potent machine. With John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Nicholas Anelka leading the veterans, and Fernando Torres, Josh McEachran, Daniel Sturridge, and Gael Kalkuta leading the youngsters, all they need is the right manager. Villas Boas will surely provide that, being an assistant under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Inter, before taking over a Spanish club. He then lead Porto to a treble last year, and now will hopefully do the same to Chelsea in the Champions League.
Liverpool at the winter break last year were look dismal. But with King Kenny back, the house is clean. New signings including Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in the winter transfer window, and Jordan Henderson recently ensures that Liverpool will go a long way the the title run, maybe even winning. They qualified for the Europa League, in which they will surely dominate. Their season and future looks very bright.
On the contrast, Arsenal is having trouble keeping it's future. Arsene Wenger, possibly the smartest coach in the game, is having trouble keep Cesc Fabergas from Barcelona, and Samuel Nasri from really everyone. If not these year, then next, will Arsenal's best players leave. I see few chances for them, even though I respect Arsene Wenger above all managers.
My Predictions:
The noisy neighbours are getting a bit too noisy for Red Devils fans. This summer, Manchester City have seemed to greatly increased their chances, with new signing such as Sergio Augero, and returning veterans like the Toure brothers, David Silva, and Carlos Tevez, City are a sure bet to make a run in the Champions League, BPL and every cup.
On contrast, Man U has only made really 1 big signing this summer, and that is David De Gea, the replacement for legendary Edwin Vander Sar. The young Spainard has large shoes to fill, with the championship trophy to defend. Sir Alex Ferguson will surely be looking to utilize his attacking fowards, with Rooney, Berbatov and Hernandez creating possibly the best front in the game, maybe only rivaled by Chelsea's Torres, Drogba, Anelka, or Barca's Messi, Pedro, and Villa(though not to forget the returning Abromavic from his loan at Milan). All around, Man U have a very high chance.
Chelsea has just signed Oriol Romeu, making that their 2nd signing of the summer. With a mixture of youth and experience, Andre Villas Boas will surely turn it into a potent machine. With John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Nicholas Anelka leading the veterans, and Fernando Torres, Josh McEachran, Daniel Sturridge, and Gael Kalkuta leading the youngsters, all they need is the right manager. Villas Boas will surely provide that, being an assistant under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Inter, before taking over a Spanish club. He then lead Porto to a treble last year, and now will hopefully do the same to Chelsea in the Champions League.
Liverpool at the winter break last year were look dismal. But with King Kenny back, the house is clean. New signings including Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in the winter transfer window, and Jordan Henderson recently ensures that Liverpool will go a long way the the title run, maybe even winning. They qualified for the Europa League, in which they will surely dominate. Their season and future looks very bright.
On the contrast, Arsenal is having trouble keeping it's future. Arsene Wenger, possibly the smartest coach in the game, is having trouble keep Cesc Fabergas from Barcelona, and Samuel Nasri from really everyone. If not these year, then next, will Arsenal's best players leave. I see few chances for them, even though I respect Arsene Wenger above all managers.
My Predictions:
- Man U
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
- Man City
- Arsenal
- Hotspur
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