Week 25

 



Arsene Wenger looked like Georges Clemenceau in the stands as all he could do was stand back and watch at the moment of battle. The question with this team is who will step up when Arsene needs them the most? Apparently the answer to that is that no one gives their full body for him, just a hand. Apparently the ref apologized before the end of the game saying that the ball that went off of Alexis’ hand should not have been allowed. I’ve hear much deliberation, including many pundits who say that the goal should stand as it was un-intentional and therefore a goal by law. To me when you’re right in front of the goal and you kick it off your hand and in then it should not be a goal. Period. Apparently the only other players hand to step up for him was Sam Clucas’ as his late red card for hand ball on the line gave Arsenal a penalty that was cooly converted by Alexis Sanchez.

Southampton swept aside Sunderland 4-0 and Manolo Gabbiadini scored a brace in his second game for them. That brings his total to 3 goals in two games and at about $15 mil he looks real quality. Just the type of smart, quality move that Southampton will surely send to Liverpool for twice the price in a couple years. For Southampton it puts them firmly in mid-table. For Sunderland this kind of result obviously isn’t good but they wont’ be disheartened. They sit bottom but they know that they have to go for a win in every game they play. They somehow manage to do it every year, why not this one too?

Liverpool fear playing teams at the bottom like Sunderland. But against they top 6 they have the best record in the league. That continued this week and Liverpool ran rampant over Tottenham. Or more accurately, Sadio Mané ran rampant. He went clear through on his first goal as his pace could not be matched before perfect balance allowed him to convert. Then sheer luck as Lloris saved two consecutive shots and the final ball fell to Mané who still had to rifle it past 2 defenders on the goal line. Certainly points against the top of the table are important but Liverpools achilles heel is still bottom sides that park the bus.

Chelsea have a lot of room for error now. Although you’d normally expect Chelsea to sweep aside Burnley, Burnley have been quality this year. With an 8 point gap it certainly makes the title race more interesting. What did we learn from this result? Chelsea are susceptible on set pieces. That said scoring more than 1 goal against them has been difficult. So Chelsea know they don’t have to blow people out, they can continue getting a few goals each match and still comfortably be champions. I wouldn’t expect a Rocky movie-esque finish to the season is what i’m trying to say.

Apollo Creed got a comfortable win against an opponent you’d expect them to beat. Although they are downplaying a title chase they are certainly in it if no one else. Even if they don’t catch Chelsea they will see all the positives in this season, namely the coming of age of many young stars. At the moment it seems like the league’s best forward Sergio Aguero may find himself on the outside of this squad over the summer. Baffling. That said, there are holes in this squad and i expect them to be filled the City way: money. I think next year, and certainly by 2 years, City will have the best squad and the best manager in England.

Week 24

 


Chelsea takes the lead early on a Petr Cech miscue. He is after all a Chelsea player at heart. And Arsenal should have leveled it before half! But for the lack of talent he showed for only last year he has truly come up with one of the best solo goals you’ll ever see as he takes on Arsenal by himself. Chelsea are strutting right. Arsenal are reaching the point in the season they become Arsenal.

Everton are really showing the class that they used to be. I back Ronald Koeman for long term success with this club. Everton is a club who doesn’t like a constant turnover of managers and since David Moyes took his Scottish ways with him they have been looking for someone exactly like Koeman. But he may have to rethink where all his goals come from next year as Romelu Lukaku looks likely leave this summer with some reports saying as high as $100 million. Unlikely but you don’t lead the Premier League in goals and not draw some attention from high bidders.

Hull City added more misery to Liverpool’s start to 2017. Although they won’t particularly care that it’s specifically against Liverpool they have earned a vital 3 points despite barely holding the ball. They are in 18th and the bottom 4 seem to be rotating week to week. This relegation battle looks to be one of the best of recent memory. For Liverpool, this defeat leaves them with major question marks as to how the season will continue. Klopp is clearly the right man but he rarely takes a club by storm. He likes to build over time and in a sport as volatile as football he is asking a lot from the fans. I think FSG will stick with him for the long term though.

It was a week in which the bottom 2 won and the 3rd from bottom lost to one of those two teams. Sunderland spanked Crystal Palace 4-0 and now the bottom 6 teams are within 2 points of each other! I have defended Crystal Palace until this point but now i’m jumping off the bandwagon. They truly are the Cleveland Browns of the Premier League this season and they will be punished. They are last to every ball and they don’t play like a team despite having competent players. They remind me of the QPR team that got relegated a few seasons ago.

As far as future stars i think Manchester City have the among the best in the league. They all shone bright in the win versus Swansea. They will be inconsistent as young teams are but with Pep Guardiola guiding them the sky is the limit. This season a top 4 finish is the goal and will set them up for a stellar 2017-18 season. Today they let Swansea back into a game that they were never really in. City dominated but showed some real strength as they came back to win it.

Week 23

 


A heap of games were thrown in this midweek and relative positions at the topped remained the same. Let’s start with Arsenal who had Arsene Wenger serving the first game of his touchline ban. The most violent a Frenchmen can get is snootiness but in England bad manners are punishable. Perhaps Wenger is truly Arsenal’s 12th man as his team failed to capitalize on this opportunity. They let in a deflected free kick and then were beaten by a mazing run finished off by Troy Deeney. Arsenal had a hill to climb the size of the French Alps and they eventually managed to get a goal by Iwobi. He and Sanchez looked electric and the post was rattled in the dying minutes in what should have been a major comeback. Unfortunately Arsenal and Spurs are the only ones who looked like catching Chelsea and failed to capitalize.

Spurs played out a dull 0-0 draw that surely eliminates anyone’s title hopes if only by the fact that Chelsea lead by so much. It’s a boring result that had large implications at both ends of the table though. Sunderland needed the point as all of a sudden the relegation teams are earning more than ever. Although still in last only 3 points separate them and 18th place Crystal Palace. Palace won btw and even with those 3 points still find themselves clawing out of relegation. They are much too talented of a team to be relegated.

The fear must really be starting to creep in for the Premier League Champions now. They get promoted, barely survive, win the league the next year, and then get relegated?! Surely it can’t be. That would a fantastic tale should it come to fruition. Not only do they look toothless but they have poor resolve but also timing as witnessed by conceding a late winner this week. Really the opposite of the team last year that no one wanted to play.

Chelsea’s gameplay in theory should have worked perfectly at Liverpool: Liverpool must attack so Chelsea can hit them on the counter. In truth either team could have won, and Chelsea should have won. They got their goal from a moment of genius from David Luiz who caught Mignolet out on a set piece. But Liverpool fought back to earn a scrappy goal off Wijnaldum’s header. Then at the other end a penalty was awarded to Chelsea and Mignolet saved Costa’s poor shot. In the end a draw was fair to both sides but it damages Chelsea not at all as most of the teams below them slipped up. They are firm favorites now and it will take a lot for a single other team to overtake them.

There’s just something about West Ham’s new stadium that they apparently don’t like. In the battle of light blue kits they got thoroughly thumped at home. Really not much else to say as we all know City are capable of this kind of performance but the consistency has not been there. I think they have real quality but Pep needs some time to make his stamp.