A few quick notes:
1) Law 9, Ball in and out of play. It´s really pretty easy. Whole ball, whole line. Would the FA mind actually having their officials read it? Stuart Attwell telling Arteta to move the corner kick, when the ball was clearly over the arc is an absolute disgrace. Seriously, is Sian Massey the only official in England that has actually read the Law? It even comes with pictures if you don´t understand one-syllable words.
2) Arsenal and Swansea are evenly matched, and Mertesacker and Arteta are the best Arsenal players by some margin. Arsenal was destined for a relegation fight without the 31 August panic buys.
3) You cannot lose focus for even a moment in the Premiership, even against a mediocre team. Vorm´s moment of madness and Rangel´s lack of concentration may be the loss of points that send Swansea back to the Championship in eight months time.
4) Walcott is crap.
5) Walcott is really, really crap. And he doesn´t understand that it´s not the officials' fault when he dribbles with his head down and is tackled. If he was a better finisher, he could be a threat in the Championship. As it is, he is a League Two left winger, provided you have a good left back behind him for defensive cover. Walcott to Crawley is actually a pretty good match, though Crawley´s ambitions are greater than Walcott´s play.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
What We Will Learn from the Prem this Weekend
This is always a tough two weeks for me -- I´m so happy football is back, and then the wretched International break comes. It throws me off: I don´t sleep well (maybe nothing football related, but it is consistent) and I´m grouchy parsing out the reruns of matches off the DVR until I´m reduced to watching Champions League play-in matches from Eastern Europe recorded in late July. (Though decent stuff from Zwykvk FC in their 1-3 away win over Dynamo Grvblbrdr played on a community sheep pasture outside of Brno.) I seriously wish I could watch more non-league football here in the states, but all I get are my video clips for analysis. We´ve got to work on at least getting streaming video from the Blue Square.
ANY. HOO.
Big week in the Prem, and here are four questions we may well be able to answer on Monday morning:
1) Does David DeGea have future in English football?
It´s no secret he´s crap on long range shots -- in Liga, the word was shoot on sight, and DeGea surrendered more long range goals than anyone last year. As shown in the first three matches, he´s crap on shots on the ground. DeGea doesn´t so much dive as fall like a tree. Today, it appears Lindegaard will start at Bolton allegedly because of Bolton´s aerial threat. Huh, wait -- he can´t handle the high ball either? If Lindegaard has a good match, that could be it for DeGea. Ferguson suffered through three seasons of Barthez the Clown before dropping him. (To be fair, Barthez was quite good his first season with ManU; it was 2001 when he lost the plot.) Don´t expect Ferguson to give the young Spaniard the same leeway.
2) Are Liverpool title contenders?
Smart money is no, not this year, but while we won´t necessarily get a yes this weekend, we could have a no. If Liverpool cannot beat Stoke, there will be not be a title chase. Full stop. Before the Reds can seriously consider their first Premiership trophy, they must stop bleeding points to the likes of Stoke and Sunderland.
3) Is ´arry in trouble?
Spurs fans are generally in a good humor due to the crash and burn of their North London neighbors. Truth is, though, Tottenham have been pretty woeful in their two matches thus far. If McCarthy´s (rather good) Wolves squad hand Tottenham their third defeat on the trot (and with a sub-fit Van der Vaart and Wolves showing a resiliant backline I think it´s likely) then no amount of Arsenal woe will hide the fact that it´s not too rosy at White Hart Lane either.
With no early kickoff, 1000am (or three in the afternoon, UK time) can´t come soon enough.
Enjoy.
ANY. HOO.
Big week in the Prem, and here are four questions we may well be able to answer on Monday morning:
1) Does David DeGea have future in English football?
It´s no secret he´s crap on long range shots -- in Liga, the word was shoot on sight, and DeGea surrendered more long range goals than anyone last year. As shown in the first three matches, he´s crap on shots on the ground. DeGea doesn´t so much dive as fall like a tree. Today, it appears Lindegaard will start at Bolton allegedly because of Bolton´s aerial threat. Huh, wait -- he can´t handle the high ball either? If Lindegaard has a good match, that could be it for DeGea. Ferguson suffered through three seasons of Barthez the Clown before dropping him. (To be fair, Barthez was quite good his first season with ManU; it was 2001 when he lost the plot.) Don´t expect Ferguson to give the young Spaniard the same leeway.
2) Are Liverpool title contenders?
Smart money is no, not this year, but while we won´t necessarily get a yes this weekend, we could have a no. If Liverpool cannot beat Stoke, there will be not be a title chase. Full stop. Before the Reds can seriously consider their first Premiership trophy, they must stop bleeding points to the likes of Stoke and Sunderland.
3) Is ´arry in trouble?
Spurs fans are generally in a good humor due to the crash and burn of their North London neighbors. Truth is, though, Tottenham have been pretty woeful in their two matches thus far. If McCarthy´s (rather good) Wolves squad hand Tottenham their third defeat on the trot (and with a sub-fit Van der Vaart and Wolves showing a resiliant backline I think it´s likely) then no amount of Arsenal woe will hide the fact that it´s not too rosy at White Hart Lane either.
With no early kickoff, 1000am (or three in the afternoon, UK time) can´t come soon enough.
Enjoy.
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