At Liverpool, Andy Carroll had to adapt his playing style. Then again, at Newcastle, Dalglish had been favoring a classic no. 9 already so the signing of Carroll for Liverpool should not surprise many last year. What was more disappointing was the lack of service for Carroll especially when Dalglish also bought Downing and Enrique to lay bombs on Carroll's head. For me, Carroll was not a flop at Liverpool, the supporting cast of Downing and Enrique let him down badly.
The move to West Ham, where Sam Allardyce plays the football that Andy craves, could not come at an opportune time. Andy Carroll scored arguably the best goal in the Euros and he proved that when it comes to heading the ball, he has no peers in the Premier League.
This season turned out to be a really interesting one. Being World Cup season, I was worried that some players would burn out before South Africa. What was worse were players not trying hard enough, hoping to conserve energy for the World Cup. Steven Gerrard could be accused of that this season while Fernando Torres' numerous persistent injuries meant that El Nino again had upset Liverpool's title plans this season. On the other hand, Wayne Rooney is already looking tired and stricken by injuries in a season where he singlehandedly took an ordinary Manchester United to second spot in the Premier League.
With Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur building deep and quality squads, the Big 4 clubs status were seriously threatened. In the end, Liverpool lost their place among the elites of the league. Arsenal continued to impress this season, especially as most pundits opined that Arsenal were the club most in danger of losing their Big 4 status.
Here are my seven memories of the season gone by,
1. Chelsea's record breaking season
What more can you say about Chelsea? 103 goals, seven goals or more in four matches, Didier Drogba, is back to his menacing self. Lampard has had his most prolific season thus far, scoring 22 goals. The Premiership double also added more gloss to a fantastic season. Carlo Ancelotti's special skill of extending the playing styles of veterans are now paying dividends. Next season will be challenging for Chelsea when the Premier League imposes squad limits and player regulations.
There were a lot of matches being played from January 18th to January 31st, just to catch up with the Premiership schedule and to make up for that snow-stopped weekend.
It was also a period where the Premier League leadership changed hands a few times. The week started with Chelsea at the top, and when Arsenal beat Bolton 4-2 (another great Fabregas display) in the Emirates, Arsenal became top for the first time this season. However, that did not last long as January 23rd, Manchester United, aided by a Rooney quadruple, wrested top spot from Arsenal.
Chelsea had something to say about that, as they took on an in-form Birmingham on Wednesday January 27th. A Frank Lampard double helped the Blues surge past Birmingham City and back as leaders of the Barclays Premier League.
The Premier League kicked on in proper fashion on Week 24 and clearly the highlight of the week has got to be the Arsenal v. Manchester United match at the Emirates.
After a slew of cancelled matches due to snow in Week 19, Week 20 had much to make up for the disappointment. And as always, the English Premier League never fails to live up to expectation!
Chelsea showed that there is life even without Didier Drogba...in fact seven goals were the proof. Arsenal and Manchester United continued in hot pursuit of the Blues by posting comfortable wins of their own as well. While Fran Merida may have scored his first Premier League goal, it could also be his last as the Spaniard looks for first-team opportunities outside of England. Manchester United gave Brian Laws work to do as Burnley continue to slip worryingly down the Premiership league table.
But the focus of this week's review shifts towards two teams who in the weekend employed the same tactical gameplan but with differing reaction to the results. These two teams are Liverpool and West Ham United.
The Christmas weekend matches were possibly the round of matches that passed us by without much talking points. Apart from the sacking of Gary Megson, every match and result went according to script.
What are The Flat Back Four's conclusions from watching the matches over the Christmas period? Here goes...
1. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard scored during Christmas period in which Liverpool secured two consecutive wins, it is a confirmation that Liverpool is officially a two-man team.
2. Chelsea without Drogba is easier to play against, the Drog hauled Chelsea past the finishing line against Fulham even though he was subjected to all kinds of physical abuse. Watch Chelsea struggle in his absence.
3. Life after Hughes looks to be rosy with two wins out of two for Manchester City and Roberto Mancini. The boasting has started.
4. Joe Hart's in the best goalkeeping form of his career and Birmingham is benefitting from it. Will Hart be England's no. 1 come World Cup time?
5. West Ham will need to take risk and sell Scott Parker to avoid relegation. Selling Scott Parker to Arsenal enables Zola to buy a striker and get Jack Wilshere on loan. A striker? Hmmm, how about prising an out-of-favour Andy Johnson away from Fulham?
6. Manchester United is awesome against the likes of Wigan, Birmingham and Wolves but cannot match up against the big clubs. That's been their biggest problem the last two seasons and will undoubtedly be their downfall in 2010.
It was a fantastic weekend of Premiership football! I had said in my previous post that Portsmouth could really set the tone for a rousing round and they did just that. Beating Liverpool was a result which lifted Pompey off the bottom albeit only overnight. Still, history was made as the 500th Premier League goal of this goal-laden season was scored by Portsmouth's Nadir Belhadj.
Liverpool did not do enough to win the match and once again the overall lack of creativity and a moment of insanity by Javier Mascherano proved to be the Red's death knell. There is genuine pressure now for them to compete for fourth place. Jamie Carragher's 600th game ended in heartache and some soul searching is again required.
Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are both staking legitimate claims for the fourth Champions League slot with excellent displays against Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers respectively. Villa in particular, are continuing the stealthy climb up the league table and Martin O'Neill is definitely a Premiership manager who can get the best out of his players. Putting aside the controversy of a sneaky Christmas party, Peter Crouch underlined the attacking threat that Spurs possessed. Both teams are really peaking at the right time and look in great form for the busy Christmas-New Year football fixtures.
Birmingham is easily the team in their best form the last two months having notched up five consecutive wins prior to last weekend. Their nine-match unbeaten run continued with a well-earned draw against Everton.
Samir Nasri's petulant act almost derailed Arsenal's quest for three points but in the end, the referee's leniency allowed him to stay on and the Gunners ran out 3-0 winners. At the City of Manchester Stadium, a topsy-turvy match ended with Manchester City getting the win. The lack of Premiership wins finally took its toll on Mark Hughes and he was replaced that very Saturday evening by ex-Leicester player, Roberto Mancini. Incidentally I had listed the sacking of Mark Hughes as one of five must-sees for this season. There is something about a former Red Devil managing the Blue half of Manchester that made this termination inevitable.
At the Boleyn Ground, West Ham United restored some pride into their season with a battling 1-1 draw against Chelsea. The Hammers' performance would have put a smile on celebrity comedian, Russell Brand's face.
Scott Parker and Guillermo Franco both had great performances. Diamanti also played very well, although Iain Dale thought the Italian could do better. Still, Diamanti scored that go-ahead penalty for West Ham and it always takes nerves to do so when the pressure is that intense. Likewise, Frank Lampard had to endure two retakes before tucking the third penalty attempt away. It was a controversial penalty given by referee, Mike Dean as Matthew Upson was wrongfully adjudged to have brought down Daniel Sturridge in the penalty box. More positively, West Ham kept up the intensity the whole match rather than fading in the second half as they have done so often this season. With the left footed Diamanti playing on the left side of midfield, West Ham had balance and width to worry Chelsea. In spite of the poor penalty decision, the draw must be viewed as a point earned and a real confidence booster for West Ham's next match against Portsmouth.
The most stunning result of the weekend had to be Fulham's masterclass display over Manchester United. Because the Red Devils fielded a make-shift defence, they were there for the taking. Fulham did not disappoint as they controlled the midfield area and Bobby Zamora was a menace to a patched-up United central defence of Fletcher and Carrick. Devils assassin, Danny Murphy emerged once more as the scourge of United when he latched onto lax possession play from Paul Scholes to stroke the ball past Kuszczak.
Sir Alex Ferguson paired Wayne Rooney with Michael Owen in attack. There were always criticisms that the two can never play together and these were confirmed. Neither looked threatening in front of goal nor did they show any understanding at all. Perhaps it was the formation that Fergie chose to field (3-5-2) did not quite work as the whole team looked totally disjointed. Fulham fully deserved their win and they are also in the mix for that fourth Champions League spot. Roy Hodgson's side do have Spurs and Chelsea in their path though.
Finally, to summarise it all. Week 16 results started with a bang i.e. Portsmouth upsetting the "mighty" Reds and then Fulham outclassing Manchester United. But Arsenal brought proceedings back to normal by beating Hull City and while Mick McCarthy's actions mid-week was vindicated, Chelsea were lucky to salvage a draw against a fighting West Ham United.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Portsmouth
2 - 0
Liverpool
FT
Aston Villa
1 - 0
Stoke City
FT
Blackburn Rovers
0 - 2
Tottenham Hotspur
FT
Fulham
3 - 0
Manchester United
FT
Manchester City
4 - 3
Sunderland
FT
Arsenal
3 - 0
Hull City
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Wolverhampton Wanderers
2 - 0
Burnley
FT
Everton
1 - 1
Birmingham
FT
West Ham United
1 - 1
Chelsea
Who's Hot?: Birmingham, Fulham, Aston Villa Who's Not?: Sunderland, Blackburn, Everton
Three penalty misses in Week 14 were events which were not to be missed. The penalty misses by Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas and Jermain Defoe in one week surely were unthinkable but it happened last weekend. Giving more proof that there is no end to the excitement that the English Premier League brings to the table week after week!
Chelsea were simply outmuscled, outworked and outpaced by a muscular and committed Manchester City. The injury to John Terry did help Man City's pursuit of three points. In the end, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong's tigerish efforts in midfield did a number on Chelsea. Still, Mark Hughes' side still looked more like a work in progress than a championship-chasing team. Shades of Liverpool of last season perhaps...great against the Big 4 but erratic against the rest. Motivation is a factor and the lack of it may suggest that Manchester City will underachieve this season.
Arsenal started against Stoke with little Arshavin upfront and there was genuine worry that Stoke City's physical game will hurt the Gunners. All fears were put to rest as Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners. Wenger do have a strikers' injury crisis, though with their fluent playing style, I believe they should be able to adapt until transfer window reopens. Besides, Arsenal's goals come from everywhere so there is no need for concern.
At Ewood Park, Liverpool's David Ngog was unlucky not to have scored, the Reds slipped further down the Premier League table after wins by closest rivals, Aston Villa and Manchester City. The fight for fourth spot is hotting up as the season goes on, and Liverpool is consigned to competing for that last lucrative Champions League spot.
West Ham went down tamely to Manchester United as the Red Devils made it 13 Premiership away wins in 2009. Excellent goals from Paul Scholes and Daron Gibson set them on their way but more worryingly is that after some rousing performances, this was a terrible West Ham team showing. Zola's ineptness as manager is starting to show and not even Steve Clarke can put right what is wrong. Alessandro Diamanti should start every game, as he is the one player with the unpredictability and vision to create. Zola chose to leave the Italian on the bench.
Manchester United now have a defensive injury crisis. Gary Neville and Fabio Da Silva are suffering from groin problems, Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand have calf injuries, John O'Shea is out with thigh trouble, while Edwin van der Sar have a knee injury. Aston Villa players must be rubbing their hands in delight as they prepare to face the Champions at Old Trafford.
Birmingham continues their consistent run under manager Alex McLeish. They are now unbeaten in six matches, garnering 14 points in the process. Cristian "Chuco" Benitez is finally getting first team starts and he is repaying the manager's faith by scoring two goals in his last four games. Hull City's good run will come to a halt now that Jimmy Bullard is injured so that would augur well for West Ham's intent to steer clear of relegation fears.
Here are the Week 14 Premiership results at a glance,
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Portsmouth
2 - 0
Burnley
FT
Arsenal
2 - 0
Stoke City
FT
Aston Villa
3 - 0
Hull City
FT
Blackburn Rovers
0 - 0
Liverpool
FT
West Ham United
0 - 4
Manchester United
FT
Wigan Athletic
2 - 3
Birmingham
FT
Wolverhampton Wanderers
2 - 1
Bolton Wanderers
FT
Manchester City
2 - 1
Chelsea
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Fulham
1 - 0
Sunderland
FT
Everton
2 - 2
Tottenham Hotspur
So what's next? Another Big 4 clash is coming up on Sunday this weekend. Arsenal travel to Liverpool on 13th December. Who could forget last season's 4-4 thriller....a result which effectively ended Liverpool's title challenge. Revenge is nigh...assuming Torres and Gerrard plays.
And it happened. I guess it was always going to be inevitable, wasn't it? Manchester City would undoubtedly equal the Premier League record for most consecutive draws i.e. seven. City never looked capable of beating a resurgent Hull City. Jimmy Bullard turned in an excellent performance again and it is no coincidence that Hull's rise in form came when he is fit to start.
Liverpool once again defied the odds and doomsayers by topping Everton in the 212th Merseyside derby. Everton slipped down the table to 16th and looking very precarious. Even though the Reds were poor, their resilience and stout defending relieved the noose around Rafa's neck.
Watching the Arsenal-Chelsea match made me think of this great big powerful bully swatting away bothersome flies. Arsenal players were buzzing around, passing and moving but Chelsea's power and precision proved too much for the Gunners. Chelsea have now won all three of their "Big 4" encounters and that's an outstanding achievement. The Blues looks like champions-elect on this form.
After twice letting two-goal lead slip, West Ham almost let a five goal lead count for nought! Luckily, a five-goal lead IS hard to overcome even with an ill-disciplined defence as West Ham's. The Hammers clearly have big problems in defence and simply put, if the club is relegated, it will be because of poor poor poor defence. The midfield and attack are starting to look fantastic and Franco has been a tremendously influential figure in this turnaround. With Diamanti and Noble on the sidelines, this West Ham team does have talent and creativity. Their survival and move up the league table hinges on whether Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke can shore up defence.
Here are the five Hammer goals in colour,
pictures are shared via Empics, AP Photo and Getty Images
Lastly, Wayne Rooney's first hattrick in three years pushes his tally this season to ten goals in 13 matches. He is definitely on track for his best goalscoring season since 2006. The one-club loyalist, Ryan Giggs reached a landmark against Portsmouth. He scored his milestone 100th goal for the Red Devils. A definite great of the English game.
These are the results of Week 13 of the Premiership,
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Fulham
3 - 0
Blackburn Rovers
FT
Hull City
3 - 2
Everton
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Blackburn Rovers
0 - 0
Stoke City
FT
Fulham
1 - 1
Bolton Wanderers
FT
Manchester City
1 - 1
Hull City
FT
Portsmouth
1 - 4
Manchester United
FT
West Ham United
5 - 3
Burnley
FT
Wigan Athletic
1 - 0
Sunderland
FT
Aston Villa
1 - 1
Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Wolverhampton Wanderers
0 - 1
Birmingham
FT
Everton
0 - 2
Liverpool
FT
Arsenal
0 - 3
Chelsea
Teams in great form: Chelsea, Manchester United and Hull City Teams in relegation form: Everton, Portsmouth and Bolton
There was only one main highlight of week 12 and that was the unthinkable 9-1 Tottenham-Wigan match. Jermain Defoe scored five goals in a match where Wigan was torn apart by a second half Spurs blitz. He now joins Andy Cole and Alan Shearer in the illustrious ranks of goalscorers who scored five goals in a Premier League match. Aaron Lennon again showed that he could be England's most potent attacking force by creating three assists. Harry Hotspur had this to say about this brilliant Spurs performance.
Liverpool once again disappointed in their defending. They have now conceded 13 goals from setpieces which is the highest among the Premiership "Big 4". That's a staggering 65% of all the goals that the Reds have conceded this season. The Liverpool-Kop was scathing in their opinion on Benitez' tactics against Man City.
Darren Fletcher is slowly but surely becoming as influential and irreplaceable as Roy Keane for Manchester United. That's as big a compliment for the Scottish captain as it can get. Oh wait, maybe he could be even better, I have never seen Roy Keane score the goal "Fletch" scored against Everton. The Stretty Rant blog shared their afterthoughts on the match that moved United back to second behind Chelsea.
Once again, West Ham let a two goal lead slip due to inept defending. As I said in my preview post, Jimmy Bullard needed watching but he ran riot instead. Read the unbiased honest assessment of the Hull-West Ham stalemate as posted by Hammersfan in his blog. The silver lining for Zola is that West Ham is out of the bottom three and there is every possibility, with Franco and Cole, that the Hammers can outscore Burnley at Upton Park.
Arsenal's old weakness resurfaced at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland choked the Arsenal midfield and supply line to Eduardo. Lorik Cana was superb, with crunching tackles and thoughtful ball distribution. Steve Bruce enhanced his reputation with this win, so maybe touting him as Fergie's successor isn't so much a shot in the dark anymore. Disappointment was apparent at the Arsenal FC Blog when they wrote this post on the match.
And finally, the big blue machine of Carlo Ancelotti continue to chug along, taking no prisoners with a methodical 4-0 win against Wolves. Who would it take to stop the Blues? The African Nations Cup, perhaps? The Blue Champions blog speaks highly of the Wolves match, the youngsters and Ancelotti. Who would have thought that Ancelotti would blood youngsters??!!
All the results from Week 12 fixtures,
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Liverpool
2 - 2
Manchester City
FT
Birmingham
1 - 0
Fulham
FT
Burnley
1 - 1
Aston Villa
FT
Chelsea
4 - 0
Wolverhampton Wanderers
FT
Hull City
3 - 3
West Ham United
FT
Sunderland
1 - 0
Arsenal
FT
Manchester United
3 - 0
Everton
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Bolton Wanderers
0 - 2
Blackburn Rovers
FT
Tottenham Hotspur
9 - 1
Wigan Athletic
FT
Stoke City
1 - 0
Portsmouth
Next week will be a bumper weekend. Two explosive derbies on Sunday mean Manchester United will be rubbing their hands and expecting to capitalize on the carnage ahead.
The biggest match of the weekend ended up being a tense but boring affair. It was so bad that in the end, the most eyecatching incident turned out to be off the field as shown by the picture on the left.
Just what this man was thinking is beyond comprehension but perhaps he DOES know what he was up to. Thanks to him, the match between Chelsea and Manchester United had a talking point at least, saving a lot of bloggers like myself the agony of trying to put together a valid review.
United clearly played for a draw, Berbatov's injury probably enforced this tactical change. I believed Alex Ferguson should have brought on Obertan and Owen much earlier i.e. a few minutes after Chelsea's goal might have made a difference to the final scoreline.
As a result of this win, Chelsea surged to a five-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United. I guess Carlo Ancelotti's plan is to garner as many points as possible seeing that Drogba, Essien, John Obi Mikel and Kalou will be off playing in the African Nations Cup in January. Drogba will be most missed as Chelsea's attacking depth is thin with Daniel Sturridge as possible stand-in. Ballack can be employed at the holding role, opening up a spot for Joe Cole in the African players' absence.
Arsenal continue to impress this week as with most weeks, a 4-1 mauling of Wolves with another total football display. The Gunners are definitely title contenders but I say this with a tinge of realism as Manchester United was the only Big Four club they have faced up to now. Even so, considering that Fabregas and Co outplayed United at Old Trafford, the quiet confidence and newfound maturity seem to be permeating through the club. Arsene Wenger is a world-class manager for simply developing these "kids" and schooling them in his footballing vision. They are now second in the table with a game in hand.
Burnley is still living the Premier League dream. In my years following the Premier League, there was always a promoted team that will shock and surprise every season. Wigan did that in 2005/2006 or Reading in 2006/2007. Let's hope they don't freefall like Hull last season.
Manchester City are becoming the draw specialists of the Premier League with five drawn matches thus far. Draws are what stopped Liverpool from parading their 19th title. If Mark Hughes have aspiration of Premiership glory, he has to get the team playing well collectively and not having to rely on individual brilliance.
On the other hand, Spurs looked the more likely team to steal the fourth Champions League spot from Liverpool. Spurs' good run has rewarded some key players with international call ups. Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone will benefit further from senior international exposure.
Liverpool only managed a draw at Anfield against Birmingham and they were lucky not to have lost that match. It's worrying times at Anfield and injuries mounting but Rafa is still putting up a brave front. Positive aspects from last night's match? Two actually, first one being the David Ngog goal, his all round play was excellent and secondly the debut of Alberto Aquilani, indicating that the Italian could be fit to start Nov 21 against Manchester City.
The results of Week 11 are as below, and including Liverpool's Monday match last night. Again refereeing played key factors in Week 11. Chelsea's goal and Liverpool's Ngog dive are refereeing blips in a long list of dubious decisions this season.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Aston Villa
5 - 1
Bolton Wanderers
FT
Blackburn Rovers
3 - 1
Portsmouth
FT
Manchester City
3 - 3
Burnley
FT
Tottenham Hotspur
2 - 0
Sunderland
FT
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1 - 4
Arsenal
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Hull City
2 - 1
Stoke City
FT
West Ham United
1 - 2
Everton
FT
Wigan Athletic
1 - 1
Fulham
FT
Chelsea
1 - 0
Manchester United
Monday, November 9, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Liverpool
2 - 2
Birmingham
Lastly, West Ham sought to disappoint their fans over and over again. After hauling themselves out of the bottom three in midweek, Zola broke up the unbeaten 4-4-2 formation and brought West Ham back into the relegation zone. Louis Saha stamped his mark on the game, scoring a fantastic goal to put Everton ahead (see video below). With Hull and Burnley coming up, Cole's return from injury and his blossoming partnership with Franco will be key to an achievable six points. And please please please please START Alessandro Diamanti!!
A week's international break before the most exciting league action resumes, just what West Ham and Liverpool need to get their season back on track. Hmmm....I remember saying exactly that in the first international break and nothing seemed to change for both clubs.
The events of week 10 only serve to confirm just how exciting the English Premier League is. Though not as competitive in terms of talent as the La Liga, the Premiership still remains the most intriguing and captivating football league in the world.
Who would have thought that Burnley would be in the Top 4 for League's best home record. Who would have thought that all three promoted teams are not embroiled in relegation battle. Who would have thought that West Ham would be struggling this season. And who would have thought we would see nine red cards in one week of Barclays Premier League matches.
They say pictures speak a thousand words, so I will put Week 10 into perspective, courtesy of AP Photo, Getty Images, AFP and Empics.
Fabregas' slalom goal looks already a potential goal of the season. Video shared from Free Soccer Highlights.
It was another incredible weekend of English Premier League football. One single match was all it took to lift the doom and gloom at Anfield. A stunning 2-0 win over arch-rivals Manchester United was just the tonic that Rafa's men needed. An excellent all-round Liverpool performance got even better when David Ngog glossed the scoreline with a goal that put the issue beyond doubt.
The win brought about three notable quotes seen in today's (Tuesday 27th Oct 2009) backpages,
HATTRICK ZERO– Nemanja Vidic. Sent off for the third time in a row against Liverpool.
ADEBAYOR GOAL CELEBRATION RUN– Pepe Reina who ran the length of the field to congratulate David Ngog on his second against United. ALTERNATIVE CAREER– Escapologist - Rafa Benitez. EXCOMMUNICATED– Michael Owen. “Once a Man, never a Red,” was how the Kop greeted a player who scored 158 goals for Liverpool. ALREADY A KOP LEGEND– Fernando Torres. Said Rafa Benitez: “You could see that he was not 100% and you could see he was not fresh - but still sometimes 80% of Fernando can make a difference.” Torres’ 65th-minute strike against United took his goal haul to an incredible 34 in 35 home league games for the Reds
The pictures were no less special:
Torres outmuscles Ferdinand, the unrestraint celebrations by Pepe Reina - Getty Images
West Ham's team spirit and determination to fight till the end brought them an unlikely draw against Arsenal. Unlike Samson, though shorn of his "Mad Professor" locks, Alessandro Diamanti showed yet again why he is now the NEW cult hero of Upton Park. His introduction turned the match around and West Ham reveled in his presence. Diamanti created one for Carlton Cole and scored the other from the penalty spot to salvage a point for the Hammers.
Mad Professor no more, cult hero status INTACT! - Getty Images
What did the backpages say about this comeback draw?
DIDIER DROGBA IMPERSONATION AWARD– Carlton Cole. The West Ham striker spent a lot of time on the ground and “won” a dubious penalty. Fumed Arsene Wenger: “Frankly, look at how many times he [Cole] went down in the game.” WENGER-FERGUSON SORE LOSER AWARD– Jointly sponsored and jointly won, Wenger and Ferguson who both blamed the ref yet again for their team’s failings.
Frank Lampard cured his goal scoring Premiership blues by bagging two goals against Blackburn Rovers. The return of Joe Cole liberated his ex-Hammer mate and Cole could prove the most important "new" player to Chelsea and England. I personally tip Cole to be England's ace-in-the-pack in Capello's World Cup squad as he has that ability to do something different to change a match.
LONDON BUSES– You wait ages…Frank Lampard hadn’t scored since mid-August but now three have come along in two games. TACTICAL INNOVATION– Sam Allardyce. “We’ve got Manchester United away next week. I’m going to try to play with 13 there.” DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WEEK– (1) Pathetic – Sam Allardyce’s no-mincing word for Blackburn’s second half performance at Chelsea. (2) Genius – Carlo Ancelotti’s description of Joe Cole. Steady on, Carlo, wait till you see more of him.
Other than Chelsea and Liverpool, none of the top six won. Spurs lost at home to Stoke, Manchester City drew with Fulham at the City of Manchester Stadium, while Villa let slip a one-goal lead against Wolves.
NON-COMBATANT AWARD – Aaron Lennon. Like his Beatle namesake, the Spurs winger qualified as a fully paid-up peacenik after walking off against Stoke with an injured ankle – even though Spurs had no more subs to bring on.
MRS REDKNAPP WOULD HAVE BURIED IT – Bobby Zamora against Man City. The Independent added: “… in stilettos.”
Elsewhere, Louis Saha's excellent form continues with this wonder goal against Bolton. My candidate for goal of the month. Portsmouth could not overcome a Jozy Altidore and Jimmy Bullard-less Hull City. Chucho Benitez started and starred for Birmingham. A freak injury to Brian Jensen ended Burnley's unbeaten home record.
LOUIS SAHA CROCK AWARD – Jimmy Bullard – again. The man whose knee was described as a bomb site still needs the disposal experts. Yet to make his home debut for Hull a year after a £5m (RM27.5m) move from Fulham, he was supposed to play on Saturday but injured himself in a reserve game. CUTTING UP ROUGH– Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez. Birmingham’s Ecuadorian striker has a hair-cut that makes Carson Yeung glad he gave up the scissors. TAMING OF THE BEAST– Brian Jensen, Burnley’s hippo-size keeper known as The Beast, twisted an ankle and stayed down after failing to cut out a routine ball. Unfortunately, it led to a Wigan goal, Burnley lost their home record and The Beast had to be replaced.
All in all, a great weekend of English Premier League football took place. There is space for yet another brilliant take on last weekend's matches.
TWIT OF THE WEEK– Jozy Altidore. Overslept and didn’t make it for Hull’s game against Portsmouth. Then dozy Jozy went on Twitter to explain. Phil Brown was not amused.
It's been seven matches since West Ham last tasted the joy of victory. Struggling from defensive lapses, visibly lacking goalscoring power and down on luck, West Ham faces a difficult London derby against "le magnifique" Arsenal. To hope for victory would be bordering on impossible but there is reason to be bullish.
West Ham's performance in the last seven matches have not exactly been bad. In fact, the Hammers outpassed and outplayed Stoke last weekend and were undone by mistakes at the back.
I am sure that Zola and Clarke would have worked on that all week and defensively, West Ham is focused on the tough task of keeping Fabregas, Rosicky, Van Persie and Arshavin at bay. I am yet to be convinced by Julien Faubert at rightback and so for me, a natural rightback like Jonathan Spector should start. Even then, Spector's defensive capabilities will be really tested by Arshavin's cunning and trickery.
To compete with Arsenal, Scott Parker's contribution will be crucial yet again. Breaking up the slick Arsenal passing is a must and that must occupy the thoughts of Noble, Collison and Parker throughout the match. I truly believe squeezing and stifling the Arsenal midfield is the key to a West Ham victory. The Arsenal defence do leak goals so the creativity of Diamanti or Jiminez and the pace of Stanislas can produce chances against the Gunners.
Guillermo Franco finally had his first taste of Premiership action coming on, about 5 mins worth at the Brittania Stadium. Now that Mexico has qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa, I would expect more game time for Guille Franco. Carlton Cole need a capable partner in attack and Franco, on paper should be able to provide that much needed experience and composure in front of goal.
Guillermo Franco in action for Mexico - Will he feature this weekend?
The Flat Back Four's favoured West Ham lineup (4-4-2): --------------------------------- Green
But will Franco play? Or will Zola persist with the 4-3-3 formation and hope the likes of Diamanti, Jiminez, Collison and Behrami will provide the support and outlet for Cole's excellent hold-up play?
All I know is that to beat Arsenal, West Ham need to stop the Gunner's fluent passing game, making sure that the tackles are hard and forceful. Zola and Clarke will need to forego their beautiful football mentality and adopt a more anti-football approach this Sunday. I am sure the fans wont mind one bit since winning is everything, isn't it?
After the rather predictable World Cup qualifiers, the more exciting English Premier League football resumes. Week 8 features some noteworthy Premiership football news. Firstly, Liverpool must subdue an in-form Sunderland without Torres and Gerrard. Secondly, Manchester United had a home tie with the always tough Bolton without Wayne Rooney. Thirdly, Blackburn host Burnley in the first Premier League Lancashire derby in 43 years. So there was a lot to look forward to.
As it turned out, the results for week 8 were,
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Aston Villa
2 - 1
Chelsea
FT
Arsenal
3 - 1
Birmingham
FT
Everton
1 - 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers
FT
Manchester United
2 - 1
Bolton Wanderers
FT
Portsmouth
1 - 2
Tottenham Hotspur
FT
Stoke City
2 - 1
West Ham United
FT
Sunderland
1 - 0
Liverpool
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Status
Home
Score
Away
FT
Blackburn Rovers
3 - 2
Burnley
FT
Wigan Athletic
1 - 1
Manchester City
Aston Villa kicked this week's round of matches off in superb fashion by doing the English Premier League chasing pack a big favour. Their win over Chelsea highlighted the importance of good set piece execution. Both goals came from corners and Chelsea just could not defend those well-drilled Villa routines. It looks like Martin O'Neill has finally plugged the hole left vacant by the retirement of Martin Laursen. In fact, he needed two replacements to cover that hole, Richard Dunne and James Collins. Both defenders have been in excellent form since moving to Villa, lending both defensive solidarity and aerial danger in set pieces.
Sunderland had help from a Liverpool fan - Getty Images
Liverpool were undone by a beach ball which was released at pre-match time by one of their own supporters. Imagine the feelings of distraught that boy must be feeling. Even so, Liverpool's play hardly helped their cause. Playing against in-form Sunderland with a totally experimental 3-4-3 formation was always going to be a tall order. In the end, Liverpool looked very ordinary without their twin terrors. Can they still lift the title having lost four already? Yes, historical events would suggest so. It will be tough though as they are now out of form, out of luck and with Torres injured, there is little chance of the Reds picking up three points in their next match against Manchester United. At least Mike Jones the referee will no longer be allowed to officiate Premiership matches for a while.
Onto the subject of Manchester, the Red of United were able to get the better of Bolton, scoring from a deflected Owen header and a Valencia goal after some nice interpassing play. Business as usual for Man United but Manchester City were slightly fortunate to get a draw with Wigan. Wigan had the major bulk of the possession but could not convert the chances that they had created. Definitely big improvement required from the Blue of City.
The overwhelming 62% of possession time count for nought for Zola and West Ham. In the end, defensive slip ups continued to plague the Hammers. I keep going back to the sale of James Collins and definitely that departure has weakened the defence. At least Guille Franco had some playing minutes although I'd rather see Zola give Carlton Cole a partner to work with in future matches. The feelings of "too good to go down" mean that West Ham's play will soon pay dividents but that corner had better come sooner than later. So far, Franco has done little perhaps with him getting some minutes against Stoke City, he could be the spark to light up the rest of West Ham's troubled season. Otherwise he could end up like Diego Tristan and that's not funny at all.
To round up the rest of the matches, David Dunn may no longer be in England reckoning but he is still a very talented and influential footballer. His equalizing goal was the catalyst for a very good Blackburn win. Burnley to their credit refused to give up but that spirit could not prevent them from going down to a fifth away defeat. Arsenal again showed why all the talk about them slipping out of the top 4 is nonsense with a clinical 3-1 win over Birmingham. Spurs overcame a tough Portsmouth side and emerged victors in a game that they would have lost last season.
After being starved of any English football news of note, week 8 was a great way to bring focus back to the league that really mattered.
The Flat Back Four's Form Guide Who's Hot: Sunderland, Manchester United, Arsenal Who's Not: Liverpool, West Ham United, Everton
Next weekend's fixtures will feature the biggest match for Liverpool thus far, another defeat will surely spell the end of Liverpool's challenge and so they have got to get it right against the Red machine of Manchester. Michael Owen will surely be expecting a hot reception from the Kop on his return to Anfield. This Big 4 clash is the top attraction for next weekend. Be sure to come back for my review of this Premier League match.
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