Archive for February 16th, 2011

What We Learned From Prem Week 26


Great Goals Ahoy!

Now normally this season we’ve been faced with thoroughly tedious defending failing to stop lacklustre attacking. Bar a few genuinely fabulous moments, among them Nasri’s strolls through various defences, Elmander’s deft dribble through the penalty area and the odd spectacular from outside the box from the likes of The Drog and, inexplicably, Meireles, it’s been a pretty dull season. Even when we have the kind of overdose of goals we had last week, it’s still been somewhat dull. This week, however, we’ve seen some genuinely class moments.

Take Man U. Many people would have thought that they would have followed up their crap invincible loss to Wolves with some kind of a pick me up against Man City. But no one expected quite such an emphatic display. And while Rhino may have begun to rehabilitate himself with a stunning overhead kick, my money is on Nani’s opening goal being even better. His first touch to control the ball as it dropped into the area was just immaculate, reminding me of Marcelo Salas’ goal against England at Wembley. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s second against Wolves was a reminder of just how devastatingly clinical they can be, transforming defence into attack in a 14 second burst of stunning one touch football.

Beautiful moments that more than made up for the catastrophic pain of Boremingham Stoke. If this season has really been about the decline in quality of the Prem, and the disappointment of all those players returning from the World Cup, then this week at least tempts us to believe that there are better things to come in the last third of the season.

Games

While in no way being a classic, the Manchester derby at least rose a few levels above the ennui of the teams’ recent previous meetings. City didn’t exactly spend their entire game straddling their own penalty area as they did at Arsenal, while Man U strove to take the game to the new rich kids on the block. And while City’s goal was fluke of the week, both United’s goals were sheer class.

Keeping up the pressure in a kind of Spandau Ballet way – you know very stylish and à la mode and probably with those big sash round the waist type things – Arsenal took Wolves out for a quick spanking. It was strange to see the side that gave Man U such a game last week getting such a total going over this week. Arsenal weren’t even at their best, but managed to play some breathtaking football, not unlike the cavalier way Chelski took teams apart at the start of the season before they went all rubbish on us. The second goal was a thing of complete beauty. And with another clean sheet (thanks largely to Wolves who had one single shot off target and none on target) and some special play, Arsenal are beginning to look as though they might actually accomplish something.

Chelski continued their descent, which if not an actual plummet is certainly a fall from grace, with a grubbly little draw at Fulham. Admittedly new boy Luiz looked fabulous, but there is something seriously wrong in the state of West London.

Loserpool Redsox showed that their limited renaissance is just that, limited. A draw with Wigan highlights both the improvement they’ve made since they appointed Kenny Dalglish and the distance they still have to go to return to the ranks of the top four. Dirty Suarez looked good again, but Loserpool looked poor at the back.

Tottingham once again showed their creds by scraping past Sunderland. Their attack first, defend later strategy is proving somewhat successful. You can’t help feeling that once they play the big kids they will be in for a bit of a pasting. Harry’s policy of either buying or pimping every striker in the world while paying no mind to his increasingly injury stricken defence is either a move of genius or a catastrophic miscalculation. But hey, along with Blackpool they are the most entertaining team to watch.

Blackpool managed to halt their slide by pulling together a draw with Villa. As usual the game was far more than the apparently ordinary 1 – 1 scoreline.

In tedium corner Blackburn and Newcastle drew, while Birmingham managed to scrape past a thoroughly awful Stoke side. If only we could relegate all four of them immediately, the world would be a better place. Bolton just about beat a terrifyingly dull Everton, who really look like the return of Tim Cahill has once again buggered them up.

Once again those pesky kids at Westy Ham showed that they really can’t get it on for two whole halves of the same match. They were soundly spanked by Westy Brom in the first half, before deciding to actually turn up in the second half and just about manage to salvage a draw.  Unless both of these teams begin to put together a decent sequence of wins and soon, they’re going to be playing Championship football next season.

Rob Green Save Of The Day

Could it have been the ‘through the legs’ moment as Craig Gordon let in Michael Dawson’s free header? Or the utter balls up that preceded Boremingham’s goal as the entire Stoke defence went AWOL? Hard to say.