Premier League Thus Far
I would regard this season to be one of the most exciting, or rather the scariest seasons yet. Just look at how every team ride roller coasters every week can make a little heart attack now and then.
The start of the season saw the likes of Wigan and West Ham performing exceedingly well. Zaki and Heskey had shone brightly in the first few matches and have given Zaki himself right on top of Golden Boot challenge. He still stays as leader after 10 matches with 7 goals. Ashton performed well too, but crashed out in a training session. His fortune fell together with the club when Curbishley resigned and its owner was sucked into the financial crisis. I enjoyed watching Zola while he was playing, but his managerial skills have yet to be seen.
The 3 promoted teams have been having mixed successes. Hull stole most of the thunder by suddenly rising to the top in the month of October, with 4 consecutive wins, including one at the Emirates. Phil Brown is one phenomenon himself. But I would regard Hull’s success at its shock factor and its random attacks which would throw many teams’ defenses into mayhem. Stoke’s performance was like halfway between heaven and hell. Noticeable matches include a draw with Liverpool and victory over Arsenal last night. West Brom is more consistent, winning and losing the right amount of matches to keep itself save from relegation.
The big four had been erratic, except Chelsea which only lost to Liverpool at home, and winning most of the other matches to keep itself on top of the table. Liverpool’s had a good start, winning most games too but a shock loss to Tottenham last night would dampen their title hopes. Riera is a good buy, but Keane looks doubtful. Manchester United and more recently Arsenal have been dropping too many crucial points and this would be dangerous, if they still want to qualify for Champions League next season. Berbatov is one good player, thought he would be a point man, but had been a running striker the last few matches. Gallas had not been influential as a captain, but there was no one else. Wenger need to settle this fast or the team would just pecah.
Newcastle and Tottenham had been on the headlines for their terrible start to this season. Newcastle had been bad, but is slowly picking up, and it is really slow. It needs more than just Kinnear to pick the team up. There is a need to fill in a few gaps at defense. Tottenham had been a terrible error at the technical department. There is no reason to buy 3 playmakers and selling all your strikers, unless you play defensibly like A.S. Roma. But I still like Modric, but that’s all about it. It makes things look better when Redknapp led it to victory over Liverpool last night, but there is a huge urgent need to keep this continuing.
Aston Villa is really set to break into the top 4, with key players performing well consistently as they should. O’Neill seems to be a very good strategist by utilizing average players to the maximum. I like him a lot. Manchester City was a little disappointing, by not performing as I thought it would. The Brazilian players were good, together with Dunn and Ireland, but the overall team is just not winning more games I thought they would.
Teams like Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Everton, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bolton and Fulham are a little boring, so I shan’t say much. But Portsmouth looks like it is slowly going down. After 10 matches, with teams from 7 to 17 having a difference of only 4 points, it is a big scramble for these 10 teams to either escape up or drop dead. Chelsea and Liverpool have a nice cushion of 5 points and the next four teams are neck in neck for the Champions League spots. Keep your fingers crossed not to see Newcastle and Tottenham relegated.
－异客拍客 a.k.a. Soccersiao－
The start of the season saw the likes of Wigan and West Ham performing exceedingly well. Zaki and Heskey had shone brightly in the first few matches and have given Zaki himself right on top of Golden Boot challenge. He still stays as leader after 10 matches with 7 goals. Ashton performed well too, but crashed out in a training session. His fortune fell together with the club when Curbishley resigned and its owner was sucked into the financial crisis. I enjoyed watching Zola while he was playing, but his managerial skills have yet to be seen.
The 3 promoted teams have been having mixed successes. Hull stole most of the thunder by suddenly rising to the top in the month of October, with 4 consecutive wins, including one at the Emirates. Phil Brown is one phenomenon himself. But I would regard Hull’s success at its shock factor and its random attacks which would throw many teams’ defenses into mayhem. Stoke’s performance was like halfway between heaven and hell. Noticeable matches include a draw with Liverpool and victory over Arsenal last night. West Brom is more consistent, winning and losing the right amount of matches to keep itself save from relegation.
The big four had been erratic, except Chelsea which only lost to Liverpool at home, and winning most of the other matches to keep itself on top of the table. Liverpool’s had a good start, winning most games too but a shock loss to Tottenham last night would dampen their title hopes. Riera is a good buy, but Keane looks doubtful. Manchester United and more recently Arsenal have been dropping too many crucial points and this would be dangerous, if they still want to qualify for Champions League next season. Berbatov is one good player, thought he would be a point man, but had been a running striker the last few matches. Gallas had not been influential as a captain, but there was no one else. Wenger need to settle this fast or the team would just pecah.
Newcastle and Tottenham had been on the headlines for their terrible start to this season. Newcastle had been bad, but is slowly picking up, and it is really slow. It needs more than just Kinnear to pick the team up. There is a need to fill in a few gaps at defense. Tottenham had been a terrible error at the technical department. There is no reason to buy 3 playmakers and selling all your strikers, unless you play defensibly like A.S. Roma. But I still like Modric, but that’s all about it. It makes things look better when Redknapp led it to victory over Liverpool last night, but there is a huge urgent need to keep this continuing.
Aston Villa is really set to break into the top 4, with key players performing well consistently as they should. O’Neill seems to be a very good strategist by utilizing average players to the maximum. I like him a lot. Manchester City was a little disappointing, by not performing as I thought it would. The Brazilian players were good, together with Dunn and Ireland, but the overall team is just not winning more games I thought they would.
Teams like Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Everton, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bolton and Fulham are a little boring, so I shan’t say much. But Portsmouth looks like it is slowly going down. After 10 matches, with teams from 7 to 17 having a difference of only 4 points, it is a big scramble for these 10 teams to either escape up or drop dead. Chelsea and Liverpool have a nice cushion of 5 points and the next four teams are neck in neck for the Champions League spots. Keep your fingers crossed not to see Newcastle and Tottenham relegated.
－异客拍客 a.k.a. Soccersiao－
posted by fukepaike at 3:00 PM
2 Comments:
Good analysis...
One thing I realise is that the weak teams are no longer pushovers, the strong teams are no longer invincible. Anything can happen.
So far, after watching 11 rounds of matches, the most enjoyable team to watch, in my opinion, is Manchester City.
The acquisitions of Robinho and Wright-philips have somehow changed the style of play.
Sometimes, they are absolutely brilliant to watch, the team is so fluid and telepathic. You have the all reliable Richard Dunne dispossessing opponents, passing the ball to Robinho. The 32.8 million pound man, armed dazzling dribbling skills, gets past a few guys, then he plays a little one-two with with the central midfielders, before passing the ball the tireless Stephen Ireland. Then in final 3rd of the opponent's half, we have players like Sturridge and Vassell making decoy runs, with people like Hamann pushing up waiting to pounce on any long shot chance. With all these happening in a matter of seconds during a quick break, helpless defenders are at loss who to mark. Marking the strikers seem to be a good bet, but more than often, Ireland's cross will find someone lurking at the other side of the field - the former Chelsea man Wright-philips, who, being untracked, has an easy chance at goal.
However, it is weird that they can lose to mediocre teams like Middlesborough... I would say erratic form... but Robinho is really a joy to watch. He provides the little spark and element of surprise. It is often said that a team cannot have all star players to play well, it seems to apply to this current City side.
The man to watch out is Stephen Ireland. If this City team is a Ferrari, Robinho will be the steering wheel, Wright-philips will be the wheels and Ireland will be the engine.
How can they improve? The riches of their new owner will not do the trick. Like what my friend said "Get a new manager. Mark Hughes is at best, decent only."
dakepaike
Again, Man City has failed. Terrible form or is it the curse of the Reebok stadium?
－异客拍客 a.k.a. Soccersiao －
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