Liverpool V Manchester City - One side a wounded force that are struggling to take their first steps back into the glory days of their past; the other a side filled with pampered stars and a chairman willing to grab any player the manager is whinging to try and buy.
Liverpool are now very much a fading shadow of their glory days from the 70's and 80's. A side that once put fear into any side when looking at the team sheet, now a wounded lion that any heir to the throne is willing to pounce on. Manchester City seem to be that team hoping to pounce at any opportunity with the wealth at Roberto Mancini's expenditure he is able to build up a dream team of his choice, its daunting for any other club even attempting to go for the same player. As much as everyone hates to admit, there is now definitely a second team from Manchester threatening to dominate the premier league.
Now to the game. Leading up to the game we have a Liverpool side which has a new self-found confidence thanks to the appointment of Roy Hodgson and the safety line of having Torres and Gerrard commit to Liverpool for the future; and we have a Manchester City continually growing in depth creating a one of the most competitive squads.
Unfortunately the confidence of Liverpool struck a blow tumbling to a 3-0 defeat by a rampant Manchester City side. The wounded force that is Liverpool showed how far off the pace they are with the premier league elite at this moment in time as the new boys of Manchester City, encouraged by the wealth that comes with playing for the team were able to pick off Liverpool players with ease. The first goal being a wonderful passing display with the Liverpool players standing and watching as Milner's run down to the touchline was cut back to his former Aston Villa team-mate Gareth Barry to set the big-spenders flying. The second somewhat a contrast of the slick movement of the first goal with a goal-line scramble, mainly to claim who got the final touch be it Richards or Tevez. The second half came and a little spring seemed to be in the Liverpool players steps as Gerrard had a shot hit the post which then cannoned back into Torres' path to then see Joe Hart make an astonishing save down at his feet ending Liverpool's only real threat in the entire game. Carlos Tevez all but wrapped up the 3 points near the end when Martin Skrtel brought down Adam Johnson in the box.
Manchester City seemed last year to be a team with all the potential and no reason to fail because of the vast money spent, but with more sensible buys this time around and still having the same real spine to the team enabled Mancini to build up a wonder team of his choice and having spent £130m this summer on players playing Liverpool was their chance of showing their statement of intent, and they much obliged.
Liverpool last year had a torrid season, injuries, lack of a good squad and all the problems lurking behind the scenes at Anfield all seemed to be have put behind them this summer with arguable the transfer coup of the summer in Joe Cole on a free and then being able to snatch up an established England manager was very much what Liverpool fans wanted to see. But the Manchester City game proved how long they still have to go to fight off these demons holding back a once strong force. Torres still fighting his way back to fitness; Joe Cole missing through suspension; still no real back-up to Torres; and the players getting used to a whole new style of football under Roy Hodgson all held back a Liverpool side that on their day will be able to be contesting once more, but these first few games will be building blocks once again for Liverpool in which they hope to sort out the backroom mess, get an established starting 11 ft and playing regularly and have them playing the magical football that saw them get trophies galore in the past.
But for now we have seen a statement of intent from Manchester City. Just like Chelsea did some 6 years ago, they too were able to build up a team of giants that now leave them challenging every season. But throw in a very consistent Manchester United side and a unpredictable young gunner's side into the mix then we have a fierce mix that doesn't have one true leader. Making this season even more exciting than the last.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Monday, 23 August 2010
Now we're talking...
The opening weekend was somewhat a distant memory thanks to the grit and determination from Hangeland; the class put on show by Newcastle and such class a finish by Gareth Bale we are already talking about a goal of the season contender.
It was almost easy to forget in the midst of a hat-trick by an otherwise unknown english forward in Andy Carroll that another young English player had netted three the day before in a 6-0, crash back down to earth, spectacular display put on by arsenal with Theo Walcott getting his just rewards with his three goals. It was a weekend where all it needed was a big clash like say... Liverpool versus Manchester City to leave the fans licking their lips at the prospect of what this season has to offer... oh wait theres still that game for monday night football!
The 2009/10 season was renowned for its spectacular unpredictable nature where the top four was dropping like flies to 'lesser' teams where Liverpool had lost 11 games in total in the league, Arsenal lost 9 and even Manchester United, a team renowned for its ability to grab any chance of luck for a win, lost 7 times in total last year. Even eventual champiosn Chelsea lost 6 times and all these drop in points led to Tottenham breaking into the top four in what was the closest fought battle for the fourth place in a long while. This unpredictable nature of last season lay down the stepping stone to prove the premier league is definately the best league in the world, not only for the best football or best footballers but for its ability to provide shocks where bookies are left scratching there head at say how Blackpool managed to net four past Wigan perhaps. We have seen signs of that unpredictable nature reappearing this season with Fulham's Brede Hangeland showing the character of a Premier league star making up for an unfortunate Own Goal to put Mancherster United in the lead, only to come back into the United box, with spring in his step and all his neck muscles tensed up he unleashed a powerful header past Edwin Van Der Sar to level the game for a well deserved point. We are early days into the season and can't read to much into it, but sides like Bolton, Birmingham and even Wolves are yet to drop a point as Owen Coyle seems to be re-working his magic at a struggling bolton side into the sort of side he moulded at burnley to get them promoted last year. In Birmingham we are seeing a slow progression that now have become a regular top ten team on the verge of pushing for europe. Wolves are proving to be a surprise package as yet with a win against a stoke team that the top four sides find hard to beat and then gaining a point away from home at a daunting Goodison Park.
There is also no denying the amount of goals being scored aswell, already we've had four 6-0 wins, a 4-0 win and a 3-0 win, and only two bore goalless draws, one of which thankfully did not set the tone for the season by Tottenham and Manchester City. But the increase in goals can only be a good thing for the league in making it more exciting to watch and making a big name for yourself, say like Andy Carroll has with his heroic hat-trick, another super number 9 perhaps on the border for the St James Park faithful?
So here's hoping Liverpool and Manchester City provide a show of class, provide the goals which have been ever present, and hope the many talent on show by both sides play to their full potential to provide a gut-busting encounter which will leave fans licking their lips at what else the season may provide.
It was almost easy to forget in the midst of a hat-trick by an otherwise unknown english forward in Andy Carroll that another young English player had netted three the day before in a 6-0, crash back down to earth, spectacular display put on by arsenal with Theo Walcott getting his just rewards with his three goals. It was a weekend where all it needed was a big clash like say... Liverpool versus Manchester City to leave the fans licking their lips at the prospect of what this season has to offer... oh wait theres still that game for monday night football!
The 2009/10 season was renowned for its spectacular unpredictable nature where the top four was dropping like flies to 'lesser' teams where Liverpool had lost 11 games in total in the league, Arsenal lost 9 and even Manchester United, a team renowned for its ability to grab any chance of luck for a win, lost 7 times in total last year. Even eventual champiosn Chelsea lost 6 times and all these drop in points led to Tottenham breaking into the top four in what was the closest fought battle for the fourth place in a long while. This unpredictable nature of last season lay down the stepping stone to prove the premier league is definately the best league in the world, not only for the best football or best footballers but for its ability to provide shocks where bookies are left scratching there head at say how Blackpool managed to net four past Wigan perhaps. We have seen signs of that unpredictable nature reappearing this season with Fulham's Brede Hangeland showing the character of a Premier league star making up for an unfortunate Own Goal to put Mancherster United in the lead, only to come back into the United box, with spring in his step and all his neck muscles tensed up he unleashed a powerful header past Edwin Van Der Sar to level the game for a well deserved point. We are early days into the season and can't read to much into it, but sides like Bolton, Birmingham and even Wolves are yet to drop a point as Owen Coyle seems to be re-working his magic at a struggling bolton side into the sort of side he moulded at burnley to get them promoted last year. In Birmingham we are seeing a slow progression that now have become a regular top ten team on the verge of pushing for europe. Wolves are proving to be a surprise package as yet with a win against a stoke team that the top four sides find hard to beat and then gaining a point away from home at a daunting Goodison Park.
There is also no denying the amount of goals being scored aswell, already we've had four 6-0 wins, a 4-0 win and a 3-0 win, and only two bore goalless draws, one of which thankfully did not set the tone for the season by Tottenham and Manchester City. But the increase in goals can only be a good thing for the league in making it more exciting to watch and making a big name for yourself, say like Andy Carroll has with his heroic hat-trick, another super number 9 perhaps on the border for the St James Park faithful?
So here's hoping Liverpool and Manchester City provide a show of class, provide the goals which have been ever present, and hope the many talent on show by both sides play to their full potential to provide a gut-busting encounter which will leave fans licking their lips at what else the season may provide.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
And the season begins in.... well not quite style, more like an ethiopian racing in a marathon... you pretty much know the end result
Well the summer didn't quite provide the red carpet to the start of the premier league season as other sports didn't seem to take off as much as most people hoped. Which brings us now to the start of the premier league where we all get kitted out in our new overly-priced replica kits and with hopes from our new signings for the season to commence in a spectacular fashion... But the weekend followed suit of the dull summer of sport with not really any big talking point.
Other than Blackpool's miraculous introductory into life in the premier league there wasn't much to talk about for the highly anticipated opening weekend of the season. For all Manchester City spent again, their keeper who they signed from Shrewsbury Town 4 years ago for a mere £600,000 was the one to save their blushes.
When the fixture list was released and we saw Tottenham and Manchester City were going to face each other to kick-off the campaign football fanatics were jumping around in glee anticipating what should be a great start to one of the most open premier league seasons to date. Tottenham broke into the infamous top four last year and Manchester City are a growing force that cannot be ignored so everyone was right in thinking they were going to be in for a treat on that afternoon with both teams renowned for their attacking prowess and there lack of defensive qualities so all the money was on goals galore. But a game where we thought we'd see to giants battle it out hammer and tong, we ended up seeing a a scrap between some tired old men. Be it most had come back from the World cup somewhat two months ago that's no excuse for player on average earning £80,000 a week to moan they didn't have a long enough break.
So the game finished 0-0, it wasn't quite the fairytale start everyone dreamed of but a lot of neutral fans were encouraged soon after to see Blackpool later that day knock four goals past an established premier league side in Wigan. Blackpool haven't exactly been lively in the transfer window but a real bargain buy that will do great for both club and player is the capture of Marlon Harewood. He has established himself time and time again as a goal scorer, his best spell being at West Ham under then manager Alan Pardew but after looking for a bigger challenge in Aston Villa he found himself right down the pecking order and sat on the bench. After being released from Villa Ian Holloway managed to snap him up on a free and he didn't disappoint in getting a deserved brace in the midst of a 4-0 hammering against Wigan.
Now despite that miraculous result there was no much else to talk about, not even a top four clash between Arsenal and Liverpool on the Sunday provided much headlines other than them picking at a uncharacteristic mistake by Pepe Reina and a tackle by Joe Cole that got him a straight red. The clash, much like the Tottenham and Manchester City game was obviously a big talking point for the opening weekend as there hadn't been a top four clash like this for a while. The game started off in a slow tempo which was mirrored by the unusually quiet Kop and it wasn't until he final 5 minutes of the first half they did start singing, but words that cannot be repeated towards a ref that was probably influenced by the travelling arsenal fans and Koscielny rolling around in 'agony' which ended in Joe Cole's debut in a red shirt ending with him seeing a red card. The first half was very much dominated by arsenal for possession but as we saw from the arsenal from last year there was very much little going forward with new signing chamakh not really getting a sniff at goal. The second half came and fan were getting ready for Arsenal to take the initiative over their numerical advantage, but it was Liverpool who caught Arsenal napping when the transfer target Javier Mascherano picked up a loose ball and slotted the ball nicely into David N'gog's path in the 18 yard box to blast it past an unconvincing Almunia at his near post. David N'gog looked more hungry and determined this time around already than last year under new manager Roy Hodgson, trying to fend off critics who question if he's a good enough understudy to the injury-prone Fernando Torres. He should have doubled moments later though with a Steven Gerrard free-kick whipped into the 6 yard box where N'gog fluffed his header wide. Pepe Reina pulled out a few stops to keep Arsenal at bay in the dying minutes, one of which an unbelievable reach to tip over Rosicky's firing shot, but then the equaliser came in what was the most unlikely of events. An arsenal free-kick was swerved in which Reina had fluffed at and after that the ball started playing pinball with Chamakh, then the post, then Reina until the ball ended up in the back of the net. It was the most unfortunate of ways to ruin what could have been a dream start to Roy Hodgson's reign at the Kop but the final 10 minutes of the game showed promise to Liverpool's defensive qualities and willingness to put bodies on the line which lacked last year, and Arsenals promise to provide more shots in the final third.
So the weekend took until the final 10 minutes of the last game to give fans a taster of what to come this season.
Where most football fans probably won't remember this opening weekend as the most enjoyable, Joe Cole may want to forget his Liverpool debut swiftly and Wigan may take a while to get over being hammered by a bunch of tangerines. But with 37 premier league matches left to be played there is sure to be some drama that will make this season an exciting campaign.
Other than Blackpool's miraculous introductory into life in the premier league there wasn't much to talk about for the highly anticipated opening weekend of the season. For all Manchester City spent again, their keeper who they signed from Shrewsbury Town 4 years ago for a mere £600,000 was the one to save their blushes.
When the fixture list was released and we saw Tottenham and Manchester City were going to face each other to kick-off the campaign football fanatics were jumping around in glee anticipating what should be a great start to one of the most open premier league seasons to date. Tottenham broke into the infamous top four last year and Manchester City are a growing force that cannot be ignored so everyone was right in thinking they were going to be in for a treat on that afternoon with both teams renowned for their attacking prowess and there lack of defensive qualities so all the money was on goals galore. But a game where we thought we'd see to giants battle it out hammer and tong, we ended up seeing a a scrap between some tired old men. Be it most had come back from the World cup somewhat two months ago that's no excuse for player on average earning £80,000 a week to moan they didn't have a long enough break.
So the game finished 0-0, it wasn't quite the fairytale start everyone dreamed of but a lot of neutral fans were encouraged soon after to see Blackpool later that day knock four goals past an established premier league side in Wigan. Blackpool haven't exactly been lively in the transfer window but a real bargain buy that will do great for both club and player is the capture of Marlon Harewood. He has established himself time and time again as a goal scorer, his best spell being at West Ham under then manager Alan Pardew but after looking for a bigger challenge in Aston Villa he found himself right down the pecking order and sat on the bench. After being released from Villa Ian Holloway managed to snap him up on a free and he didn't disappoint in getting a deserved brace in the midst of a 4-0 hammering against Wigan.
Now despite that miraculous result there was no much else to talk about, not even a top four clash between Arsenal and Liverpool on the Sunday provided much headlines other than them picking at a uncharacteristic mistake by Pepe Reina and a tackle by Joe Cole that got him a straight red. The clash, much like the Tottenham and Manchester City game was obviously a big talking point for the opening weekend as there hadn't been a top four clash like this for a while. The game started off in a slow tempo which was mirrored by the unusually quiet Kop and it wasn't until he final 5 minutes of the first half they did start singing, but words that cannot be repeated towards a ref that was probably influenced by the travelling arsenal fans and Koscielny rolling around in 'agony' which ended in Joe Cole's debut in a red shirt ending with him seeing a red card. The first half was very much dominated by arsenal for possession but as we saw from the arsenal from last year there was very much little going forward with new signing chamakh not really getting a sniff at goal. The second half came and fan were getting ready for Arsenal to take the initiative over their numerical advantage, but it was Liverpool who caught Arsenal napping when the transfer target Javier Mascherano picked up a loose ball and slotted the ball nicely into David N'gog's path in the 18 yard box to blast it past an unconvincing Almunia at his near post. David N'gog looked more hungry and determined this time around already than last year under new manager Roy Hodgson, trying to fend off critics who question if he's a good enough understudy to the injury-prone Fernando Torres. He should have doubled moments later though with a Steven Gerrard free-kick whipped into the 6 yard box where N'gog fluffed his header wide. Pepe Reina pulled out a few stops to keep Arsenal at bay in the dying minutes, one of which an unbelievable reach to tip over Rosicky's firing shot, but then the equaliser came in what was the most unlikely of events. An arsenal free-kick was swerved in which Reina had fluffed at and after that the ball started playing pinball with Chamakh, then the post, then Reina until the ball ended up in the back of the net. It was the most unfortunate of ways to ruin what could have been a dream start to Roy Hodgson's reign at the Kop but the final 10 minutes of the game showed promise to Liverpool's defensive qualities and willingness to put bodies on the line which lacked last year, and Arsenals promise to provide more shots in the final third.
So the weekend took until the final 10 minutes of the last game to give fans a taster of what to come this season.
Where most football fans probably won't remember this opening weekend as the most enjoyable, Joe Cole may want to forget his Liverpool debut swiftly and Wigan may take a while to get over being hammered by a bunch of tangerines. But with 37 premier league matches left to be played there is sure to be some drama that will make this season an exciting campaign.
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