Arsenals soft center exposed, actual news to be found, elsewhere.

On Sunday Arsenal were two goals to the good against West Ham at half time, they looked comfortable without threatening to run riot. They were deployed in a more defensive version of their 4-3-3 formation with Eboue on the right, becoming a more standard 4-4-2. Staying further back and keeping that side more solid and only presented attacking potential when necessary. It was he who found space and an excellent, swerving cross for the opening goal. The furthest players forward were Van persie and Arshavin, the latter stayed out to the left, constantly roaming towards the right in the first half. This worked in the first half when the intensity levels where high but as the game drew on it became more difficult to keep the ball in West Hams half of the pitch.

There is no doubting Arsenals attacking options but there is little variety to the smaller skillful players at their disposal. Wenger has spoken of Van Persies attributes as a center forward and his awareness, touch and finishing make a compelling case. However the omission of a strong center forward towards the latter stages of this game meant the West Ham were able to regain possession quicker and pressurize the Arsenal defense. Intriguingly they brought on Nicklas Bendtner but only as an addition to the midfield, something he has already done against Manchester United. Instead could he have been utilized him more centrally and have Van Persie and Arshavin play around him in certain situations. I certainly don't believe that Bendtner is the finished article but he does offer strength and a target for long balls, a plan B.

This result might just be an anomaly as a derby match can produce unpredictable results but they will need more resilience if they are to mount a serious challenge to Chelsea. Seeing as the London teams face more games of this nature than any other area it is a factor they need to bypass, starting again with Tottenham on Saturday.

Final Score - West Ham 2-2 Arsenal

Pot...Kettle...Anyone.

I thought I'd share an amusing piece from an actual writer this week and it comes from The Guardian newspaper in the UK. It's by Raphael Honigstein in his weekly round up of all the shenanigans from the German League effecanatly called the Bundesliga and it concerns former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Enjoy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/26/jens-lehmann-hannover-ball-boy

Seriously, Jens. Your calling into account the sportsmanship of a 14 year old ball boy. You, calling into account sportsmanship. Time wasting. You. It is a shame there wasn't a place for him in the English Premiership after he left Arsenal, if only for stories. The Premier Leagues loss is the Bundesligas gain I guess.

I would also recommend checking out further posts by Kevin McCarra, Sid Lowe and of course the Football Weekly podcast with James Richardson which can be found here;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/footballweekly

24/25 October 2009

It's a shame gambling is mostly illegal in this country because these predictions will stop coming to fruition...soon. In fairness it didn't take too much insight to conceive of a low scoring yet competitive game between Liverpool and Manchester United. Sitting through so many stalemates over the past five years would cause anyone to wince at the thought of expansive and creative football emanating from this fixture.

Given the recent state of Liverpools fortunes, I wanted to start with the really surprising aspect of this important contest. Why did United allow their hosts to regain the composure and form necessary to achieve a relatively comfortable win?

Surely Manchester United were relishing, salivating even at the thought of turning the screw, ending the Mersey clubs title credentials before November. To be fair it was close until the final minutes when Liverpool added a certain gloss and huge relief to an immensely combative display. The obvious highlight being the goal from Torres just after the hour, leaving Rio Ferdinand and Van Der Sar as mere spectators as he scored brilliantly at the near post. You just couldn't shake the feeling that they missed an amazing opportunity. Bruised and groggy they appeared for the taking and yet they allowed Liverpool to clear their head and take the initiative.

Recently when playing against the top clubs Manchester United appear to have switched to a more pragmatic, even cautious approach that has allowed teams to play themselves into a contest. It's still very early to suggest this but Manchester United might find this year becoming a transitional season between one great team and progressing towards another. Their reliance on Ryan Giggs to be the creative hub of this team is surprising in only the lack of alternatives, Giggs of course is one of the Premiership's best players since it's conception in 1992.

Another game being played on Sunday was taking place at Upton Park, where West Ham and Arsenal participated in an entertaining London derby. Soft goals from Robin Van Persie and William Gallas had put the Gunners firmly in control before the end of the first half. Ironically Arsene Wenger had chosen a more cautious variation on his preferred formation and shipped two goals with only fifteen minutes remaining. The first might merely have been a reward for Carlton Cole as he battled for the cause. The second made Wengers face contort with rage as Cole was tripped by Alex Song resulting in a penalty that was calmly dispatched by Alessandro Diamanti. West Ham probably should have had a penalty earlier, it was certainly the more convincing of the two claims and so the managers venom was correctly placed at own his complacent team.

Much like bad refeering decisions, my coverage of the teams outside the top four should even itself out over the course of the season. Hopefully but there's no guarantees in football you know.

Thinking outloud...

We are still weeks away from seeing Alberto Aquilani who is recovering from an ankle operation. Liverpool are desperately in need of a boost with consecutively tough games against Lyon and Manchester United looming within days of each other. Using hindsight (the laziest of all tools used by the football fan) I want to present this scenario...

Might Rafa been better investing that 20 million on another midfielder this summer, in fact a player who was valued at only 2/3 that amount. Wesley Schneider who has now caused Inter Milan to win every game he has played in this League Season, was sold by Real Madrid towards the end of the transfer window. He would have eased the creative burden on Steven Gerrard and provided more flexibility in the midfield area. The Italian is clearly a tremendous talent who has continually struggled with injuries, stunting his growth into the Italian national team. The problem is that by the time he is ready to be implemented into Liverpool's midfield they might be cast adrift from the title race.

Also where is cover for Fernando Torres? Hello, Rafa? You cannot win the title with one quality attacker, yes he is probably the most gifted attacker currently applying his trade in England. Even a stuttering United team needed Four strikers to win the title last year, Chelsea and Arsenal have had at least two when they were victorious in the Premiership. Last season they had Robbie Keane (stop laughing at the back) who was unable to convince in that system but was an outlet when Torres was injured. If someone like David Villa was out of their price range they might have looked at someone else who was unsettled, someone like Roman Pavlyuchenko. He certainly isn't in Villa's class but he has something to prove in this League would have benefited playing in a formation more similar to his National teams.

That said I think Liverpool will raise their game considerably this weekend against Manchester United. I don't see a high scoring match and predict Liverpool to edge this one 2-1.

October 17/18 2009

Mark the tape everybody, just last week I was talking about the vulnerability of the Top Teams and the ability of Aston Villa to regain form. Check it.

Something I was less sure about was the durability of Sunderland, I was really impressed with their combative performance against Chelsea earlier in the season. On that occasion they ran out of steam in the second half and Chelsea were able to find space between an exhausted midfield. I felt that this would be a recuring theme as Steve Bruce has a assembled an impressive first team without much cover or quality on the bench. This may still cone to fruition as the reliance on the two forwards and central midfielders could be there downfall over a hard season. I wouldn't be surprised if they make at least two signings in January to push on for a Europa League spot. I believe that fight will be between them, Aston Villa and Everton for that final European position.

Something else I mentioned was the lack of quality in the bottom half of the Premier League, in particular the inability to defend. It looks like being a long hard season for Portsmouth, Hull, and Wolves. Although West Ham have started poorly I can see them gaining points sooner rather than later on what is an amazingly modest squad. However I don't see that starting this weekend as Arsenal are the visitors to Upton Park. The Gunners continued there impressive home form and were comfortable winners against Birmingham without looking like replicating the barrage of goals they secured the week before.

Manchester City gained another point at Wigan after playing the last 25 minutes with 10 men. That's two gutsy draws away from Eastlands in a row now as they come to terms with everyone raising there game when they arrive. On the other side of Manchester, United secured a slim and nervy victory over Bolton who could have scored a last minute equalizer. It could have been more for United but they are looking uncharacteristically nervous at the back and the better teams should be able to cut off supply to the strikers. We'll see on Saturday if Liverpool are able to succeed where Arsenal did last month (although they ended losing , somehow.)

Summery

The season has barely begun and already we are forced to take a break so that International teams can complete the formalities of competing at next years world cup. My opinions of the current seeding system and the state of qualifying is a side issue and something to discuss at a latter time. This is a chance to summarize the start of the Premier League season and what we can expect for the next thirty games.

It appears that the dominance of the strongest four teams in England may have been broken. Certainly the top four look vulnerable but it isn't the emergence of Manchester City that has caused this but the success of La Liga as a more attractive destination for the top players. Partly due to the culture of football at Barcelona but also the elastic purse strings of Real Madrid's President. With a distorted market the Premier league has had to contend with the same issues felt by other European Leagues over the last five years (particularly in France and Italy.)

This vulnerability has caused the original "Big Four" to lose at least one game each and in Liverpool's case three. Liverpool and Manchester United having to deal with the repercussions of losing influential players. Chelsea coming to terms with an aging squad and a transfer embargo that may leave them short for the African Cup of Nations. Arsenal could yet surprise, especially after making the two best signings of the "Big Four" over the last twelve months. They might lack the power to defeat the best teams consistently but they look like scoring lots of goals against anyone weaker.

The possible detraction of the season being the lack of quality outside the top eight teams. This began to surface in the second half of last season and has been strengthened by the struggles of teams to recruit experience and quality. However the positive starts to Manchester City, Tottenham and the spirit of Everton and Aston Villa to recover form should wield more surprises.

I think I will avoid making any predictions at this point, not because I would get it wrong (the presence of an edit button makes that impossible) but for boredom. If I pretend and hope this season will be unpredictable then maybe it will come true.

The beginning

Where to start?

I'll try by avoiding the topic of football and any football terminology like kick off, or anything to do with whistles. Instead I want to mention a small french cafe (stay with me here), it's called Cafe Presse, the food is immaculate, the service impeccable, they have just one screen and sometimes they don't even play the sound. In fact I have watched many games listening to DnB amazingly early in the morning. Now anyone familiar with the horror of Tommy Smyth's commentary will understand what an improvement to football that is. Add to that I can order a steak at 9 in the morning, with a blend of American and European football fans interacting in harmony there really are few better places to watch the beautiful game.

My point is labored, but it's important to find the right venue because then you can savor in the experience of the game and the connections you can make through it.