Monday, November 17, 2008

Gunners will only aim at the Big Guns



They went into the weekend, brimming with confidence in the back of a victory against defending champion, Manchester United, but they left the weekend shattered as again, they are beaten by teams outside "The Big Four". This time, it's Aston Villa, the new "Big Four" hopefuls.

And when Arsene Wenger admitted that his team deserved to be beaten, we can tell that in this particular game, Villa really battered them, as Wenger rarely admitted his that it is his team own-doing when they are defeated.

So what is wrong with Arsenal this season? Can they win the league? As of now, they are still in it, but if you really look through their team sheet, you have doubt that they stand any chance to win the league at all. But credits must be given to them for the brand of football they play. They remain one of the most exciting teams to watch, and their free flowing passing, coupled with the young lads' great techniques, often take the breath of the fans away.

But as far as the league concern, playing beautiful football wouldn't be awarded extra points, therefore winning as many games as possible is still the only way forward. And they are unable to do so when they play teams outside the Big Four. Why?

Because, when they are playing the lesser team, their opponent is not trying to let them play their free flow football, as they know this could hurt their chances of drawing or even winning. So they do everything to break their rhythm, and at the same time, had a go at them.

As for the Big Four teams, the mentality is different. They are not inferior to Arsenal, therefore, they are not all out to break their rhythm, but instead imposed their own rhythm on Arsenal. So there is a better chance that Arsenal, at certain period of the game might be able to play to their strength.

Besides the mentality, surely there is something wrong with Arsenal, as they lose games to lesser teams. Arsenal lacked depth in squad and lacked leadership on the field. Their midfield is featherweight, and can be easily overrun by the opponents. They lacked midfielders that can win the ball back, the tough tackling type like Patrick Vieira when they lose possessions. And unless they really do something about it during the January transfer window, they will just end up with nothing again this season, and may even lost their Big Four status.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Manager of the moment: Harry "Redknapp" Potter


Although it is quite common that when a new manager takes over at a new club, the team just turn around their form and start winning. But if that turn around in form include beating the current league leader Liverpool, then this feat is not so common anymore, especially in the Barclays Premier League where we have "the big four" and the rest of the league.

But this is what Harry Redknapp did, weaving his magic for his Spurs to beat Liverpool from a goal behind, and knocking them off the top. Despite winning 2 games and drew once (great results when you consider beating Liverpool and drawing Arsenal), they are still bottom of the table. This just showed how deep shit they are in before Harry steps in.

But based on their current performance and form, there will be no doubt that they will be out of the relegation zone soon. In the game against Arsenal, they showed so much resolved that they scored 2 goals in the final 2 minutes of the normal time, forcing a draw out of their London rival.

Another positive sign is that Harry made one of the new signing to score. Roman Pavlyuchenko, who scored the last minute winner against Liverpool, will surely have his confidence boosted after scoring such a vital goal in a big game. This will lead to more goals to come from the Russian as the season progress.

Spurs do have a talented team, and with Harry now in the helm, they will be forcing their way up the table, but breaking into "the big four" seems a bit out of reach this season. They can hope for a better start next season though.