NEWSNOWArsenal awesome; Liverpool average; West Ham Euro-bound and Spurs going down
An Article on Sportingo Written by Joe Baker
An admittedly-biased Gunners fan predicts the sky’s the limit for Arsene Wenger’s superkids, a return to form for Manchester United, Chelsea’s demise – and the unthinkable for Tottenham’s sinking ship.
‘It seems age is no barrier to the ability of Wenger’s kids to swarm over and dismantle the opposition with apparent ease’
We are now almost two months into the new season and things are beginning to take shape in the fight for the title. I may be a tad biased as an Arsenal fan but I think even the most ardent enemy of the Gunners would be hard-pressed to disagree with my early-season findings.
The Gunners have come out of the blocks at a speed that has not relented. After a disappointing showing against a resilient Fulham side, Arsene Wenger has got the side moving ever forwards. Ten wins and a draw from 11 matches is not to be sniffed at; I guess back-to-back games against Liverpool and Manchester United will go some way to deciding whether the young crop at the Emirates will continue to put all before them to the sword.
The continued improvement of the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and the now-injured Alexander Hleb (let’s hope he is back tonight) has been pleasing. Many thought that 07/08 may be too early to see just what Wenger’s kids can do but it seems age is no barrier to their ability to swarm over and dismantle the opposition with apparent ease.
Rafa Benitez’s pricey signing of Fernando Torres seems to be doing the trick for Liverpool, but a few decidedly average performances, most notably against Portsmouth and Birmingham, have slowed them down somewhat. However, let’s not get too carried away with citing the Merseyside club’s problems. They are also pretty unstoppable with seven wins and four draws from their 11 games across three competitions.
However, I still feel the Anfield side are a little threadbare at the back and I am sure come January they will fork out some more of the Yanks’ cash on some gems. Going forward, they are as fluid and smooth as Arsenal on their day; the way they ripped Derby apart was a joy to watch, but given the form of Billy Davies’s side I guess that isn’t saying too much.
Manchester United and Chelsea have both stuttered, the difference between the two sides being the fact that Sir Alex has regrouped his troops. They now look mean in defence and once injuries and form have improved, they will start to bag a few goals again. Avram Grant is in a hole and Chelsea, under his guidance, will simply move backwards, I honestly feel that with that man in charge, there is every chance that Stamford Bridge will not host Champions League games next season.
West Ham have impressed me. After a rocky start, Alan Curbishley has corrected the ship and with the talent on board and sound solid investment in their team, I do not think a European place is a bridge too far. I think they are one or two players away from making the step up to the top six but that is more due to the rise of sides such as Aston Villa, Newcastle and even Portsmouth rather than anything lacking at Upton Park.
Spurs, well where do I begin? Monday night last-minute heroics will do nothing to paper over the cracks evident to all and sundry. Injuries have scuppered Martin Jol’s top-four dream and right now relegation is a more realistic prospect than a European place.
I don’t take a huge amount of pleasure in seeing my rivals struggle; to be honest I think a lot of their problems are of their own making. Their chairman has undermined their manager to such an extent that it has affected everyone in the squad – and right now it seems like White Hart Lane is a ticking time bomb. Change for change’s sake is not always a good thing. Just ask Blues fans in west London!
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It is still early days – most critics agree that any look at the table before around 10 games played is a tad unreliable. Nonetheless, it does appear that the Arse are a distressingly strong force this year. This does not exactly fill me with pleasure – I could never feel very passionate about an entire team comprising foreign players.
The Totts current plight is intriguing – the single biggest story of the EPL thus far, I would say. Whilst I find it utterly implausible that they will continue to struggle in terms of the relegation zone, it would seem pretty sure that they will now be unlikely to break into the top 4 this season – and possibly they will now do well to recover and finish even in the top 10. Clearly, for them, this will constitute abject failure and unless they can land a cup, will be deemed as an unmitigated disaster by their fans and their board.
As for the Hammers, we seem destined to suffer from injuries preventing us from even once fielding what on papre might look like our strongest team this year. So I reckon that top 6 is not really on. A season of consolidation, steady forays into the transfer market in Jan and, more importantly, next summer and then……………….??
I think we all know curbs objective is to just finish in top 10, he has said this all along, probably even under pressure for a Euro place, but seasons to follow, as long as we get more and more top notch players in, then we could be a top 4-5 team one day maybe in the next 4-5 years.
Spuds Board are the executioner of there own destiny, the board have unsettled the team as Brown did for us last season.
I am pleased to see Pardew doing well for Charlton, he has potential and never really had a chance to prove it, but good luck to him.
Liverpool will, for me, not make top 4, simply they chop and change so much in their squad, i really think this will be a great season for Man City and Villa, but not the Mugpies, might be because i despise them as much as Sheff U.
But i would truly love to see Spuds Relegated, just for fun, but its true, they wont stay in the bottom half all season, worst luck!!