ManU v Arsenal - 2:1 - Prior to this game Arsenal were unbeaten in the league in 9 months. Good though they are ManU are missing something at the moment, (could that be Ronaldo?), they just can't scare people. They certainly didn't scare Arsenal, who should have won this match. Arshavin might have had a penalty, but shortly after scored a great goal anyway. Then Rooney earned a nice professional penalty (shades of Eduardo?) and ManU wrapped it up - with an unfortunate own goal by Diaby. But 3 points are 3 points, or according to Your Ear's theory, 6 points in a mini-league sense. ManU are going to have to start winning a few games, they can't expect gifts like this all season.
Spurs v Birmingham - 2:1 - A few missed early chances, made by Modric, and one or two for Birmingham, all missed. Finally Crouch came on for Modric (who, it turns out, has broken his leg) and almost scored immediately and then again, and then again, and then scored in the 72nd minute - all with his head!. Bowyer equalized 3 minutes later. Birmingham might have won the game, Benitez caused all sorts of problems to the shaky Spurs defence. However, Spurs clinched it in the last minute (Lennon). 100% record. Neat.
Bolton v Liverpool - 2:3 - Davies scored a scrappy goal to put Bolton in front. Glen Johnson equalized with a smart shot (what a player to have at right back he is). Brilliant start to the second half by Bolton, scoring their second. (Cohen). Then Sean Davies was sent off and Liverpool were over Bolton like the proverbial rash. Gerrard nearly scored (almost broke the crossbar), Torres equalized and Gerrard's howitzer shot won it with 7 minutes to play. Good resilience displayed by Liverpool but Bolton were a bit unlucky to lose a man and the game. Lucas was not very sportsmanlike in complaining to the ref about the trip that caused Davies to be dismissed.
Chelsea v Burnley - 3:0 - to start with, and once again, goalkeeper Jensen played a big part in denying Burnley's opponents - Anelka tried to run past him, and failed. Then Patterson should have scored for Burnley, but didn't and Anelka should have scored for Chelsea, and did (at the close of the first half). Ballack made it 2 with a good header off a Lampard cross. Ashley Cole made it 3. Despite the goals against Burnley played well, especially in defence, but they just don't have the firepower.
Stoke v Sunderland - 1:0 - Kitson scored for Stoke, who maintain their good home form although Bent had come close for Sunderland on a couple of occasions.
Wolves v Hull - 1:1 - Geovanni scored for Hull in 3rd minute, Wolves (Stearman) equalized even sooner into the start of the second half and looked the more likely side after that. Petered out into a draw, but Wolves not uncomfortable in the Premiership. Hull look more uncomfortable as time goes by. Don’t believe they’ll finish higher than 8th.
Blackburn v West Ham - 0:0 - Cole was lively, again, but to no avail. Blackburn should have had a penalty, but didn't get one. Sam Allardyce used up 2 litres of fluid watching the match (on his chewing gum - that man has very powerful jaws).
Everton v Wigan - 2:1 - Wigan scored first against the run of play (Scharner) and Saha levelled the match in the 62nd minute. Wigan should have won this match in stoppage time with a clear chance, but gave away a penalty instead, then almost ceded a third. But Everton are finally (and slightly fortunately) off the mark and looked fairly competent and determined. Can't see them finishing higher than 8th though.
Portsmouth v Man City - 0:1 - Good goal by Adebayor but City not convincing. Can't see them finishing higher than 8th.
Aston Villa v Fulham - 2:0 - Villa were gifted a corner which led to the first (own) goal. But good clubs ride their luck and Villa did just that, hardly giving Fulham an opportunity to get back at them. Tremendous second goal by Agbonlahor (who had tried to claim the first goal as well), he hardly seemed to draw back his leg but the ball moved with the speed of light (well, sound, anyway). He looks very good for England's future. Still, I'd be surprised if Villa finished higher than 8th.
As a small distraction - Paul Scharner, Wigan's Austrian international defender, seems to be making his mark on You Tube, see; and also.
Are Portsmouth turning a page? Sulaiman Al Fahim has finally managed to take over Portsmouth, beating chairman Peter Storrie in a race for control of the club. Within 72 hours Portsmouth had 5 new signings - talk about leaving it late! But they are still sheddding players - League Two side Notts County signed Sol Campbell on Monday night. I'm not sure he will find the going any easier in League 2, seems a shame to me. And St Harold did not take Your Ear's advice to sign big Sol. As I've said before, just his knees would have done. Pompey may start to win a game or two now, but they won’t finish higher than 8th.
Excrement is sticky - Adebayor fell over on a run down the right wing, causing the crowd to break into a merry chant of ♫Same old Arsenal, always cheating…♫ to the tune of Big Ben's chimes - even when they sell their players Arsenal are still tainted - is there only one pure London club? (no, not the Russian’s team, nor the Egyptian Grocer's, or the other one, although Zola is a good bloke) - Spurs is the shining light (even if Sir Harold has been taken to a police station by a Black Maria on occasion, nothing found, of course, a person, or persons, unknown just did not want him to be England manager - poor, benighted fools). Blimey - the Referee's Association is going to apologize… TO WENGER!!! This is for sending him into the stands for being ever so slightly pissed off and kicking a plastic water bottle in frustration when Arsenal's equalizing goal against ManU was disallowed. Wenger was banished to the stands, where he caused more trouble than when he was standing on the touchline. He was right to be annoyed though. Merde alors!
The Ear – all the news that's fit to spout.
Monday 31 August 2009
Thursday 27 August 2009
Weeks 1-3
Everton v Arsenal - 1:6 - three by half time, double that by the end - easy-peasy - a good start to the season, but it's a shame Arsenal scored most of its season's goals in the first match.
Chelsea v Hull - 2:1 - Should have been a draw, Chelsea lucky to get a free kick on edge of box for their equaliser, then fluked the winner. No sour grapes though, they were the better side. Heard from Ancelotti; "in these games it's the last minute that counts." And the one before that, and before that, one would have thought.
Blackburn v Man City - 0:2 - Man City have spent over £210m on players in the last 12 months - hope it's worth it. Adebayor did not seem to miss Arsenal much, not sure whether Arsenal will miss him. It’s rumoured that Wenger was pleased that City had bought Adebayor "because otherwise they might have bought someone better…"
Aston Villa v Wigan - 0:2 - Rodallega's strike (first goal) must be a candidate for goal of the season, and Villa looked tired, in the first week!
Wolves v West Ham - 0:2 - edgy game, the Hammers were a little fortunate to keep Wolves out. However, the Serbian, Milijas, looks like a good buy for Wolves.
Stoke v Burnley - 2:0 - Burnley have yet to find their feet in the Premiership, but it's too soon to call (Ed. - see later).
Bolton v Sunderland - 0:1 - Bent did the business for Sunderland - obviously he did not fit in with Sir Harold's grand plan, but a few clubs were after him before Sunderland got him.
Portsmouth v Fulham - 0:1 - wicked deflection gets Fulham their first goal of the season. Portsmouth raised £26m in the summer, but have not spent a penny of it, Couch's replacement having been signed on as a loan player. Mark Lawrenson (Match of the Day's dry wit commentator) said it was a pity that "Portsmouth seemed to have met the only Arab businessman who doesn't have any money."
Manchester United v Birmingham - 1:0 - talk about hard going, laboured. to say the least.
Tottenham v Liverpool FC - 2:1 - What can one say, that's more points than Spurs had in their first eight games last season.
Midweek 2
Wigan v Wolverhampton - 0:1 - Wolves get one under their belts, looks interesting already at both likely ends of the table.
Sunderland v Chelsea - 1:3 - routine stuff, but over time we'll see whether Chelsea have the stamina. Methinks not.
Birmingham v Portsmouth - 1:0 - poor ol' Pompey, struggling hard already, but there is "some hope on the horizon" says manager (unconvincingly) - Your Ear would observe that some horizons are a long way off. And that was never a penalty, but when your luck's out, it's out.
Burnley v Manchester United - 1:0 - well, Burnley have found their feet now! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, and then again, oh dear. Blake's
goal was a cracker, but man of the match was Burnley's Danish goalkeeper Brian Jensen, a barn door of a man who is now undoubtedly worth a lot more on the transfer market than he was before the match. Just time for one last 'oh dear'.
Hull v Tottenham - 1:5 - lah, lah, lah - if St Hal can keep it going we'll Spurs will have the title in the bag by Christmas. Gomez injured but Cudicini looked good. Defoe's hat-trick was awesome. No other choice sensible for England while he's playing like this. Spurs look good in both midfield and attack, just a bit of work required on defence. On the other hand, when you have a suspect defence all you need do is score more than them…
Liverpool FC v Stoke - 4:0 - okay, so they scored one or two, but (as Jonathan Pierce said on MoTD) no club, having lost their first game, has won the Premiership since 1995. And if Gerrard gets injured…
Week 3
Wigan v ManU - 0:5 - United struggled to begin with and Wigan were unlucky not to score first, but then Rooney scored with at least two United forwards on strike unchallenged. Berbatov's goal was brilliant whilst Rooney's second was pure jam, Owen's was competent, as was Nani's (not quite Ronaldo, but good stuff). Wigan played well, but that's just not good enough at this level.
Arsenal v Portsmouth - 4:1 - Simple pimple, although at times Pompey played well.
However, Portsmouth looks set to flounder from now on. And that’s the rest of Arsenal’s goals for the season scored, they really need to learn to spread them out a bit.
Man City v Wolves - 1:0 - Wolves not outclassed, despite the defeat, City can be thankful they have Shay Given, as they were not entirely convincing. But it's still early days.
Sunderland v Blackburn - 1:1 - Blackburn deservedly got the first goal, but Sunderland came back at them well.
Hull v Bolton - 1:0 - and it could have been more - Ghilas seems to be a good acquisition.
Birmingham v Stoke - 0:0 - uneventful, except for a great save by Sørensen.
West Ham v Spurs - 1:2 - Carlton Cole is a very good player, what a good goal he scored. He's also very bad, on occasion, and gave Spurs their equaliser. Six or seven of the England squad played in this game. Nice goal by Lennon - Spurs weren't at their best in this London derby, but managed to win it anyway. Still, three in a row for Spurs, can't do better than that.
Burnley v Everton - 1:0 - great start by Burnley, hitting the bar just after the kick-off, then a good goal by Elliott to take the lead. Missed penalty (Saha) they should not have had in the first place, Everton don't seem to be on the case yet. Burnley riding their luck and riding high.
Fulham v Chelsea - 0:2 - another London derby. Chelsea generally don't like playing Fulham, but they usually beat them (and have won 5 out of 6 of their last visits to Craven Cottage). It took Chelsea 39 minutes to break through Fulham's defence but then Drogba scored, and Anelka sneaked another. Not a good start to the season by Fulham, whereas Chelsea are doing nearly as well as Spurs.
Liverpool v Aston Villa - 1:3 – Liverpool could not have got off to a much worse start, two losses from their first three matches – that’s as many as they lost throughout the whole of the last season. Maybe this isn’t their year after all.
8-way mini-league? - Your Ear proposes a theory, as follows. The top four clubs remain the top four (until they are deposed) but to that list can be added a revitalized Spurs, a cash-rich Man City and stalwart hopefuls, Aston Villa and Everton. If one or other of the last two fails, replace with Fulham or West Ham (if either of these proves to be consistent). This makes a total of eight. Now, according to Your Ear's theory, these eight form a mini-league where a win is worth 6 points rather than 3, on the grounds that these fixtures will prove to be the key games of the season, and 3 points won in these games is 3 points denied to a high-ranking opponent. Who won last season's 4 - way mini-league? Liverpool. Well, Your Ear forecasts that Spurs (admittedly one up already against Liverpool) will win this mini-league of eight. And if not Spurs, Arsenal, a London club, in any case. Another forecast - whoever wins this mini-league might prove to be the king-makers, if not the kings. Your Ear's other forecast – this season we will see more high scoring matches than usual. Observations will be made and records kept, on both this and the mini-league idea above. (Ed. -Readers are invited to contribute their thoughts and ideas to this column. Or perhaps a witty sideswipe at your fellow teams. Or any slander you’d like to turn into libel.)
The Ear – all the news that's fit to spout.
Chelsea v Hull - 2:1 - Should have been a draw, Chelsea lucky to get a free kick on edge of box for their equaliser, then fluked the winner. No sour grapes though, they were the better side. Heard from Ancelotti; "in these games it's the last minute that counts." And the one before that, and before that, one would have thought.
Blackburn v Man City - 0:2 - Man City have spent over £210m on players in the last 12 months - hope it's worth it. Adebayor did not seem to miss Arsenal much, not sure whether Arsenal will miss him. It’s rumoured that Wenger was pleased that City had bought Adebayor "because otherwise they might have bought someone better…"
Aston Villa v Wigan - 0:2 - Rodallega's strike (first goal) must be a candidate for goal of the season, and Villa looked tired, in the first week!
Wolves v West Ham - 0:2 - edgy game, the Hammers were a little fortunate to keep Wolves out. However, the Serbian, Milijas, looks like a good buy for Wolves.
Stoke v Burnley - 2:0 - Burnley have yet to find their feet in the Premiership, but it's too soon to call (Ed. - see later).
Bolton v Sunderland - 0:1 - Bent did the business for Sunderland - obviously he did not fit in with Sir Harold's grand plan, but a few clubs were after him before Sunderland got him.
Portsmouth v Fulham - 0:1 - wicked deflection gets Fulham their first goal of the season. Portsmouth raised £26m in the summer, but have not spent a penny of it, Couch's replacement having been signed on as a loan player. Mark Lawrenson (Match of the Day's dry wit commentator) said it was a pity that "Portsmouth seemed to have met the only Arab businessman who doesn't have any money."
Manchester United v Birmingham - 1:0 - talk about hard going, laboured. to say the least.
Tottenham v Liverpool FC - 2:1 - What can one say, that's more points than Spurs had in their first eight games last season.
Midweek 2
Wigan v Wolverhampton - 0:1 - Wolves get one under their belts, looks interesting already at both likely ends of the table.
Sunderland v Chelsea - 1:3 - routine stuff, but over time we'll see whether Chelsea have the stamina. Methinks not.
Birmingham v Portsmouth - 1:0 - poor ol' Pompey, struggling hard already, but there is "some hope on the horizon" says manager (unconvincingly) - Your Ear would observe that some horizons are a long way off. And that was never a penalty, but when your luck's out, it's out.
Burnley v Manchester United - 1:0 - well, Burnley have found their feet now! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, and then again, oh dear. Blake's
goal was a cracker, but man of the match was Burnley's Danish goalkeeper Brian Jensen, a barn door of a man who is now undoubtedly worth a lot more on the transfer market than he was before the match. Just time for one last 'oh dear'.
Hull v Tottenham - 1:5 - lah, lah, lah - if St Hal can keep it going we'll Spurs will have the title in the bag by Christmas. Gomez injured but Cudicini looked good. Defoe's hat-trick was awesome. No other choice sensible for England while he's playing like this. Spurs look good in both midfield and attack, just a bit of work required on defence. On the other hand, when you have a suspect defence all you need do is score more than them…
Liverpool FC v Stoke - 4:0 - okay, so they scored one or two, but (as Jonathan Pierce said on MoTD) no club, having lost their first game, has won the Premiership since 1995. And if Gerrard gets injured…
Week 3
Wigan v ManU - 0:5 - United struggled to begin with and Wigan were unlucky not to score first, but then Rooney scored with at least two United forwards on strike unchallenged. Berbatov's goal was brilliant whilst Rooney's second was pure jam, Owen's was competent, as was Nani's (not quite Ronaldo, but good stuff). Wigan played well, but that's just not good enough at this level.
Arsenal v Portsmouth - 4:1 - Simple pimple, although at times Pompey played well.
However, Portsmouth looks set to flounder from now on. And that’s the rest of Arsenal’s goals for the season scored, they really need to learn to spread them out a bit.
Man City v Wolves - 1:0 - Wolves not outclassed, despite the defeat, City can be thankful they have Shay Given, as they were not entirely convincing. But it's still early days.
Sunderland v Blackburn - 1:1 - Blackburn deservedly got the first goal, but Sunderland came back at them well.
Hull v Bolton - 1:0 - and it could have been more - Ghilas seems to be a good acquisition.
Birmingham v Stoke - 0:0 - uneventful, except for a great save by Sørensen.
West Ham v Spurs - 1:2 - Carlton Cole is a very good player, what a good goal he scored. He's also very bad, on occasion, and gave Spurs their equaliser. Six or seven of the England squad played in this game. Nice goal by Lennon - Spurs weren't at their best in this London derby, but managed to win it anyway. Still, three in a row for Spurs, can't do better than that.
Burnley v Everton - 1:0 - great start by Burnley, hitting the bar just after the kick-off, then a good goal by Elliott to take the lead. Missed penalty (Saha) they should not have had in the first place, Everton don't seem to be on the case yet. Burnley riding their luck and riding high.
Fulham v Chelsea - 0:2 - another London derby. Chelsea generally don't like playing Fulham, but they usually beat them (and have won 5 out of 6 of their last visits to Craven Cottage). It took Chelsea 39 minutes to break through Fulham's defence but then Drogba scored, and Anelka sneaked another. Not a good start to the season by Fulham, whereas Chelsea are doing nearly as well as Spurs.
Liverpool v Aston Villa - 1:3 – Liverpool could not have got off to a much worse start, two losses from their first three matches – that’s as many as they lost throughout the whole of the last season. Maybe this isn’t their year after all.
8-way mini-league? - Your Ear proposes a theory, as follows. The top four clubs remain the top four (until they are deposed) but to that list can be added a revitalized Spurs, a cash-rich Man City and stalwart hopefuls, Aston Villa and Everton. If one or other of the last two fails, replace with Fulham or West Ham (if either of these proves to be consistent). This makes a total of eight. Now, according to Your Ear's theory, these eight form a mini-league where a win is worth 6 points rather than 3, on the grounds that these fixtures will prove to be the key games of the season, and 3 points won in these games is 3 points denied to a high-ranking opponent. Who won last season's 4 - way mini-league? Liverpool. Well, Your Ear forecasts that Spurs (admittedly one up already against Liverpool) will win this mini-league of eight. And if not Spurs, Arsenal, a London club, in any case. Another forecast - whoever wins this mini-league might prove to be the king-makers, if not the kings. Your Ear's other forecast – this season we will see more high scoring matches than usual. Observations will be made and records kept, on both this and the mini-league idea above. (Ed. -Readers are invited to contribute their thoughts and ideas to this column. Or perhaps a witty sideswipe at your fellow teams. Or any slander you’d like to turn into libel.)
The Ear – all the news that's fit to spout.
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