- In general I have nothing but respect for Manchester United but can easily understand why people loathe them. It’s seems every late game heroics go United way even when they aren’t scoring the themselves. You have former United player Kieran Richardson picking up a silly second yellow card. Sure the second one was cheap but when you are on a card it’s idiotic to even risk a card in that spot by kicking the ball away. Once that occurred you pretty much knew it was only a matter of time before the second and maybe even the third goal was bound to happen. No Michael Owen, no problem as Rio’s younger brother Anton Ferdinand own goal gave United a split of the points.
- Football is a cruel game sometimes but Ferdinand’s own goal isn’t going to endear himself to Steve Bruce going forward. Wouldn’t shock me to hear more transfer rumours this week.
– No failure in Dimitar Berbatov beautiful goal against Sunderland. That’s Berbatov in a nutshell and the reason Sir Alex Ferguson shelled out the money for him. He has these moments with the football no other striker can produce. The downside is Berbatov has been unable to carry that form game in and game out during an entire season.
- At the start of the season mentioned how there isn’t a strike force outside of the big four I’d trade Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones for. May have to change that despite the six Arsenal put by Blackburn I’d take Bent and Jones over any two strikers Arsenal can muster up. When you consider age I’d also take Bent and Jones right now to Drogba and Anelka.
– Steve Bruce must be very happy at the moment. It’s not the end of the season so Bruce didn’t gift wrap the three points for United but the reality of it is Sunderland can walk away from Saturday’s game knowing they were the best team out there on the pitch. How many teams can say that against Manchester United?
- Sir Alex Frerguson never misses a trick. Love how he blasted referee’s Alan Wiley performance out there to take the focus off his own team’s display. His line about how European referee’s being fit like a butchers dog cracked me up as he compared them to some unfit Englsh referee’s such as Wiley.
- Gary Megson said it best yesterday in his post match interview saying he has never been happier with his team and also never been more annoyed with them. Going into the game if you told the Bolton they would draw against Tottenham I’m sure they would take it but being up twice only to give the lead back is a tough pill to take against a Tottenham team there for the taking.
– What is with the rumours of Harry Redknapp leaving the club after his odds were slashed by the bookies to be the next one to go? I’m sure there is more to the story but considering all the time they gave to Juande Ramos the Tottenham board should just shut up and let Redknapp go about his job.
- It’s rarely mentioned but just how much do Tottenham miss Luka Modric right now? Their cooling off isn’t a coincidence. With Modric out other teams can now put the bull’s eye on Aaron Lennon.
- Burnley must of read the blue print Stoke City laid out of them last year. Win at home and hope for the best on the road but most important is winning at home and Burnley with four wins this season sees them comfortably in 9th this season.
– Nice to see Steven Fletcher get off the mark for Burnley yesterday against Birmingham City. Fletcher was easily the best Scottish player who played outside of Celtic and Rangers last year. Good to see him step up in leagues and chip in a goal.
- Remember you shouldn’t gamble but if you do please never take into account what happened last week as a reason to bet something to happen this week. After beating Chelsea last week you’d think Wigan would be ready for Hull City but you’d be wrong. Phil Brown must be sleeping better going into the international break with a win.
– Congrats to Portsmouth and Paul Hart who have finally won a game beating Wolves 1-0. Even with the chaos at the board level Hart would most likely been canned with they went into the break 0-8. Good for Portsmouth who played a good game against Everton last week and were unlucky to come away with nothing. They got an early goal thanks to Hassan Yebda who is currently on loan from Benfica and with some quality saves from David James held on to earn their first win.
– Did you know Portsmouth have more points at this stage (Three) than Tottenham had after eight games last seson (Two)? Oh you did? Nevermind then.
– Way to make a good first impression Kagisho Dikgacoi. Getting a straight card card in your first game for Fulham will not endear you to their fans.
– West Ham giving up two goals while up a man will not endear themselves to the West Ham fans as well. West Ham will take the point but they may rue dropping those two points if they keep up this bottom of the table form.
- Thierry Henry picked a good game to visit his old Arsenal mates. Two weeks ago I wasn’t that impressed with Arsenal performance against Wigan but will tip my cap to them this week even if I now have to deal with Wenger making up words to describe the quality of Arsenal football. Blackburn have always had a knack of playing Arsenal tough and it started out no difference with the visitors racing out to a 1-0 and then 2-1 lead. Then Arsenal took over and what I do like about Arsenal is when they smell blood they don’t let up. After Arsenal scored the 4th goal Blackburn pretty much waived the white flag but Arsenal kept on taking the game to them adding an extra two FU goals to make it 6-2. Paul Robinson won’t find this funny but it could of been even worst if he didn’t make some fine saves between the pipes.
- Happy 13th anniversary in English football to Arsene Wenger. Despite the man annoying me to no end at times, English football wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for him taking on Manchester United.
- Liverpool was in a bad spot facing Chelsea on the road but you can tell their loss to Fiorentina really shock them up. They played like a team afraid to lose instead of a team wanting to win. Aside from a few spurts here or there Liverpool played like a timid team. Rafa is going to love this international break as the hope is these Liverpool players will put this week behind them when they come back from international duty.
- What a performance by Drogba yesterday. Despite not getting on the scoresheet he was bossing the game when not rolling around on the floor. His cross to Anelka was picture perfect and the way he shrugged off Jamie Carragher for Chelsea second goal to put it out of reach was just the icing on the cake.
- He didn’t have to do a lot but just how important is Hilário to this Chelsea team? In each of the last four years Hilário has been put in a tough spot and come through just fine. Those Chelsea players must love the fact Hilário won’t make many mistakes back there if Cech isn’t able to start.
- Have a feeling Manchester City won’t have it as easy this Monday as they did last Monday against West Ham. Should be interesting to see how Gareth Barry will be welcomed in his first game back at Villa Park
