The English Premier League round up: Week 2
It is the second week of the English Premier League season and already, the armchair fans and critics are at it again. You would think that events unfolding in Libya will be enough to get the press off Arsene Wenger’s back. But no, the doom merchants have been relentless in giving what little advice they can give about whom to buy and to buy fast. Wenger must be thinking what he has done to deserve all this criticism. As if his ban from the touch line for the Champions League qualifier with Udinese was not enough, UEFA gets in on the act too. He has been banned by UEFA for a further two matches, subject to appeal. His crime? For communicating with the staff on the touchline. (Photo: Abdulai Mansaray, author)
Jose Mourhino did the same, more blatantly a few years ago but was hailed as a football Houdini and nothing came of it. Now its Wenger’s turn, it seems like it never rains (literally) but pours; as if the down pour on the day was an ominous sign. You would think that such a breach will go with a fine, but UEFA never fail to disappoint. At a time when the ugly head of football is rearing its head again with sectarian chants in Scotland, Black players racially abused in the Balkans, Spanish and Italian leagues, UEFA has remained characteristically silent on all fronts. But when a manger tells his players to “keep it tight” via a 3rd party, UEFA takes a sledge hammer to kill an ant. Misplaced priorities eh?
Arsene must be feeling very lonely now as even retired players and Arsenal legends take pot shots at him. He must be thinking whether he is paying for crimes committed in a previous life. Well for starters, he elevated Arsenal to dizzy heights, set high standards and now the fans are calling for those standards to be restored or maintained after six barren years. The underlying reason why the bandwagon is relentless is because, Arsenal play the brand of football that is the dream of every football-loving fan. The passing skills that he has inculcated into his young guns is the envy of opposition teams, save for their lack of a fox or killer instinct in the box. With Barcelona being the “complete” football machine, Arsenal are the nearest you can come to that standard; play station-esque.
Arsene Wenger and the fans should take heart that they have subconsciously, become every fan’s second favourite team, like Brazil in the world cup. And this is simply because they play a desirable brand of football. Their brand of football is an art form and an athletic ballet to the aesthetic. Mourhino once said of Arsenal that “Arsenal have won that advantage, nobody gave it to them. By playing fantastic football and by winning matches and by winning trophies, they won that respect that the opponent has for them”. And this came from one of Arsene’s arch rivals.
Arsenal lost their first home game to Liverpool, who had never won at the Emirates. Liverpool spent £100 million in recruitment this season and their investment was paraded at full strength on Saturday. Arsenal on the other hand had two of their players in Frimpong and Jenkinson making their premiership debuts. Add to that all the distraction from the Fabregas/Nasri saga that has been weighing down the club throughout the transfer window, the sings of success still exist. It took Liverpool an own goal in the 78th and a dodgy cum offside goal in the 90th minute to seal victory for Liverpool; despite their array of “talents”. If that is not enough to give Arsenal fans some hope, I wonder what will.
Now that the doom artists have written Arsenal off, all Arsene has to do now is to instil “a siege mentality” into these guys. If they can believe that the whole “football clan is against them” they can now play with little or no pressure; as the lack of mental strength had always been their Achilles heel. From where I am sitting, I beg to differ from the “informed consensus” that Arsenal will not do well. Arsenal will surprise a lot of these critics come May 2012. You heard it here first. A little tweak here and there will see them back where they belong, and I am sure Arsene will have a say on that. Although many have seen Arsene as “stubborn”, with me included, I can empathise with his ideology to keep football in its pristine form. Because of this, many see him as the cynic who knows the price of every footballer but knows the value of none.
Many see him as penny pinching. His background in economics has put paid to that notion. With most of his transfer targets being gazumped by other clubs that can offer bigger wage packets, his lack of transfer activity has left me questioning whether there is any money in the coffers to but new players. With the Emirates Stadium still to be paid for, you wonder whether his fingers are handcuffed to the till. I am left wondering if Arsene is actually taking the flak for the board; only time will tell. I can’t wait for his memoires. The deafening silence of the Arsenal Board, against the backdrop of the hue and cry for new players has not gone unnoticed. We’ll see. Football is like life; it requires perseverance, self –denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.
For a few hours on Saturday, I had to ask for a second opinion when I saw Wolverhampton Wonderers on top of the league table. It lasted for two hours but most Wonderers fans would have had the cryogenics out to freeze it. Enjoy it while it lasts. Queens Park Rangers got their first win following the takeover by Tony Fernandez. The win got the new owner cooing “Neil Warnock is a super guy. We are blessed to have him and now he’ll be able to do a lot more”. No pressure. Where have I heard that before and it all ended in the divorce courts, come January transfer window. You wonder what he will say if they survive the drop. Everton remain the paupers of the premier league, but how David Moyes gets by is nothing short of a miracle.
Bolton Wonderers made a fist of it against mega bucks Manchester City as they lost 3-2. No wonder Mancini was furious with his players. Sergio Aguero scored two goals in a space of ten minutes against newly promoted Swansea last week and some delusional fans dared to compare him to his father in-law Diego Maradona; only for the player to brand the comparison “disrespectful”. There are harder ways to get a divorce. He will be expected to do so week in week out. Bolton showed him the other side of the Premiership on Saturday and he did not get a sniff at goal. No pressure there. Manchester City find themselves in an unfamiliar territory, topping the league and leading the chasing pack. It is early yet but let’s see how they can handle the pressure of being chased by the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, and the 14 others. Their mental strength has been put to the test so early; just for starters.
Norwich V Stoke and Swansea V Wigan all shared the spoils with a point apiece. It seems that all is forgiven as Alex MacLeish continues his unbeaten run at Aston Villa and is sitting pretty at 4th. in the league table. Those who were shouting “crucify him” are now singing “hosanna” to the heavens. Who said that football fans are fickle? Chelsea’s laboured victory over West Brom has left a bitter taste in the mouth. There is no panic at Stamford Bridge for now as Abramovich has kept his fingers tethered away from the panic button, but the arrivals of Juan Mata (£23 million) on a five year contract and the enhanced £30million bid for Luka Modric tell a different story. Newcastle and Sunderland revived their tribal fraternity that was settled by a single goal. No surprises as these games usually end as tight nuptials.
There was the small matter of Manchester United starting the defence of their title with their first home game to Tottenham. The visitors matched their hosts for one hour and decided to go home with a 3-0 spanking. Harry Redknapp has failed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on fourteen premier league attempts and Tottenham for a sequence of 22 years. No wonder Modric decided to avoid the embarrassment because “his head had been turned and his head has not been in the right place”, according to his Manager. It reminds me of a sardine. Such a 30-minute collapse is enough to turn anyone’s head “to look away now”; if you don’t want to know the result. Man Utd dropped only two points at home to West Brom last season. The same again? We’ see.
In spite of their win, the jury is still out on David De Gea, the 20 year old Spaniard that was presumably drafted to fill the big boots, literally, of Edwin van Der Sar. As if the pressure from the press was not enough, van Der Sar was in the Directors’ box as Guest of Honour; as if to run the rule on his protégée successor. No pressure there. You wonder if an English goal keeper would have come for such scrutiny. Ben Foster made a few but high profile clangers at Man Utd, but he got in the England team nevertheless. For Manchester United to win this game with players of an average age of 23, save for the cameo appearance of elder statesmen (Giggs – no injunctions required) and Park) does not bode well for the rest of the pack. But the season is young, with a lot of mileage left to go. We will get a better idea of how the season will pan out at the close of the horse trading, sorry transfer window.
Many players have been called all sorts of names this season; from greedy to lack of loyalty. Harry Redknapp moved to Tottenham at the drop of a hat. Steve Bruce was quick off the mark to condemn Darren Bent for moving to Aston Villa, but could not wait to go to Sunderland from Birmingham City when they came calling. The hypocrisy in football is so rife that it’s a situation of the pot calling the kettle black. How many fans would not change their jobs if they are given a triple your money offer elsewhere? Like footballers, they would be gone like lightening; especially as footballers have a shorter career span. Adebayo has been touted for a loan spell to Tottenham but already, he has reportedly been telling Harry Redknapp to sign Lansana Diarra before he can join them. He will soon be serving Harry Redknapp with an injunction before you know it. Now you know why Man City wants to get shot of him.
It is just heart rendering to hear that Jon Obi Mikel’s father, Michael Obi has been found alive, safe and well. Mikel’s manager, Andre Villas Boas hailed “the amazing mental toughness” shown by the midfielder in the wake of his father’s kidnapping. My heart goes out to his family. The football fraternity would now like to see the Nigerian authorities show a similar mental toughness to ensure that the kidnappers or any other like minded thugs would not contemplate such a past time. If you ask me, throw the human rights book at them and do what you do best; you know what I mean.
Champ of the week: Danny Wellbeck (Man Utd.)
Chump of the week: Emmanuel Frimpong (Arsenal)
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