SAME TRICKS, SAME RESULT ARS-ENE WENGER LOSES OUT TO STOKE
It was Groundhog Day for Arsenal fans at the Britannia stadium yesterday as the Gunners lost 1-0 against Stoke.
To be fair the last twenty minutes was one way traffic towards the Stoke goal, but the damage was done again, just after half time, exactly where the scars have recurred in the past ; the defence, Arsene’s Achilles heel.
Kolasenic? Yes a powerful left back at most, but not a centre back
Monreal at centre back? Seriously? You must be joking if you really want to mount a title challenge.
The margins at the top are very minimal and top teams would find you out when you play with C rated centre backs. They’re not even playing the top six teams yet we saw same thing that happened against Leicester on day one happening again on Saturday.
Nobody has won the premiership with a C rated defence line.
Who actually challenges Arsene Wenger’s game selections?
Who is he accountable to with his selection and substitution?
The fans? The players? The board? I say none of the above. Okay he has earned the right – over the years – to do whatever he wants to do, but because he is not under any pressure to deliver anything at season’s end, except – sorry to say this – money to the shareholders, who are happy with the company, Manager and the dividends, Wenger makes a mess of everything and plays mini-mini-mani-mo as he juggles the pack for each game.
Why was Giroud not in the starting line up against the big bullies at the Britannia stadium on Saturday?
Arsene decides his destiny so he is absolutely free of any pressure whatsoever and I truly feel sorry for the passionate Arsenal fans who want to see a premier league title after several years.
I’m sure the Gunners fans are asking,
what is stopping Arsene from buying two top quality centre backs? (where he is obviously struggling)
Are they still building a stadium?
Well, on the evidence of the opening games – I admit it’s early days – Arsene, for me, is already behind in title race and Arsenal at best I believe have stayed stagnant.
No wonder Sanchez doesn’t want to stay, and Ozil and Oxlade at the moment are not interested in a contract renewal.
If I’m an Arsenal fan, I’ll be worried about the direction that Arsene-al are heading to.
For now and unless something spectacular happens in the last few days of the window, it’s Manchester, Manchester and Chelsea ahead on my scorecard.
JOSE LETS THE HORSES RUN FREELY ON A DEMOLITION MISSION
Against WestHam, I saw a desire and hunger from Eric Bailly in front of opposition goal at set pieces – that I didn’t see last season – as he attacked the front post a several times, from set pieces, looking to net his first goal for Manchester United. They say if you don’t succeed first time, try again and again and that’s as exactly what Bailly did that worked for him against Swansea. 0-1 from a set piece and you could see that Jose Mourinho has placed a demand of goals – from every department – on his team for the season 2017/18
Not only Bailly, but Rashford, Martial, Pogba, Mikhytarian, Lukaku ; are all hungry to score goals and the competition for places was evident with the bench on Saturday.
Every player just wanted to be part of the show, and a show they definitely put on against a very difficult Swansea team.
Jose Mourinho has successfully transformed Manchester United from a rudderless team under Moyes (no disrespect to David Moyes) and a passing team without any substantial objective under Van Gaal (again no disrespect) first last season, into a team with possession without killer instincts, and now this season, into a powerful, dominant team with pace, goals, skills and possession.
Can he take them to the pinnacle of English football?
Can United become a force in Europe once again?
I have been impressed with Marcus Rashford and his development, what the boy needs is just a goal and he becomes a different player altogether. Martial is showing glimpses of the £57m price tag and Mikhytarian is showing why he was Bundesliga player of the year two seasons ago with his pace and eye for a pass and a goal. He may be in contention for the Premiership player of the year if he stays free of injury and continues with his present form.
It’s early days but it seems that the hard work of the past twelve months are paying off already (Prunning the squad, attracting big name players, creating a winning mentality and ruthlessness with decision making) and Jose is back to challenge for the premiership.
The familiar chants of Jose Mourinho in the stands at Chelsea and Madrid are beginning to be a regular occurrence at Manchester United games
CHELSEA DEMONSTRATE GRIT AND RESILIENCE TO TAME TOTTENHAM
When I saw Chelsea’s team sheet against Tottenham, I feared only for the absence of Cahill and inclusion of Christensen.
Every other department was adequately taken care of and I knew that if the boys in blue turn up, there was nothing to worry about in this game.
Why? First of all, Tottenham’s bench was not impressive enough and secondly Daniel Rose and Kyle Walker were missing – two components of a very mechanical side built by Mauricio Pochettino and I’m afraid Spurs are yet to replace them in Davies and Trippier. Until both Trippier and Davies develop the confidence to mount assaults from the wings, Spurs would struggle to break down top teams with ease.
The keys to unlock opposition defence with the way Spurs play is the quick interchange in midfield and the isolation of their full back – who play very high – against opposing full/wing backs.
Problem with playing Chelsea is that it is very difficult to go through the middle of the midfield and defence, so you have to settle for the spaces beside the two central midfielders, moving the ball quickly and delivering deep crosses that miss the first defender and lands behind the back five.
To do this effectively you need the Chelsea wing backs to be isolated against opposing wing backs who then take them on and deliver. Spurs didn’t have Walker or Rose who can do that with precision so unless Alli, Erikssen and Dembele conjure up some magic, it was going to be a Herculean task for Spurs and so it proved to be.
Chelsea on the other hand played like true champions, showing determination and grit to take the three points – even though they were caged back for most of the game – in the midst of relentless pressure and superior ball possession from the opposition.
At the end of the season, what counts is the amount of points gathered, not possession statistics, not the number of passes or crosses, but goals.
Today, Chelsea got the goals that mattered and Spurs walked off empty handed and in my own opinion Chelsea still remain one of the strong favourites to win the league.