Questions and Answers from Week Seven in the EPL

Photo by walknboston on Flickr

Quick question for you: if members of the armed forces wears camouflage in order to blend into the background, why does Tim Howard wear it for his Everton 'keepers kit?  Every other goaltender in the league wears loud, garish colors, all the better to stand out: flourescent pink for Jussi Jaaskelainen, day-glo yellow for David De Gea, etc., yet Howard blends into the pitch with his vaious shads of green. Maybe it's so the opponents don't see him, which would explain Luis Suarez' point blank header right into Howard's arms with the whole of the empty net in front of him early on in the Merseyside derby on Saturday.

o King Kenny was looking a bit like a baseball manager on the sideline, wearing his Liverpool practice kit for the derby. In very few sports other than basesball does the manager wear the same thing as the men he coaches. Perhaps Kenny thinks he could still be out there cutting it on the pitch -- He certainly wouldn't be much of a step down in goal production from some of his newer signings....

o I didn't think it possible, but Luis Suarez somehow managed to enhance his reputation as a cheat with his antics against Everton on Saturday, losing a race to the ball to Jack Rodwell, and rolling over and writhing on the pitch as if his ankle had just been surgically removed. Now known around the league for petulance as well as his cheating disposition, Suarez is quickly becoming the man everyone else loves to hate.

o Referee Martin Atkinson once again saw fit to insert his name into the headlines on Saturday rather than letting the players hog the limelight. This isn't the first time Atkinson has done so, nor will it be the last. If the FA had any bit of common sense in its decision making -- it's a bit like yelling into an empty pit here -- they'll examine Atkinson's proclivities for making a name for himself in the games he oversees. And not in a good way.


o Owen Coyle's Bolton may be the victims of a tough early schedule, but they're compounding their problems with less-than-stellar defensive marking. Danny Sturridge and Frank Lampard did the business for Chelsea on Sunday, but the Blues' attackers were often left so open that they must have wondered whether Bolton had enough men on the pitch. In perhaps the laziest defensive effort I have ever seen, Sideshow Bob Luiz was allowed to stroll 50 yards down the  pitch completely unmolested before uncorking a shot that was later tapped home by Fat Frank, who moved so quickly one might have thought that a free sausage was at stake.

o Spurs' Scott Parker must have the neatest hairdo in the entire EPL. He always looks as if he's just finsihed showering and had his hair spit polished and neatly parted, as if he's on his way to see Grandma.

o Chant of the Week: Spurs fans singing "Can We Play You Every Week?" to their chief North London rivals Arsenal.

o I don't know how many more times I'm going to have to listen to another British announcer praising Wojciech Sczcesny as a "bright spot" in Arsenal's dismal season, despite the fact that I think he consistently gives away soft goals -- with the latest example being his game-losing effort in the North London derby on Sunday. Perhaps it says more about the rest of his teammates than it says about the Polish keeper, but I've said it before and I'll day it again: Arsenal will not win any trophies with this guy in between the sticks.

o And in closing, I'll leave you with the most overused words of this young season: "And Arsenal's woes continue...."


This is farlieonfootie for Otober 3.