Where's the Plan? Some Brief Thoughts on the Premier League Season

Photo by Martin on Flickr

Ed has been reading up on all the action:

 

The BPL seems tumultuous this year, but is it?  The top four are Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Liverpool – not exactly an impoverished bunch.  Behind them is Everton, a dark horse but certainly one that’s inhabited this position before, and then Spurs.  Thus the only real surprise is United way down in 9^th behind Newcastle, who just beat them, and Southampton, who have been playing very will this year but are still only a point up on the Red Devils.
 

Which makes me wonder what is worse for Moyes: All the losses at United, or is it Martinez making his Everton team look as good as or better than the league leading Gunners?  Everton definitely has more talent than Moyes had – Barkley is a year wiser and seems one of the best midfielders in the BPL at times – and Lukaku is a fairly recent addition.  But still, the style of Everton even without Leighton Baines makes United look lost in the early 1990s.  Plus Martinez’s additions such as McCarthy and Deulofeu, seem far better than the $28MM Felaini that can barely get time in a weak United midfield.  So query, did Sir Alex fail his club in his last act?  Was he blinded by a Scottish bias?  Only time will tell, but right now it would be hard to believe the United board might not be thinking they just made a terrible mistake.

 

 

Meanwhile, over in Spurs-land, AVB has guided the Spurs to two somewhat rocky wins over Fulham and then Sunderland, two basement dwellers.  At least these were wins, as there should be no shame in beating the teams you are supposed to beat.  However, the service to the center remains poor, and AVB seems to still be trying to figure out his best center and wing combinations.  Personally, I would try Paulinho and Sandro behind Dembele, but it turns out AVB doesn’t care what I think.  Regardless, Spurs seem miles apart from the Everton and Arsenal teams that battled it out last weekend.  They have difficulty connecting passes and have no rhythm to their attack.  Not sure what the plans is yet, and less sure it will work.

Transfer Talk

photo by Señor Codo	via PhotoRee

Somewhat surprisingly, Scott manages to work an allusion to Clay Aiken into an article on, among other things, Jose Mourinho:

I am humbled by Correspondent Ed's recent rash of prolificacy.  And since his blanketing coverage of the US international team renders my planned comments superfluous, I'll shift to European transfer news.

You have to admit - the offseason player transfer and coaching carousel drama is fun. The annual shuffling of the BPL deck of cards has us reading the headlines and rumor lines scouring for how the hands will ultimately be dealt. Sure, most of the cards stick together, but enough of them are flipped to another team to make the summer just about bearable. Yes, we have World Cup Qualifying to tide us over too (not to mention Ed's pertinent, persistent posts), but a few games over the whole summer doesn't sate this addiction.

Neymar to Barcelona - many have opined on this move with the majority having yearned for a BPL test instead of another Barca chess piece. I agree. I want to see everybody ply their trade in the BPL at some point. Even Messi.

Martinez to Everton - I'm happy that the Spaniard will get to continue to have his name bastardized by BPL commentators, even as his beloved Wigan will have to claw their way back again from the Championship (is that a stupid name for the second league or what?).   My affinity for all things Spanish (outside of a certain Catalan team, of course) is well documented but I also believe that Martinez will bring an attractive form of attacking soccer to the other Liverpool team.

You're So Special

photo by batrax	via PhotoRee

Ed is back -- twice in one week! -- to wax lyrically about the Special One, new (or is it old?) Chelsea bossman Jose Mourinho:

 

Ever since the pinching incident, I've been a little weary of the Special One and have mixed emotions regarding his return to the BPL.  Chelsea may very well benefit from him, and his certain reorganization of the team will be interesting to see.  Rumors are that Juan Mata and Fernando Torres will be sold to make room and money for new talents.  I get Torres, but Mata?  Well, hard to blame him for something he hasn't done yet.
 

Mourinho's return coincides with Sir Alex Ferguson's departure.  We can be certain that Mourinho was hopeful he would have a chance at the United job, and we can be equally certain that he's going to be very motivated to beat United in his return to Old Trafford with Chelsea.  David Moyes is no weakling, and he certainly knows how to put a team together.  That said, I expect the matchup to be a fun one, but I'd warn Jose not to try anything so ginger as a pinch with Moyes -- if I recall he was ready to deck Roberto Mancini for throwing a ball his way not that long ago.

 

 

And now we will also have the opportunity to see what Roberto Martinez can do at Everton.  The Toffees have a long proven track record of success; fighting for relegation is not something they were familiar with under Moyes.  It's been said that Martinez's defenses at Wigan have been poor -- the opposite of Moyes rigid defenses at Everton.  Will Martinez have success due to that defensive coaching residue?  Will he struggle trying to adapt the players to a new system?  Fans will not have much patience with him; it will be as tough a job as any he's had.

 

 

Manchester City also looks to be adding a new Italian coach.  I've always been a bit suspect of the Italian coaches, believing that they are caught in the defensive counter attack system that took shape years ago and is largely unentertaining to watch.  Something may have changed my mind, though, and that is Dortmund's uber-coach Jurgen Klopp stating how he learned from the Italian coaches just how talent can be outdone by good tactics.  Seeing his teams play is believing; perhaps the Italians have more to offer the modern game than I thought.

Karma's a Bitch: Week 14 in the EPL

The super-inept Mike Dean assured himself a place in the headlines once again, incorrectly -- unbelievably, incredibly, inexplicably -- handing out a yellow card when the accident-waiting-to-happen named David Luiz mauled Demba Ba as the last man on a clear goal scoring opportunity on Saturday at [insert new name here] Park. Not finished yet, only a couple minutes later Dean awarded Chelsea a kick from the spot when Danny Sturridge dove theatrically over the outstretched leg of a Newcastle defender. Tim Krul saved Dean momentarily from a post-game lynch mob when he denied Fat Frank's low and slow effort to keep he match knotted at zero. In truth, Lampard looked as if he rushed his shot, most likely in an effort to gain a slight lead in the sprint to the post-game buffet table.

So here's the question: How often does Dean need to be the storyline before the FA take action?  I can't remember a referee who more consistently makes improper game-changing decisions.

o The formerly "solid" Newcastle defense is beginning to shows signs of cracking. Toon gave up a ton of chances to United last week, and looked a complete shapeless shambles against Chelsea this weekend. If it wasn't for some good work in between the sticks by the aformentioned Krul, Sturridge would have had a hat trick before half time.

o The Magpies apparently used up their season allotment of god luck last week at Old Trafford. Giving up a disputed penalty, hitting the bar three or four times, plus being cleared off the line seems like a fair result to me -- Ain't karma a bitch, Newcastle fans?

o Roberto Martinez declared that his team had "turned the corner" after gaining four points in their last two League games against Blackburn and Sunderland. To which I ask: Turned the corner into a dead end?  Wigan's time in the Premier League is running out, my friend.


o So it turns out Manchester may, in fact, be Blue. I learned that from seeing the color of all the unoccupied seats at The Emptyhad Stadium for Norwich City's visit to the League leaders on Saturday.