On Arsene Wenger: What's Wrong with Arsenal?

What’s Wrong with Arsenal: Wenger’s Decision Making
By the 61st minute in today’s match between Arsenal and Blackburn, Wenger had three strikers on the pitch at once. Niklas Bendtner, Robin Van Persie, and Mauroaune Chamakh. Arsenal would go on to blow about ten chances in and around Blackburn’s 18 yard box and end the game in a scoreless tie. This draw, coupled with United’s come from behind win over West Ham, almost seals Arsenal’s fate: the title will not go to the Emirates this year. What happened? My theory: Wenger’s poor decision making late in matches. Now, calling a manager with an unbeaten team a bad decision maker seems a little wonky, but Arsenal should be on the top of the table right now. Let me explain why they aren’t.

1. Wenger gives players wiggle room that don’t deserve it.

I am not an Alex Song believer. Nor am I that much of a Robin Van Persie fan. And yet, consistently, these two players make nearly every starting eleven. Take today’s game for example. Song got a yellow card, and because he’s so old and injury prone, he was limping around the pitch the entire time. What manager in their right mind wouldn’t sub that player out? Additionally, because he is a defensive midfielder, most of the attacks that didn’t end with a shot on goal were because someone passed to Song and he fooled around with it or just gave it away. This would have been the Rovers’ chance to counter and score, which they weren’t able to do (mostly because of stunningly brilliant performances by Koscielny and Squillaci), but they got close. Song should have been pulled instead of either Ashravin or Nasri, probably Ashravin because Nasri is hurt. The Gunners lost a lot of pace and ingenuity with Ashravin and Nasri gone, and with Song limping around and giving the ball away indiscriminately.

Also to this point, Wenger should not have played Fabregas. He wasn’t fit and he spoiled three chances with poor efforts, particularly the free kick which he thudded into the wall. I understand the point about him being the captain and the spiritual leader, but if Wenger wanted to make that statement, he should have started Fabregas and then replaced him if things weren’t working out. Fabregas is not a substitute. He needs to feel the game out and develop over time. More than ever today I felt like Cesc belongs at Camp Nou, even with all that he means to the Gunners.
Related to this is Wenger’s lack of understanding about the talent of some particular players. For instance, it took forever for Jack Wilshere to make the starting eleven, but people have been saying that he was good enough to do this for almost a year now.

For RVP (Robin Van Persie), I need a new number.

2. Wenger doesn’t understand RVP’s psyche, and RVP doesn’t understand anything.
RVP has the potential to be the next complete forward. Yet he cannot live up to those expectations. Why? He lacks confidence. The thing about RVP is, if he doesn’t score with his shot in the first half hour of a match, he loses all confidence in his shot, which is stupid, because he’s probably one of the premier strikers of the ball in the world, right up there with Ronaldo and Rooney.

BUT that doesn’t mean that he won’t take chances to try to redeem himself. What does that mean? He’s going to go for headers. One problem: RVP can’t head the ball. It’s just not part of his game. Do you know who can head the ball? Chamakh. Now, here’s the thing about heading the ball: only one guy can do it. So what does Wenger do late in the game when he needs a goal? Puts Chamakh in with RVP and Bendtner. Quick note about Bendtner: he’s one of the cockiest players in all of football. He’s dating one of the hottest supermodels in Europe, and also just generally thinks he’s the Eastern European reincarnation of Ronaldo. So what happens? You get Sagna, Wilshere, and Fabregas curling in these beautiful crosses, and Chamakh is getting boxed out of them by RVP who is desperate to answer his critics, and Bendtner who is convinced that he’s entitled to every ball that comes within twenty yards of him. There were three times at least I counted where I could see Chamakh expertly trying to time the header so it was well controlled, powerful, and aimed right at the bottom corner, and then Bendtner or RVP flash in front of him and spear the ball over the top like a couple of drunks. People wonder why Chamakh can’t deliver on expectations? Because he’s supposed to be a solo forward. This is, incidentally, also why everyone says Benzema sucks at Real, because he needs lots of space as a striker. Chamakh is kind of a timid player; he doesn’t really attack the ball unless he really thinks he has a shot at it. There’s a better why to describe this: he’s French. So is Benzema, incidentally. If Chamakh is being thrown off his rhythm not only by a BPL that is violent and all about power and finesse, but also by his own teammates ruining his chances, of course he won’t be able to convert.
This keeps happening late in the season, an inability to overcome adversity late in the game, and I believe that is directly related to Wenger’s complete lack of understanding about the chemistry of his team. Just because you can throw three strikers into a game at once doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Especially when the skill sets and dispositions of those players are in direct conflict with each other. This is something that Guardiola at Barca understands so well: football is as much about who is on the pitch as it is about how good they are. Iniesta and Xavi are best friends, Puyol and Pique are inseparable, and Messi and Villa are already extremely close, and were so even before Villa’s transfer even happened. That is why those back heel flicks and brilliant through balls happen over and over again in their games. It’s about the flow, and no one can kill flows faster than players like Bendtner, Song, and RVP. If they’re all on the pitch at once, it’s a living nightmare of bad soccer. A compression of this point: Sagna curls in a cross that goes STRAIGHT to RVP with four yards of space around him, clear line to the goal, if at a slight angle. What does the experienced striker do? Wait for the ball to drop and hit it on the volley with enough power that even if the goalie blocks it with his hand, it breaks his wrist and goes in anyway. And trust me, RVP is capable of breaking wrists with his shots. What does RVP do? Control it with his chest and then take TWO TOUCHES before a defender knocks it out of play. I can’t think of any situation where a PREMIER LEAGUE player can expect to be able to take three touches in the penalty area (which is something Berbatov finally figured out this year at United). Why does this happen? Because RVP doesn’t believe in his beautiful, stunning Howitzer cannon of a foot. And because Wenger is too dense to realize it and just take the risk to go with Chamakh and then let Sagna, Nasri, or Ashravin curl one in at him.
This is my first post in a while, I’ll be trying to be more frequent about it now. Thanks for reading, sorry about all the fragments.

On England: My reactions to their 4-0 Euro victory over Bulgaria

For those who don't know, the World Cup is not all there is to international football. No, each continent has their own tournament amongst their nations, and foremost among those, as one might imagine, is the Euro. The Euro happens once every four years, just like the World Cup. Qualifying began yesterday, and here are my notes on England's 4-0 route of Bulgaria.

In Wembley Stadium on Friday, Fabio Capello showed all of his critics what he can really do as a manager. For the most part, the 4-0 thrashing of Bulgaria was quite impressive, but a couple of things are still worrying me.

First, lets look at the positives in this extremely impressive victory:

1. Rooney: playing well, still might not be himself. It really got a lot harder to not be a fan of Wayne Rooney after his performances recently, especially for the English national team. Roo knows that he isn't in scoring form, so he's been selflessly setting up teammates for goal after goal.

Defoe (pictured above) came out, as he should have, today to thank his strike partner for his hat-trick success yesterday, saying that he couldn't have done it without Roo. We'll get to how good Defoe was later, but the point is important. Rooney set up Defoe perfectly several times, with balls flipped over hapless Bulgarian defenders, clinically weighted through balls, and clever play all over the field.

Roo has also done a great job dropping back into the midfield to help distribute play to the attacking players. This was always one of his major strengths as a striker, and he seems to have gotten at least that part of his game all the way back.

As for his drive, how could you say it isn't there? Roo will always give everything he has, chase down any defender that comes within ten feet of him, blow defenders to the ground when he's on the ball. He's just a tryer, and for that reason I've never understood his mixed reception by English fans. With that said, it seemed like the Wembley faithful were very much behind their star man, so that's good.

2. Wide players: creative, fast, hard-working.

A problem for the English national team in the world cup was a lack of any players out wide. Somehow, there was simply no width to the English attack, and Aaron Lennon and others like him weren't able to get it done for the Three Lions. This was a cause for major concern, as delivery from out wide is key for a side that has players like Crouch at their disposal.

But, yesterday, the guns were out on display. James Milner, in particular, was an absolute work horse. Chasing down every ball, providing a great creative touch, and bringing a lot of width to play, Milner looked exceptional at Wembley.

Walcott is still struggling to play the right ball consistently, but he looked promising, particularly with his lethal speed.

Coming in at the 73rd minute, Manchester City's Adam Johnson was the high point of Capello's strategy in this match. Johnson was quick, thoughtful, and full of explosive energy. His goal cemented the win for England and was a low, driven ball at the near post. A perfect winger goal for what was a perfect day for the wingers of the Three Lions.

3. Jermain Defoe: Oh yeah, he's really good. As promised, let's look at Jermain Defoe, without question the man of the match in this game and his three goals. Defoe proved today why he is, was, and always has been a top class striker. He is the only English striker with the giddyup to get in behind defenders and he showed that skill quite well in the match. It helps when Rooney, who has great vision, is feeding you the ball with every run you make.

Defoe is also a top class finisher, and showed this skill quite well as well. If Defoe had a bad run of form last season, then he is certainly in the twilight of his career this season. His presence alongside Rooney makes England an almost definite shoe-in to qualify for Euro 2012.

4. Other notes: Gerrard seems to be struggling a bit, giving the ball away quite a lot. However, he looks more and more comfortable in central midfield and gets better and better every time I see him in his new niche.

Central defenders: two new faces. Jagielka and Michael Dawson are two of the up and coming stars in English football, and both of whom were starting on friday. Unfortunately, Dawson suffered a ligament injury in this game and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Ashley Cole: answering for his mistakes. Ashley Cole was a notable absentee in terms of form in South Africa a few months back, but he's clearly back in top form for his country and club. His speed, defensive abilities, and passing skills were on display and he proved how vital he is to the Three Lions attack with his brutal overlapping runs coming out of right fullback.

Joe Hart is a beast. It seems that all of the goalkeeping questions have been answered for England with Joe Hart. His reaction time, size, skill with his feet, and jumping ability all are top class. He will probably be England's number one for quite a while.

Now for the bad things. There aren't many, but they are worth mentioning.

1. Glen Johnson doesn't really know how to play football. Johnson is arguably one of the best athletes in the world. His stamina, strength, and speed are all there. But something about Johnson has always been a little off, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Some of the balls he plays are absolutely head-scratching. His clearances are never consistently safe. He doesn't seem to be on the same page with the rest of the players around him. His defensive abilities have always been suspect. These are the main critiques of Johnson, and they're as old as his career, but that's because he doesn't seem to be getting any better.

2. Still questions in the back. In defense for England, there were numerous miscommunications that could have cost goals, and it's been that way for a while now. These guys just don't seem to be on the same page half the time.

And the speed in defense just isn't there. This has always been a problem for England, and they've always combatted it by keeping a razor thin offside trap, but they need to be careful when they play sprightly, quick teams like Germany or Holland.

3. Gareth Barry is a sissy.

Barry is a secure, strong player to have in the center of the field. But my complaint of him will always be the same: he's a pansy who has no quality in the final third. Barry's only strategy in the final third is to seek contact and take a dive. He did it at least three in this game that I could see. He has no offensive lethality whatsoever, and just should stop taking the ball into the danger area.

All in all, it was an impressive display from the Three Lions in their debut Euro game, and I am optimistic for the future of English football.

Other news from Euro qualifying: France loses 1-0 to Belarus, Klaas Jan-Huntelaar gets a hat trick for Holland, Spain, Germany, and Italy win, Scotland ties Lithuania.

Thanks for reading!

On the Premier League: Match Day number two.

Match day number two in the Barclays Premier League was full of goals and full of excitement. I'll be giving you my impressions of the major clubs, as well as my reactions from some great games today.

Without further ado, let's see how the Gunners faired today:

1. Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool.

Blackpool found themselves in Emirates Stadium today after defeating Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic 4-0 last week. This was the first victory for Blackpool in top flight English football since 1973.

However, Blackpool were brusquely shaken from their dream today with a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsene Wenger's ailing Arsenal side.

The man of the match today, quite obviously, was Theo Walcott. Walcott got a hat trick today and each goal was well deserved. He showed off his blazing pace and finally demonstrated that he can strike the ball with his left foot. This was a big match for Walcott, who has fallen out of favor with the Emirate faithful in recent years. But he showed today exactly what it is that makes him a special player in top flight football.

But Walcott would have never been able to get some of these goals were it not for the marvelous and tireless efforts of Tomas Rosicky, who was the orchestrator of nearly every Arsenal attack and was breathtaking on the ball.

Indeed, the one touch football was on display in a big way for the Gunners, as Rosicky, Chamakh, Diaby, Wilshere, and Ashravin passed circles around the hapless Blackpool defenders.

Speaking of those players, let's evaluate their performances. Jack Wilshere, the promising young English starlet, was impressive today. He was all over the field and had a great work rate. Abou Diaby was, as he was last week, untouchable on the ball and was monumental in linking play. He also ended up with a well deserved, well finished goal. Andrei Ashravin continued to not impress me today, with a relatively timid performance. He mishandled a number of balls and really didn't seem like his old self. He got a goal from a penalty which left Blackpool with only 10 men, but other than that, the Russian looked rusty. Marouane Chamakh, until finally connecting with his head on a cross to get the sixth goal, was miserable. Mishandling balls left and right and an absolutely comical miss on an open goal made the Frenchman look a little ridiculous. Hopefully he'll find his form before too long.

Cesc Fabregas finally made an appearence late on in the game, but still didn't seem to be totally fit. Robin Van Persie also came in and continued to fail to live up to expectations. Both looked flat footed and out of shape. But, they have Arsene Wenger coaching them, so these things, you'd think, will change soon.

In the back the Gunners were rock solid, particularly the returning Alex Song who chased down every ball and cleared his lines without fail.

2. Chelsea 6-0 Wigan Athletic

Not to be outdone, Chelsea also put half a dozen on their opponent, the woeful Wigan managed by Roberto Martinez.

Of particular note were the Chelsea center backs Alex and John Terry, who extinguished any hope that Wigan had in the match throughout. Florent Malouda got his third of the season to start the scoring, but that was the only goal in the first half. In the second act though, Chelsea piled on the goals, with two for Nicolas Anelka, two for Salomon Kalou, and Yossi Benayoun finished off Wigan soundly.

3. Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Stoke City

Both goals in the match for Spurs were scored by Gareth Bale, the young talented Welshman. His first goal was hilarious, bouncing off his head, unbenownest to him, into the goal in a fray in the 18 yard box.

His second, however, was sublime. A cross from Aaron Lennon found Bale on the left flank. Then Bale swung with his left foot, catching the ball beautifully and sending it on it's way to the upper 90.

Tottenham were helped greatly by this win in their hopeful quest to stay in the top four, and also gain some confidence ahead of their Champions League bout with Young Boys, whom they trail 3-2 in the aggregrate.

Other news: West Ham lose again 3-1 to Bolton at home with Upson starting the scoring with an own goal, West Brom debut boy Peter Odemwingie (signed two days ago) gets the only goal in their match against Sunderland providing a welcome victory after their thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, Everton continue to disappoint drawing 1-1 with Wolves, Birmingham surprised Blackburn with a come from behind 2-1 victory.

That's all from me today, stay tuned tomorrow from comments on MANCHESTER UNITED's second match against Fulham, on at 11 AM on the Fox Soccer Channel.

On Bayern Munich: Notes from their classic opening game against VFL Wolfsburg.

German giants Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg faced off today in the opening match of the world's top scoring football league: the Bundesliga. And all of the bells and whistles were clanging and clattering. In my feed from an Italian television station, I saw the opening ceremonies. These consisted of children in giant plastic balls running around the field in Bayern and Wolfsburg jerseys. It was amusing, as German culture often is.

But now, to the match. This was a tale of two halves, as some football matches turn out to be. I will first break down the major events of the game, then get more in depth:

In the first half, Bayern totally dominated possession. I believe the tally was 72% to 28%, which is absurd.

Bayern wasted no time getting on the scoreline, as in the 8th minute clever one-touch interplay between youngsters Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller (the World Cup's Golden Boot winner) generated the first goal. Muller's finish was clinical and left Wolfsburg's Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio flat-footed in disbelief. It seemed that the world would be in for another Bundesliga season dominated by the boys in red and white stripes from Munich.

Other than this, no real chances were generated in the first half, as Bayern knocked the ball around looking for a way through.

The second half found Wolfsburg very much on the front foot, mostly because of a substitution of midfielders Tolga Cigerci for Zvjezdan Misimovic. I personally don't know why Misimovic wasn't starting, as I consider the Bosnian to be an absolute artist with the football at his feet. But here I was saying I'd save the analysis for afterwards.

Anyway, Wolfsburg generated two great chances, the first for Mario Manzukic, whose effort agonizingly hit the post. The second came from Edin Dzeko, who forced a great save from Bayern keeper Jorg Butt with an extremely impressive driven shot that menacingly dipped halfway on it's way to the upper 90.

The corner that followed would produce the equalizer, as Dzeko rose unchallenged, flicking the ball into the top right corner.

From here, things quieted down again, as Bayern once again dominated the game. Bayern soon changed out an all but absent Miroslav Klose for Mario Gomez, and switched in Danijel Pranjic for Kroos.

It looked as if the game would finish level, and Wolfsburg seemed happy to let it do so. But, in the 91st minute, Franck Ribery whipped in a cross that looked too far, something that plagued him all night. But sliding in on the back post was the man of the match (not arguable), Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured above), who got a touch on the ball, slotting it into the goal. Jubiliation for Bayern, who were playing in front of a lively and bursting to the seams Allianz Arena, and dejection for Wolfsburg followed.

And now for the analysis, first for Bayern:

First we'll start off with the bad stuff. The problem for Bayern in this game is a problem they struggled all last season with. Of course, they still won a double and got to the final of the Champions League, so I guess "struggle" isn't really the right word. But at any rate, the fact is, Klose barely touched the ball in this game. He looked to be totally lost and just didn't seem to be a part of the gameplan to begin with. However, he wasn't helped by Ribery, who, I think, had a less than great game, until the last minute of course. Every ball he played in was over everyone's head, and he seemed to have no pace at all with the ball. He just didn't look lethal in any respect.

Even when Klose was taken out for Gomez nothing was happening up top for Bayern. The one striker that I think really fits in this team is Ivica Olic, who was unavailable for this game. Here's why: he's fast, can pass well, and works well in structured environments. Klose and Gomez are good for teams that rely on a defense-counter system, so they can stand on one end of the field, get into the box when their team has the ball before anyone else can get back, and out muscle the one man on them and head it in. All of Klose's 14 goals for Germany were made inside of the penalty box. He needs good service, and that's not how Bayern works.

Let me explain further with this game as an example, Bayern work best when their talented wingers: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, and Thomas Muller, cut inside, or when they're working the ball through the middle with Schweinstager and Van Bommel.

One more bad thing and then I'll tell you why Bayern are incredible: defending set pieces. In almost every set piece today Bayern were outboxed and outjumped by Edin Dzeko. That's how they conceded the only goal for Wolfsburg, but Dzeko had plenty of other opportunities to convert from these situations. I think Bayern really missed Argentine giant Martin Demichelis inside. Demichelis didn't play because he was basically the reason why Argentina were eliminated in the World Cup, and why Bayern lost the Champions League final against Inter. And all of the fans hate him. Hate him or love him, the guy's big and he's good at set pieces. It's a give and take, really. Quid pro quo.

Now, good things, starting with the best: Bastian Schweinsteiger. Schweiny is a general on the football pitch. It's the only way to describe his ability to organize his side and play exactly the right pass every single time. Not to mention his rare-but-genius runs into the box, the penultimate one being the one that won Bayern this particular game. Schweiny is the Scholes of the Bundesliga, he dictates the game almost single-handedly. He also has the work ethic of two men and will take an inhumane beating for the good of the cause. But of course he always gets up, cuz Schweiny ain't no bitch. Bayern fans must feel assured in knowing that their brightest star is still shining, selflessly, in the Allianz Arena.

Also in midfield today was Mark Van Bommel, who was good. It's hard to really say anything else, because he was just adequate. He did exactly what he had to do, no more, no less. He took a shot at one point that sailed ten yards over the cross bar and I saw him mouth "That's not me." You have to admire his honesty.

I also got a chance to see Toni Kroos today, who was very impressive. The most impressive thing about this new German starlet was his ability to link play between the midfield and the attackers. It was this ability that resulted in Muller's goal. Kroos has pretty good field vision, and also plays with a great speed that gives Bayern a certain lethality in the final third. I look forward to seeing this young man progress, and perhaps even become a 90 minute fixture for them. The Italian commentators seemed to be relishing in the fact that Kroos and the Italian word for cross are quite similar sounding, as they said his name and then that word in quick succession whenever he crossed the ball. It was humorous.

Pranjic coming off the bench and replacing Kroos was also quite good. He's a similar player to Kroos, but just has that bit of experience that I think manager Louis Van Gaal thought would be enough to give Bayern the edge.

Let's move up to the attacking players before we go back. Ribery, despite his game winning cross, I didn't think was very impressive in this game. Most times he was the one who would have generated the chances for Bayern, but he lacked any quality in the final third today to generate those chances until that final minute. As I said earlier, each ball was pretty well over the heads of the Bayern hopefuls in the box, and his shots were tame to say the least. Benaglio sort of flopped on each of them as they rolled toward him, almost mockingly. When Bayern's attacks ended, it was often because of a misplaced ball or a selfish play by the aging Frenchman.

On the other side Muller was phenomenal. Other than his goal, Muller flew around the pitch with the same ease that he showcased in the World Cup. He and Kroos also seem to be on the same wavelength, which I think will be an extremely interesting connection to watch throughout the season. Muller was also the only one making a valiant effort to get the ball in to Klose or Gomez. The problem is that both of them make such nebulous, truly worthless runs in the box, that Muller would often look, and then try and take it himself, knowing that he would just give it away if he tried. I believe that the Italian commentators were saying that Manchester United have interest in Muller, because every time he got the ball they mentioned the club. I hope that doesn't happen. Even though I'm a Man U fan, Muller belongs in Germany and he belongs at this club. I hope he stays.

I won't talk about the strikers, I've already chewed them out enough.

To the back. As I mentioned, Demichelis was out of this match, as Van Gaal preferred another German youngster Holger Badstuber. Badstuber was impressive today. He stormed out of the back and was the starting point of some of Bayern's more promising attacks. He had a few lapses in defense, but overall had a solid debut.

Daniel Van Buyten appeared as usual alongside Badstuber and also had a good game. He hardly wasted a ball and was often where Wolfsburg attacks ended. The Dzeko goal was his fault, I'm pretty sure, but forgive and forget I suppose.

Philipp Lahm was a little less impressive today, not making as many of his infamous overlapping runs out of the back. He was solid in defense, but the usual flare from him wasn't quite there.

Perhaps the most interesting performance was from debut boy Diego Contento. Despite his name, this young man (20) was born in Germany and I personally think he could be the future left back for Germany. I also don't particularly like Boateng, but that's another story for a different day. Young Diego was the fullback on display for Bayern, making a number of audacious and successful runs from the back. He seemed to be everywhere for Bayern. I look forward to the double pronged fullback attack from Lahm and Contento this year.

In goal, Butt was solid, as to be expected. He stopped a shot with his foot, tipped over a howler from Dzeko that would have surely scored, and had good distribution, despite one terrible giveaway.

On to Wolfsburg, which will be more brief:

Midfield: Brazilian Josue and Algerian jackass Karim Ziani (remember him?) were reduced to Van Bommel and Schweinsteiger's tackling dummies. They might as well have been spectators.

Misimovic, when he came in for the second half, was the high point. His passing was brilliant, his moves were slick. His finishing however, would cost Wolfsburg the match.

Cicero was committed almost entirely to defense, which he actually performed valiantly.

Conspiculously absent was star Thomas Kahlenberg. I don't know where he was, maybe he's hurt or something.

Attack: Edin Dzeko is one of the hottest players in the world. He will not stop scoring this year, I promise. His header was sublime and the shot that Butt tipped over I don't think would have been stopped by any other Bundesliga keeper.

Mandzukic was a workhorse and did the work that Josue and Ziani shamelessly didn't do. I'm not sure why Brazilian Grafite didn't start for him. Speaking of Grafite, he came on for like five minutes and did nothing. In case you were wondering.

Defense: Andrea Barzagli was the dominant performance, who was probably the one thing keeping Muller from a brace.

Slovakian Simon Kjaer was also quite good, and played a major part in rendering Klose and then Gomez useless.

Riether and Schafer were the other two, and I honestly barely learned their names.

I've already talked a lot about Benaglio, who was decent. Sucks for him that they lost.

These are all of my reactions from today's match. I'm sure you have some thoughts. You don't need an account to comment, you can be anonymous.

Stay tuned tomorrow for match day number two from the Premier League.

On Mario Balotelli: His debut goal for Manchester City and why I still hate him. (And other news)

Mario Balotelli (pictured above, being a dick). This young man (now 20) made his debut at Inter Milan, which means he has won a treble. He has continually been praised as one of the top up and coming talents this side of Mesut Ozil. At Inter, Mario gained a reputation for being a complacent, cocky, ill mannered player. Not a lot has changed.

At one point in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona, Inter manager Jose Mourinho didn't think Mario was defending adequately. He yelled at Mario to do better at closing down on the ball. Balotelli stepped off the pitch and refused to play the last minute of the game. So the kid has a bad attitude. And, frankly, I don't think he's particularly great.

This summer when Manchester City began their temptation of the young Ghanaian, Balotelli said that he would accept no less than 180,000 dollars a week and full image rights. Now I'm not sure how much Man City felated that offer, but to offer some perspective, Robinho is currently the highest paid player in the world at 150k a week. Robinho, incidentally, also plays at Moneybags City. At any rate, Balotelli was signed at City for a reported fee of 24 mil, which is relatively high, but not Ronaldo high.

Those are the bad things about Balotelli, here are the good things: He's got a big body that he knows how to use, he's got impeccable balance, has a pretty decent shot, and has skills on the ball as well. This is also a pretty smart signing by City, since Shaun Wright-Phillips isn't getting any younger and is probably no longer a 90 minute player.

Now, as for this late winner that Balotelli scored, I have to say that I'm much more impressed with the play of Emmanuel Adebayor. It's late in the day, and he's still able to get the ball, take it to the byline, and whip in a ball that hits Balotelli in stride. Really, all Mario had to do was be in the right place, fight off the Timisoara defender, and swing his foot. But, a wise man once said a goal is a goal is a goal. One of my rising favorite players, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez of Man U recently scored a goal by bouncing it off his face, so I'm not really one to talk.

But let's really break this goal down. First of all, City had to dip into their bench against FC Timisoara in the first leg of the Europa League. If that's not evidence of how wrecked this team is, I don't know what is. But, maybe Super Mario has found his home amongst the egotistical jackasses at Man City. First among them being Roberto Mancini.

That's all I've got on Mario, on to other news.

1. William Gallas has moved to Tottenham. This is massive news, I think. This means that Sebastien Bassong may never get to play again, because Spurs now have Ledley King, Michael Dawson, and Gallas. This move is also huge because it's stolen a key defensive man away from Arsenal. Arsenal also just lost Samir Nasri for a month to knee surgery.

Furthermore, King's knee will no longer be the most closely watched three major ligaments in London, because they know that even if he goes down, Gallas will be there. Which brings up the next point, I don't think Gallas will start for this team. I think Redknapp still has great confidence in King and Dawson in the middle, and they are actually one of my favorite pairings in the Premier League. Mostly because they're both actually English.

Anyway, I think Gallas is one of the physically strongest players in football, and he's got a firey temper. Because of that, I think Redknapp will want to play him and King together when he can, since King's cool collected approach will offset the raging Frenchman.

2. Liverpool slip by Trabzonspor. Because of how strange the team's name is that played the Reds, we're going to refer to them as "Trabbles." Awesome. Anyway, the only goal in this game was scored by Ryan Babel in injury time of the first half. Which is a big lift for the Reds because Babel is a long time fan favorite and getting him a goal is never a bad thing. Also, it's his last goal for the Reds, as he was linked with a move to Wolfsburg earlier this week.

However, the major story from this game was Joe Cole missing a penalty. Cole took the penalty because Gerrard wasn't there, but I doubt Roy will give him the opportunity again. This is yet another major setback for Cole after his dismal first game ended 45 early because of a red card. However, it was his great pass that put Babel in on goal, so perhaps the Englishman is breaking into his stride. And you have to applaud Cole's comments afterward, which were that he wasn't going to dwell on it. Hopefully Joe's time at Anfield will get better.

New signing Christian Poulsen apparently had a great game, getting a few chances and passing quite well.

That's all I've got for now, stay tuned tomorrow for comments on Bayern Munich's first game against Wolfsburg.

On Tottenham Hotspur: Evaluating their 3-2 defeat in the Champions League against Young Boys.

First, some background: Tottenham Hotspur have never made it to the Champions League in their club's history. Harry Redknapp accomplished this for the first time for the club this season. But, there's a catch, they had to play one qualifier to get into the group stage. Shouldn't be a problem, right? They just have to get by Swiss club Young Boys. Wrong.

Today: In the 28th minute, Spurs find themselves down 3 goals in Bern. Let's look at why this happened:

1. No Ledley King. Ledley King is the usual captain of Spurs and the central defender who starts alongside countryman Michael Dawson. However, King has a bad knee, and the Young Boys' stadium is Astroturf. So manager Harry Redknapp decided to play it safe and not play him. A great move, I think. But, King is usually the one on the team after they get scored on to calm everyone down and get back to business as usual. With him not there, Dawson was the captain. And he took it upon himself to yell at Benoit Assou-Ekoto and King fill-in Sebastien Bassong. Which they may have deserved, but the effect was spooked defenders and more goals for Young Boys.

But let's talk about the defenders for a moment. Benoit Assou-Ekoto, I guess, used all of his "good" in the match against Manchester City. He got straight up beat in one breakaway that led to a Young Boys' goal, and really couldn't even complete a pass. Bassong saved himself with that goal, because the other two goals were completely his fault. Sub-par marking and a complete ineptness with the ball at his feet were his big fallouts. Dawson looked just as bad in the first half, but he really pulled it together in the second half and looked like his old self. Vedran Corluka actually got forward pretty well in attack and didn't have a half bad game. Other than though, a poor defensive effort from Spurs.

All this to say, Spurs will be happy to get King back on the field at White Heart Lane next week.

2. No Huddlestone in starting line-up. I'm convinced that Spurs are frozen stiff without Tom Huddlestone. The 6'3'' hulk dominates play when he's on the field, and they clearly struggled without him in the starting line-up. I know why he wasn't there though, he plays so damn hard that asking him to come back after playing on Saturday is just too much. However, he did come in for Assou-Ekoto in the 35th minute, and things went better for Spurs from there.

3. Poor performance from Modric. I don't know what Croatian Luka Modric is doing before games these days, but he looks less like the "maestro" he's reported to be and more like a stoner. He really doesn't do anything and gave the ball away multiple times. The testiment to how bad he was was that Redknapp replaced him for Niko Kranjar at the break, who had a great game. I think that Modric at his best is a definite need for this team, but when he's off, he's really off.

Also in midfield, Wilson Palacios didn't look like he had a clue all game. He was giving the ball away left and right, and just didn't seem to know where to position himself on the field. Maybe Redknapp will consider using Jermaine Jenas next match.

4. Astroturf. English boys like grass better. Nuff said.

5. Strikers. Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavyluchenko (before his 83' goal) were struggling, big time. Defoe couldn't get on the end of anything and looked like he had bricks attached to his cleets his touch was so poor. Pavy just kept diving for fouls and was basically worthless. It wasn't until Robbie Keane came on that things really started clicking. He's so good at linking play between the midfield and attack and he did that so effectively late on in this match. It was his pass that put Roman on his way to his thunderous goal. Crouch needed to be rested in this match, and probably wouldn't have done well in this match anyway because of the Astro and the lack of Aaron Lennon. Which brings me to my next point.

6. No Lennon. Aaron Lennon is a speedy little bastard, and he's got pretty great service too. Any side would miss his pace, and this was a team that was constantly struggling to find a final ball. When they found one, such as Gareth Bale's service from the left, things seemd to be going well. But on the other side, Corluka and Dos Santos just couldn't quite get it right. Lennon will be a welcomed return next week at White Heart Lane.

This is what I think went wrong in Berne today, hopefully things will go better next week for Spurs. The good news is, they got two away goals. So really all they have to do is win by at least one next week at White Heart Lane to win in the aggregate score and advance to their club's first Champions League tournament.

On Manchester United: How good their 3-0 victory was today.

It took about 20 minutes, but by the time Manchester had settled in against what proved to be the lesser United (Newcastle), it was easy pickings at Old Trafford. There was a lot to see and take in today for the Red Devils, but here are my main impressions.

1. Old dogs still have plenty of tricks.

Paul Scholes (pictured above) and Ryan Giggs are the old wise men of United at this point. And they proved today that they are still a formidable force in the Premier League and that they will continue to be leaders of the team.

Scholes dictated the entire game. His long balls over the top of the hapless Magpie defense found Nani, Valencia, Berbatov, and so on. Scholes had to be man of the match today just because of his sheer ability to read and influence the flow of play. He was involved in each of United's goals with his vital running off the ball, and, of course, his work with the ball at his feet.

Ryan Giggs entered play at the 70th minute to record his 19th consecutive season in the Premier League. The 37 year old is still clearly in top form though, as it took him a short fifteen minutes to score. A beautiful Scholes ball across the 18 found Giggs at the edge of the area on the left hand side. Then, in one masterful moment, Giggs one-timed it with his left foot. The finish was top class and glided into the side netting, with Newcastle Harper completely off-guard.

Giggs wasn't done though, and continued to display his mastery of the game with incredible one touch play and great field vision.

These two grizzled warriors are well into their twilight years, but that hasn't stopped them delivering at the highest level in a big way for United.

2. Strikers: questions answered, still more raised.

A major concern for Man U this year is who is going to be the top goal scorer. With Rooney still without a goal since May, and Berbatov still trying to prove himself, it's an important question.

Berbatov helped eliminate some doubt by scoring the opening goal for United. The finish was superb, as Berbatov glided it in his trademark fashion across the face of the goal and into it's cheek, so to speak. But he would struggle from here, but sometimes it was good struggling. A number of times, Berbatov was clearly attempting to set up his strike partner, whether it was Rooney or Javier Hernandez. But when it was the wrong kind of struggling, it was ugly. Berbatov's problem, for me, has been his continued obsession with being an artist. Berb always complicated finishes, often going for the ultimate finesse, the ball that just barely squeeks into the goal. It's beautiful, but, as we saw today, it can be embarassing when you look less beautiful and more like a jackass. But I am still a big Berb supporter and I think things can only get better for him from here, as long as he gets at least 20 goals.

Wayne Rooney. The revered best striker in England. Power, speed, aggression, intensity. These are the things that we have heard about the Red Devils' number 10. But what else do we see? We see inconsistency, a lack of ability to perform at the international level. So what does his performance today tell us? I think it's all positive. Roo has remained completely selfless, setting up workhorse Darren Fletcher for a rare goal, and setting up others on numerous occassions. His finishing today, it's true, was a little less than adequate. But he wants so badly to succeed, and he's still brimming with desire and that competetitive fire. Hopefully Rooney will be back in scoring form within the next couple of weeks, and today's performance was a good start. The next step will be getting his confidence back.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez makes debut, does well. Despite slipping and falling in the box, and mishandling a back heel pass, the Mexican looked good on his debut. Though he didn't have a good shot on frame, Chicharito looked great in the build-up play in the final third, and was barely caught offside on a breakaway chance. I expect very bright things from "The Little Pea" in the future.

3. Out wide: the strength of the United attack.

On the receiving end of those Scholes' balls, Luis Valencia, Nani, Patrice Evra, and John O'shea looked great for United out wide. Valencia was the weak link among them, but he made up for it with great hustle and good build-up play. His problem was getting the final ball into Rooney. Nani, however, looked absolutely magical. His cross led to the Fletcher goal, and quite a few were just barely off. Both of the wingers had a great work rate and overall looked great. From the fullback position, Evra and O'Shea did a great job pushing forward and getting involved in play. When these two are up, watch for the goals to rain in.

4. Defending like mad dogs.

The way to tell if a team has got what it takes to finish in top three in the Premier League is if they can complete more than five passes in the final third in Old Trafford against United. The defense, led by Nemanja Vidic, did a great job getting the ball back and distribution was top class as well.

The only question mark for me was Johnny Evans. He's an ambitious fellow, but his clearances had me scratching my head occassionally. He didn't seem to mark as well, particularly in the air. All I'm saying is, it'll be nice to have Ferdinand back when he's fit.

Van Der Sar was perfect today, as usual. Great distribution, makes saves look easy, still one of the best keepers in the Premier League.

These are my major notes from the game today. What did you think?

Other news: Mark Shwarzer looks to be on his way to Arsenal, Scott Parker likely to sign 5 year deal for West Ham, Middlesborough keeper Brad Jones on move to Anfield, AC Milan show interest in Pompey's Kevin-Prince Boateng, in demand defender David Luis gets 40 million price tag at Benfica, questions raised over legality of Chelsea's approach of Brazilian starlet Neymar.