Three Things We Learned This Weekend

We All Owe Mancini An Apology

Roberto Mancini has never had an easy ride in the English press.  He's been accused of being "too defensive", of being "happy to not lose games rather than wanting to win".  Some have even said he was tactically naive, firm in the belief that City will never win the league with the Italian at the helm.  

The Urbanite had the same beliefs, and with valid reasons (remember the away games at Arsenal and Liverpool, anyone?), but this season Mancini has unleashed all the shackles on his team and told them to go for it.  And go for it  they have.  They have now scored 14 goals in three games, two of those away from home, and in Mario Ballotelli a player that ceases to surprise as he asks 'Why Always Me?'.  

City can definitely win the league and are rightfully favourites.  If they continue spanking teams home and away they will walk away with it.  Ferguson has some work on his hands.  

It's Time to Take Newcastle Seriously

Who would have thought that Alan Pardew would be sitting comfortably nine games into the season after the summer Newcastle have had.  Failure to sign a striker to replace Andy Carroll, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan leaving in acrimony and furthering tensions between the owner and the fans left many pundits predicting Pardew being the second manager (after Steve Keane) to lose his job.  

But the Newcastle manager has created a solid team this season that has left the Toon Army asking "who "was that Andy Carroll guy anyway?" and forgetting that they still have 35 million still in the bank.  Players like Ryan Taylor, Jonas Gutierrez and Demba Ba have all contributed stellar performances and Newcastle can comfortably aim for a top ten finish.  

Some papers have got a bit carried away, with talk of a push for fourth place.  But Newcastle can go places if they build on these performances and strengthen in January - if Mike Ashley can put his hand in his pocket for once in his life Newcastle can be a force once again.  

Liverpool May Not Be Clinical Enough For a 4th Place Finish

Liverpool are not in a crisis.  They have produced some good performances this season, playing the kind of football that King Kenny himself would have been proud of.  But despite the free flowing football, the  Reds only sit two points above an Arsenal team that was in turmoil and one point behind Spurs, who have a game in hand.  

All this is because Liverpool have an inability to kill off games.  It was something that creeped into the Benitez era, with the team enjoying a lot of possession but failing to create enough chances to win the game.  Under Dalglish, Suarez and co have been creating multiple chances but have been wasteful in front of goal.  Against Norwich, the Uruguayan broke the record for having the most attempts on goal, yet scored none.  

Now no-one would criticise Suarez for his performances this season, as the striker has bedazzled defenders and spectators alike.  But Liverpool fans will worry that until they begin to convert all this good play, they run the risk of losing ground on their rivals.   

Three Things We Learned This Weekend

Liverpool Have A Problem. A £35 Million Problem


Despite starting the season on a high, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish must not be able to sleep well at night. I know I wouldn't when confronted with the problem of having a striker on your books that costs £35 million but that does not fit into your team or style of play.  When selling Fernando Torres to Chelsea and replacing him with Andy Carroll, many Liverpool fans were confident that the free scoring Geordie would continue his exploits for the Reds.  This, however, has not been the case.  


Andy Carroll now has only two premier league goals to his name for Liverpool, both of these coming in the same game, but this is not the main reason why he should fear for his Liverpool future.  The fact is that Liverpool play better, so much better, without Carroll on the pitch.  Two of their best performances under Dalglish, against Fulham last season and Bolton over the weekend, came about when Carroll was not in the line up and the industrious Dirk Kuyt was preferred up front.  The team play a much more fluid, free flowing game that manages to get the best out of the world class talent that is Luis Suarez and enables the team to string five passes together without feeling the urge to hoof the ball in the air to Carroll.  


It has been said that Dalglish had bought Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam to accommodate Carroll's talents. It may well be the case that Liverpool are better off without the big man in the first place.   


Arsenal Don't Just Need New Players, They Need Leaders

Three Things We Learned This Weekend

This is the first in what will be a weekly update from the football action over the weekend.  Whilst this blog is primarily a political and cultural blog, we cannot help but chip in with our football opinions on a weekly basis.  Inspired by the weekly articles in The Guardian with a similar name, these weekly posts will highlight the five major things that we have learnt from this weekend's football action:

With Edin Dzeko, Man City will do just fine without Carlos Tevez


With a lot of the attention focusing on Sergio Aguero's fantastic debut last week, and rightfully so, Edin Dzeko's return to form has slipped under the radar.  Three goals in three games is not the whole story.  His all round game has improved, holding up the ball perfectly against Bolton on Sunday and bringing players like Silva and Aguero into the game perfectly.  We sometimes forget that Dzeko was prolific in Germany, scoring over 22 goals for Wolfsburg in the 2009/2010 season, and this season may well be the time for him to justify his large transfer fee.

Wolves will not struggle to stay up this season


Yes, it has only been two games.  And yes, they only played Blackburn and Fulham.  But Wolves look like the real deal this season.  Well not the real deal, but definitely not relegation strugglers.  Kevin Doyle  has looked strong, and it is not surprising that he has been attracting interest from Arsenal and Liverpool, whilst Matt Jarvis has continued his fine form from last season and should be due another call up from England.  Mick McCarthy has a strong nucleus to his team, and if he can add one or two reinforcements before the transfer window closes Wolves may have a very strong season.

Everton have real, real problems


Everton's financial problems are well documented.  No money to buy players. In need of a new stadium and new owners. Owing money to the bank. And disaffected fans.  To top it all off, they had an awful start to the season in losing to QPR at home and their players look very disaffected.  Cahill has stopped scoring, Saha cannot keep fit and Beckford does not look ready for the premier league.  Everton seriously need players, and it will not surprise us if this is Moyes last season.