10. Cesc Fabregas is still hurt. He clearly isn't ready and didn't look like himself when he came on.
9. The English simply can't shoot penalties when there is any kind of pressure. Players miss penalties. It happens. Didier Drogba missed one this weekend. But did you see Wayne Rooney's miss? It's not like the keeper made a save (i.e. Gomes vs. Drogba). Rooney blasted it over as if he was kicking a field goal. Why do they still let the English take penalties? Haven't we seen English players suffer enough already? Giggs, Park, Fletcher....please step up next time!
8. Ferdinand and Vidic are beasts. Did Arsenal have one decent chance? The two center-backs absolutely dominated Arsenal and won everything in the air. Co-MVPs of the game.
7. Arsene Wenger is a sore loser. Yes, we already knew that. After the game, he said, "Overall, the technical quality of the game suffered from a very bad pitch and that was why on both sides you've seen unusual technical mistakes." Let us translate: We really sucked tonight.
6. Arsenal's 3rd string keeper, 20-year old Wojciech Szczesny, should be their starter. Fabianski and Almunia are awful.
5. Anderson is not good.
4. Theo Walcott should start. He seemed like the only Arsenal player who actually wanted to shoot and score at the end of the game. And if Wenger hasn't realized it yet, he needs to read this: HE IS BY FAR THE FASTEST PLAYER ON THE PITCH! He also knows how to play and he can change a game. Give him more minutes, and let's see what the kid can do. Walcott and Adam Johnson on each flank for the English National Team -- scary dangerous. That gives me goosebumps, makes me tingle all over...that is exciting! Not a phrase that is normally associated with the English National Team. Unfortunately, the English coach is Italian...so dream on England fans.
3. Patrice Evra is right, Arsenal is a training ground center.
2. Park Ji-Sung is a gamer. His goal wasn't pretty, but he was in the right place at the right time. He works his socks off, he defends, he's fast, he scores big goals (6 goals this season), and he doesn't complain. Sadly, that is rare nowadays. He is a true team player and has quietly become one of United's best players. Unfortunately for United, he will miss seven fixtures after the Boxing Day game with Sunderland because of the AFC Asian Cup. I'm sure Sir Alex is not too happy about that...
1. Barcelona would absolutely crush both of these teams. They might be two of the top four teams in the English Premier League, but they are not even close to Barcelona (or Real Madrid for that matter). If Arsenal or Manchester United play like they did tonight against Barcelona, they would lose by five goals, easily. There may be high drama in the EPL, but the players are in Spain.
#11. Bendtner & Berbatov should leave. Bendtner's time at Arsenal has run out and he has shown glimpses of potential, so he needs to transfer and get some playing time (would be good fit for German teams). Berbatov has scored 11 goals and been fantastic (along with Hernandez), yet Rooney will still see more time no matter what. Go somewhere where they will respect you.
ReplyDeleteManU did pull off a win, but totally agree that Rooney gets special treatment. He actually played pretty well yesterday, but Berba scored 5 goals the previous game and Chicharito has been very effective every time he has gotten a chance to play. Him and Park are very much alike in that they have positive attitudes and take advantage of the chances they get to play.
ReplyDeleteBendtner needs to leave and go to a team like in Germany or an average team in England where he will play and show his stuff, he's still really young.
Spain do not have all the players, Barca and Real Madrid do. The rest of La Liga is average and cannot compete with England or Italy which have four or five real title contenders. La Liga is as unbalanced as ever.
ReplyDeleteWenger needs to find a new job; the French National Team would be a perfect fit.
ReplyDeleteI could see Bendtner playing for a fulham-like team and scoring over 10 goals a season.
ReplyDeleteBarca and Real are in Spain and are by far the 2 best teams in the world right now. Valencia will be in the round of 16 in the UCL. Villareal are legit and winning their Eurpoa League group. Atletico Madrid will move on in the Europa League and Sevilla are battling it out with Dortmund (best team in germany). It may be unbalanced, but that's only because barca and real are SO MUCH BETTER. They would do the same in the EPL, or any other league for that matter.
Exactly. The reason La Liga is so uneven right now is because Real and Barca are so stacked. Barca has 3 or 4 of the best players in the world. Just look at last year's finalists for the World player of the year...Iniesta, Xavi and Messi are the three finalists. It's not even fair. Now you have Real Madrid with the best coach and all that talent, and they have only lost one game so far in all competitions.
ReplyDeleteBoth teams would do that same in the EPL. The reason the EPL is more even now is cuz ManU, Chelsea and Arsenal have dropped off a little this year and lack depth and talent. Just look at ManU's roster...their center-mids are Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, and Scholes (very old). None of them are world class. If they faced Barca or Real, their midfield would get absolutely man-handled.
Chelsea has had injury/sickness problems with Lampard and Drogba, and Essien was out for a few games thru suspension, so they have an excuse at least. But they just lack the finishing touch right now. Once they are healthy again, they will be back to normal again. They won their CL group and will be a force to be reckoned with in that competition.
Favorite thought after the ManU-Arsenal match:
ReplyDelete"Anderson is not good"
I give Fergie credit for making brilliant signings over the years, but Anderson is NOT one of them. They need to sell him back to Portugal and get a class attacking midfielder like Sneijder, Van der Vaart, or Mikel Arteta.