I was staggered by how bad Marseille were last time.
Even though I\’d heard they weren’t very good.
Marseille were absolutely rubbish when Arsenal won 1-0 there two weeks ago.
Tonight, who knows?
Every football game is different. I think Ramsey will score. Sometimes you have a gut feeling that a player will score, especially when he’s fit and playing well and getting into the box. What are the odds on Aaron Ramsey scoring tonight? I really fancy an e/w bet on him.
Park might start and Jenkinson is fit. If Wenger wants to keep Arshavin, he would be well advised to he start him in this game.
Almost every season I say : October is always a month full of teams who think they’ve arrived.
And this year it\’s Newcastle, although nobody is telling us they\’ve arrived, so far as I\’m aware.
Last night I decided to watch Stoke v Newcastle.
I wanted to find out why Newcastle are fourth.
Demba Ba scored a hat-trick and also gave away a penalty, which was converted. Stoke 1 Newcastle 3 means that Newcastle go above Chelsea into third place.
They sold Andy Carroll, then captain Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Luis Enrique, all their best players, but they\’re now third in the table? How did that happen?
Good defending! Newcastle, like Manchester City, are unbeaten.
It didn\’t take long for the big, rangy Ba to score. When Obertan crossed from the right, Ba collapsed his legs to head the cross past Begovic in 12 minutes. When Leon Best scuffed a shot, Ba stabbed in for 2-0 in 39. Then, deep into the second half, Ba made a mild, silly shove on Crouch, not going for the ball, and the ref gave a soft penalty and Jon Walters smashed it down the middle for 1-2 When Huth pushed Leon Best, he didn\’t fall over or appeal. Bur ref Mike Dean gave a second penalty six minutes after the first and Demba Ba smashed it low to Begovic\’s right.
How do we explain Newcastle’s current success?
Teamwork, organisation and good finishing.
They\’re compact and willing to play for each other, all day long, all night long. If they don\’t lose to Everton at the weekend, Newcastle will go to Man City unbeaten
After losing 6-1 to City at Old Trafford, Sir Alex saw he had a vast, gaping hole in his midfield.
For two weeks I\’ve been thinking the player he needs is Fellaini of Everton. Oddly enough, United went to Everton and Sir Alex switched Wayne Rooney into midfield, played Welbeck and Hernandez, and won 1-0 with an early goal by the Mexican.
Always thought Rooney was more Bobby Charlton than Jimmy Greaves.
He gets more touches in the middle, sees a lot, has a natural game-sense, knows when to speed it up, when to slow it down, knows where he is on the pitch and, crucially, where he is in the game, what has to be done if you\’re wining 1-0 away from home with 25 minutes to go.
Rooney in midfield is a sensible option and I\’m amazed it’s taken the Knight of Govan so long to use it.