As 2010 starts, we have a new Big Four.
Three of the clubs are still the same, though.
Manchester United will win the title.
If Arsenal come second they could do a pre-season tour of the USA.
If Chelsea come third then this team is kaput, too old. They’ll need four younger players of top quality.
If Manchester City finish third, bulldozing Garry Cook might not sack Mancini and hire Mourinho.
Wenger says his priority is the title and it’s been suggested that he’ll play the FA Cup tie at West Ham without Gallas and Vermaelen. I’m not even gonna think about that, let alone write about it.
Wenger said he’d risk Fabregas from the bench again if a game was 0-0, like the Aston Villa game. Fabregas scored two goals against Villa but re-injured his hamstring. He said the boss was right to bring him on.
Arsenal’s season depends on how many games Fabregas can play and whether Arshavin can start scoring goals again.
Wenger should buy a striker next week. A striker who is already playing in the Premier League. It’s simple. Don’t make it harder than it is. Don’t wait till January 31st. Just do it !
Arsenal can no longer rely on half the teams they play being in tatters when they meet them.
That good fortune can’t go on. Everton were in bits with Lescott leaving when Arsenal went there and won 6-1. Portsmouth were in bits with players not knowing whether they would be paid, so they pressed Arsenal’s back four for 10 minutes, decided that was too much like hard work, and stood off, thinking, “I’m gonna be sold in January, I’ll play for myself, this is a shop window for me, why should I play for a club that’s falling apart and wants to flog me?”
Generally, as the big managers look at their fixtures for the next eight weeks, they will decide that the FA Cup isn’t relevant, so many of the weekend’s FA Cup ties will be fake.
In Manchester United’s 5-0 demolition of Wigan we saw that Ji-Sung Park started wide left in a 4-4-2.
Park is a non-stop runner and that has one big effect on the way United play. It means that Rooney runs back far less, stays nearer Berbatov and Valencia, nearer the box.
Recently, when United had no midfield because Fletcher and Carrick had become emergency defenders, Rooney was sprinting 20 yard behind Evra to chase an opponent, tackle him, get the ball, and pass it ten yards up the line to Evra. That’s Wayne but Sir Alex doesn’t want Wayne doing that. His job is to score goals and make them. Park doesn’t score or assist but if his work-rate keeps Rooney at the business end of the pitch, the South Korean is performing a vital role.
I went to Stamford Bridge for the Fulham game and Chelsea were hopeless in the first half.
The back four don’t trust Cech any more, and the fans had the hump with Carlo for dropping fullbacks Ivanovic and Ashley Cole.
After three minutes, Paul Ferreira was in the centre circle (!) when Konchevsky broke into acres of space and crossed a ball which beat Terry and broke for Gera to knock in.
Mikel was shaky, Kalou was flaky, Lamps was peripheral, Drogba a pantomime centre forward dominated by Ghana’s John Pantsil, so sparky Joe Cole had nobody to play with. No width, no pace, nobody making incisive runs, good marking and pressing by Fulham, whose tactics were given validity by that early goal.
After 73 minutes the cold and damp had settled between my shoulder blades and I was wondering when I last saw Chelsea play so badly. Then sub Ivanovic whipped in a killer cross that dipped beyond the far post and Drogba met it with a standing header that turned the game.
Chelsea’s siege eventually produced an own goal by debut centreback Smalling. The giant Hangeland had tweaked his knee warming up before the previous game. If Hangeland had played, Chelsea would not have beaten Fulham.
My main interest in this week’s FA Cup Third Round will be to see what Roberto Mancini does.
He is City’s 17th new messiah in 20 years. They need to practice his new way of playing and a visit to Gordon Strachan’s Middlesbrough is an opportunity to do that. He should not second guess himself after two matches.
Mark Hughes spent £200 million but couldn’t stop Sunderland, Bolton and Spurs from scoring three goals against City. Hughes had to go. But the way it was done was ugly.
Then the squad started doing double sessions when Mancini and Brian Kidd took over and Kidd’s been screaming at their defenders in training. They beat Stoke 2-0 and went to Wolves and won 3-0.
Mancini has been bleating about fixtures, saying its “impossible” to play two games in three days in Italy. Didn’t George Graham always say that Latins can’t be passionate twice a week?
For me, Mancini needs to keep the same team that sparkled in the second half against Wolves. They need game time to practice what they are doing, to keep their defensive shape, keep Tevez hot, keep Bellamy and Petrov switching with Tevez and finishing moves.
Kidd worked with Kaboul at Portsmouth and City and Sunderland are chasing the big defender. Is Kaboul what City need? Don’t know. But he may get a chance to help lift City in the Champions League.
The Big Four are now Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United.