With Nasri back, Arsenal strolled to a 3-0 victory at Upton Park on Saturday evening.
A slick move after 13 minutes sliced through West Ham : Wilshere to Walcott, Nasri dummied Walcott\’s low cross, and RVP banged it in for 1-0 in 13 minutes.
Carlton Cole missed a couple of chances in the game. The first came after Djourou dropped a clanger, the second was a mistimed header that glanced wide.
Van Persie cut a ball back for Walcott to nip in on the blind side of Wayne Bridge to make it 2-0 from close range just before half-time. Bridge has only played once in six months before joining the Hammers on loan from Man City and it showed. When Bridge made a panic tackle in the box when Walcott was going nowhere, Van Persie drilled the penalty past Rob Green for a 3-0.
Robin bang! Persie needed a game like that to lift his self-belief.
But let’s keep this 3-0 in perspective. Avram Grant is a dead man walking, Frederic Piquionne was missing after dental surgery, Scott Parker was injured, and Mark Noble had to be replaced by Boa Morte. And the rusty Bridge has not played for six months.
The ESPN girl reporter told somebody that she had spoken to Walcott at the training ground on Friday.
Theo said, “We weren’t up for it against Leeds or Ipswich. We will be tomorrow.”
The Leeds v Arsenal replay is tonight. Will Robin play tonight?
A recent Fabregas tweet was supplied to ANR by our reader Huseyn Faik :
Hi Myles,
This is Fabregas’s words to supporters who follow him on twitter after Wednesday nights debacle. “Sorry about last night guys. Bad performance. I know you are all very disappointed but it is up to us now to make it right. We owe you many! “
Complete opposite of what he said to the cameras. Highlighting the opposition’s style and intimating we actually played well… the boy has learned from his master no doubt.
What Cesc said on Twitter is more honest and appropriate. I think so, anyway.
Sunday was a day of derby draws.
Birmingham against Aston Villa was 1-1 and Liverpool-Everton finished 2-2 after Hodgson signing Raul Mereiles scored his first goal for Liverpool. The Portuguese midfielder was the player who’d had the most shots in the PL without scoring.
Spurs and Manchester United were topping the bill at 4pm.
The start was brisk and engaging and I wondered : Can Spurs score today? Yes. Can they beat Manchester United? I don\’t think so.
Modric was everywhere, always inventive, balanced and accurate. He was fantastic and he had just enough space because Spurs pull you wide, forcing you to vacate central midfield. It’s a fragile, precarious way of playing because it depends so much on go crosses and goals from wide positions.
With Bale, Assou-Ekotto, Hutton and Lennon mainly hugging the touchlines, and Carrick playing so deep, Modric could do things : dribble, pass, slow it down , speed it up, start moves with a flick that gives his mate more time to make a good pass. Luka Modric is a terrific footballer right now. He played with huge energy, tenacity and flair.
The first 25 minutes was exciting stuff and Spurs had a couple of sharp chances at the near post.
At half-time I thought : If United score first, Spurs won\’t. But if Spurs score, United will equalise. Without that first goal, the game became set in a holding pattern and I stopped believing that either side could score. Rafael van der Vaart looked burned out and Gareth Bale was average…
Rafael was very good and fiery at right back and unlucky to be sent off by Mike Dean when Assou-Ekotto fell over his heel. I like Rafael. You need to be a red devil to play for the Red Dewvils.
After United went down to ten men, Vidic went off for treatment, so they had nine men and Spurs got a free-kick. Rio was playing on one leg the whole game, Vidic was off the pitch in the 89th minute, so Dawson should have gone up into the box. But who took the free-kick near the centre circle? Dawson! And he passed it square to Hutton! Oh dear.
Harry, you were too cautious. You\’ve got near the top and become too cautious. Mid-table, you are the boldest man in football, a cavalier, an adventurous gambler. Against another team, you’d have brought on Pavyluchenko and Defoe, a double substitution against ten men.
It finished 0-0, so Spurs dropped below Chelsea in the table.
Big Edin Dzeko looked good with little Tevez in Man City’s defeat of Wolves.
Tevez is short, squat, fiery, strong, very determined to win, and takes the tiniest steps ever. Well, since Romario.
Tevez scored two as City beat Wolves 4-3.
Edin Dzeko has the size, experience and temperament to help Tevez far more than Adebarndoor ever did. When Dzeko starts scoring, and the big teams get re-involved the Champions League, Citeh might grab the title.
Roberto Mancini has proved to be a steely character, much tougher than I first thought. His best player is Tevez but his most interesting player is the versatile David Silva.
If David Silva was at Spurs, he would be playing in the Modric position. Fair enough, Mancini does not want Citeh to be Spurs in sky blue shirts. He doesn’t really want to play with attacking full backs. He uses Yaya as he does because his midfield lacks pace. But next season I’d like to see Mancini play the quick, perceptive Silva in the Jack Wilshere position, in left-central midfield.
Man United are now top on goal difference.
1. Manchester United 21-45
2. Manchester City 23 45
3. Arsenal 22-43
4. Chelsea 22 38
5. Spurs 22-37
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I was disappointed by four draws, especially as I’d backed BTS in the Spurs game.
My pal Tony put £10 on four draws and won £1,250. Odds of 125-1.
Yoga teacher Sarah Ramsden says foreign players have bodies that are more supple than British players.
She\’s done a yoga DVD with Ryan Giggs which coincides with his 600th game for Manchester United.
She also works at Man City and says David Silva is a good example of flexibility.