Due to work commitments and on-set dementia spurred on by watching too much basketball in a 48-hour period, my brain is about melted thus today's usual recap won't be it's usual meaty self. Think of it as a Subway sandwich, instead of a five, five dollar, five dollar fooooot long, (sorry if that's stuck in your head all day) instead you're getting the rare four-inch round sandwich. You pick the meat, since I'm a fair guy.
Obviously the only place to start is Manchester United/Liverpool. And for that, thankfully I might have one of America's best Liverpool fans as a reader/email buddy in Ace Cowboy, here are his thoughts:
My thought, Manchester United looked vaguely sluggish and a tad uncreative. Plus, when Carlos Tevez misses two goal mouth chances, it's probably not your day.
The gap with Chelsea and Liverpool is down to four points, but United's final fixtures are pretty cushy. The trickiest dates are against (in order) Aston Villa, Everton and Arsenal and two of those are played at Old Trafford.
Also, I answered my own question, the nickname for Torres/Steven Gerrard should be Super GT or, if you're a fan of Larry David and 'Curb', GTS for guaranteed terrific safety.
It's not a revelatory statement, but at least Liverpool showed signs of life. It was my preseason pick, so as much as I slag them off, it would be nice to see them keep pressing and win it.
Other things -- The PL really ought to consider adopting some kind of wrestling inspired gimmick for the 'how-low-can-you-go?' relegation derby. Call it the Relegation Rumble. By Friday I'll come up with the scenario. Right now it's exciting, yes to a degree, but with some stinker performances. The only teams that showed iniative and are probably safe are Fulham and Tottenham, which both won over the weekend. ... Fittingly, Andrei Arshavin's first goal (or at least non-possible own goal, goal) for Arsenal was a spectacular run and movement on the touchline to beat Paul Robinson from a short angle. Brilliant. ... Is it just me or is there a dearth of 1-v-1 goals like Torres scored Saturday? Maybe it's a Spanish thing. ... Tottenham's Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Everton's Maroune Fellani must have swapped hairdressers, one had a fro and the other had corn rows. I still need to make that chart of Fellani with 'Fro and sans. ... Aston Villa is officially out of gas, and a challenge for Arsenal for fourth place will be nominal at best. ... Until losing to first-place AZ, FC Twente was on some long unbeaten run, amazingly it's coach is the immortal Steve McClaren. ... Another England cast-off, Andriy Voronin is on a goal scoring binge for first place Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. Who would have thought Liverpool could have used him?
Fantasy team's o' the week -- Both Slade Sohmer's Gangly Handful FC and Nicolas Mulch's Prussians and Pistols, each scored 54 in a low-scoring weekend. Congrats.
Sorry for the short stuff, but my brain and eyes are both about to emulsify.
Obviously the only place to start is Manchester United/Liverpool. And for that, thankfully I might have one of America's best Liverpool fans as a reader/email buddy in Ace Cowboy, here are his thoughts:
My Scousenugget of the Week:
It's amazing to me that Liverpool is at least four, likely seven, points off the pace. The double over United. The double over Chelsea. Thirteen of a possible 15 points against the other Big Four clubs (with one against the Arse to go) -- that's CHAMPIONSHIP FORM! What the fuck happened? Three straight draws in January, including Stoke and Wigan. In February, a draw at home to reeling Man City. A LOSS to Boro. That's your season right there. The early draws at Anfield (Stoke, Hull, West Ham, Fulham) were awful, but Liverpool went into the new year atop the table. It was those five matches in January and February that ultimately derailed what has been championship form against the big boys. And, man, that's just inexcusable.
(Torres is a monster again. He is just wreaking havoc on some of the better defenses in the world. The way he turned Cannavarro earlier in the week, the way he made Vidic look silly. Awesome stuff. Gerrard's been immense again. The passing has been crisp. From almost everybody. If this club can stay healthy, good lord, they can make it interesting in the CL and the league. Three points against Villa and steamroll it from there.)
My thought, Manchester United looked vaguely sluggish and a tad uncreative. Plus, when Carlos Tevez misses two goal mouth chances, it's probably not your day.
The gap with Chelsea and Liverpool is down to four points, but United's final fixtures are pretty cushy. The trickiest dates are against (in order) Aston Villa, Everton and Arsenal and two of those are played at Old Trafford.
Also, I answered my own question, the nickname for Torres/Steven Gerrard should be Super GT or, if you're a fan of Larry David and 'Curb', GTS for guaranteed terrific safety.
It's not a revelatory statement, but at least Liverpool showed signs of life. It was my preseason pick, so as much as I slag them off, it would be nice to see them keep pressing and win it.
Other things -- The PL really ought to consider adopting some kind of wrestling inspired gimmick for the 'how-low-can-you-go?' relegation derby. Call it the Relegation Rumble. By Friday I'll come up with the scenario. Right now it's exciting, yes to a degree, but with some stinker performances. The only teams that showed iniative and are probably safe are Fulham and Tottenham, which both won over the weekend. ... Fittingly, Andrei Arshavin's first goal (or at least non-possible own goal, goal) for Arsenal was a spectacular run and movement on the touchline to beat Paul Robinson from a short angle. Brilliant. ... Is it just me or is there a dearth of 1-v-1 goals like Torres scored Saturday? Maybe it's a Spanish thing. ... Tottenham's Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Everton's Maroune Fellani must have swapped hairdressers, one had a fro and the other had corn rows. I still need to make that chart of Fellani with 'Fro and sans. ... Aston Villa is officially out of gas, and a challenge for Arsenal for fourth place will be nominal at best. ... Until losing to first-place AZ, FC Twente was on some long unbeaten run, amazingly it's coach is the immortal Steve McClaren. ... Another England cast-off, Andriy Voronin is on a goal scoring binge for first place Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. Who would have thought Liverpool could have used him?
Fantasy team's o' the week -- Both Slade Sohmer's Gangly Handful FC and Nicolas Mulch's Prussians and Pistols, each scored 54 in a low-scoring weekend. Congrats.
Sorry for the short stuff, but my brain and eyes are both about to emulsify.
Labels: Monday recaps, Premier League, Soccer
Fulham wins away!
Liverpool has looked excellent the last couple games but they are NOT going to catch ManUtd. United still has a game in hand and their remaining opponents are easier.
Lando not making it in Munich was medium sized news, but Mikey Bradley has been arguably the best player on Borussia Monchengladbach this season. Junior scored two against Cologne on the weekend. Sure, one of them was a PK, but I think it says something that the team chooses him to be the penalty shooter. The team is still in the Bundes-Relegation zone, but Bradley seems sure to be playing topflight Euro soccer next season. The US's big transfer to Europe guys (Edu, Adu and Altidore) all saw zero minutes this weekend.
Did I mention that Fulham won away?