Let's start today in a semi-strange place -- the corner flag at The Emirates.
That's where, as it turned out, a camera was hurled in the direction of Frank Lampard, which is weird because a) why would you throw a digital camera away and b) why was the match official so concerned that he had to run over, pick it up and ferry it over to the fourth official?
Allow this to be my roundabout way of saying the big Arsenal/Chelsea match ended up fizzling, unless you're flying the Blue Flag.
In the wake of Chelsea's ho-hum 3-0 win, it now sits five points clear of second-place Manchester United and a whopping 11 ahead of Arsenal. You don't need me to decode that math, because barring some unforeseen malady, Chelsea should be able to run away and hide with the league.
No need, either, to talk too much about Chelsea, which played like it does about 95 percent of the time. The Blues absorbed the early pressure from the Gunners then snatched a typical Didier Drobga goal just before the half. And when Thomas Vermaelen made an awkward touch for an own-goal right before the half, it was over.
Thank you, come again.
And what to say of Arsenal?
Even with all the first half possession, Arsenal just didn't seem "right" on Sunday. Andrey Arshavin had plenty of chances, but either he or a teammate couldn't get the final touch to trouble Petr Cech.
The easy thing to say about Arsenal's struggles is the loss of Robin van Persie and to a much lesser extent Nicklas Bendtner. In their wake, Arsene Wenger is forced to play Arshavin in a much more advanced role and move Eduardo and Carlos Vela into prominent roles. Nothing wrong with those two players, but they're primarily goal-scorers, while van Persie -- now out until May -- was a truly dynamic player around the entire 18-yard box, including set pieces.
Is an injury to one player the reason a once promising season has run off the rails for Arsenal? Obviously not, but it's not helping. Still, the Gunners can lean on this injury excuse the rest of the way. They do have enough players, though Wenger might be forced to change his gameplan, since Eduardo and Vela seem more suited playing in a 4-4-2 as opposed to as entire a target or wide player in a 4-3-3.
The most striking image from Sunday, camera tossing aside, was that Chelsea looked so much bigger and stronger in comparsion to Arsenal. Guys like Denilson, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott looked downright puny compared to the guys in Blue.
More than anything Sunday confirmed pretty much what we already knew. Chelsea are the clear No. 1 team in the league while Arsenal, yet again, remains a work in progress.
Here, you take it:
The race for positions No. 3 and No. 4 in the Premier League might give us something to pay attention to, assuming Chelsea manages to keep Manchester United at arms length for the title.
Throw Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a hat and pull two names. That's what might happen by the middle of May.
Commenter Lokibeat made this point on Friday and its a brilliant one. None of these five teams has shown any hint of consistency.
In August Manchester City looked like one of the best teams in the world, now they're coughing up 1-0 late leads at home to Hull City -- en route to a record-setting seven-straight draw. (I'd love to read how statistically improbable this is.)
Spurs hit for nine goals in one game, they need a late Mathew Dawson equalizer to salvage a 1-1 draw with fellow "contenders" Aston Villa.
As for Villa? I don't want to call them vultures, but Martin O'Neill's men figure to linger around the top six of the table all season and could be there to pounce if the other teams all falter.
Arsenal? Again, the Gunners can demolish Wolves 4-0, then go scoreless in its next two league matches, with seemingly all their mojo and juice sucked out by RvP's ankle injury.
Should I even write Liverpool? Is beating rival Everton 2-0 another reason for Reds' fans to get sucked into believing this is still a good team? Astonishingly, Liverpool has five losses, yet is only two points off a Champions League spot. (Full disclosure, I didn't get to bed until super late Saturday night and bagged the 8:30 a.m. Merseyside Derby kickoff. No way I'd be able keep my eyelids open through it. Every account labeled it "lucky". Any care to offer anything new?)
To use a horse-racing analogy, these teams figure to remained bunched up together, so whichever two get hot and hit a nice vein of form in April/May might gallop off with the coveted Champions League spots. All it might take is six good weeks to do it.
Let's just recalibrate our expectations. These teams are all going to drop points, so it when Liverpool draws a match at home to Birmingham City, it's not a big deal. It's par for the course in 2009-10.
The Wolf:
You really have to hate sports to not like Jimmy Bullard.
That goal celebration Saturday vs. Manchester City, where he replicated manager Phil Brown's halftime on-field dressing down of his team last season? Inspired brilliance.
And pretty damn ballsy.
For all the talk of the axe falling on Brown's head, the players must have some affection for him. You don't mock a coach that overtly if you don't like him. Either that, or Brown's got the best sense of humor in the world.
Lost in the theatrics is that Bullard is doing his best to pull the Tigers up by his scruff and keep them from the relegation trap door all by himself. He pulled this act a couple years ago at Fulham.
So for all this smiles and jokes, Bullard is forging himself as the ultimate relegation-fixer in the Premier League. That's no laughing matter.
Rooney, Rooney, Rooney
We have a Wayne Rooney sighting. Three goals at Fratton Park -- albeit two from the penalty spot.
Strange game, that United 4-1 win. Three penalties, including a harsh decision against Nemanja Vidic for shirt-pulling.
United still has a couple issues to sort out -- the defense is still shaky and they seem lost at times with Ryan Giggs making plays.
Consider this, here's the Red Devil's league schedule for the next two months: at West Ham; v. Aston Villa; v. Wolves; at Fulham; at Hull City; at Birmingham; v. Burnley; v. Hull City; at Arsenal.
If United are going to chase Chelsea, it's going to be when it fattens up for the winter on the Premier League also-rans and minnows. Hope Sir Alex has some baggy sweatpants for his engorged waistline.
Other stuff:
I didn't know England had hurricanes. Every match this weekend looked like it was being played while Noah was building an ark. ... The way Aston Villa/Spurs started, how did it only end up 1-1? ... The old saying in baseball is that "momentum is only the next day's starting pitcher." Then how about Wigan bouncing back from that 9-1 shellacking last weekend to beat Sunderland 1-0? ... Not to be a doomsayer, but Everton ought to tread carefully. ... Fulham back to 5-4-5 on the season and 10th in the table. Sounds about right, right? ... Should we be concerned that Hull City seems to be scoring all their goals without Jozy Altidore on the field, and or contributing on the scoresheet? ... Andy Johnson will be a out a long spell for Fulham. Does that open the door for Eddie Johnson? ... Brad Freidel still has it. That is all. ... West Ham's goal-difference is only -2, but they're just two points clear of the drop zone. Strange, as Burnley, Blackburn, Wigan and Hull are all in dougle-digits negative but are ahead of West Ham. Then again, the Irons have give up six goals in the last two weeks to Hull and Burnley.
Fantasy Team O' the week:
Tom Bache's Valdez Oilers take top honors, narrowly, with 64 points thanks to Rooney, Giggs and Emiliano Insua.
That's where, as it turned out, a camera was hurled in the direction of Frank Lampard, which is weird because a) why would you throw a digital camera away and b) why was the match official so concerned that he had to run over, pick it up and ferry it over to the fourth official?
Allow this to be my roundabout way of saying the big Arsenal/Chelsea match ended up fizzling, unless you're flying the Blue Flag.
In the wake of Chelsea's ho-hum 3-0 win, it now sits five points clear of second-place Manchester United and a whopping 11 ahead of Arsenal. You don't need me to decode that math, because barring some unforeseen malady, Chelsea should be able to run away and hide with the league.
No need, either, to talk too much about Chelsea, which played like it does about 95 percent of the time. The Blues absorbed the early pressure from the Gunners then snatched a typical Didier Drobga goal just before the half. And when Thomas Vermaelen made an awkward touch for an own-goal right before the half, it was over.
Thank you, come again.
And what to say of Arsenal?
Even with all the first half possession, Arsenal just didn't seem "right" on Sunday. Andrey Arshavin had plenty of chances, but either he or a teammate couldn't get the final touch to trouble Petr Cech.
The easy thing to say about Arsenal's struggles is the loss of Robin van Persie and to a much lesser extent Nicklas Bendtner. In their wake, Arsene Wenger is forced to play Arshavin in a much more advanced role and move Eduardo and Carlos Vela into prominent roles. Nothing wrong with those two players, but they're primarily goal-scorers, while van Persie -- now out until May -- was a truly dynamic player around the entire 18-yard box, including set pieces.
Is an injury to one player the reason a once promising season has run off the rails for Arsenal? Obviously not, but it's not helping. Still, the Gunners can lean on this injury excuse the rest of the way. They do have enough players, though Wenger might be forced to change his gameplan, since Eduardo and Vela seem more suited playing in a 4-4-2 as opposed to as entire a target or wide player in a 4-3-3.
The most striking image from Sunday, camera tossing aside, was that Chelsea looked so much bigger and stronger in comparsion to Arsenal. Guys like Denilson, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott looked downright puny compared to the guys in Blue.
More than anything Sunday confirmed pretty much what we already knew. Chelsea are the clear No. 1 team in the league while Arsenal, yet again, remains a work in progress.
Here, you take it:
The race for positions No. 3 and No. 4 in the Premier League might give us something to pay attention to, assuming Chelsea manages to keep Manchester United at arms length for the title.
Throw Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a hat and pull two names. That's what might happen by the middle of May.
Commenter Lokibeat made this point on Friday and its a brilliant one. None of these five teams has shown any hint of consistency.
In August Manchester City looked like one of the best teams in the world, now they're coughing up 1-0 late leads at home to Hull City -- en route to a record-setting seven-straight draw. (I'd love to read how statistically improbable this is.)
Spurs hit for nine goals in one game, they need a late Mathew Dawson equalizer to salvage a 1-1 draw with fellow "contenders" Aston Villa.
As for Villa? I don't want to call them vultures, but Martin O'Neill's men figure to linger around the top six of the table all season and could be there to pounce if the other teams all falter.
Arsenal? Again, the Gunners can demolish Wolves 4-0, then go scoreless in its next two league matches, with seemingly all their mojo and juice sucked out by RvP's ankle injury.
Should I even write Liverpool? Is beating rival Everton 2-0 another reason for Reds' fans to get sucked into believing this is still a good team? Astonishingly, Liverpool has five losses, yet is only two points off a Champions League spot. (Full disclosure, I didn't get to bed until super late Saturday night and bagged the 8:30 a.m. Merseyside Derby kickoff. No way I'd be able keep my eyelids open through it. Every account labeled it "lucky". Any care to offer anything new?)
To use a horse-racing analogy, these teams figure to remained bunched up together, so whichever two get hot and hit a nice vein of form in April/May might gallop off with the coveted Champions League spots. All it might take is six good weeks to do it.
Let's just recalibrate our expectations. These teams are all going to drop points, so it when Liverpool draws a match at home to Birmingham City, it's not a big deal. It's par for the course in 2009-10.
The Wolf:
You really have to hate sports to not like Jimmy Bullard.
That goal celebration Saturday vs. Manchester City, where he replicated manager Phil Brown's halftime on-field dressing down of his team last season? Inspired brilliance.
And pretty damn ballsy.
For all the talk of the axe falling on Brown's head, the players must have some affection for him. You don't mock a coach that overtly if you don't like him. Either that, or Brown's got the best sense of humor in the world.
Lost in the theatrics is that Bullard is doing his best to pull the Tigers up by his scruff and keep them from the relegation trap door all by himself. He pulled this act a couple years ago at Fulham.
So for all this smiles and jokes, Bullard is forging himself as the ultimate relegation-fixer in the Premier League. That's no laughing matter.
Rooney, Rooney, Rooney
We have a Wayne Rooney sighting. Three goals at Fratton Park -- albeit two from the penalty spot.
Strange game, that United 4-1 win. Three penalties, including a harsh decision against Nemanja Vidic for shirt-pulling.
United still has a couple issues to sort out -- the defense is still shaky and they seem lost at times with Ryan Giggs making plays.
Consider this, here's the Red Devil's league schedule for the next two months: at West Ham; v. Aston Villa; v. Wolves; at Fulham; at Hull City; at Birmingham; v. Burnley; v. Hull City; at Arsenal.
If United are going to chase Chelsea, it's going to be when it fattens up for the winter on the Premier League also-rans and minnows. Hope Sir Alex has some baggy sweatpants for his engorged waistline.
Other stuff:
I didn't know England had hurricanes. Every match this weekend looked like it was being played while Noah was building an ark. ... The way Aston Villa/Spurs started, how did it only end up 1-1? ... The old saying in baseball is that "momentum is only the next day's starting pitcher." Then how about Wigan bouncing back from that 9-1 shellacking last weekend to beat Sunderland 1-0? ... Not to be a doomsayer, but Everton ought to tread carefully. ... Fulham back to 5-4-5 on the season and 10th in the table. Sounds about right, right? ... Should we be concerned that Hull City seems to be scoring all their goals without Jozy Altidore on the field, and or contributing on the scoresheet? ... Andy Johnson will be a out a long spell for Fulham. Does that open the door for Eddie Johnson? ... Brad Freidel still has it. That is all. ... West Ham's goal-difference is only -2, but they're just two points clear of the drop zone. Strange, as Burnley, Blackburn, Wigan and Hull are all in dougle-digits negative but are ahead of West Ham. Then again, the Irons have give up six goals in the last two weeks to Hull and Burnley.
Fantasy Team O' the week:
Tom Bache's Valdez Oilers take top honors, narrowly, with 64 points thanks to Rooney, Giggs and Emiliano Insua.
Labels: Arsenal, Chelsea, Monday recaps, Premier League, Soccer
Bullard was great for Fulham but I am also glad that Hodgson moved him along. Besides being hurt (a LOT) and the 5-mil that Uncle Roy received - Jimmy B had served his purpose at the Cottage. You are correct, Cardillo, in calling Bullard the relegation fighter - another way of saying he is not the guy to move a team from mid-table on up. Bullard is great as the swashbuckling spark when your team has none - but he didn't want to play with the discipline that Hodgson required of him. This makes me wonder how Dempsey, who seems so un-focused and self-directed with the USMNT, manages to stay in Hodgson's good graces. Maybe he respects one manager and not another ...
Click for Bonus Bullard photo
Fantasy gives an insight into the twists and turns this season is taking. Scoring is up and NOT just because of 9-1 games. There seem to be way fewer clean sheets this season - even from the quality teams. Defenders and GKs are not the point machines they have been in the past couple seasons. Last year, any combo of Shwarzer, Cech and defenders from ManU, Chelsea or Fulham meant consistent piles of points. This year the defenses of ALL teams seem a bit more porous at the back.
This connects to the unpredictable nature of the table as well. I think Chelsea is the class of the Premiership, but I can also see them getting a couple of draws or a loss in succession and everyone panicking. But two points from three games wouldn't rule them (or any of the top teams) out of the title race, in my opinion. This is NOT one of those years where the trophy winning team is going to have lost just two games all season.
I was discussing the European game with a very American-only sports fan over Thanksgiving and it dawned on me how strange it seemed to him that a club was engaged in more than one competition at a time. The league, plus a cup or two and maybe the Champions/Europa League?!? Here in the US there is just one competition per season for your team and the various kinds of 'success' a club could find by winning the Carling Cup or qualifying for Europe seems like an alien concept. I guess this is obvious, but it struck me how many subtle and varied ways there are for a fan of soccer to see his team as a 'winner' while NBA or NFL fans have just a single beacon of victory.