EPL Talk

Observations About Premier League Saturday Matchday 13

The Gaffer — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:21:26 +0000

Thank god the Premier League is back. Nothing against international football, but there’s something very comforting with getting back into the ritual of watching Premier League football and being familiar with the surroundings, the pace of the game and the excitement it creates.

So the Liverpool against Manchester City game on early Saturday was the perfect re-introduction to the Premier League. I found the first half not as boring as ESPN’s Tommy Smyth claimed it was. Sure, there were few chances, but the flowing football was easy on the eye which was punctuated by two unfortunate injuries for Daniel Agger and Ryan Babel.

The second half of the match erupted. The last ten minutes of the match were pulsating with both teams throwing everything forward to try to get the winner, but alas the game ended 2-2 — which I thought was a fair result for both teams.

For me, the player who had the biggest impact on the match was Carlos Tevez who came off the bench and transformed City from a team who looked soulless in midfield to a team that was suddenly dangerous on the attack and had more possession. The thing I love about Tevez the most is that he turns nothing into something. He constantly fights for the ball and a perfect example of this was how he won the ball down the left wing and ran with the ball, passing it to Shaun Wright-Phillips who planted a beautiful pass to Stephen Ireland to score a valuable goal for City.

In the other games I watched, the football wasn’t as exciting as the match at Anfield.

Sunderland’s 1-0 victory against Arsenal was a game that wasn’t for the soccer purist. Both teams played well but Sunderland suffocated most of Arsenal’s attempts on goal and the Mackems had few chances of their own. That’s not to take anything away from Sunderland’s performance. The team battled hard and deserved to get something out of this game, and had a bit of good fortune in the ball falling to Darren Bent to win the match. While Tevez was my man of the match in the Liverpool versus City game, my man of the match at the Stadium of Light was Andy Reid who delivered a performance equal of Tevez by constantly fighting for the ball and pouring his enthusiasm into everything he did for Sunderland.

Just as Liverpool and Manchester City didn’t look like Premier League champion material today, neither did Arsenal. It wasn’t that they were bad. Instead the Gunners were shut down well by Sunderland similar to how Steve Bruce’s side did the same against Manchester United at Old Trafford recently. I’m sure a lot of the excuses for Arsenal’s defeat today will be aimed at the unavailability of Robin van Persie due to injury, but I feel that’s unfair. Arsenal had a few golden chances near the end of the game to equalize but it just wasn’t their day.

With Arsenal’s loss in the northeast, Chelsea moved eight points clear of the Gunners with an emphatic 4-0 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Seriously, Chelsea have become incredibly boring to watch this season. Don’t get me wrong. They’re playing wonderful football, but the matches they play are so one-sided that I find myself losing interest because they constantly cruise to victory with simplicity (except of course in a few games this season such as against Manchester United and Wigan Athletic, where the opposition was tougher to break down).

Last but not least, the match between Manchester United and Everton was exceedingly enjoyable to watch. Everton were very much in the game and fighting for every ball until the 35th minute when Darren Fletcher rocketed the ball with his right foot into the top corner of the net. Despite Everton’s constant persistence, they created very few chances against a Manchester United side that seemed to be buzzing after their recent drop in form during the past few matches.

The second half of this match was very wide-open with both teams trying to get the decisive goal. But it was another piece of class in this game that saw Manchester United scoring a goal. This time it was a perfect pass from Ryan Giggs to Michael Carrick who knocked in a shot with precision into the far corner of the net to make it 2-0 to United. Antonio Valencia’s shot near the end of the match which was deflected in to make it 3-0 made it a very convincing win for Manchester United although you have to think that the scoreline wasn’t a fair representation of how well Everton played at times during this match.

I’ll try to spend some time later tonight watching the other Premier League games played today. But in the meantime, feel free to post your observations about the games today and what was interesting for you.

Photo credit: Soefrie.

Carlos Tevez Proves His Worth to Man City

Dave Warner — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:50:12 +0000

When football pundits discuss Carlos Tevez, they often talk about his “work rate” and his “eye for the ball.” At times, though, the words “work rate” can morph into a backhanded compliment — as if those pundits are really saying, “He’s rubbish as a goal scorer, but boy, he sure works hard, doesn’t he?”

Indeed, Tevez has only two goals in league play this season, and he has expressed his frustration over his sudden inability to finish. His infamous work rate, however, might be the primary reason Manchester City was able to score twice in the second half at Anfield today.

Until Tevez replaced Gareth Barry at the hour mark, Man City’s attack looked listless and idea-free against Liverpool. Instead of working the ball through the midfield, City seemed content merely to bomb the ball forward to Emmanuel Adebayor and hope he could do something with it — a strategy that Liverpool could defend easily. Tevez’s entry into the game, however, seemed to give his teammates a boost, allowing City to poke some holes in Liverpool’s beleaguered back line. In fact, it was Tevez’s to win the ball near goal that set up Shaun Wright-Phillips’ pass to Stephen Ireland, who put City ahead 2-1 in the 76th minute.

City’s defending ultimately let them down in the end, and Yossi Benayoun’s equalizer just a moment later forced both sides to settle for a 2-2 draw. Still, Tevez proved today that there is much value in that “work rate” of his. Perhaps he needs to be more accepting of this role in City’s attack. Perhaps the glory of the goals he scored three years ago to save West Ham from relegation made him forget his biggest strength — winning and holding the ball up front and setting up scoring opportunities for his teammates.

There is much value in a point forward. Mark Hughes would do well to remind Tevez of this. Hughes has a great collection of players at City, but he has yet to mold those players into a team with a distinct identity. Convincing Tevez to embrace the role of set-up man might help City take that first step toward becoming that team.

Arsene Wenger’s Wise Words on the Fiasco in Paris

Eric Altshule — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:42:13 +0000

The appetite for commentary on the farce in Paris still seems strong, and I thought Arsene Wenger had a very wise take on the entire situation today. Wenger is, obviously, a French supporter and very close with Henry. In fairness to the Irish fans, the world football community, and for the sake of Henry, he called for the game to be replayed.

For Wenger, labeling Henry a cheat is too far. Cheating implies a degree of conscientious decision-making, and in a play that takes a fraction of a second and in the height of an emotional encounter, “cheat” is too harsh a word. As Wenger said, “For me people who bought referees, who took drugs, they are the real cheats in sport.” That is a healthy bit of perspective.

Moreover, the people who really let the football world down are the people who refuse to allow modern technology to correct errors. Wenger said that he is sure that that as the referee moved back to the circle for the kick-off, he knew there was something very wrong with that goal. But what could he do about it? He did not see the handball, and he can’t change a call because Shay Given was outraged, whether Given was right or not. FIFA left the referee alone to take the blame, and was not there to help him when he needed it the most.

Finally, this is what Wenger said about the impossible position Henry is now in: “A player of his stature has a massive pressure on his shoulders and if somebody has to do something for Thierry, it is French football and France as a country, not to leave him out there alone against the whole world. France has to say ‘yes it was a handball and we offer a replay’.”

You cannot be more fair than that.

The Hand Of Henry: An Irish Perspective

Rory Tevlin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:48:31 +0000

I thought I should jump in on this issue while the water is still warm and explain an Irish view of Wednesday’s larceny. In Ireland we do not do football dramas in small measures, Roy Keane’s walkout at the 2002 World Cup practically sparked a civil war and now the ‘Hand of Henry’ has turned into a diplomatic incident.

Politicians, comedians, sportspeople and raconteurs have all joined the debate on the goal that sent France to the World Cup and there is alot of anger in Ireland about it. All people are talking about in the papers, on the TV and on the radio is this game and ‘that’ goal.

Thierry Henry is now the ultimate pantomime villain, a Facebook group where we Paddys can get together and mutually loath him attracted 60,000 members within 18 hours! The flag at the top of the page is just one of the photos on the page and, if anything, the site shows the creative possibilities of Photoshop.

Various citizens of our fair republic have sworn never to use Loreal, drive a Citroen or French kiss anymore. Internet campaigns have been launched and many people I know have sent strongly worded letters to the powers that be in FIFA, yes folks, noone does righteous outage quite like the Irish.

As an Arsenal fan I am stuck in the middle of this hate fest and I do not think Henry deserves all the bile that has been thrown his way. If my sporting integrity was tested and Ireland won through a goal like that would I be morally outraged? I am sure I would find some time to reflect as I looked for cheap flights to South Africa.

I do think though the timing of his comments today where he said Ireland deserve a replay seem very convenient. It is easy to come out with that kind of thing after both the French Federation and FIFA said a replay is not going to happen.

To have your guts ripped out by an idol, for the second time I might add, is a tough one to handle but some of the abuse coming his way is over the top. People are saying his reputation and legacy is forever ‘tarnished’, he certainly will not be popular in Ireland but one incident should not cloud Henry’s entire career. Are Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira or Eric Cantona less revered because of some of the nasty things they did in their career? Not really and Henry should not be judged on this incident alone.

Amid the madness of this quite alot of what is important has been lost in the ether. Firstly, I would like to point out how fantastically well Ireland played. We dominated the French in their home stadium and the reality is Ireland should have wrapped the game up in normal time with both Robbie Keane and Damian Duff spurning quality chances. That was one of the best Irish displays I have seen and I was hugely proud of the guts and desire we showed. Keith Andrews showed that mug Lassana Diarra that pride and passion can still get a player a long way and Ireland certainly looked like they wanted the game more than France.

This was a huge moment for this team and for the likes of Keane, Duff, Dunne and possibly Given Wednesday was the end of a dream. They will probably never get another chance to get to a World Cup and to lose to a goal like that was really sickening. Duff and Dunne handled themselves with good grace in this whole affair, Dunne claimed he did not blame Henry for what happened and Duff said he probably would have done the same. At least he’s honest and as Irish fans get completely bent out of shape about Henry’s moment of infamy we should recall that Damian Duff is one of the finest exponents of ’winning’ free kicks.

I don’t think there was ever any chance of a replay going ahead, let’s be honest about it FIFA got the result they wanted, the big boys are through. If this incident forces a rethink on the use of technology in football though I will rest a little easier. This is something that pisses me of beyond belief, I wrote here a few months ago after Howard Webb made an error in the Confederations Cup that technology should be considered and it is something I feel strongly about. Wednesday’s game has once again brought the issue forward and it seems to pop up all the time with not much done about it in the mean time.

Will FIFA ever pull their heads out of the sand? Wednesday’s game had millions and millions riding on it, not just for the immediate boost to the winning football association but the buzz of the World Cup would create massive revenue. I remember the 2002 World Cup and when the Irish football team are successful it creates such a feelgood factor around the country. To have to stomach a decision like that because FIFA think football should remain a ‘human’ game is really alot to take.

We Irish are hopping mad now but they say time heals all scars. I don’t blame Henry, I don’t particularly blame the referee (although the linesman has a bit to answer for) but I do blame the muppets that govern football for letting a situation like this happen by their pig headed refusal to countenance the use of technology. Even their far from ideal extra officials would have saved Ireland on Wednesday but they always seem to be behind the times.

For a brief moment our small country on the fringe of Europe is at the centre of the football world. Come the World Cup in South Africa this tie will have been forgotten and we will have to watch the lucky 32 countries battle it out. It would have been glorious but such is life.

Henry’s Story Continues to “Evolve” Thanks to Public Opinion

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:06 +0000

Since Thierry Henry’s handball on Wednesday, the former Arsenal striker’s reaction has gone from arrogance, to indifference to being contrite. From where I sit, this simply proves that Henry is a Public Relations driven phony. He’s cultivated an image for over a decade in conjunction with his handlers and now sees the possibility it can all come undone.

While several of my followers on Twitter yesterday felt I was crazy to even discuss the idea of a boycott of those companies that use Henry as a spokesman (Gillette, Pepsi and Reebok among others), I maintain that thought was in order given the extreme consequences of Henry’s action, and his subsequent story. The above listed corporations cannot afford to be associated with someone so unwilling to show contrition for an obvious mistake, be it intentional or inadvertent.

This story now seems to be evolving, presumably as his handlers gauge the public reaction, particularly in the British Isles.

At first, Henry said he handled the ball but it was not intentional, and had not curtailed his celebrations after William Gallas’ goal and after the victory

Then, Henry changed his story to claim that he had told Ireland Defender Richard Dunne after the match that he had handled the ball and he did not celebrate with his team mates.

Then, Henry claimed he had told the official it was a handball, but the official told him that he was the referee and the decision was final.

Now, Henry says a replay is in order.

This evolution of positions has taken place in rapid succession, over 36 hours as many British writers have continued to pour scorn on Henry’s actions.

Regardless of what Henry’s handlers do and how his image suffers the ultimate outcome is what will not change thanks to FIFA’s decision to rule out a replay, even though a precedent, albeit not this close to the draw does exist.

The Republic of Ireland, whose fighting spirit and incredible traveling fans would have livened up the World Cup have been eliminated in favor of a group of players who interest appears to be more centered on club football. And who can blame them? World Class players making lots of money from their clubs whose nation is only partly interested in their football exploits leads to a strong club over country attitude.

The World Cup has lost a tactical genius in Giovanni Trapattoni, in favor of a manager in Raymond Dommench, whose main guide is astrology and superstition. We have not seen Henry’s former Arsenal team mate Robert Pires in France colors for five years, because after all he is a Scorpio and Dommench does not trust Scorpio’s.

The scenes of French ticket holders gladly selling their tickets to Irish fans for a few Euros before kickoff in Paris should reinforce the reasons why I wrote this piece earlier this week, before the match. Ireland has been deprived a World Cup trip by Thierry Henry’s handball, while much of France may not even be in the slightest bit interested that their nation actually qualified for the World Cup.

That’s then ultimate legacy of this shameful two leg tie. World Football was the loser. Henry handball, or no handball, the wrong side advanced to South Africa.