Aston Villa 1-1 Spurs

Picture of a nervous man…pretty decent impression of me last weekend!

Good morning!

If ever there was a weekend which typified the seasons of both Arsenal and Norwich, then this was it. Flashes of brilliance mixed with ridiculous defending painted a perfect picture of Arsenal’s season, whilst a somewhat ‘typical’ Tottenham Hotspur failed to turn up at Villa Park when they could have taken advantage over their North London rivals.

We’ll start with Arsenal. A defeat to the tune of eight goals conceded versus Manchester United is measured up with five goals scored against Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, seven against Blackburn Rovers and a stunning 3-0 home victory against AC Milan in the Champions League. Throw in a 1-0 victory over Manchester City and all looks promising, right? Wrong. Such glorious wins have been contradicted by humilating defeats to Wigan Athletic, Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Swansea City and a frustrating 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium.

It’s been a consistent theme throughout the season that Arsenal mix spells of brilliance with showings of absolute horror and it was never more evident than in their home fixture against Norwich over the weekend.

With 67 seconds played, Tomas Rosicky passed to Yossi Benayoun on the edge of the area nearest the left wing. Benayoun cut in from the left and unleashed an unstoppable curling effort past a helpless John Ruddy. It was a great basis from Arsenal to work from, one goal up against a team with nothing to play for. Ideally, Arsenal should have started to pin Norwich back and create even more chances.

We don’t live in an idea world and it was Norwich who seized the initiative from Benayoun’s opening goal. There were far too many gaps opening up in defence for Norwich not to exploit, it really was awful defending, but not just from Arsenal’s back four, the entire team were liable of completely switching off defensively. Alex Song, as great as he has been all season, was vacating his priorities on a regular basis and without the experience of Mikel Arteta alongside him, Aaron Ramsey again struggled in midfield, but more on the Welshman later.

It wasn’t a case of Arsenal being poor though, as such a claim would do Norwich a massive disservice. Norwich were forcing Arsenal in to being so bad and the Gunners simply could not deal with Norwich’s speed of play and remarkable, considering how badly Arsenal needed three points, Norwich looked as though they ‘wanted it’ more. I hate using that terminology for football, but it was never more applicable than at Arsenal v Norwich City on Saturday.

Norwich soon scored through Wes Hoolahan. It was an absolute shocker of a goal. Hoolahan was in too much space, shot, his effort hit Szczesny and the Pole could do nothing more than watch as a fairly limp effort from Hoolahan bounced off of his body and into the net. What a shocker to concede.

Norwich then took the lead fifteen minutes later. Norwich caught Arsenal cold on the break, finding themselves in a three on two situation. Grant Holt was allowed too much room, dummied his first shot, then released the trigger, Holt’s shot cannoning off of Gibbs’ foot and looping over Szczesny. Yet another poor goal to concede and Norwich were forcing Arsenal into a catalogue of errors. How Norwich didn’t find themselves 4-1 up by half-time I will never know, Paul Lambert must have been livid.

After a great deal of pressure in the first half, mixed with a few more scares from Norwich, (Paul Lambert must have been close to exploding when Simeon Jackson rolled his shot to Szczesny in a one-on-one situation) Arsenal equalised through Robin Van Persie in the 72nd minute. Alex Song did his usual chip-pass over the opposition defence and Van Persie put his shot across goal and into John Ruddy’s bottom right-hand corner.

Eight minutes later, Van Persie beat the offside rule to slide a shot underneath Ruddy to make it 3-2 with just ten minutes left to play.

Surely, a top three side should be seeing out a match at 3-2 with ten minutes left to play? Arsenal a team renouned for their passing football, so why not play by the numbers and hold possession? It was mystifying that Arsenal continued to play risky football in an effort to score again and soon enough, Alex Song tried a speculative pass which didn’t quite work and again, Norwich hit Arsenal on the break and scored via Steve Morison, who looks unrecognisable now he has a head of hair.

The whistle blew ten minutes later. Robin Van Persie should have been awarded a penalty having been denied by Kyle Naughton somewhat illegally, but should Arsenal have been depending on a last-gasp penalty to get themselves out of jail from what was a terrible performance? No, Arsenal should have scored two and three early on, capitalising on Benayoun’s early goal. Instead, Arsenal folded under the pressure.

There have been a few rumblings in the blogosphere that Arsene Wenger should be sacked, Stan Kroenke should go with him and that Robin Van Persie should be allowed the opportunity to leave so as to realise his own ambitions. I disagree with all of that a thousand times over.

Though this season hasn’t been ideal for Arsenal, they are third, (by fortune after Sunday’s results, admittedly) despite having to compete against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle for third and fourth, with second and first already occupied by both Manchester clubs. That a team in transition for large parts of the season is third is an achievement in itself, that Arsenal are where they are is great considering what they’ve had to contend with.

However. That third spot could be so much more if Arsenal’s summer had have been dealt with in a better manner. Cesc Fabregas should have left at the start of the transfer window, as should Samir Nasri, rather than late on with little time remaining to sign players and bed them in. At the end of last season, Arsene Wenger stated he’d do all his transfer dealings early on. Instead, Arsenal were scrambling about trying to sign Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta in the final hours of the transfer window. It was poorly managed and that starts with management from the top. Arsene Wenger should have dealt with what was faced before him in a much better fashion.

In Wenger’s defence, he did say that he could write a book on what happened last summer, indicating that he had never faced anything quite like that before, but I disagree with sacking a manager who has made the most out of a terrible situation.

To reiterate, Arsene Wenger and Arsenal as a whole made an absolute meal out of last summer, but the important thing is that they have managed to salvage third place, providing Arsenal beat West Brom next Saturday. It is then Arsene Wenger’s job to build on this squad and strengthen, ready for a better fight next season and it is then that we should judge him, not now. One thing for certain, is that Aaron Ramsey needs an experienced creative midfielder ahead of him to take the pressure off of his lightweight shoulders. Ramsey is a good played, so good he’s captain of his country, but never in a million years should he have been made such a pivotal figure of this year’s campaign.

With Arsenal having slipped up, it allowed the opportunity for their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, to beat Aston Villa and overtake Arsenal, claiming third with just one game left to go.

Tottenham Hotspur have had a season of two halves. During the first half of this season, Spurs were playing the best football in the Premier League and winning match after match. At one stage, pundits were talking of Spurs winning the title. Of course, that was done with a fanciful rush of blood to the head, but all the same, Spurs has as much a mathematical chance as anyone, so why not dream?

Somewhere along the way, Spurs have been derailed in their quest for Champions League football and a finish above Arsenal, and it’s a catalogue of errors that has thrown Spurs off their tracks this season.

First of all, Spurs had a triumvirate of Jermaine Defore, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roman Pavlyuchenko for their strike force when they started this season. Rule Pavlyuchenko out of that as not fitting in at Spurs, nor did Harry Redknapp like him, and Spurs’ strike force is whittled down to just two players. Spurs were heavily linked with a number of strikers throughout the summer, notably Leandro Damiao, a player who was linked with a move to Spurs Lodge for months.

In midfield; Niko Kranjcar, Tom Huddlestone, Danny Rose and Jake Livermore make up Spurs’ immediate back-up to their first choice midfield, with nothing else after that. Beyond Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, where is the width and pace which was so key to Spurs’ early-season form? Beyond Modric where does the creativity lie? Don’t even start with Rafael Van Der Vaart, he’s more a finisher of moves than architect.

It’s a similar story in defence that Spurs have precious little back-up.

A very good starting XI has been lucky with injuries. There hasn’t really been a period during the season weher Spurs have had two, three or four players out at one time and that has been a massive fortune for Spurs, but has managed to creep up on them in that fatigue has played a factor.

Adebayor, Modric, Bale and all of the rest looked physically hammered and again on Sunday, Spurs looked lethargic against the worst Aston Villa side I have seen for a long time.

To be honest, if Aston Villa hadn’t have had a deflected, speculative shot go in, then I don’t believe for a second that they would have scored yesterday, however they did and it was Spurs’ job to score two goals and overtake Arsenal.

An Emmanuel Adebayor penalty aside, which he converted, I didn’t see Spurs scoring. There were lots of shots from Spurs, but there were never any clear-cut chances available to Spurs.

I Spurs had bought players in the summer, could the current situation have been avoided? When you see the likes of Gareth Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor barely moving, you have to say that it’s a valid question.

Right, that’s your lot from me today, I’ve rattled on for long enough!

Enjoy your Bank Holiday and I’ll see you tomorrow.

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Posted on May 7, 2012 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

Good Week / Bad Week

Good Week

Arsenal

Talks of a planned protest consisting of budget bin liners placed over empty seats at Emirates Stadium were filled with nothing but hollow threats. Arsenal fans growing continually frustrated with this season, and the six that have preceded it, are beginning to snap at the slightest thing, such as subsitutions.

As has been the unusual case for Arsenal fans, there are many factions which give a voice for a fan’s needs at the Emirates, which maybe explains the reason as to why there seems to be a civil war amongst fans at time during matches. As you know, I myself am an Arsenal fan and I lay strongly against booing during matches, meaning I was engaged in online arguments last week with fans who thought it okay to boo Andrey Arshavin for merely wearing an Arsenal shirt.

Much online ire during this tough period for Arsenal has been directed at Theo Walcott, with fans growing ever more frustrated with Theo’s lack of consistency. The thing is, we all seem to forget just how old Theo is, he’s only 22, despite it seeming as if Theo has been around for much longer than his age would suggest.

Players under the age of 24, in general, have very average stats, it’s not until they reach 24 and over that their talent is reflected in goals and assists. Unless you’re a Cesc Fabregas, Leo Messi or a Cristiano Ronaldo, this is not the case, but do remember they tend to operate in a more central position, as opposed to the wide positions which Theo takes up. Theo was 21 last season when he started to score goals and make assists (9 goals and 7 assists) on a regular basis, which is very natural progress and if I were Arsene Wenger, I’d be very happy with Theo’s progress. Admittedly, Theo is supplying the best striker on this planet, so it could be argued his assist ratio would be lower if he were delivering to say, Marouane Chamakh. That however, would be being incredibly anal and is merely an assumption based on opinion, not a hard fact, so I’m not giving that theory any light of day.

Theo delivered three assists yesterday as Arsenal destroyed Blackburn 7-1 with consummate ease. Arsenal desperately needed such a win and with difficult away trips to Sunderland and AC Milan, seven goals in a game should spark a real run of form for Arsenal and consequently, a rich vein of form on Theo’s part.

Norwich City

It may be too early to say anything as to what Norwich might achieve this season, with promoted Championship teams always liable to a drop in form at some stage in the season, but things sure look promising for Norwich City thus far. Placed in ninth, the highest of all three promoted sides, Norwich are six points off of Liverpool in seventh place, which is Europa League territory.

Imagine what a run in Europe could potentially do for Norwich financially? Increased revenue from featuring in the Europa League, as well as the rewards a decent run could reward Norwich’s bank account.

Of course, I’m merely speculating, but by even doing that it’s a sure indicator of how far Norwich have progressed under Paul Lambert since they were trounced 6-1 two years ago by Colchester United. Happy days.

Wolves

A few weeks ago, after Wolves had frustrated Arsenal to a draw, Mick McCarty had stated that it wasn’t those matches that would decide Wolves’ future, but those against teams around them, such as QPR. To emerge victorious, away from home, against a tough to beat QPR at Loftus Road, is a huge achievement for Wolves, especially as they went a goal down.

Admittedly, QPR had only ten men, but on QPR’s pitch, which is so small, going a man down doesn’t make a difference. Only on a large pitch does going a man down really make any difference and the psychology within a team when they go down to ten men is one of a siege mentality, making it so hard to break said team down. That Wolves managed to break down a resolute QPR, on a crap pitch, against ten men, in a hostile arena, is an amazing result for Wolves.

Bad Week

Blackburn

It’s not really hard to justify just why a team should be categorised in this particular section. Conceding seven goals is a pretty good indicator of a bad day at the office and when you’re nineteenth in the league.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Steve Kean ever since Blackburn ‘fans’ flew a plane over Ewood Park on match day demanding Kean be sacked from his position.

Leicester City

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to carry on saying, ‘ah, Leicester are only eight points off of the play-off positions, they’ll make it, no worries’. The thing is, we’ve been saying this for some time now and we are yet to be proved right. Why? A large turnover of players in the past two years is the reason, no other, it’s not as if Leicester have been blessed with bad Managers. Did you know over forty players have arrived and departed since the 2010 summer transfer window? A staggering amount, meaning no Leicester side has ever managed to gain an identity, resulting in inconsistency and if this assault on promotion via high player turnover persists, Leicester will be steeped in debt, something no fan wishes to see.

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, Premiership Leave a comment

Good Week / Bad Week

Good Week

Blackburn Rovers

You know what? The more the weeks go by, the more I find myself pining for Blackburn to pick up three points against whoever they play.

A part of this is due to the fact that I can’t stand a faction of Blackburn supporters determined to ruin the club’s precious morale and thus I want them proved wrong. Protests, banners and rude chants directed at the club should never be brought into a football ground, match day is where you give 100% support to your club, no matter your situation. Outside the ground, away from a match being played, do what you like to show your anger (stopping short of the extreme) but never should you undermine the club on a match day.

To the credit of the majority of Blackburn’s supporters, they’ve been in goood voice of late, particularly at Old Trafford where I personally thought they were fantastic and that’s what you want to see.

As a result of that good support and positive atmosphere, Blackburn are starting play without fear and do look very dangerous, as well as being attractive to watch. I’ve become a big fan of Mauro Formica, I think he’s been a great find for Blackburn and he proved so yesterday with Rovers’ third.

Down to ten men for a good hour of their fixture with Fulham, Blackburn always looked the better side and were deserving of their three points. That win takes Blackburn out of the bottom three and with an away trip to a pretty average Everton side, you have to fancy Blackburn to really kick on and start pulling away from the relegation places.

Swansea City

Swansea have lost only one home match this season and that was to Manchester United, despite having dominated the game for long periods. Swansea unexpectedly out Arsenal-ed Arsenal in the way they pass. After forty minutes, Swansea were shown to have a staggering 63% of possession against an Arsenal side renowned for their ability to play keep-ball so easily.

I said at the beginning of the season that while Norwich will be safe due to their squad, Swansea will too be safe thanks to their style of football, which is far more sustainable than QPR’s ‘turn up and hope’ tactics.

Although I feel there could be a greater strength in depth with Swansea’s squad, something that could prove troublesome, I do expect them to finish mid-table (ish). Now is a great time for Swansea to kick on in the January transfer window and hopefully one or two signings will see Swansea enjoy a real success of a season.

Norwich City

West Brom are a notoriously difficult team to play. One week they can be awful, the next they’ll hammer a top four team, they are just that unpredictable. With that said, it makes Norwich’s 2-1 win over Roy Hodgson’s side all the more impressive and lifts Paul Lambert’s team into a very impressive ninth place.

It had been said to me that Norwich would perform worse than Derby County managed in their infamous season in the Premiership. ‘Rubbish’ I claimed, ‘Norwich will stay up’ I went on to say.

With a big squad packed full of players of an equal ability, Norwich will always maintain the same consistency. Whilst yes, they may well get hammered from time to time, those events are very rare and despite not keeping a clean sheet so far this season, Norwich have scored the most goals outside the top five clubs, which is a terrific stat for any Norwich City fan.

Bad Week

Arsenal

Thierry Henry is back, which is great, young kids who never saw the man play live will get to see their Father’s hero and bums will be put on seats. You can’t help asking though, does this merely put a thin veil over Arsenal’s problems?

Outside of Robin Van Persie, Arsenal have no one to rely on for goals. Marouane Chamakh has shot his Arsenal career whilst Chu-Young Park is looking ever more a spectacular waste of money. Sunday’s defeat to Swansea only emphasised this point, ‘Arsenal are relying on a 34 year old striker at back-up for the next four Premiership matches’. That is not an ideal situation for Arsenal , a permanent striker is needed, not a loan signing. I am pleased with Henry’s signing, don’t get me wrong, but it needs to be complemented with something else, I can’t cope with the idea that Henry is the only back-up striker to Robin Van Persie for a total of four games before it’s back to Marouane Chamakh.

Why wasn’t a striker of higher quality than Chu-Young Park and Marouane Chamakh not highlighted as a ‘must’ during the Summer? Sure, Lucas Podolski may well join in the Summer, which would a be a great signing, but that’s too late. Arsenal need players now to kick on after responding well from a terrible start to their campaign.

Swansea City have highlighted Arsenal’s faults for all to see and they are not pretty in the slightest.

Ray Wilkins

A man whose commentary is so bad, I opted for the Fanzone option on my TV. Honestly, why did Sky Sports employ Ray Wilkins? What was the thinking behind it?

On Yohan Cabaye who had just reacted to a bad challenge from Shaun Derry, Ray Wilkins said that, ‘Cabaye needs to get up and get on with the game, he can’t be that hurt, he’s just got up and pushed Derry. He needs to get up and get on with the game, not sit there on the floor’. Just minutes later, Cabaye left the field of play on a stretcher. As Jack Wilshere said on Twitter, ‘if you’re hurt, your hurt’. Cabaye’s initial adrenaline derived from a sense of anger at the challenge is enough to see him climb to feet after Derry’s tackle, but he straight away falls to the ground, not able to put weight on his ankle, after his adrenaline has calmed and his body is telling him that his ankle is a mess. It was a terrible thing for Ray Wilkins to say.

What’s more, Wilkins went on to moan about how long it took Hatem Ben Arfa to put on his gear to replace Cabaye. When a surprise substitution is made during a match, a player will not have his gear on so will need time to get ready. Often a player is told beforehand if he is needed so he is allowed time to get ready and go on straight away. Surely Ray Wilkins, an ex-England international knows this? Apparently not.

Sack the man.

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Posted on January 16, 2012 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

Arsenal Continue Good Run / Swansea Impress In Defeat

Good morning!

Diving straight into it this morning, Arsenal continued their fantastic run of wins, stretching their current run to five straight victories in the Premiership, with seven wins in all competitions in the last eight. It’s a brilliant run Arsenal are maintaining and shows just how strong Arsenal are squad-wise for the first time in many seasons.

Behind first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski continues to work hard trying to dislode from his fellow Pole from his stronghold on a first team place. Whilst not a goalkeeper you want as a first-choice player, Fabianski is a world-class shot-stopper and thus a competent back-up. As goalkeepers seldom get injured, having Fabianski in reserve is very good. Likewise for the rest of Arsenal’s defence, Bacary Sagna is currently injured and has the in-experienced Carl Jenkinson filling in for him. Though in-experienced, Jenkinson is an Arsenal fan, went to matches last season and plays as if Arsenal is the only thing he has to live for, which is a fantastic change in attitude to the entertaing-for-all-the-wrong-reasons Emmanuel Eboue. Two international players are fighting for the left-back spot, a position which can be occupied by Vermaelen if necessary. It’s an even better ‘dilemma’ in the middle, where four internationals fight for two spots, in Vermaelen, Koscielny, Mertesacker and Djourou, whilst Squillaci makes a charitable appearance in the Carling Cup. For once, Arsenal are well-armed in defence. Did I mention Alex Song can drop back from midfield to play as a central defender as well? Crazy!

In midfield, a list of: Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin, Emmanuel Frimpong, Yossi Benayoun and Francis Coquelin are able to compete for places in midfield. That is a quality list of players to be able to call upon and crucially, all have a far better mental application than former Arsenal players, such as Denilson for example. (Arguably, Abou Diaby could apply himself far better)

I guess you get the picture of Arsenal’s squad at the moment, it’s a far more competitive squad than previous years and one capable of playing as a team and winning at hard places to travel such as Stamford Bridge and Carrow Road. Whilst not blatantly obvious in results earlier in the season, Arsena are far more of a team, not one reliant on individual moments of brilliance from Fabregas, Nasri, Van Persie and Arshavin.

Arsenal also seem to be bringing back their passing swagger into matches as was evident against Norwich at the weekend. Rather than winning 2-1, Arsenal could, would and should have beaten Norwich by a far more comprehensive than what what the final result read, if not for several waster opportunities, most of which fell to Gervinho.

Norwich unfortunately, had a touch of the ‘Blackpools’ yesterday about their game. Yes, Arsenal were great, played with a confidence and were deserved winners, but there is a feeling that Norwich could have set themselves up harder to beat, With the score at 1-1, Norwich should been tightening up their midfield, ready for an expected onslaught of one Arsenal attack after another. Rather than that, they left spaces comparable to the Sahara Desert in the second half, something you just can’t do against Arsenal. For example, Alex Song was allowed to run at Norwich from deep, able to think, pick the correct pass and consequently, Robin Van Persie scored and Arsenal went ahead.

It was childish from Norwich to allow Arsenal such space and I was very disappointed with how Norwich carried out their part in the match, they didn’t really give Arsenal any sort of headache. It was too open, too naive, and too Blackpool-esque. Though I still expect Norwich to stay up, playing like that will leave me with egg on my face, something I don’t like happing all too often.

As for Swansea, well I watched that match in a pub. I won’t lie, I don’t really like drinking, especially when football is on. Nor do I actually like watching football at the pub, as the majority don’t know their arse from their head, meaning you rarely get good conversation on football. As such, I limited myself to talking to two people whose opinions I actually value so as to save me a headache.

Anyway, that is going largely off track, I should be speaking more urgently of a Swansea side who looked very accomplished against Manchester United. Okay, okay, Swansea lost, but it was the manner in which they lost. Arguably deserved of a draw, Swansea were fantastic throughout, bar the final fifteen minutes where they predictably dropped off physically. If they were fitter, you felt Swansea were on the cusp of an equaliser, such was the quality of their play.

Though whilst Norwich have a squad equipped for survival, Swansea are the side with a playing style more sustainable over a season, rather than strings of one boring, defensive display after another which require great physical and mental dedication, Swansea play with a far more pleasing ethos. Every football player wants to play attractive football, don’t believe any different, a player who can confidently say they love to tackle and put players out of games are simply not football players, but common criminals. As Swansea enjoy a more expansive style of play, their players won’t suffer as much over a season and will dominate games against lesser opposition.

It was actually suggested to me that Swansea are ‘boring’ in the pub. That is exactly why I don’t value the opinions of people sat watching football in pubs unless they’ve passed my standards on decent debate. Add to the fact said person is a Watford fan, then you can safely say any credibility was lost in the moment a Watford fan calls a Premiership side, ‘boring’. Ah yes, that’s why Watford are in the Premiership, by being ‘exciting’. Come to think of it, maybe Watford aren’t boring enough, or are too exciting to earn promotion? What do I know?!

Anyway, plenty to chew through there for you. See you in the comments…

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Posted on November 21, 2011 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

Norwich v Arsenal Match Preview

Morning!

Just to let you know, we have changed how we do match preview’s for a weekend. Rather than trall through every single one, talking about matches we don’t care about, we’re just concentrating on what we think will be the best. Don’t worry, every team will get treated the same, there’s no favourtism here!

The match I’m most anticipating this weekend is Norwich v Arsenal. Based on recent form, this match should be a real entertaining one, I don’t expect Arsenal to breeze through with no problems, but then again I don’t expect them to struggle, I just can’t call an Arsenal match at the moment because I’m yet to see them really up against it now that all the new signings have settled down.

One thing which has emerged apparent, is Arsenal now seem far more united as a team, rather than as individuals as was the case last season, where most Arsenal matches were highlighted with individual brilliance. Don’t get me wrong, there were some fantastic ‘team’ moments, most notably against Barcelona, as well as matches against Birmingham at ST Andrews where Arsenal looked simply phenomenal. There are a few other matches, but for the majority, you always felt as if Arsenal had to score five before they were safe in a match, something which isn’t the case this year, Arsenal look far more solid, more united as a team and with that, I do expect them to get three points against Norwich.

However, taking three points from Carrow Road is easier said than done. Of the three promoted sides, Norwich have been by far my favourite. Like Arsenal, they seem more united than their fellow promoted teams. Like I’ve said before, Norwich have a big squad where the players are all of an equal (ish) quality. Obviously there are a few better than others, but that’s not by much and as a result Norwich are more of a team for it. For example, I went to see Scunthorpe v Millwall one day last year when I had nothing to do and Scunthorpe had Ramon Nunez on loan from Leeds United at the time. Nunez was brilliant that day, he dictated everything Scunthorpe did. Unfortunately, Nunez is far more talented than anybody at Glanford Park and thus no Scunthorpe players could read what he wanted them to do. Many attacks fell flat in the final third as Millwall picked off Nunez when he found he had nowhere to go after his strikers had deserted him.

As Norwich have signed players like Steve Morison, a player on par with Grant Holt, they haven’t got that problem of trying to accommodate their play to suit just one person. Alan Knill had to alter the way Scunthorpe played with Nunez in the side and as a result, Scunthorpe were relegated, not by any means was that Nunez’s fault, but he wasn’t the player Scunthorpe needed at that point in time. For example, if Norwich were to sign Jack Wilshere on loan whilst he recovers from his injury, the young Arsenal midfielder would find himself largely frustrated upon learning the Norwich players aren’t able to do what he wants and thus, Norwich, like Scunthorpe, would struggle. Obviously, having better players helps, but you have to create that by mixing young talent with experience and easing them into the side, rather than just throwing a quality player into a side, it disrupts the karma in a team and is always a negative in my experience.

Along with being a pretty tight team, Norwich also bare the typical trait of being a gritty newly-promoted side whose attitude are always amazing upon reaching the Premiership as they believe they have to fight till the death to earn so much as a point. Norwich carried that exact same attitude to Old Trafford and were unfortunate to not to come away with at least a point, so Arsene Wenger will know full well what’s in store for his side.

Arsene Wenger spoke of having to start rotating his squad in the up and coming weeks to ease the burden of a Christmas schedule. I can’t agree more with rotating throughout November and December, despite it being where Arsenal fell short last season. For example, a 3-1 over Chelsea at Emirates Stadium was followed by a 2-2 draw away to Wigan just two days later when Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby took over from Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas. It was matches like this which cost Arsenal, though I don’t see that being a problem this season. Arsenal’s back-up bares much more of an appetite than last season, with the likes of Arshavin, Frimpong, Park, Koscielny/Mertesacker, Coquelin, Rosicky etc all wanting to scrap for a place in the starting XI. Just think that when Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby return to the Arsenal squad, there will be those two, as well as Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey fighting for spots in central midfield, an absolute dream of a headache for Arsene Wenger. For this reason, I’m not worried about Arsene Wenger rotating for once, providing the attitude of the second-string is absolutely spot on. If Manchester United’s rub-a-dubs can do it, then why not Arsenal’s?

It’s going to be a fantastic match and I predict a 3-1 Arsenal win, I just feel they’ll overcome a Norwich defence which has conceded six in two games, which is worrying stuff for Paul Lambert!

See you in the comments…

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

Liverpool v Norwich Match Preview

So far this season, I’ve been pretty bang on with my all my predictions. Before the new 2010/11 season I foretold that Norwich would have a good season, Liverpool would do well but struggle in patches, Swansea would do well. Admittedly I also said Wolves would take the league by storm, but you can’t get it all right!

As I said in pre-season, Norwich would do well as they have a massive squad full of able players willing to roll up their sleeves. The classic mistake made by newly-promoted clubs is often to sign expensive players with over-inflated egos. Fair enough, Hull City bought players on modest wages and apart from Geovanni, everybody was in sync with each other. Yes, Hull struggled toward the end, but they survived and that’s the main aim. The following season however, Hull signed players like Jozi Altidore, Jan Vennegor of Hesselink and other such ridiculous players, meaning that as a consequence, Hull were relegated, there was no gradual improvement over time, just a load of overpaid players arriving at the same time and it damaged Hull.

Thankfully, I don’t see Paul Lambert making the same mistakes by the muppet in charge of Hull at the time (Phil Brown) and even if he were, I’d fully expect Delia Smith to put a stop to it.

As a result of clever purchasing in the transfer market, Norwich have performed above the expectations set by many involved in football, winning three of their last four, beating Swansea, Bolton and Sunderland, whilst giving Chelsea and Manchester United problematic afternoons. It’s been a great side from Norwich and one they’ll be hoping to maintain against a Liverpool side they failed to beat at Anfield since 1994, when Jeremy Goss scored in the last game before the Kop was demolished and re-built as an all-seater.

Despite my praise of Norwich, Liverpool should really be looking to make it their fifth successive over the Canaries. As I predicted, Liverpool would drop points whilst although I have been correct on that front, those points dropped by Liverpool, aside from a draw at home to Sunderland, have all come in circumstances weighing against Liverpool. For example, blatant penalties going against them at Stoke and going down to nine mean away to Tottenham Hotspurs! Liverpool can consider themselves unlucky to only draw a point from last week’s tie with Manchester United, so Norwich at home should look prosperous for Kenny Dalglish.

As I said though, Norwich are no fools themselves, so Liverpool will need to be at their best to stop their fans enduring an afternoon similar to that enjoyed by my cousin (He supports Manchester United) after Norwich had spurned many a good chance. To make Liverpool’s afternoon more difficult, their current star-performer, Lucas, is suspended for a match having picked up his fifth red card of the season against Manchester United.

Previously, I had believed all top four clubs in England believed it a neccessity to employ a ‘shit Brazilian’ in their side, with Denilson employed by Arsenal, Ramires by Chelsea and Rafael by Manchester United (Yes, I said Rafael, he is, in all honest, a complete heap of shit) and as such, I tagged Lucas into that category. Only now do I see that as unfair, as he’s been an absolute rock for about two tears for Liverpool. Lucas was originally signed from Gremio by Rafael Benitez as an attacking midfielder and for whatever reason, was employed in defensive midfield and as such, Lucas, a player from a completely different world to the Premiership, was thrown in at the deep end, playing in an alien position. It’s fair to say Lucas endured a traumatic start to life in England, but all that has shaped him into a solid player for Liverpool and unfortunately, they will be without the Brazilian for Norwich’s trip to Anfield.

To make-do without Lucas, I believe Henderson will be moved inside and Maxi Rodriguez brought into the side to play wide-right, or a flat 4-4-2 employed with Adam and Gerrard occupying the middle and Dirk Kurt on Liverpool’s right, as the football manager in me feels that Maxi Rodriguez’s Liverpool career lies in a Liverpudlian gutter. Elsewhere in Liverpool’s XI, Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson both proved their fitness in a midweek friendly against Rangers so could be in line for appearances, though most likely from the bench, especially in Glen Johnson’s case who has a very good right-back in Martin Kelly to dislodge from the side.

For Norwich, Steve Morison has recovered from cramp, whilst a quad of Grant Holt, Ritchie De Laet, Andrew Surman and Chris Martin have proved their fitness following a midweek game in the reserves, which is great for Norwich as Grant, Surman and Martin were all massive factors in Norwich’s promotion from the Championship, so that will be a huge boost.

A huge boost it may be, but is it enough to beat Liverpool at Anfield? To be fair, I sincerely doubt it, as much as I wish Norwich to spring a surprise and ‘do’ Liverpool on their own back yard.