Everton Shooting Blanks And Also No Roar For The Tigers

Quick mention on the Everton match against West Bromwich on Monday night football. Similarly to the Arsenal game West Brom also went about the game defending, putting everyone behind the ball and playing counter attacking football. Everton were throwing everything at them but again they kept their shape well and were disciplined enough to keep it 0-0. Berahino came off and replaced by a more defensive player in Graham Dorrans on the 70th minute which proved Tony Pulis's intention of coming away from the game with at least a point. 

Everton keeper Joel didn’t have anything to do majority of the game. Everton just lacked the creativity and couldn’t find that final pass to create a goal scoring opportunity. Barkley at various moments tried to create a yard or so to shoot but West Brom id well closing him and the rest of the Everton team down. 

Instead of trying to play through the West Brom team they should have just put it in the box, clearly what they were doing just wasn’t work, with Lukaku’s height it could have at least been a danger but Everton didn’t utilise this. At the end of the game the team were booed off by their own fans which clearly showed their frustration. Pulis the happier of the managers at the end of the game with a good point away from home.

Steve Bruce has every right to be irritated with not getting anything from the game against West Ham even with the 3-0 loss. They had many opportunities to put themselves ahead in the first half with El-Mohammady not managing to finish what should have been a goal with a horrible miss. Sone Aluko looked lively during the game, with great link up play in the first 30 minutes they could have got 2 or 3 goals just couldn't find the finishing touch. Carroll with a goal poachers goal for the first goal shortly after the second half kick-off. 

First half was Hulls half, second half West Ham dominated creating the majority of the chances. Amalifitano scoring an identical goal he scored against United last season when he was playing for West Bromwich Albion with a little dink over the keeper, neat finish from him. Downing shortly after making it 3-0 with 20 minutes to go with a composed finished. This really hurt Hull as they conceded 2 quick fire goals in 3 minutes. 

Hull struggled to get hold of the second half and these are worrying times for Steve Bruce’s side who stay in the bottom 3. West ham dominated the 2nd half but the score line sounds like a one sided match which wasn’t at all. Aluko was the best player for Hull, he showed good feet, confident but lacked the finishing and couldn’t capitalise from the possession and chances they had in the first half. They desperately need a goal scorer. West Ham back to 7^th above Liverpool by a point.

The New Arsenal?

After so many loses in Manchester, Arsenal finally managed to do so with a solid 2-0 win. Sergio Aguero made his first appearance after 6 match absence. For the second game in a row Walcott and Mesut Ozil began the game on the bench. Arsenal started the game very compact with 5 across the midfield and stuck to that shape for the majority of the game.  A different approach from an Arsenal team that were used to seeing away from home, this time they sat back, letting the opposition come on to them where as normally they like to be on the front foot and be in control of the possession. Arsenal had 35% possession which was the lowest since 2003.

Silva was on a lock down by the Arsenal team, he got closed down by 2 or even 3 Arsenal players every time he received the ball or the majority of the game and managed to keep him quiet. Nacho Monreal kept Kieron Gibbs out the starting line-up, he earned a penalty for the gunners brought down by the skipper kompany another recent absentee and looked off the pace, Santi Cazorla converting it safely to make it 1-0. City had the best of the possession leading up to the goal. Slowly however Arsenal began to take authority of the game. 

City failed to have any sort attempt on target. This proved the amount of discipline the Arsenal players had in the game. Oxlade wasn't really in the game during the first half not the sort of game he’s used to but then again this way of football is new to the whole team. What I Liked about the Arsenal team was that As soon as they lost possession they went back to their original shape and everyone got behind the ball. Great first half from Arsenals point of view as they had kept City frustrated. I hardly even heard a mention of Ospina who hardly had a single save to make, merely a spectator.

Second half began more openly, end to end but City conceded shortly after in which came from a set piece and header coming from Olivier Giroud, but have to admit the defending leading to the goal was terrible. Santi Cazorla was truly the deserving man of the match as he had a fantastic game. He did everything, went after every ball chasing everything, putting his body on the line for his team. A goal and an assist for him. Aaron Ramsey was absolutely knackered with 25 minutes to go, obviously lacking match time finally got taken of 5 minutes to go. Quite surprised why Arsene didn't take him off earlier.

Positive result for Chelsea and the rest of the teams in the top four. Not forgetting for Arsenal of course great win for them. This is what arsenal need to be doing more often if they want to challenge for the title. Not over committing away from home occupying less possession and much more disciplined, being able to grind out results by not over playing as they usually try to do. City played poorly and didn't really have any convincing attempts and no clear cut chances at goal taking nothing away from gunners good performance however. Lastly I think were going to miss the attacking and committing Arsenal team.

Solid Mignolet? And Bojan Saves Stoke Again

Villa didn’t create the best chances in the first half at home against Liverpool. With Liverpool outplaying them during the whole game. Mignolet looked confident in goal with a few good saves and a good overall performance, not many would have predicted that. 

The £3.2 million signing Gil from Valencia did well on his debut coming on the 59th minute of the game. The defending was really good from the Merseyside team but Villa should have at least scored 1 or 2 goals with the amount of chances they had in front of goal thanks to the brilliance of Mignolet. Guzan equally played well in opposite end but the 2nd premier league goal for Ricky Lambert secured the 2-0 win and the 3 points for Liverpool.

And lastly the Leicester and stoke game didn't provide the best viewings I must admit. Even before the match didn't look the best fixture to watch and it didn't disappoint. A frustrating match for both teams finishing 1-0 to Stoke City and a good win for them. Stoke deserving the win for their performance and the amount of chances created.

And who else but the man on form Bojan, scoring the only goal of the game with a precision finish. Andrej Kramaric the new £9 million signing from Ukrainian side were highly anticipating his performances with the record of 28 goals in 31 appearances for his former side, but failed to impress. But hey it’s his first ever appearance in the premier league. Who knows he might be the signing of the season!

The Assasin's Arrows Not Sharp Enough! Toon Misery Started Again?

An end to end match when Tottenham took on Sunderland however not the dream Defoe goal that we were hoping for and so he failed to continue his record of scoring on every debut he has made for various clubs in the past. Having not played competitively since October I think he did well for the 75 minutes he played and could have easily been awarded a penalty. 

Sunderland showed great spirit against Spurs and could have taken something out the game when they were denied a blatant penalty in the last dying moments of the match and were unlucky not the get the decision to be honest. 

However Jan Vertonghen was denied what would have been his second goal of the game with a wrong offside call. Great game to have watched and a draw would have been more of a fair result in my opinion but Spurs edging it 2-1.  

Great match for the unpredictable new signing Elia scoring a brace in the 2-1 win for the Saints visiting Newcastle. Good overall performance from the Saints who looked confident in possession as they always do. Not a great game from the Toons perspective and a lucky deflecting shot claimed by Goufran was the only thing the fans had to cheer about. 

The Tyneside club showed some determination in the first half and the game generally looked tight. And to be honest Goufran should have had another goal with a free header in the opposition’s box. They greatly missed Pappis Cisse due to the African Cup of Nations. 

Where are the goals going to come from? End to end game with both sides having many opportunities to score and Newcastle should have had a penalty late on, close match finishing 2-1 to the Saints who stay in 3^rd position. 

£42 Million For Falcao? Gayle's Scored More Than Twice As Many Goals!

Moving onto QPR’s game against United, must admit first half nearly had me sleeping. Both teams struggled to string a few passes together, but credit to the R’s as they pressured United very well indeed and forcing them to make mistakes. 

Di Maria looked lost for the majority of the first half but played better towards the end, when he actually ran at the Hoops defenders. Falcao did well and looked lively, still has to prove himself as a goal scorer in my opinion to keep him in the side. Fair enough he’s a hard worker but don’t think United paid the fees that they have just for that so the goals need to start flowing otherwise he will be shown the door. 

A different United turned out in the second half performance wise, started to pass comfortably, with Di Maria playing better providing great passes and an unlucky day for Falcao not to get on the score sheet with the amount of chances he had and not forgetting Robert Greens performance a day before his 35^th birthday. Great build up for the goal with good passing and Fellaini’s brilliant finish matched it. QPR showed grit during the whole game and had various opportunities to score the equaliser but the young James Wilson put the game to rest by scoring in the last minutes of the game with a calm composed finish.

Great game to have watched was the Burnley and Palace fixture. Danny Ings continuing to score and added to his tally for the season with his 7th goal. Burnley began the game very well and had the best first half they could ever dream of. 

Yaya Sanago started or Palace, on loan from arsenal. Gayle was the man of the match for me with a great performance netting his 10th goal of the campaign and scoring his 3rd brace since he joined the premier league side back in 2013. He should be grateful for Pardew giving him starts which he didn’t get when Neil Warnock was in charge. 

The result gave Pardew his 3rd consecutive win coming back from 2-0 down. And have to mention the terrible weather condition they match was played in, windy, cold, snowy and rain but a great 3-2 finish to the game.

Have The Swans Lost Their Wings?

Have the Swans lost their wings? I think it’s best we firstly to talk about the drumming of Swansea in the hands of Chelsea. An emphatic 5-0 away win for the deadly blues, I don’t think anyone could have anticipated this score line. 

Where did it all go wrong? Let’s begin with the biggest January transfer window news so far, Wilfred Bony making his way to City, there is no wonder that the Swans struggled to even score a goal. Gomis the lone striker failed to make an impact as well as the early substitute Emnes and really the whole team were shooting blanks as there was no shots on target. 

I personally thought it would be a tight knit game but how wrong was I. Took the visitors 50 seconds to open the scoring, so the Swans were in trouble from early. Brought on by a misplaced pass to allow Oscar for his first of the match. However apart from the mistakes made by Swansea, Chelsea passed really well especially for the 2nd goal with Costa rounding it off or his 16th goal of the season. 

Mistakes galore! failed back pass to keeper let to 3rd goal. It was only first half and they conceded 4 goals. Swansea were truly outplayed in all departments. Passing with fluidity, confidence and looked like a side of champions I must admit. 

Chelsea played fantastically but then again Swansea by far didn't have the best of games also. So Chelsea move 5 points clear head of City, and as we know City have a tough game, hosting the north London club Arsenal who are on a good run of performances.

The Assassin Is Back: The Return Of Defoe And A Look Ahead To The Weekend Fixtures

Another weekend of great Premier League football awaits us so lets have a look at the key fixtures. Burnley are hosting Palace who both are on 20 points apiece and come end of the season this match might prove an important one. It will be interesting to watch QPR at home to United, with the good home record the R's have, and United struggling to score recently. So it isn't the best build up to a game. Charlie Austin will be fired up for this match on the back of winning the player of the month award for December.

Newcastle are at home to Southampton with both teams coming to this match with wins, most notably the win for the Saints against United which should be a boost for them following their visit to the Tyneside. Now the fixture between Tottenham and Sunderland because everyone, I'm sure is aware of the return of Jermaine defoe as he completed his move from Toronto F.C to Sunderland in a 3 and a half year deal, and we hope that he will be available for selection in time for tomorrow's fixture. Not only because he's a natural goal scorer but also the fact that he has scored on each of his debut matches every time he has moved to a new club. Really excited to have him back in the premier league where he belongs. It will also be interesting to see how Tottenham will react following the defeat to Palace last weekend.

The blockbuster match of course is the super Sunday clash between Man City and Arsenal. City would want to make the home advantage count as they would want a good result following the 1-1 draw at Goodison park and falling further behind Chelsea. And Arsenal will be boosted with the comebacks of Ozil and Walcott who are hoping to be in the starting line up for the Gunners. West Ham v Hull City should provide some good football as Hull are desperate for some points away from home. 

Chelsea have a tricky away visit to Swansea, who as we know generally do well against the premier league big boys. And finally Everton, still aren't able to keep a good run going recently and losing on a penalty shoot-out to West Ham during the week in the FA Cup face a revived West Bromwich Albion with Pardew winning his first match last weekend they should be up for the tough challenge. 

January Transfer Window

A lot of rumours have been spreading around in the January transfer window. But before we discuss them lets talk about the done deals so far. Starting with Victor Valdez signing for man united on a free transfer. Good bit of business? I would say so, you're not only getting a quality keeper but also an immense amount of experience, should be a good mentor for De Gea and Lindergaard. Valdez signed an 18 month contract with a view of an extension for a further year. I think he's an excellent addition to the squad.

There's rumours now linking De Gea with Real Madrid which doesn't surprise me at all. His performance this season so far has been the outstanding and has stood out in the star studded line-up of united. And maybe the signing of Valdez has paved the way for his departure. Lets wait and see but highly doubtful.

Another rumour that has been spreading is the one of Saido Berahino with potential clubs like Liverpool assessing the situation for a possible bid, he also has been playing really well this season and more importantly scoring goals.

Lets talk about Wilfred Bony now, it is almost certain that he will be joining Man City for a reported £27 million move. Good piece of business for city? Is he worth that much? It's surely debatable. The loan deal of Elia joining the Saints, a good player but has been described as the "Dutch Balotelli". So lets see if he's as entertaining as Mario. I doubt it! 

Weekend Result V2

Having rounded up the results of Saturday, lets talk about the super Sunday results of Arsenal v Stoke and Man United v Southampton.

First of all Arsenal v Stoke, a complete different performance from the gunners compared to their 3-2 loss against stoke few weeks ago. Of course they were at the Emirates and they had pretty much their whole squad available to them but they played really well especially the man of the match Alexis Sanchez. Arsenal also welcomed back Mesut Ozil for the last 15 minutes or so, nice to see him back in action.

However the win was dampened by the injury to Debuchy who had to be taken off in the second half with a dislocated shoulder. Stoke didn't have the best of games with a bellow average performance.

Moving onto the United game a very close match between the two and finished 1-0 to Southampton. Their defence was absolutely excellent and so was the whole team, defended really well and well organised team. United played an average game however key players didn't perform on the day, Di Maria got subbed off 20 minutes to go and had really couldn't have an influence on the game. And Van Persie also had a quiete game but Rooney, Juan Mata played good especially Mata and he had many chances to equalise but it just wasn't his day.

Had to give credit to Morgan Shniderlin who played excellently, tackled, attacked and passed and an all round good performance by the midfielder. No wonder clubs are linked with yet again in the January transfer window. United lacked the creativity and the finishing was awful with no shots on target. And so Southampton over takes united into 3rd position.

Weekend Results

Looking at the Saturday results, lets evaluate and analyse the results. Beginning with one of the most entertaining games of the new year, Everton vs Chelsea. Even with the 1-1 draw it was a captivating match which was end to end. Not the ideal result City would've liked but the draw was a fair result, highlighting Lukaku's performance in which he had a really good game even with the equaliser coming from Steven Naismith late on in the game, Lukaku was running the show with his non stop energetic performance. 

Another close match and a crucial one was between Burnley vs QPR. I wouldn't like to admit it but these are worrying times for R's as they have yet to win an away fixture in the premier league. But to beat the drop their home performance might just be about enough to save them. Just like West ham a couple of seasons ago, where they were absolutely terrible but were unbeatable at home and managed to stay up.

Great start for both new managers, both winning their respective fixtures. Alan Pardew winning against Tottenham and Pulis beating Hull. A great win for Palace against Tottenham, the north London club are struggling with their form at the moment but are still contenders for the top four position. 

Next post will be following soon and lastly for more news, comments and opinions about sports and football connect with me.

FA Cup Roundup midweek

Watched the Liverpool game against AFC Wimbledon. Must say Liverpool didn't look at all comprehensive. You can tell by the score line. Full credit to Wimbledon played well, with the "beast" scoring. Steven Gerrard man of the match for me, played really well scoring a brace including a wonderful trademark free kick. Most importantly they are through to the next round. 

The most important question is how are Liverpool going to replace gerrard. We have seen how Henderson has developed into a good player for Liverpool and also England. Should we be surprised if Gerrard decides to stay after may? The answer is yes. If he decides to stay in the premier league I strongly feel that he will remain as a Liverpool player.

A disappointing match, Everton vs West Ham, with Ross Barkley having a inconsistent performance after the recent rumours linking him away from Merseyside and going north to Manchester, City that is. Martinez however is reluctant to let him go.

Now the FA cup has ended for now, its time for the first premier league weekend of the new year. Fixtures to look out for; Everton vs Man City, Chelsea vs Newcastle on saturday and on sunday both matches should be good, with Man United vs Southampton and Arsenal taking on Stoke.

FA Cup roundup

FA cup week coming to an end. No shocks so far in results, QPR were the only i would say "shock" result losing 3-0 at home to Sheffield United. But looking at the rest of the results pretty much what was expected, great weekend for the betters out there!

So were in January now, which means mid-season transfer window had opened. Clubs expected to be busy during this period, well not every club. Certainly Manchester United needs to make full use of this time especially to look for a central defender. If they want to stay in the top four i reckon they have to at least buy a defender. They have been along side a few clubs involved and linked with Mats Hummels, the German world cup winning defender. Rumours are that he cannot decide out of united, city and arsenal.

United are also linked with Kevin Strootman which will bolster their central midfield which United need. With Fletcher playing under par in recent games they need to improve that area of holding midfield area.

The other big news is of Winston Reid linked a move away from West Ham, and Arsenal fans would be happy to hear that they are being linked with him.

With 3 matches left, 2 tonight and another tomorrow will conclude the 3rd round of the FA cup. Would be interesting to watch Liverpool's performance tonight, first match since that Steven Gerrard announcement. 

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Football winter period roundup

Were now coming onto the crucial period of the season. With the Christmas and new year fixtures behind us, lets evaluate the premier league.

United didn't have the best winter period, with 3 consecutive draws but unbeaten in 10.

Top four looks pretty much the same as it did in the last couple of months, the only changes were the 4th place which were occupied by a few teams, Southampton, West ham and Arsenal.

It has been interesting to see the patience of the Arsenal fans, with Wenger becoming under fire again. We know for a fact that Arsenal owners aren't going to sack Arsene, and Arsene surely won't resign as manager. So maybe he's waiting for his contract to end. I read an article in the newspaper where he stated his plans that he will leave arsenal when they win the premier league. He predicted in 3 seasons. Is that going to happen?

The bottom looks close, with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Leicester City at the bottom. QPR managed to escape from the relegation zone, for now. But we have to mention what a performance from Leicester against Liverpool on new years day. Deserved to win to be honest. 

With the FA cup kicking off this weekend a little break from the league. The cup fever is back!

Now the January transfer window is open lets see what's in store for the teams. In my next post I will analysing the possible transfers and the rumours.

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