Thoughts on the Premier League 02/06-07

We have two challengers for the title: Manchester United and Chelsea. Then there is the third place team, Arsenal. And then five behind contending for the fourth place spot: Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Birmingham City.

If any of those five teams try the counter tactics that Man-U and Chelsea used to break Arsenal's will, they may be more chaos in the league and one or more of the big four may no longer be a big four team. Next up for Arsenal is Liverpool on Wednesday. Without their striker, El Nino they may try to go big and bully Wenger and his boys. I doubt that is a good complete strategy, they should bide their time and also smash the Gunners with the counter. Good strategy is to use the same strategy again and again against a team until they figure out how to stop it.

The only other teams within this group of 8 that play each other are Aston Villa against Manchester United on Wednesday.

As for regulation. Wolves showed today that they should be in the running for it. They let a 37 year old striker come on the field and take the game from them. They, Pompey (who may not be around in a week) and West Ham have all shown that they deserve to be in consideration.

Next weekend is FA cup time and then the Champions League and Europa Leagues start up again.

Premier League Review 02/07 Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

The match of the weekend. After the humiliation of last week, Arsenal had the chance to make amends and to strike it's claim to be in the hunt for the Premier League Cup. Or so it was said. Chelsea had a lot to say on that. Arsenal's pretty passing game was on display today but it ran into a huge buzzsaw, a Chelsea team that not only was bigger and stronger but more nimble and quick with their own passing. Within the first twenty minutes, the Arsenal killer Drogba had two goals and the game was effectively over. Arsenal could pass into the box but any further movement was stifled but a suffocating Chelsea defense. Set pieces were useless as the Chelsea players towered over their London rivals. Arshavin did have his chances but the few shots he got off were wide of the mark or straight to Petr Czech.

It was really the second goal that killed Arsenal's will. A stolen pass by Lampard was brought down the field on a counter as they did with Manchester United last week, Arsenal could do nothing to stop it. A few quick passes gave the ball to Drogba and he knocked it home. The will to win left Arsenal at that point.

You could see it in their manager as well, Wenger, in an impeccable suit, was animated and disgusted by the first Drogba goal but after the second he had a sad look on his face as he sat in his chair with his Arsenal parka on. He spent the rest of the game complaining to the refs about time wasting. He had given up on his team as well.

Premier League Review 02/07 Birmingham City 2-1 Wolverhampton

Birmingham came out looked a tired squad this week as they faced a physical team in the Wolves. When I watched the matched, I realized that the Birmingham side was being pushed and bullied around. They could get the ball down the field but could not get anything into the box. The Wolves were biding their time. As a lesser side in their first year in the league they have learned to wait and to strike when the chance comes. And come it did.

Near the end of the first half, Birmingham took a shot on goal that was blocked by Wolves keeper, the american Hahnemann, on a quick counter attack their striker, Doyle, knocked it past the Birmingham keeper to give them a shocking 0-1 lead.

Much as the first half, the second half saw Wolves push around Birmingham and lock up the final third of the field. Nothing was allowed to go through. A substitution changed all of that. In the 63 rd minute, Phillips, a 37 year old striker came in for the Hounduran, Benitez who looked to be hurt on a challange inside the Wolves box. A pair of beautiful goals by Phillips starting at the 80th minute and one at the 86th minute, turned the game from a shocking Birmingham loss to yet another victory. Birmingham moved up to within four of Villa and a chance to be a fifth team to place in the fourth spot for Champions league qualification. Meanwhile Wolves found themselves in 19th, still fodder for regulation.

Premiere League Review 02/06 Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Aston Villa

With the Liverpool win and the Manchester City loss earlier in the day, the match between Tottenham and Villa loomed large for the battle for fourth place and the final Champions league spot. A Tottenham win would given them equal points with Liverpool while a Villa victory would pull them within a point and ahead of Man City and Tottenham.

the sides came out and attacked and counter attacked. Attacked and countered. Back and forth the whole game. Heskey left in the middle of the first half for Villa with an undisclosed injury. Again both teams tried their best time and time again. Yet not a goal was scored. Defoe, Crouch, Agbhonlahor, Milner, Carew, all tried to break the deadlock, yet none could get the ball in the net. a tie resulted, neither team taking advantage of Man City's defeat and both losing ground to Liverpool.

Premier League Review 02/06 Hull City 2-1 Manchester City

Hull City 2 Manchester City 1

Jozy Altidore. Remember this weekend for the young American striker. In the first 40 minutes of the game, Manchester City could not control him. When he got the ball they had to foul. Then on a pass in the goal area from Vennegoor of Hesselink, he shot the ball past Shay Given for his first Premiere League goal. Man City seemed to wake up in the final 5 minutes of the half but otherwise it wall all Hull City.

The second half opened up much as the first did with Altidore terrorizing the Man City defense. Then, with a Man City clear out 10 minutes into the second half, Hull's midfielder, Boateng stole the ball and shot a laser strike from 30 yards out. It was his first goal of the season. With the lead Hull City pulled back to sit on the lead for the remainder of the game. This gave Man City the opportunity they were looking for. Not five minutes later, Adebayor knocked a shot in from a scramble off of corner. The rest of the game, Man City pushed and pushed and pushed but Hull City held them off and came out with the victory. A victory that moved them up and out of the regulation zone.

Premier League Review 02/06 Liverpool 1-0 Everton

Liverpool 1-0 Everton:

Everton came out with a new formation, 4-1-4-1 with Fellini in the back of the midfield. The game was a rough affair with lots of slide tackles and fouls given. Fellini stomped on Kyrgiakos as the Liverpool defender slid into him in the 33rd minute. Kyrgiakos was ejected with a red card and Fellini hobbled off the field with a left leg injury. He was replaced by Arteta. With a man advantage one would think that Everton would seize control of the game and cruise to victory. It was not to be. They looked confused and out of sorts for the rest of the game. One could not tell that they had a one man advantage. Liverpool layed low and when the chance came they struck. In the 55th minute they hit a corner to Kuyt who headed it in for the goal. It was all they would need. Landon Donovan had some nice runs and some nice moves but he had no one to get the ball to in the goal area. All in all a terrible game for Everton. Liverpool has somehow moved back into the 4th spot on the table. The are safe, for now...