The 12 Game Verdict

 As we enter into game week 13 in the premier league, I just want to look back and assess the past 12 games in the premier league this season.  It’s as exciting as ever with City leading the pack with an impressive unbeaten run this season while the other big clubs are also doing their best to catch up with the leaders. As always relegation struggles have already began and big names like West Ham and Everton are in the thick of things at the bottom of the table. We assess each premier league team and how they have fared, their best performances and their best player so far.

AFC Bournemouth

The optimism among the Bournemouth faithful before the start of the season was very high, they secured the signature of premier league veteran Jermaine Defoe and signed

Nathan Ake permanently from Chelsea after he was recalled by parent club, Chelsea after an impressive half season with the Cherries coupled with manager Eddie Howe committing his future to the club. However, that optimism was cut short, Bournemouth had a very slow start to the season with four consecutive losses. Jermaine Defoe has not really given them the spark they need upfront and the team in general has been setup to be conservative especially in defense so the team is almost always focused on defending than scoring. They have however conceded a total of 14 goals and scored 11 goals. Last week’s 4 nil win against Huddersfield was probably their best performance with Callum Wilson stealing the show with a wonderful hat-trick after his return from a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Best Performance: The four nil win against Huddersfield.

Best Player: Andrew Surman is the star man in midfield and he leads the way in terms of delivery, recoveries and pass distribution in midfield and has two goals to his name.

Arsenal

Arsenal also entered this season in a state of mixed feelings, fans were excited about the club’s purchase of star striker Alexandre Lacazette  the feeling around the emirates was lifted after the fans questioned the board’s decision to extend the contract of Arsene Wenger for another two years. After that remarkable opening day win against Leicester, they suffered defeats to Stoke and Liverpool coupled with news about star men Alexis and Ozil refusing to sign new contracts with the former nearly on the verge of joining Manchester City on deadline day. The mood around the emirates then began to waver. They rallied and went on a four game unbeaten run including an impressive performance in a goalless draw with holders Chelsea. Then the loss against Watford caused people to question the board and the mentality of big name stars and the whole playing body.A silky performance against Everton was the response with the Alexis, Lacazzette, Ozil trio starting for the first time this season. Arsenal, as always have defensive issues and Arsene Wenger looks not to have solved the defensive midfield conundrum with Xhaka not actually fitting well into that role. The 3 back system is a step in the right direction but normally leaves full backs Hector Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac exposed most times.

Best Player: There are many contenders for this spot like Saed Kolasinac who has been phenomenal since joining on a bossman from Schalke and Lacazzette who is the clubs top scorer this season. But Nacho Monreal is by far the best player for Arsenal this season. Playing in the back three he has the highest number of tackles and interceptions and behind Xhaka and Kolscielny in the area of passing and clearances respectively. He scored the important equaliser against Everton in a match they won 5-2.

Best Performance: The two nil win against Spurs in match week 12. The fact that they won ugly after everybody virtually ruled them out in the build up to the game.

Brighton and Hove Albion

Brighton have not given a bad account of themselves this season after they earned promoted from the championship to the premier league. After a harsh welcome reality check to the premier league which included loses to Man City on opening day and another loss to Leicester, they began to ease themselves into the league. Chris Houghton’s side after drawing with Watford away from home convincingly beat West Brom at home. Important wins and draws against the mid table teams like struggling West Ham, Everton, Southampton  and Swansea coupled with a win against fellow promoted rival, Newcastle have put them comfortably in the top half of the table in ninth and they will definitely be happy with their achievement so far.

Best Player: Pascal Groβ has by far been the best player for Chris Houghton’s men this season. He has been directly involved in 8 of the 13 goals that Brighton have scored so far this season with 5goals and 3assists

Best Performance: The 3 nil win against West Brom at home; that kind of kicked start their season.

Burnley

Burnely are probably the most improved team this season after Manchester City. Sean Dyche and his squad have been impressive enough to earn their manager some solid interest from Everton after Ronald Koeman was sacked. With 6 wins, two losses and 4 draws, Burnely have grinded the results with an unbeaten home record with Turf Moor being a fortress. Results like the win against Chelsea at the bridge on opening day and the draw against Spurs have shown the grit of Sean Dyche’s side which sees them lie in 7th place on the premier league table level on points with Arsenal and Liverpool and only one point behind 4th placed Spurs. The team plays as a defensive unit with Jeff Hendicks, Robbie Brady and Steven Defour giving the team the creative spark when it’s needed.

Best Player: It’s hard to point out the best player for Burnley this season but we could mention names like James Tarkowski, Robbie Brady and Steven Defour have been phenomenal.

Best Performance: The opening day victory against Chelsea at the Stamford Brigde.

Chelsea

The premier league Champions got off to the worst possible start losing at home to Burnley and since then the team has responded fairly well to lift themselves up to 3rd on the table,a point behind Manchester United and nine behind leaders Manchester City. After a run of three straight wins, Chelsea were brought back down to earth by flying Manchester City followed by a loss to struggling Crystal Palace. Word around the bridge was that the dressing room was disorganized as the media began to question a whole lot of issues including Conte’s transfer policies(especially with the sale of Nemanja Matic to rivals Man United) and eventually the big news was that Michael Emenalo, resigned from his post as the club’s Chief transfer negotiator. Four wins have followed including the solid one nil win against rivals Manchester United. Antonio Conte has said that Chelsea have not hit the heights they hit last season because he has tried to tweak and alter formations in certain games.

Best Player: Surely has to be Alvaro Morata who has settled quickly into the the English football set-up. He has been directly involved in 12 goals this season with 8 goals and 4 assists.

Best Perfomance: The one nil win over United was a great performance but that 2-1 win over Spurs at Wembley was exceptional. After losing to Burnley on opening day, they needed to respond positively and they did in that game with Marcos Alonso the star man in that game.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace have had a season where every time an adjective comes up to describe their season one word always came up, ‘worst’ and that is enough to explain it. However after the sacking of Frank De Boer and the hiring of former England manager, Roy Hogdson things have become a bit better (at least they have won a game and drawn two). The return of Wilfred Zaha has given the team some life and Roy Hodgson would hope things turn around quickly or else they might find themselves fighting to survive all season long given their prolonged presence at the foot of the table. The wins and draws should begin to trickle in order to keep hopes of staying up alive.

Best Player: Wilfred Zaha definitely. 3 goals including those scored against Chelsea in what was Palace’s first and only win of the season.

Best Performance: That win against Chelsea brought a glimmer of hope and is by far their best performance of the season.

Everton

Everton started the season as the second biggest spenders in the league after city. Ronald Koeman was given the chance and funds to bring in talent he desired to bring the goodison park and that’s exactly what he did. The Everton faithful were excited and talks about Everton breaking into the top four became prominent. However things have not gone according to plan. With only 3 wins in a 12 game run where they have lost 6 matches is a worry and were even wallowing in the relegation zone at some point. Koeman seemed to have drunk too much of the transfer cup and seemed not to know how to manage his team since he had so much options in many positions. Then the improvisations and the playing of players in their wrong position began in a desperate bid for results. The 5-2 loss at home to Arsenal was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Ronald Koeman was sacked and caretaker manager David Unsworth was asked to take temporary charge. They have managed a win and a draw in the three matches he has been in charge and he has stated clearly his intent to keep the job.

Best Player: Outcast striker Oumar Niasse was recalled by the manager (who forced him out of the club, taking even his jersey number and locker from him) and he repaid the faith with 5 goals this season.

Best Performance: At the time, it wasn’t probably their best but given the form City are in now as compared to the form Everton are in now, the 1-1 draw with City is definitely their best.

Huddersfield Town FC

Huddersfield have also not given a bad account of themselves after earning promotion to the premier league for the first time.David Wagner has instilled that German flavor of football into his players; disciplined, defensively solid and not afraid to attack even in games where one would feel as a newly promoted side, they would sit back and defend. Started on a very good note with two wins and a draw and have pushed on nicely in the league with four wins and two draws including that brilliant win over Man United.

Best Player: Aaron Mooy. The former Manchester City player has been at the thick of things in the midfield with his contribution in terms of passing from midfield making him the best passer in the team. His goal against United will forever be remembered by the Huddersfield faithful.

Best Performance: The win against United at home was exceptional.

Leicester City FC

Leicester have had a not so good season with issues about player transfers (especially with Riyad Mahrez and Adrien Silva) and management issues especially with the uncertainty about Craig Shakespeare’s future taking up the post as permanent manager. After a run of three defeats and two draws, Craig Shakespeare was sacked and Claude Puel was hired. Leicester are in a period where they are struggling to come back to their best and players like Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and new signing Vicente Iborra must step up to the task. Claude Puel would look to bring the best out of this squad in the weeks to come.

Best Player: Jamie Vardy deserves a shout after scoring a total of six goals this season but Harry Macguire has been the true best performer for Leicester this season. He has been well composed and marshalled the defense well with age catching up to Wes Morgan and Robert Huth. A threat in set piece situations and a good passer of the ball from defense and rates second only behind Wilfred Ndidi in terms of successful pass completion.

Best Performance: It’s hard to point out a game in which Leicester played very well but you could mention games like the opening day defeat to Arsenal and the defeat to Liverpool. The win against Everton was a solid two nil win in which they fought hard to win.

Liverpool

Liverpool are a team who are managing Champions league football and league football for the first time in some years and they have managed to keep the boat sturdy. Their attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and new signing Mohammed Salah have been mesmerizing on a good day. The defense is however the problem and Jurgen Klopp seems to be in a dilemma about the issue. That’s the story of Liverpool’s season so far, a potent,goal scoring attacking unit and a weak and shaky defense. 24 goals scored and 17 conceeded is a testament to that fact. Losses against fellow big boys City by a five goal margin and the 4-1 loss to Spurs would have kept Klopp thinking but that 4nil thrashing of Arsenal was great to watch.

Best Player: Mo Salah. 9 goals in 12 games makes him the club’s and the league’s top scorer so far.

Best performance: The 4nil win over Arsenal. Liverpool was at their attacking best and more essentially did not concede on the day. They ended up winning over Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and signed him during the international break.

Manchester City

Brilliant, clinical, resolute, scintillating most times and magical. These are but a few adjectives that I can think of but they have been more than a beauty to watch this season. They have the best of everything in the league(goals scored, pass accuracy, total shots on target and clean sheets) hence their position at the summit of the table. Unbeaten so far this season with the only blip the draw against Everton and Pep Guardiola has managed to assemble a squad that are not worried even if a player misses out. Therefore he has the luxury of rotating his squad even in the big games. Concerns about playing both Aguero and Gabriel Jesus together upfront have been put to bed and those about their defensive frailties have been answered. City have been perfect and it’s hard to see who would put up a performance much better than theirs to be able to stop them.

Best Player: Difficult to actually pick one out. Lots of names to mention and lots of performances by different players for the team that is worth mentioning. Aguero, Silva, Gabriel Jesus, De Bryune and Leroy Sane. I will leave you to be the judge.

Best Performance: That 7-2 win over Stoke came in a time where wins like this are rare and we always like to see plenty goals in a match (at least that is why we watch football). The one nil win over rivals Chelsea was actually great to watch and the manner in which De Bruyne smashed in the lone goal just edges it. Winning against a rival by a lone goal which was a pile driver from De Bruyne; how satisfying.

 

 

Manchester United

Manchester United are nearly as perfect as neighbors City, except for results like the two loses against Huddersfield and Chelsea. Jose Mourinho has built up a team of steel who have the potency going forward and the speed and trickery in the legs of Martial and Rashford with Lukaku leading the attack.. Major injuries to Pogba and Ibrahimovic have hampered their progress a little (that is probably the difference between United and City; the squad depth).  After a run of 7 matches unbeaten, they drew with Liverpool and lost to Huddersfield. Questions began to arise about Mourinho’s approach and the form of players like Lukaku and Mkhitaryan who have both seen dips in form after impressing in the first few games. The return of Paul Pogba brings about a new breath of aura around the dressing room but Mourinho would have to keep on winning to close the gap on City.

Best Player: Despite his recent form Lukaku has been the best player for United with 8 goals.

Best Performance: Against Spurs Mourinho got the sweetest of victories after Martial slotted past Lloris in a very cagey match that saw them earn all 3 points.

Newcastle United

Raphael Benitez steered Newcastle back into the premier league after deciding to stay on when they were relegated.And given the emergence of a lot of off field issues concerning owner Mike Ashley and some management members, Benitez has managed to steer the ship in a sturdy direction. Four wins, 6 losses and two draws not a bad record after 12 games. Ater two losses on the trot in the first two games, they responded with a magnificent win over Newcastle which sparked a run of three victories on the bounce. Lately with tree losses on the bounce, Newcastle and Benitez are off colour with the recent 4-1 loss to United a major setback.

Best Player: Matt Ritchie has been phenomenal in midfield and makes the team tick whenever he is up for it.

Best Performance: The three nil win against West Ham for the sweetest victory one could get after losing two on the trot.

Southampton

Southampton are a team still handling the change in management from the hands of Claude Puel into the Mauricio Pelligrino era. Tactical disciplinarian and lover of the Spanish flair of playing football, Pelligrino has tried to imprint this into the players and many have questioned his handling of the Virgil Van Dijk saga and asked him to field the player since his team is in dire need of defensive experience. With only three wins and five loses, there is definitely a defensive problem and Pelligrino needs to restore that into his team.

Best Player: Oriel Romeu is a bright spot in the midst of the dark and has taken up the defensive midfield role and made it his own. He leads the way in interceptions, aerial duels won, tackles and has the most successful pass rate.

Best Performance: Probably the one nil win over West Brom in which Sofiane Boufal scored that splendid solo goal.

Stoke City

Stoke no longer play the negative football they are characterized with and Mark Hughes has invested in real attacking talent coupled with midfield experience. The purchase of Jese and Fletcher is a real statement of intent and it has in many aspects paid off. However they have endured difficult times with only 3 wins and five loses including the demoralizing 7-2 loss to Manchester City. It’s difficult for a team like Stoke, who were once labeled as a team that played negative football to transition into the new style Mark Hughes is directing them towards.

Best Player: Eric Maxim Choupo Moting. Involved in 6 goals this season, including his header against United that earned them a draw.

Best Performance: The one nil win over Arsenal was great but it definitely has to be the 2 all draw with united. Stoke showed real character to grind results from that game.

Swansea City

Back to factory reset for Swansea and they are wallowing in the bottom of the table bracing themselves for a real relegation fight all season. Paul Clement has not been in the news recently regarding him losing his job but Swansea at this rate will soon be forced to kick him out. Just two wins from 12 games, 8 loses and 2 draws Swansea are second bottom with 8 points and have not won any of their last four games. Paul Clement needs to find some inspiration from somewhere to motivate his boys.

Best Player: Youngster Tammy Abraham, on loan from Chelsea is their best player so far with his involvement in a total of 5 goals this season (4goals and an assist).

Best Performance: For Swansea to go to the Wembley stadium and not concede against the Spurs attack, it’s a marvelous feat and that display of defensive shrewdness is their best this season.

Tottenham Hotspurs

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have played some of their best football this season. Harry Kane, Son, Vertonghen, Cristian Ericsson, Hugo Lloris and full backs Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies have been a joy to watch. Fearless, relentless and resolute, the Spurs team are no push overs and Pochettino has given the players some amount of confidence and the players play on the pitch with such confidence. After the dramatic loss to Chelsea, they put together  a run of 7 games unbeaten including that superb performance against Liverpool. Harry Kane has been the goal getter, banging in the goals and anytime he doesn’t play or come to the party, like in last week’s derby day loss to  Arsenal, the team suffers. Pochettino would have to place some faith in summer signing Llorente and Son a little bit more going forward.

Best Player: All hands might point to Harry Kane but Jan Vertonghen is their best player so far. Good, solid defender who is not afraid to enter into a tackle hence, he is Spurs top guy in terms of tackles, interceptions, clearances, aerial duels won and has the highest pass delivery rate.

Best Performance: Harry Kane’s show against Liverpool in the 4-1 drubbing of Liverpool at Wembley.

Watford

Watford have been very impressive so far this season. Marco Silva deserves the plaudits for how he has taken this Watford team and made them into a solid unit. After drawing with Liverpool on opening day, a four game run followed before the 6nil loss to City. However, players like new signing Richarlison, Doucoure andCleverly have been phenomenal.

Best Player: Richarlison. The sensation of the season with 5 goals and two assists.

Best Performance: The opening day draw with Liverpool was awesome but it surely has to be the 2-1 win over Arsenal at home.

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom have not won a game  since match day 2 and have lost four matches on the trot in the last four games resulting in Tony Pulis losing his job as manager at the Hawthorns. The losses were deemed unacceptable by the board and Pulis had to go. After the board finally decided to invest in transfers in a summer that saw Jay Rodriguez, Kieran Gibbs, Grzegorz Krychowiak and veteran Gareth Barry join the club. West Brom has had a laboring 10 game run in which their best has been to gather just six points.

Best Player: Can’t really point one out. You tell me.

Best Performance: The opening day win over Bournemouth

West Ham

West Ham started the season with Slaven Bilic and have parted ways with him after a season blighted with poor performances. West Ham have won only 2 matches in 12 and have hired David Moyes to mob up the dirt. West Ham have conceded a total of 25 goals this season scoring only 11 and that is heart wrenching and frightening for David Moyes. Chicarito, Andy Carroll And Andre Ayew have been out of sorts and the defence, almost always leaves Joe Hart open. David Moyes must turn things around quickly else they would be sucked into the relegation battle as they are already in 18th position.

Best Player: The experience of Pablo Zabaleta has been a great influence on this West Ham team and his contribution to the game has been immense and his desire and hunger unquestionable. It’s rather unfortunate he is on the losing side most times.

Best Performance: The win against Huddersfield was probably their best since they managed to score twice and not concede.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arsenal rule North London, ‘Madrids’ fall further behind ,United, Salah, more.

If you were wondering, the answer is Yes, they can be that good. It was one of the best Arsenal performances in a long time. So good was the performance that the normal cliché of questions and words being asked like, ‘where was the desire? , where is the leadership? , Where is the passion?, was replaced by only one question; Why can’t they play like this always? Shkodran Mustafi came back into the starting 11 after being out for 6 weeks –after that experiment at the Etihad backfired– ,and he was immense. He was a major influence on both sides of the pitch as he took turns with Laurent Koscielny to   totally nullify the threat posed by Harry Kane all game and also set Arsenal on tone with a brilliant looping header towards the far post. In attack, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez linked up perfectly and Spurs just couldn’t cope with the brilliance of the trio and that brilliance was demonstrated in the build up to Alexis’ goal and Arsenal’s second. Spurs weren’t that bad on the day themselves Performances from Davinson Sanchez and Moussa Sissoko(Deployed in a more central role) can be considered as positives from a game where their opponents totally out gunned and just annulled every strength they had in their attack. There was supposed to be a power shift and Spurs may have the better team but in the first North London Derby of the season, Arsenal misread the script and were simply not having any of it.

Pogba, Zlatan return for Amazing United. 

Manchester United welcomed midfielder Paul Pogba back into their starting 11 for the visit of Newcastle United on Saturday. The former Juventus midfielder was returning after a 6-week lay off and it was as though he never left. His return showed United exactly what they were missing as Pogba produced that needed spark missing from the United side for some time now. His confidence on the ball, his tremendous self belief and that kind of arrogance on the field of play brings back memories of some of United’s more celebrated midfielders. He brings some sort of drive to his side’s game and is the guy to go to if you need someone to try something different of take a gamble when the time comes. This was very evident in the run up in the build up to his goal on Saturday (The brilliant cushioned header from Marcus Rashford played a huge part too) . It was a game where United had to do it the hard way as they had to come back from a goal down to score 4 . It’s been a long time since United played this way as the pace and tempo they played with was just too much for Newcastle who in fact started the game very well. It’s still 8 points between United and City but with Pogba coming back, alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who saw out the final minutes of the game, United may just return to their early season form and keep up with their noisy neighbours.

Salah

He is undoubtedly the signing of the season so far and yet again showed his class in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Southampton. Momo  Salah has been a revelation this season. With all the controversy surrounding Philipe Coutinho and Sadio Mane struggling to get back on form after a 6-week layoff, it was very evident Liverpool needed inspiration for somewhere. Mohammed Salah is that inspiration. Back to back braces in the league have just gone on to prove how important the Egyptian has turned out to be for the Reds. His lightening pace is undoubtedly his biggest asset but another side to his game that is very much underrated is the perfect timing of his runs. It’s one side of his game that has improved so much and a major reason he has scored lots of goals this season. He is currently the premier league’s top scorer and his £38m transfer fee is beginning to look like a big bargain in this current transfer market. He has emerged favourite for both the BBC and CAF player of the year award and a year that began with a heartbreaking loss in the AFCON 17 final might just end very well for the Egyptian forward.

Valencia 

It’s now a record 8 consecutive La Liga wins for Los Che and it’s turning out to be a memorable season. Their success have been down to very impressive recruitments in the summer as all 6 summer signings have contributed massively to their excellent form. Being their top scorer this season, Zaza has led their line very well this season and has been in tremendous form but you would be mistaken to attribute Valencia’s success to just him. There have been excellent performances all over the pitch. Murillo has been a rock in defence, Kondogbia has been magnificent in midfield alongside Dani Parejo and Zaza’s own attacking partner Rodrigo, has been outstanding. Youngsters Andreas, Santi Mina and Guedes have also come in to contribute their quota in what has been the best start to the season for Valencia in over a decade. The question remains; how far can they go? For the Valencia faithful however, they are enjoying the ride in dreamland  and don’t you dare wake them up.

Madrid Derby

The points were shared in Madrid but both clubs will be far from satisfied as a failure by either side to clinch the maximum points meant joy in Catalonia. The Madrid sides now trail Barcelona by 10 points and face a very tough task in toppling the Catalan giants. The game itself epitomised whatever is wrong with both teams this season as their problems were grossly exposed in 90 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano. Madrid dominated the game and created some decent chances but the best chances of the game fell to Atletico as Correa in the second minute and Gameiro in the dying stages failed to hit the target. The abysmal form of Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo is a worry to both managers and they will need their star men to start performing as soon as possible. Zidane said after the game that they could catch Barcelona and I wouldn’t expect him to believe less in his very talented squad. But at this stage, he faces a task to even catch up with Valencia, who are 6 points ahead and in second place.

 

Eli Avot. 

Major Talking Points Ahead of the Weekend’s Soccer Fiesta

1. North London Is Gradually Turning White.

Arsenal and Spurs face off in the much anticipated London Derby at the Emirates stadium and it is fair to say that the mood in the Spurs camp and among Spurs fans is full of excitement while Arsenal fans will be scratching their heads and gritting their teeth. Arsenal has not won a premier league match against Spurs in the past 6 games in which the two played. Clearly indicating that the dominance that Arsenal held over Spurs has been broken in the past few years and it must be a worry to every Arsenal player and fan. Going into this week’s London Derby, Arsenal need to be up to the task and there have been calls for Wenger to drop star men Sanchez and Ozil after the horror show against City before the international break since they seem to be off colour given their off field issues. Lacazette came off the bench to score against City and there have been questions among fans and in the media about why Wenger decided against starting him in that game. With Spurs on a high this season and given their dominance against Arsenal in the past years, Wenger’s men will have to do more than they have in the past to earn their birth right. Spurs are clear favourites going into this one with star man Harry Kane set to be fit enough to feature. They forced the world to sit up and recognize them after the fantastic win against Real Madrid in the Champions league. However, Pochettino clearly knows how things could sometimes go wrong when the team does not actually feel the pressure going into a match. Can Spurs cleanse the city of its red dominance or Arsenal would buy themselves more time.

2. Struggling Real Head To The Wanda Metropolitano

Reigning La Liga champions and European champions head to the newly constructed Wanda Metropolitano to face fierce city rivals, Atletico Madrid. Both clubs are in some form of crisis with Atletico not quite finding the right formula of play since moving into the new stadium. A series of below par performances led to a few losses and draws and some hard fought wins. Diego Simeone has since the past season decided to shift his team from that of a defensively oriented side to an attacking side. The transition has not been smooth enough especially at this time where results are everything in the game and Simeone and his charges know they have no excuse if the results are hard to come by. If Simeone would be happy about something going into this tie, then it will be that Real are also in a crisis even more greater than theirs. Zidane has lost the unity and togetherness he built in the dressing room in the previous years since he took over. There are reports in the media about quarrels among the players; prominent among them is the feud between Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos. Zidane would need to inject a sense of unity among his players for them to be able get something out of this match. It is surely going to be a treat, fingers crossed.

 

 

3. Lukaku to Break His Duck

Romelu Lukaku has had a good start to the season with Manchester United( at least up until recent weeks). 7 goals and 3 assists is not a bad return for a striker after 11 games played. However Lukaku has not scored in his last 3 appearances for United and was cast a lonely figure upfront. Against Chelsea he had only one shot on goal which was on target and did not manage a single touch in the opposition’s box. The criticism has intensified against Lukaku and his manager because of Lukaku’s goal drought and the player’s inability to perform against the bigger opposition. In a week where Lukaku became Belgium’s top scorer, Lukaku would be sure to score against Newcastle, after all they are a much lesser opposition compared to Manchester United.

4. The West Ham and David Moyes Marriage.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when West Ham decided to employ Moyes instead of the other many jobless managers including former coach Sam Allardyce who was at that time rumoured to be in discussions with Everton to take the job at the Merseyside outfit. The general concession is that Moyes fit the budget for West Ham and they settled for him and eventually brought him to the London stadium as head coach. Moyes has been without a job after he was relieved of his duties by Sunderland after he led them into relegation. Many people are of the view that with West Ham’s struggles, Moyes was not a perfect replacement for Slaven Bilic. Given that  Moyes’ style of management is a free man management system focusing solely on developing the play and trying to get results, as well as giving the youth a chance, it looks like a good marriage for the long term but the big question is, is that what West Ham need in times such as this? Moyes would need to work hard to bring out the best from Manuel Lanzini and new signing Marko Arnautovic as well as the attacking trio upfront of Hernanadez, Ayew and Andy Carroll. That question will probably be answered this weekend when West Ham travel to the Vicarage road to face a Watford side that have performed brilliantly with Marco Silva at the helm.

5. Can Neymar Silence The Press?

Neymar has been a hot topic in the media these days especially in France and in midweek when he was on international duty, the PSG star shed tears after he was bombarded with a series of questions about his relationship with coach, Unai emery and fellow team mate Edinson Cavani. The forward vehemently denied that his relationship with his coach and team mates are strained and that he told some friends that he was not happy in the capital. Neymar returns to Paris and ligue 1 action this weekend and will look to silence the press with a spirited performance against Nantes.

6. Napoli vrs. Milan must Be a Thriller

Napoli host Milan in the Serie A this weekend and it promises to be a blockbuster encounter between the two. Napoli are unbeaten in the Serie A this season scoring 32 goals conceding 8. Their attack is as sharp as a samurai blade with Insigne, Mertens and Callejon in the thick of things while their defense is as rock solid as the rock of Gibralter with Kalidou Kulibaly marshalling the defence. Star man Jorginho and Marek Hamsik continue to pull the string from midfield. Napoli laboured to a goaless draw against Chievo last weekend and will look to open up the gap ahead of the pack with just one point separating them and Juventus. Milan on the other hand are a team trying to fix things with their team to be able to grind the results and so far it is working for them and a win against rivals Napoli in Naples will surely lift the mood.

 

 

 

 

Africa’s WC representatives, Black Stars, Neymar ,more.

 

Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal joined the already qualified Nigeria and Egypt to complete the line up of African representatives at the 2018 World Cup to be staged in Russia.  A 0-0 draw at home to fellow North African rivals Libya, was enough to see Tunisia through. The Carthage Eagles are making their first appearance at the World Cup since 2006 after seeing off stiff competition from the very impressive D.R. Congo who finished just a point behind them. Morocco travelled to Abidjan on Saturday knowing that a win would take them to Russia. Coach Herve Renard’s shocked the Ivorians when they took the game to their counterparts , pressed and attacked them in the opening stages of the game. They were rewarded with two goals in that time and as much as the Ivorians tried, there was no way back for them as nothing was going to stop Morocco from making it to their first World Cup in 20 years. Senegal perhaps might just win the award for the most awkward route taken to qualification as just three matchdays ago, they were third on the group log. Their fortune however was about to change in a twinkle of an eye as back to back wins followed by a FIFA ruling which ordered for their game against South Africa, which they lost 2-0 was to be replayed,put Senegal in pole position to qualify.   This saw Senegal within a win away from qualification to Russia 2018. Senegal made no mistake with the second opportunity and got two unanswered goals through Diafra Sakho and an own goal. The country with undoubtedly the best crop of talent on the continent at the moment are going to Russia.

One thing consistent with the 5 African representatives is planning. 4 of the countries are making their first appearance in at least 12 years . For them to return to the big stage, it was needed for a complete reconstruction and rehabilitation exercise in the last 3 years to achieve this. Nigeria for instance have undergone a total rebuilding of their team that has seen many of former star players lose their place whereas fresh committed players were introduced. After missing out on two consecutive AFCON tournaments since winning in 2013, it was clear the team needed a new direction and that they did and are now reaping the fruits of their hardwork. This can be said of Egypt, Senegal and also Morocco, who have all put past disappointments behind them and made a remarkable return to the big stage. The qualification has ended,the next step is preparing for the competition itself. The work isn’t done yet but one cannot help but applaud the efforts of these nations and hope for the best in Russia next year.

 

Black Stars

Ghana’s World Cup qualification run ended on Sunday with a 1-1 draw to the Pharoahs of Egypt. It has been a very disappointing run in which Ghana failed to win a single home game, finish third in the group and most importantly fail to qualify for Russia 2018 for the first time since 2002.

The much talked about re-building process and ‘building a team for the future’ from coach Kwasi Appiah has began but is expected to take full effect now that the qualification run has ended. This began with the restructuring of the technical team where coach Kwasi Appiah and his team came on board. The next stage now, should be the re-building of the playing body, which is the most important part of the team. Kwasi himself has said that the last three games of the qualification campaign was used to give new players opportunities and a chance to prove their capabilities. If these three games is anything to go by, it should give the coach a very good idea of what his team should look like when he picks his team for the next international break. The team that played against Egypt was very disorganised especially in attack. It was expected as Ghana has made several changes to the starting 11 in the last three games and one can pardon the coach as at now for not having a definite starting 11. Part of the re-building process means the election of a leader as that was one of the very essentials needed in getting the Black Stars back on track. Current skipper Asamoah Gyan is at the wrong side of 30 and with his recurring injury problems, it is safe to say that the country can no longer rely on him to lead us and with the coach’s reluctance to bring Andre Ayew back into the Stars setup, it is no-brainer that a new captain is needed. Harrison Afful and Daniel Amartey were Ghana’s captains in the final games of qualification and whether one of them might get it on a permanent basis still remains unknown but going forward, a leader is needed. The road to recovery has began, the healing process has started and the decisions we take as a team in the next few months will go a long way to determine whether the Black Stars return to the summit of African football or not.

Neymar

An emotional Neymar couldn’t hold back his tears as Brazilian coach Tite heaped praises on the player’s wonderful attitude. Speaking at a press conference after Brazil’s 3-0 friendly win against Japan, Neymar got emotional as he was quarried on reports of him being unhappy at PSG and wanting a return to Barcelona. Several reports over the last months have accused Neymar of causing division in the PSG camp due to many of the senior players not being happy with the privileges Neymar is being given since his record £200m move from Barcelona. Most notably, he being made the team’s main set piece taker,a role previously occupied by Edinson Cavani.

The media have been quick to jump on him and make several accusations against the 25- year old Brazilian. As much as I think some publications in the media have been very very unfair,it is expected for a player whose shattered the then world record by a whopping £110m to be the center of attraction of many media houses. Neymar has made no secret of his ambition of being the best player in the world, part of his reason for leaving Barcelona, allegedly was to be the ‘main man’ at another club. The journey  to the top is a very rough and challenging one and whereas his talent cannot be questioned, the mental toughness of Neymar leaves a lot to be desired. In 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo Was in a very bad situation with the media and fans after his altercations in a WC 2006 game between Portugal and England. He came back to England, put all that behind him and at became PFA player of the year that season . Neymar should take a cue from Ronaldo and similar stories in his bid to recover from this very small chapter threatening to stain his rather brilliant start to life in Paris.

There is no doubt about his talent but maybe that is a chapter Neymar has to work on if he truly is to become the best player in the world.

 

 

Avot.

City go 8 points clear,Chelsea Pip United, Wilder “declares war”,more…

Manchester City followed up that fantastic display in Naples last Wednesday with a very a big result against Arsenal on Sunday. City were not at their fluent best all game but they had enough to see off Arsenal. Their first half performance however was as good as anything they’ve done this season. They pressed well without the ball, closed arsenal down and forced the gunners into playing long balls and making silly mistakes. When they had the ball, they countered with pace and precision. The ability of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva to pick out pockets of space between defence and midfield came into play for majority of the first half as the city midfiled combined so well with intricate passing and movements. This was seen in De Bruyne’s opener where some good interplay in midfield allowed him some space to let go of a left foot effort into the far bottom corner. Arsenal improved in the second half and got a goal in between an Aguero penalty and a controversial Jesus effort for city. It wasn’t the dominant performance from city all game but the quality on the day was just about enough. As good as city were though, you can’t help but question the set up of Arsenal on the day. Coquelin coming back into the 11 was meant to give arsenal some defensive solidity but it left Arsenal very open at the back and the plan seemed to have backfired completely. The midfield were forced too deep and struggled to even play out of their own half. It was as though the team played in fear of the opposition and looked very inferior to them. In Arsene Wenger’s own words, “if you don’t believe ,then you have no chance at all”. This team showed no belief in whatever they were doing on the pitch on Sunday  and were just not good enough. Its 4 losses in 11 games for Arsenal and they already trail the league leaders by 12 points. This game certainly showed that Arsenal aren’t only 4 places below Manchester City on the league table but are miles below them in every quality needed to win a premier league title.

Chelsea pip United
The Sunday late kick off saw Chelsea welcome Manchester United to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were seeking a response after the humiliation suffered at the hands of Roma in midweek while United looked to keep up the pressure on league leaders Manchester City. Chelsea welcomed PFA player of the year , N’golo Kante back from a 4-week layoff while United were unchanged for the game. Jose Mourinho deviated from his usual cautious approach in big away games by opening up a bit more at the bridge. The performance though gave a good understanding as to why perhaps, Jose might have a reason to play as he normally plays. United were more open as usual and when Morata headed in on the 55th minute mark, he did so unmarked and in acres of space. Eric Bailly was tasked with keeping Eden Hazard out of the game and he did a good job at that. The consequence though was that, it left spaces and a lot of gaps in defence which allowed chelsea’s other attackers to move into. It was a deserved win at the end of the day for Chelsea but United’s performance has led to many thinking that , maybe Jose is right after all to ‘just go for the point’ in these kind of games. Questions will also be raised about the fact that after two summers and almost £300m spent, Manchester United still find it difficult to be brave and get a result in these big games. What is for sure is United face a tough task as the defeat leaves them 9 points behind City.

Partey 
Ghanaian international Thomas Partey continued his fine start to the season after his brilliant freekick in the 94th minute gave Atletico all 3 points away to Deportivo. The Ghanaian is now Atleti’s top goalscorer in all competitions in what is turning out to be his best season yet for them. A combative box-to-box midfielder as he’s always known to be, Partey’s recently developed eye for goal has come as a welcome addition to his already massive quality as he continues to develop into a very fine midfielder. He’s been able to translate this form at international level as well where he has recorded 5 goals in his last 4 games for the Black Stars including a hattrick away to Congo last September. In a period where big name attackers like Antoine Griezmann are firing blanks, Partey’s recent goalscoring form can only be good news for Diego Simeone’s side.

Deontay Wilder “declares war” on Anthony Joshua
“I’ve been waiting on that fight for a long time now, I declare war on you. Do you accept my challenge?” Those were the words of 32-year old Deontay Wilder directed at British IBF and WBA champion Anthon Joshua after he knocked out Bermane Stiverne in the 1st round of his WBC heavyweight title bout. The American stretched his unbeaten run to an impressive 39 bouts with 38 won by knockouts. The manner in which he he pounced on Stiverne with incredible power and spectacular violent display caused Stiverne to drop to the ground three times in the opening minute of the bout. The final straw of which referee Arthur Mercante had to intervene after wilder came at him with the aggressiveness of a Lion hunting its prey. So hard was his punches that it left Stiverne in a very bad shape while he He held on as best as he could to the ropes for support. However, he shied away from celebrating his incredible victory and was quick to send out a message to his long time rival and co-champion Anthony Joshua. The British boxer has been regarded as Heavyweight boxing’s biggest star since sending Wladimir Klitschko into retirement . Wilder said, “ A king doesn’t chase peasants. A king takes kings. I want Joshua. If he don’t give me the fight,we have other plans…. The world want Joshua, Joshua ,come and see me baby. No more dodging, no more excuses. Make the date ,don’t wait. We might not have to wait long for the bout though, as organizers and promoters are scheduling a JOSHUA-WILDER fight next year. Boxing fans all over the world just can’t wait for that to happen.

BONUS: Andrea Pirlo played his last game as MLS franchise, NYCFC were eliminated from the MLS play-offs. The “coolest man in football” as he is called by many has called time on his very illustrious career where he won the UEFA champions league twice with AC Milan, the world cup with Italy in 2006 and the Serie A 6 times with Inter , Milan and Juventus. He leaves football loving fans with so many memories. I personally rate his performance against England in the EURO 2012 quarter final as the second best individual performance I have ever seen in my 16 years of following football. His legacy leaves on forever and he will certainly be a role model for up and coming young players.

Avot.