Million miles per hour

It was a fabulous weekend of football for one and all in the English Premier League. Most of the matches if not all, provided glorious entertainment and drama. Right from the Stoke-Wigan game to the Liverpool-Arsenal game, there was fantastic entertainment around the grounds in the Premier League. The televised matches produced some stunning/shocking results for all to see.

We might have possibly seen the goal of the season from Figueroa when he scored from his own half against Stoke. If that was David Beckham, I bet it would have been on the front page of every newspaper. Well, the back page doesnt look bad either.

The world then witnessed some comical defending/comical goals from Everton and some brilliant finishing from Chelsea as that match ended in a 3-3. Another 3-3 encounter between Bolton and Man City almost had Gary Megson and Mark Hughes at wits end.

At the same time, Spurs was left spurning their chance to consolidate their position in the top 4 again, by losing to Wolves. However, this time, they never looked like coming back. Hats off to Wolves. I'm sure Shebby Singh was one of the few who was watching this one ahead of the Chelsea game.

In the late kickoff on Saturday. We witnessed Aston Villa sneaking past United in an encounter which promised goals, but delivered only one. Nonetheless, some of the football on display was magnificent and the only thing missing was 6 minutes of Fergie time.

Sunday promised a mouth watering encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal. Well, my mouth did start watering at Liverpool's display in the first half where they should've finished the game off. As it was, they didn't and my mouth dried up in the second half when a barrage of deflections meant the ball ended up in the back of Pepe's net. Super cross from Nasri I have to say. Then some Arshavin magic ensured my mouth remained dry for the rest of the night (possibly rest of the season). Arshavin at Anfield seems to be a goalscorer unleashed.

All said and done, the pundits were baffled with the results as their predictions for the entire weekend had gone haywire. But it was an advertisement for English Football like none other.

The players/fans of certain clubs might be ruing their missed opportunities. But there was one clear winner in Asia - ESPN Star.

How?

After a series of questioned titles, here's another one.

In the past week, the news of Chelsea's transfer ban for "stealing" Kakuta has been hogging the headlines. This has led to THREE teams of the big FOUR of the English Premier League come under some scrutiny or the other for some youngster or the other.

Surprisingly, the THREE teams among the big FOUR which is under scrutiny does not include Arsenal.

Arsenal - the club that has specialized itself in transfers of kids, has not come under scrutiny yet.

Arsenal - The club that does not even want to consider signing someone whose age is more than 21, has not come under scrutiny yet.

Arsenal-The club which every kid wants to play for, has not come under scrutiny yet.

How?

Dumbstruck

Aston Villa 0 - 1 Arsenal (HT)

I have no words.

Aston Villa 2 -2 Arsenal (FT)

I have no words.

Effective or Football

In recent times, when a team comes to either Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or The Emirates, they try to play football with a mind-set that there is no use putting 9 men behind the ball. What this has done is, to make United, Chelsea and Arsenal into fantastic counter-attacking teams. So much so that, they've started to rely on counter-attacking football to score goals.

This was very evident during the United-Sunderland game, where Sunderland parked their bus for 90 minutes and United could not get the breakthrough. Then comes the 91st minute, where a corner for Sunderland turns into an United goal. Off the counter-attack of course. The question is, should Sunderland have allowed United to counter?

A better question would be, should all teams coming to the above mentioned grounds follow Sunderland's example?

As a United, Arsenal and Chelsea fan, I wouldnt like it. As any other team's fan, I would love it.

As a football fan, I would just switch off the TV.

Arsene "When"grrr

I bet thats the question on every Arsenal fan's mind. When!!! When is Arsenal going to win something next? The better question would be "Why". Why is Arsenal not able to win anything. They play beautiful football. They have fantastic youngsters coming through.

But......

Beautiful football doesnt guarentee silverware. Kids are highly unlikely to win you silverware. Gone are the days of Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp, Keown, Adams, Parlour etc etc. Phew, quite a team that one. They always had someone who could put their foot in when need be. They also had a blend of experience mixed with the kids.

In my opinion, a team with the stature of Arsenal should consist of 7-8 experienced players with 3-4 kids thrown in. Quite the opposite of what it currently is.

Talking about the kids, one has to be in awe seeing the number of kids coming through the ranks at Arsenal. But I wonder how many of them have noticed that, most of these players peak when they are kids itself and are then shipped out. Once they move on, they are hardly the shadow of the player they once promised to become. David Bentley and Jermaine Pennant to name a few. How many kids from the Arsenal team have gone on to play for Arsenal after they become "experienced"? Something to ponder about, Mr. Wenger?

Coming to the lack of experience, many of you might have noticed that, Wenger, more often than not buys a player whose age is <= 20. Why is Wenger hesitant to buy experienced players? He always says "The future's looking good". When is he going to concentrate on "Now"? He has to realise thinking about the next game is of no use if you lose the ongoing one.

I have a "When" of my own. When is Wenger going to realise he should be coaching the youth team instead of the first team.
Oh wait...He already is...