There are some good games on tap this weekend. The biggest one is probably the Arsenal/Chelsea match Sunday afternoon. Both squads have been playing well and winning. Arsenal is eight points back from first place Chelsea, but is definitely capable of knocking off the leaders. On Saturday, fourth place Tottenham plays away to fifth place Aston Villa in a game that could have major top four implications. And of course, there’s the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, which is always a hard fought match.

Saturday, November 28
Blackburn vs. Stoke – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Fulham vs. Bolton – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Manchester City vs. Hull – 9:55 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Portsmouth vs. Manchester United – 9:45 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
West Ham vs. Burnley – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Wigan vs. Sunderland – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Aston Villa vs. Tottenham – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, November 29
Wolves vs. Birmingham – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Everton vs. Liverpool – 8:25 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Arsenal vs. Chelsea – 11 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Blackburn vs. Stoke City:
Stoke have been really solid in the back this season and I don’t seen them letting in a goal against a Blackburn side that is struggling for goals. Stoke have been solid on set plays or throw-ins with the weapon in Delap, expect a goal in a situation like that to decide the game.

Prediction: 0-1

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Fulham vs. Bolton:
The Cottagers have been really solid at home all season and are coming off a big win at Blackburn midweek.

Bolton are struggling, taking only six points from their last six fixtures. Dempsey is in form and should be good for a goal or assist.

Prediction: 2-0

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Man City vs. Hull City:
City are coming off a disappointing draw at Anfield last week and have drawn their last six matches. Hull are playing away from the safety of their home grounds and that doesn’t bode well for them.

Robinho is back from injury for City and will give them an extra scoring threat.

Prediction: 2-1

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Portsmouth vs. Manchester United:
With Portsmouth losing their manager this week and the inevitable appointment of Avram Grant, they’ll look to stop their recent skid of losses. But against a high powered Man United, I don’t think they will find their feet quickly enough.

Prediction: 0-3

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West Ham vs. Burnley:
The Hammers need some points and quickly to get themselves out of the bottom of the league. Burnley have been poor away from home and a game that West Ham should win.

Prediction: 1-0

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Wigan vs. Sunderland:
Wigan got thrashed last week at Spurs and will want to prove a point this week when their old manager Steve Bruce makes a trip back to the JJB.

I don’t see them bouncing back quite yet. Sunderland have been solid and have goal threats like Darren Bent and Jones.

Prediction: 0-1

—————

Aston Villa vs. Tottenham:

Match of the wannabes.

Aston Villa are coming of a disappointing draw last week against Burnley and Spurs are coming off a thrashing of Wigan. Aston Villa are at home and would normally give the edge to them, but Spurs are playing really good football right now.

Prediction: 2-2

—————

Wolves vs Birmingham:
Wolves will continue to fight relegation. They got beaten badly by Chelsea last week and Birmingham are coming a string of a few good results after their recent ownership change.

Prediction: 0-1

—————

Everton vs. Liverpool:
The Merseyside derby is always a good battle and I don’t anticipate this to be any different.

Liverpool will probably still be without Torres and are in a bad run of form, but grabbed a win midweek in the Champions League where they bowed out. Expect a goal from Gerrard and some sort of controversy. Besides the Arsenal-Chelsea clash, this should be one of the matches of the weekend.

Prediction: 1-2

—————

Arsenal vs. Chelsea:
Match of the weekend.

Gunners need a win to pull themselves closer to the top of the league. Both had wins midweek in the Champions League. Chelsea are in the middle of a stretch of tough away matches and Arsenal are facing a few major injuries, notablyVan Persie.

Prediction: 3-2

- Brent Lakes

Back in 2007, I got very very obsessed with the sophomore album from Sunderland’s Field Music, a 30-minute progressive punk art rock odyssey into the mundanity of small-town life. In borrowing the least lifestyle elements of Steely Dan and fusing them to a jerkiness that recalled Wire, the then-trio (comprised of the two brothers Brewis, and their friend Andrew Moore) created a masterpiece that provided concise chunks of song that packed in a multitude of musical ideas – from Billy Joel-esque piano, to crisp beatboxing. Tones of Town was magnificent, and its lack of fame was nigh-upon criminal. When the band announced they were going on hiatus, I practically cried myself to sleep.

Well now, via several intriguing side projects, they’re back. And in a more expansive mood, clearly, because their forthcoming third album, entitled Field Music (Measure), is a double album, with twenty songs that aren’t afraid to be less cohesive, in a manner apparently styled after Tusk and The Beatles. Predictably, I’m very excited, especially since the band (now a four piece, sans Moore) are whetting our appetites with two choice cuts from the album.

The first, “Each Time Is A New Time”, cruises in on a liquid bassline and some pretty FM-rock guitar, backed up by typically intricate drumming. When the vocals come in, the way they harmonise and interlock is sophisticated and aurally pleasing. Halfway through, the song cuts to a stripped-down passage that builds back up with insistently mellifluous guitar figures, wordless chanting and military percussion, before breaking straight back to the original riff. And then, in true Field Music style, it’s over.

The second sample, the title track, “Measure”, explodes from a suitably baroque string arrangement into a clanging, rustling, piano-led groove. The band has not lost its knack of combining the ancient with the modern, as the vocal interplay and hand claps (which sit alongside the strings, and some very steely guitar) will testify. The mood is wistful and meandering, interspersed with occasional shouts that recall Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac. As the song fades out to looped strings and a thrumming beat, I can’t help but feel a wave of relief that the band has stretched away from the brilliant style they had previously perfected, in order to explore new ground.

Both songs are little gems, and, wonderfully, both are available for free, from the band’s charming website. Field Music (Measure) is released 16th February 2010, on Memphis Industries, and promises to be one of the year’s most intriguing albums, not only in terms of scope and scale, but also in terms of the fascinating, filigree-like music it will contain.

Fantasy of Flight Aircraft Collection

28º 10’ 52” N / 81º 48’ 33” W

Polk City Florida USA lies between the Tampa and Orlando. Kermit Weeks chose property there to not only house his extensive airplane collection but to build an entire experience. A wealthy man, he built an airfield to resemble a WW II era air base. The visitor observes a retro water tower with its checkered livery, a grass air strip (underlain by an engineered surface to enhance draining) and a lake for landings by aquatic aircraft. Inside there is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress one walks through and around — as it sits as if being serviced in the field. And then one walks into the first of two hangers. There are more aircraft here, by far, than in most museums. Only national museums rival the scale of this collection. The range of airplanes on exhibit spans aviation history from its earliest times through WW II — no jets here — notably, the majority are kept in flying condition.

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina and retro water tower of the Fantasy of Flight Aircraft Collection — photo by Joe May

There is one aircraft here that drew me like iron to a magnet, the Short Brothers Sunderland Mk V — a four engine flying boat flown by the RAF in WW II. As a bonus one is allowed to walk through the main deck to see the aircraft as used when it was an airliner, not a military maritime patrol aircraft. The aircraft is immense and one can see it as it sits on beaching gear in one of the hangers. What it must have been like to tow the Sunderland to the water, float her and then remove the unwieldy beaching gear? There is not only a Ford Trimotor but one of its contemporary aircraft, a Stinson Trimotor.

Fantasy of Flight Aircraft Collection North Hangar with Short Bros. Sunderland Mk V — photo by Joe May

Stinson Trimotor — photo by Joe May

There are too many aircraft to list here but there are about four dozen housed in both hangers. Three of the especially historic aircraft are a Grumman F3F (nicknamed Flying Barrel), a Cierva C.30-A Autigiro* and a replica of a Bachem Ba-349 Natter (Viper). There are many more, to be sure, including a Curtiss TF-40  Kittyhawk, Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI, Lockheed Constellation, Grumman J2F Duck, North American P-51C Mustang and Fieseler Fi-156 Storch (Stork).

North American P-51C Mustang — photo by Joe May

Getting there is easily done by driving along interstate I-4 to Polk City. The nearest major airports are Tampa International Airport and Orlando International Airport. Entry is about $20, there is an excellent diner/café and modern restrooms. Extras are also on hand … a tour of a third hangar used for restoration work, a tour of the restoration wood shop, a daily flying demonstration and biplane for-hire rides.

Martin B-26 Marauder — photo by Joe May

The post scheduled to be published on 2 December 2009 will describe the Fieseler Fi-156 Storch flying demonstration I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

* For more on the Cierva C.30-A Autigiro please see 007! He knows what to fly! — Little Nellie and other autogiros, which published on 7 October 2009.

I’ve only just realised that I haven’t once mentioned on my Blog one of the most important things in my daily life. It lasts for an hour and a half, happens to most people after quite a few drinks and involves balls. That’s right – it’s football (ahem).

Whilst reading this article, I want you, the reader, to momentarily forget everything you know about football. If you love or even loathe it, lose all opinion that you have and let me explain to you what this utterly spellbinding sign of the times means to me.

I’ve been the owner of a season-ticket at Sunderland Association Football Club for quite some time now, and supported them ever since I can remember. The longer I follow ‘the lads in red and white’, the more obvious it is to me that following a football club has absolutely nothing to do with the game itself. It’s about being proud from where you’ve came from. It’s about having belief, passion, pride and unity in something. It’s about being part of something exponentially bigger than yourself, and feeling like you belong even if you don’t anywhere else.

When you’re sat in YOUR seat, in YOUR stadium, with YOUR friends, and YOUR fans, watching YOUR players exult within a modern-day battle with another team, nothing matters in the outside world. It doesn’t matter  if the bills need paying, your girlfriend’s left you – even if you’ve left the oven on and burnt down half the street – you desire nothing during those ninety-minutes-plus-stoppage-time other than the ball slamming into the back of the net, and this is an incredible release to a constantly more demanding and bewildering modern-world.

Last year Sunderland defeated Newcastle United for the first time on our turf in eighteen years. The hatred and utter contempt between our clubs simply cannot be understood unless you’re part of it. The screams and cries from fans and players alike was almost tribal. In a world where we need to wear suits, be polite and shake hands all day with no way of release from stress and strains, football is the perfect escape.

Never in my life have I ever been more proud to be a Sunderland fan and, indeed, from the North-East itself when in March 2007 our fans travelled to Barnsley in numbers that were simply mind-boggling. Looking over it all brings goosebumps (see below).

If anyone ever tells you religion is dead, tell them to turn on Match of the Day. Hymns are still being sung – they’re just heard at a different type of church now. The prophet and saviour is no longer Jesus or Mohammad, but the latest big-money signing. The zeal and royalty of some fans is awesome. In 2006, Sunderland were officially given the wooden spoon of lowest points tally in English top-flight history – in the same season we averaged around thirty-two thousand fans paying cash to sit week in, week out, in order to Keep The Faith. Compare that to the amount of people attending church every Sunday and tell me that football isn’t a faith.

Sunderland fans at Barnsley, 2007. Eleven months after 'worst points total ever' award.

Tottenham’s staggering 9-1 win over Wigan at the weekend saw a number of records either broken or equalled. As well as being Spurs’ biggest top-flight win, Sunday’s one-sided clash at White Hart Lane also saw Harry Redknapp’s side become the second Barclays Premier League team to hit nine in one match. Jermain Defoe matched Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s record of five individual goals in one Premier League fixture, while Wigan’s Paul Scharner got in on the act by claiming the ‘Thierry Henry slam-dunk of the week award’ as he claimed the Latics’ solitary goal.

Unsurprisingly, Defoe’s five-star performance helped him to earn the highest Actim Index score of the season, a sensational 87 points. The England striker’s mammoth score eclipsed that of Tottenham team-mate Robbie Keane, who held the previous highest total of 80 after scoring four against Burnley. Another Spurs star, Aaron Lennon, picked up 60 points this week to move back into the Team of the Season.

Despite the efforts of Wigan, Spurs do not have the highest number of players in the Team of the Week. That honour goes to London rivals Chelsea, who strolled to a 4-0 victory over struggling Wolves at Stamford Bridge. French winger Florent Malouda grabbed the Blues’ opening goal and picked up a healthy 39 points, while fellow goalscorers Michael Essien and Joe Cole also eclipsed the 30-point mark to book their place among the week’s top scorers.

Stoke’s televised victory over bottom club Portsmouth could politely be described as one for the purists. However, although entertainment was in short supply in a dire clash at the Britannia Stadium, the Potters can claim two of the week’s 20 highest scorers. Jamaica forward Ricardo Fuller grabbed the only goal of the game with 16 minutes remaining and earned 32 points, while Dean Whitehead claimed 26 points for his efforts in midfield. Stoke’s highest-scoring player remains highly-rated defender Ryan Shawcross. The giant 22-year-old, who captained the club for the first time at the weekend in the absence of the suspended Abdoulaye Faye, is in 44th position overall with 159 points.

Didier Drogba may not have featured for Chelsea this weekend due to injury, but the Ivory Coast striker has still moved to the top of the overall Actim standings after Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas endured a torrid time in his side’s clash with Sunderland. Fabregas led Drogba by two points ahead of the Gunners’ trip to the Stadium of Light and was expected to extend his lead at the Actim summit. However, the Spaniard went on to record a miserable score of -4 as Arsene Wenger’s side slumped to a 1-0 defeat, putting Drogba back on top. Arsenal forward Robin van Persie was another to miss the latest round of Premier League fixtures through injury and he has slipped from third to fifth in the overall standings as a result.

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has come in for significant praise in recent months, with many observers highlighting his importance to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. And the 25-year-old Scot made another fine contribution as United eased to a 3-0 victory over Everton, opening the scoring with a sublime half-volley. Fletcher’s 29-point total sees him leap from 79th to 45th in the overall standings, making him United’s fourth highest-scoring player of the season.

Birmingham goalkeeper Joe Hart insists he still believes he can break into England’s squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. And the 22-year-old stopper, on loan at St Andrews from Manchester City, did his chances no harm with a fine performance in Birmingham’s 1-0 win over Fulham at the weekend. Hart picked up 21 points for his efforts – the highest score by a goalkeeper this week – and will hope to maintain his good form as the season progresses.

View the latest Actim Index >

Tim Collings, of Goal.com UK has written an article about Carlos Vela, about whether he will be able to live up to the expectations of Arsene, that he is of Robbie Fowler mode.

Subsequently he talks about the jittery Sunderland match, the team had and elicit some of the issues that is niggling arsenal’ form now. I am not even sure, you could term the sunderland bungle a serious dent in form, as it was a defeat that came after a long streak of 14 games unbeaten.

One of the reasons that he mentions is the absence of Abou Diaby in the team. Diaby had a long run in the team this season and occasionally most Arsenal supporters have questioned his uselessness in the middle of the pitch. When we missed him for the last match, it was quite evident what was lacking in the middle of the pitch. For me, it was obvious – Abou Diaby. I am happy that, at least his absence made me realize, what contribution he makes to arsenal’s solidity while playing a 4-3-3.

And here, Tim Collings puts it in the right words…..

clipped from www.goal.com And, dare it be said, it is the continued absence of Abou Diaby, through injury, that has coincided with this slip in form. He may not be the eye-catching, perfectionist in a team of ball-jugglers, but his rangy style, long-legged tackling and covering and awkwardness in possession gives Arsenal a physical presence in midfield that was missed sorely last weekend. Like Alex Song, he does a lot of the team’s dirty work.

1. Amazing to think that you can score five goals in a game and there can still be a debate over whether you were man of the match. Aaron Lennon’s performance against Wigan ensured that Defoe didn’t come away with all the plaudits, his sparkling play from the right playing a big part in at least half the goals.

Defoe meanwhile became just the third player to score five in a game in the Premier League era and notched the second fastest hat trick after Robbie Fowler’s four and a half minute wonder against Arsenal many years ago. I’ve mentioned in recent weeks that he needed to watch his temper and just concentrate on his football, and with performances like that there’s no chance of him not going to South Africa. Lennon too did his case no harm, and on current form is far and away the best option when it comes to tricky small winger.

Spurs’ goal difference enjoyed a big boost in terms of chasing Arsenal, while they are beginning to take advantage of Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa’s inconsistency to open a little gap over those three. They face one of their rivals next week in Aston Villa but should have nothing to fear the way they are playing.

As for Wigan the best you can say is that it’s just one game. These sorts of results can have a lasting effect, especially if you go behind in a game. It will be up to Roberto Martinez to ensure it remains a one off.

High five, we're going to South Africa!

2. Would Phil Brown be fearing for his job if Jimmy Bullard hadn’t got injured in his first game after signing? His performances in the last couple of games suggest that may have been the case. A win over Stoke and a fightback from two goals down to draw against West Ham possibly indicates an improvement in fortune for the men at the KC. Even Tango Man himself seems to be less in the spotlight than usual.

Bullard may have dodgy knees but he has an enthusiasm for the game that few players can match and his energy and creative play have got Hull scoring some goals again. They have a tough run coming up with three well organised teams in Everton, Man City and Aston Villa. Ok maybe not Man City but still! I’m pretty sure Geovanni isn’t injured and he appears to have lost his place to Bullard but I would be interested to see them both in the same team. Part of Hull’s success last year was to be brave, so maybe playing both together would have the same effect this year.

3. Before Arsenal get completely written off for losing against Sunderland (who have drawn with Man Utd and beaten Liverpool), let’s not forget that the key game is next week against Chelsea. Defeat would leave an 11 point gap; a win would leave it at just five with a game in hand. This defeat does render next weekend rather important if a title challenged is to be maintained. The lack of focal point without van Persie (and Bendtner) was a concern but it was in midfield where Sunderland won, with Cana stopping Fabregas and his teammates from creating many chances.

In addition to this, a set play was once again Arsenal’s outdoing at the back with Darren Bent reacting quickest after the initial ball had not been dealt with (déjà vu anyone?) While such defensive frailties are a long-term malaise, Arsene Wenger must ensure that his patched up squad is mentally right for the Chelsea game. Win it and two easier home games against Bolton and Stoke follow and momentum can be formed. Lose it and another frustrating season could be on the cards.

Pin the placenta on the van Persie.

4. They were impressive but it was only Wolves at home. Chelsea’s next two tests are the altogether tougher visits to the Emirates and Eastlands. Let’s see how the keenly the absences of Lampard and Drogba are felt then.

5. Liverpool and Man City played out a draw which leaves neither going anywhere fast. Man City have now drawn six on the spin which has stagnated them after a promising start. Just one win in eight games fro Mark Hughes’ side. A Hull side winless away from the KC provides the best possible opportunity to end that run next weekend.

Liverpool have one win in six but their habit of winning games they don’t lose (Saturday was just their second draw) means they’re still in a good position. The pretenders to the top four ideally want a gap going into the spring as if Gerrard and Torres are fit for the run in, I know who I’d back to get the last Champions League spot.

6. David Dunn is scored his fourth goal in six games and is playing the best football of his career. Someone left a comment asking what chance an England call for the Blackburn man. While I think he’s bit of a luxury and probably not quite international quality, there’s no doubting there are few more in form midfielders playing at the moment.

Quite good these days.

T.

After the Sunderland Defeat…. this is what i feel, i am in for a long haul.

clipped from aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com   What a sad showing from some of our ’supporters’ after the first defeat in, oh, so long. What a pathetic life they must lead. Just imagine, losing a football match! Supporting a team like Arsenal, with it’s history and a Roll of Honour, the equal of any and superior to all but a very few, requires a bit of humility and intelligence. It is a privilege available only to a minority, Most fans must spend their lives dedicated to the Watfords and Exeters of this world with only the odd cup run or promotion campaign to relieve the humdrum dedication of their support. They shame you. No team wins every match. For that we should all be thankful. How boring the striving for success would otherwise be. Thick and thin, people, thick and thin. Compared to the vast majority we have had a lot more of the former than the latter. Those who do not appreciate that, and the team that we have, are just thick. We are The Arsenal.

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Essa semana foi premiada com duas magníficas goleadas, uma na semi-final da Copa Sul-Americana e outra no Campeonato Inglês.

A LDU goleou o Riverplate, do Uruguai, na quinta-feira (19), por 7×0 e se classificou para a final contra o Fluminense. O jogo reviverá o confronto da Libertadores de 2008, no qual o time equatoriano se deu melhor e levou a taça para casa.

Neste domingo (22), a goleada foi maior. 9×1 para o Tottenham contra o Wigan, pelo Campeonato Inglês. O resultado ainda colocou o Tottenham dividindo o posto de maior goleada da Premier League junto do Sunderland, que conquistou o mesmo score, em 1908, em cima do Newcastle.

E ainda tem gente que diz não gostar de futebol. Juro que não entendo!

After 2 weeks wait our team failed us, what went wrong?  I don’t really know, a slight attitude problem I would guess. We need more desire to win.  We need to believe..

If we still need to find a scapegoat  we cannot for a change point the finger at our favourite villains Diaby, Eboue or Bendtner.
If we were the darling buds of  the media we could blame it on our massive injury list.. But only Liverpool have top players out.. Instead we are just bottlers in their eyes.

I think the finger of blame should go to, well at least to some extent to Mr Wenger OBE, it wasn’t fair on Eduardo to be leading a line with Nasri and Rosicky as his strike partners. Now I love all three of these players but to expect them to lead the line was asking too much.
All three are still trying to recover their pre injury form.

Also with Dudu he is not a traditional no 9 type striker and to have him up top on his own is never his natural position, as I said when he was starting to comeback from his leg break, don’t expect too much from him, he wasn’t a world beater before the injury, but we made him up to be the greatest player on earth because we all wanted him to make a full recovery, but perhaps he became better than he really was in our eyes. Or could the media reaction to his definate penalty against Celtic affected him? He was shaping up okay until then..  I would have liked to have seen AA start even if he was a bit tired, just to take some of the scoring burden away from Dudu’s shoulders.

The other disappointment for me was Aaron Ramsey, we all saw the highlights of him playing for Wales against Scotland last week, he ran the game, but we never see him do the same for Arsenal, wouldn’t it be easier to fit into Arsenal’s sleek system rather than the longer ball way of Wales?  Is it that the Premiership is of a far higher level than the international scene or is he overwhelmed by playing next to such quality players?.. Who knows..

One thing is for sure we cannot keep losing games like this.. This is a squad of players that come around every four or five years and we have to make the most of it before they start an exodus one by one, leaving us to rebuild again like we had to when Hleb and Flamini left a few years ago.

But in fairness we were in such control in the first 30 minutes we should have put a chance or two away, the best one going to Eduardo but the ball was too far underneath him and he could not get a clean strike on the bit. But as usual we allowed the opposition to gain confidence and Sunderland were a half decent side in the second half.
Have we heard that before?

Almunia.. 6.. Never had much to do in reality, perhaps he could have come for the corner that lead to the goal, but I doubt if he would have got to it as it was curling away.

Sagna.. 7.. Was our main attacking threat from the flanks, I just wish he would cut inside now and again and do a give and go, his crossing is too predictable.

Gallas 7.5 Our best defender yesterday and he also has the winning mentality, it’s a pity some of our attackers don’t have the same desire.

Vermaelen 6.. A pretty average performance from him for a change, at fault for the goal. He lost a header to Darren Bent then failed to recover when the ball came back in the box.

Traore. 6.5 .. Without knowing it I think he may of put in a transfer request yesterday (Saturday) he isn’t as good as either Clichy or Gibbs so he is probably third in the pecking order unless either of the other two go. He wasn’t terrible (better than Silvestre) but he made some terrible cross field passes in front of our penalty area.

Song.. 7.5.. Played pretty well, The ref didn’t like his style of defending unless the boot was on the other foot and a Sunderland player did the same thing.  Done well not to be booked..

Fabregas.. 7.. Tried to play the captains role but frustratingly started to settle for long-range shots at goal…

Nasri.. 6.5 Tidy, but never really got into the game. He should have been fresh as a daisy after a rest, and with a few matches behind him, looked a little lethargic.

Rosicky.. 6.5.. Same as Nasri.. Never really got into the game as well as he can.

Ramsey. 6.. Forgot he was playing in some parts of the game, it was obvious he was going to be the one coming off first.

Eduardo.. 6. As I said earlier, I don’t think the role suits him leading the line as the sole striker.

Subs..

Arshavin 6.5.. Never really looked too interested after he got dumped on his arse a couple of times, surely it isn’t too cold for him..

Walcott.. 6.5.. Looked lively, but just went through the motions, did a very good ball across the six yard box that no one latched on to.

Vela. 6.. Didn’t really look any different from Eduardo, left footed and a bit lightweight. Sky never managed to show a replay of the penalty shout mmmm.

So all in all a bit of a piss off, I just  hope normal service will be resumed next week.

Around the world Football or Soccer as it’s called in America, (don’t get me on about how grid iron can be called football when the foot is hardly used) is the most popular team sport. The let’s call is Soccer so American’s don’t get confused, the “Soccer World Cup” is the second most watched sporting event after the “Olympics“, with I might add the “Rugby World Cup” third in the list.

The qualifying rounds for the world cup finals which will take place next year in South Africa have been completed, and yes USA qualified, if your interested, managing to beat Honduras on the road, cruising through by virtue of an impressive home record.

However “The Beautiful Game” as it is sometimes called has it’s own problems right now.

While I was over in England, Liverpool lost against Sunderland in the Premier League because of a beach ball that had been thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan. The winning goal came when Sunderland striker Darren Bent’s shot bounced off the inflatable ball and went in. The Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina was totally confused and tried to catch the beach ball instead of the real ball.

In Africa police quelled a riot in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where thousands of angry Egyptian fans burned Algerian flags and set cars on fire near the Algerian embassy after Egypt’s defeat by Algeria in a World Cup qualifying match which secured Algeria the last African place for next year’s finals.

In the week in an the whole of Ireland were up in arms after a deliberate “hand ball” was missed by the officials allowing a goal to be scored by France which knocked Ireland out the the qualify stages. Even though the “culprit” French striker Thierry Henry admitted afterwords what he had done, which was plain for everybody except the referee and linesman to see. The football association refused to replay the game, leaving France to go through and Ireland to wait another four years.

This however was nothing compared to a disclosure this week that about 200 European football games are under investigation in a match-fixing inquiry, or so a German prosecutor reported. At least three of the games were in the Champions League and another 12 were in the Uefa Europa League. It has been called the biggest match-fixing scandal ever to hit Europe.

On Thursday police carried out about 50 raids in Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Austria, making 17 arrests and seizing cash and property. Fifteen of those arrested were in Germany and the other two in Switzerland.

Matches under investigation were played in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria.

However all this is put in place with one non “soccer related” item that I read about this week.

‘Fat for cosmetics’ murder suspects arrested in Peru

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe.

The gang allegedly targeted people on remote roads, luring them with fake job offers before killing them and extracting their fat. The liquidized product fetched $15,000 a liter and police suspect it was sold on to companies in Europe.

At least five other suspects, including two Italian nationals, remain at large. Police said the gang could be behind the disappearances of up to 60 people in Peru’s Huanuco and Pasco regions. One of those arrested told police the ringleader had been killing people for their fat for more than three decades.

Barry

BARRY EVA (Storyheart)
Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
“Across the Pond”

Sunderland 1 – 0 Arsenal

1 – 0 Bent (71)

A title challenge is built over 38 games, lost not in a poor November defeat but in the failure to attain consistency over the course of the season. One result as winter beckons is no determinant of what a nine-month outcome will be.

Arsene recently bemoaned the injuries sustained, citing them as a reason why his teams tend to stutter in this particular month. Before the trip to the Stadium of Light, he observed that the changes in the footballing calendar might help him to prepare his teams for the fixtures immediately after an international break. An extra day may indeed assist him but judging by this below par performance, he would be better served if there were an additional three days, the returning fixture being not in the Premier League but a European one instead.

Yet Wenger cannot point just to injuries for the defeat. History counted against them, 60% of away fixtures under Wenger following the November international break have been lost. For the most part at venues where victory would be expected. That does not matter as it was the performance yesterday which mattered. Not one player was exceptional; not one player was outstanding. One – Fabregas – had a good game whilst Song, Gallas and Vermaelen put in decent efforts. The remainder were simply average. On any other Saturday, that might be good enough to get the required result; yesterday it was not.

Changes were forced upon Arsene through injury. He made others through choice from the victory at Molineux. Traore replaced the injured Clichy and Gibbs; Eduardo shifted to the centre for van Persie’s absence. Ramsey retained his place with Diaby out, Rosicky replaced Arshavin and Nasri filled the gap left by Eduardo moving centrally. The number of changes proved too much of an impact on the attacking sextet’s fluidity, a point acknowledged by Arsene afterwards:

It is more worrying that we did not score. Going forward we lacked sharpness and desire to go beyond the defenders. We didn’t expose them with our pace.

The opening minutes did not give any indication of the flaccidity of performance that was to follow. Sagna hung a deep cross into the area that Fabregas did phenomenally well to not just keep in play but to execute a deft pass into the path of the onrushing Rosicky. The Czech international struck the ball well, avoiding Mensah’s charge but Fulop parried the ball well to safety. Before the quarter hour mark had passed, Traore cut inside and shot, the blocked effort fell invitingly to his captain but Fabregas failed to keep the ball down, clearing the Sunderland bar by a foot.

Whilst Arsenal dominated proceedings, Sunderland edged back into the game. Malbranque twice fired high and wide when he should have done better from the right side of the area. Yet Arsenal probed, outmanned in midfield but occasionally finding the route through. Perhaps the best chance fell to Eduardo. Song burst from midfield and the duo exchanged a sublime pair of one-two’s, the Croat shifted the ball inside his marker, evaded a challenge and lofted the ball over Fulop. Agonisingly, it dropped wide of the post and Song, whose run carried him towards the ball’s trajectory. That he was probably offside was a moot point as the effort was too strong for him to catch.

Before the interval, Ramsey and Fabregas wasted shooting opportunity through weakness of effort or accuracy. It was the Welshman’s last contribution as he made way for the disappointed Arshavin as the hour approached. The stalemate needed something sublime to break it; instead, Keystone Cop defending prevailed. Reid hoisted a deep corner that Bent could merely misguide to Campbell at the far post. The ball ricoheted back across the six yard area and Bent beat Almunia to the ball to bury the ball. Rosicky was half asleep at the far post, slow to react to the ball reaching Campbell, indicative of his natural attacking game, a defender perhaps would have been more alive to the chance. Yet the central danger point in the area should not have left unguarded, reaction times low to apparent danger.

Arshavin came close to restoring parity, smuggling the ball wide having chased Song’s cross to close to goal. Vermaelen could not capitalise from his captain’s cross prior to that whilst a couple of instances of pace saw cross flash across the Sunderland area with no-one in a position to capitalise. Vela was felled in the area by Campbell but surprisingly little was made of the incident by Arsenal. Playing to the whistle, they chased back before Traore intervened with a late challenge in the centre circle. Equally the Sunderland players did not over-react to that, perhaps aware of the youngster’s penchant for carrying a duster.

Comments this morning attributed to Andrey Arshavin have a familiar ring to them, old ones regurgitated perhaps. Wenger is apparently not going to rush into the January window for a striker, preferring to give Vela and Eduardo a run at proving their places worthwhile whilst his Dutch talisman is out. That will no doubt be seized upon by critics of Arsenal, re-iterating the belief that the squad needs serious strengthening. One performance cannot decide that. Wenger has observed that he is confident that ongoing talks with Gallas, Rosicky and Merida will result in new contracts being signed, these three taking more of his thoughts than new players.

Standard Liege offers the opportunity to put the train back on track before next weekend. ’til Tomorrow.

Liga Premier

Manchester United goleo 3-0 al Everton

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal

Chelsea le puso una goliza al Wolverhampton 4 goles a cero.

Liverpool empata a dos goles contra el Manchester City

Hull City 3-3 West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur MASACRA al Wigan Atlhetic 9 goles a 1

Birmingham City 1-0 Fullham

What can you say after such a performance? I don’t remember the last time we looked so impotent. There were only two shots that hit the target and the second of those was in the 38^th minute. Effectively, we couldn’t hit the target in the final 52 minutes plus added time in each half!

I thought bulk of the blame falls on Rosicky and Eduardo. Both of them had a very poor game. Even Nasri drifted in too often but at least he can’t be faulted for effort.

Arsenal need incisive movement up front and if that fails all our possession is rendered meaningless. Fabregas and Ramsey worked hard and I thought both of them played well without any support from the front players. The midfield ensured that we had enough possession but we just didn’t get into any scoring positions.

After a woeful first half, I expected Arsene to motivate the team and raise the standard in the second. I don’t know what he said to the players but our performance was much worse in the second. Sunderland grew in confidence and it was no surprise to see them grab the lead with a little luck.

Arsenal didn’t have any cohesion going forward and even after the introduction of Vela and Walcott we didn’t get a single shot on target. There were two half chances for Vermaelen and Arshavin that went wide. There were a couple of balls played across the six yard box but didn’t find any attacking player. It almost seemed like our players didn’t have any desire to change the result.

We also failed tactically. Arshavin should have come on in place of Rosicky. Ramsey was having a good game and had an influence on defence as well. The ten minute period after his departure was when Sunderland dominated the most.

Arsene also left it too late to bring on Walcott and Vela. Eduardo was having a very poor game and he should have been substituted around the hour mark. In the few minutes that he had, Vela showed the difference good movement can make. Both these strikers are not the big and strong variety. They really need to use their intelligence and movement if they have to succeed in this league.

We also failed to get our shape right. All top teams would lay siege on the opposition penalty box if they are a goal down in the last quarter of the game. If United or Chelsea were in that position, you would expect crosses fizzing in, people attacking the ball in the box and chances being created every minute. Arsenal, on the other hand, didn’t get bodies into the box and also failed to sustain any pressure.

Too many players starting today had seen very little action in the league. Bulk of it is down to injuries but it also shows the importance of rotation. Eduardo, Traore, Nasri, Ramsey and Rosicky had only six league starts between them before this game. Arsenal rely on players understanding each others movements. When we have too many changes in the starting line up, especially after an interlull which also interrupts training, we struggle to get our game flowing. Tactical decisions are all the more important in such situations.

On the plus side, Traore and Ramsey put in decent performances and it does give some confidence about the depth of the squad in those areas. The Chelsea game has now become a must win game. Can these players get their focus right!?

Sunderland

Steve Bruce and every Sunderland fan must be pleased with the start of the season. To put everything into perspective Sunderland avoided relegation last season on the last day.

Sunderland have a good squad and depth in all of the key areas. Obviously Darren Bent has been the star so far and got a deserved England call up. I think that the man who has impressed me the most is Cana. His huge experience has really given the team a maturity that they were lacking last year. Watch out for his arm gestures next game; whenever a colleague has the ball he points to where it should be played.

In January I think that Bruce should look to sign another striker, one happy not to get a regular game but can come in and do a job. If Bent gets injured then I feel Sunderland are a bit light on striking power. Jones has not been scoring enough in the last 12 months and Campbell is just ‘potential’ at the moment.

Maybe Benjani on loan from Man City?

Tottenham

My favourite quote from Harry Redknapp his season was (and I paraphrase) ‘we’ll score loads of goals and win most of the time but occasionally get thumped because of the way we play’.

Essentially that is what has happened so far this season. Spurs are winning most of the games and aside from the performances against Sunderland, Man Utd and Arsenal Spurs have dominated the matches they have been involved in.

They should be a challenge for anyone on paper and, like Harry says, will win most of their games.  

West Ham

Tough times at Upton Park this season. I think that the squad has some good players (Upson, Green, Parker and Cole) and some good young players (Noble, Tomkins and Collinson). However, the rest of the squad is of a quality which is border line between Championship and Premier League.

When on form, e.g. Ilunga second half of last season, the players are more than capable. If the players are not on form then the lack of base quality will become more evident. It’ll be tough for Zola this season and I foresee a relegation battle.

The key as to what to do in January is not who to buy but keeping all of the players named above.

Wigan

I don’t really know what to say about Wigan. Having only seen them a few times and their form being so inconsistent it is difficult to provide any constructive or quality comment.

The only aspect of Wigan’s play that I would like to pick up on is reverse positioning of N’Zogbia and whoever is on the right of midfield. By having each player come on to their stronger foot the idea is that the ball will be used better closer to the goal, i.e. in the central channel. This seems to work against the bigger teams, those that do not load the midfield when the play Wigan. Against teams against whom points are expected to be won then it seems that by cutting inside each player gets crowded out.

I would have thought that Roberto Martinez could use this ploy sparingly rather than every week (from what I can see anyway).

Wolves

I am one of few impartial football fans that likes Mick McCarthy. This season is going to be a tough one for him and followers of Wolves. I have written before about what I think Wolves need to do in order to survive and having watched the game against Arsenal I still believe what in what I wrote http://thoughtsonfootball.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/kightly-the-key-to-wolves-survival-this-season/

Wolves need to start using their forward thinking players more intelligently in order to create the type of match which they dominate.

Where is the marking?

Disappointing would be the best word to summed up tonight’s game. The team lacked cohesion, tenacity and showed no real desire to win the game. One could argue that after almost 2 weeks away from each other and barely had the oppourtunity to train as a team lead to the dispirited display. We were not even short of inventiveness on the pitch but none took it by the scruff of the neck.

We started with Ramsey and Fabregas in midfield with Eduardo being flanked on either side by Rosicky and Nasri. To me, that was 4 players that is capable of being the playmaker but almost everything that they did was forgettable and un-fruitful. Yes, in the opposite side of the pitch, Lorik Cana was really in his element but what I was the drive, or rather the lack of it from the Arsenal team. This is probably one of the advantage that Alex Ferguson holds over Wenger, the ability to get his players in spirit and the right attitude for any game. I cannot imagine a team that is playing for the league title, playing with such lethargy in their game. To lose a game after a giving it your best shot is one thing, to lose without so much of even trying is unacceptable to me.

In truth, we could’ve taken the lead towards the end of the first half but Eduardo had another of his Spurs moment as his chip shot met neither the net or the post. A move that was started just into the Sunderland saw Song basically slalom his way past several players and played a neat 1-2 twice with Eduardo that released the latter in the box.

This was a match that was tight and not many chances for either side. Play generally centered in a midfield battle to show who is better defensively. Cana and Song were the outstanding ones on display. Song might be the only one who can claim any sort of credit from this match. He proved that Wenger’s decision not to invest in Cana was still correct. Even though with all due respect, the one time Arsenal target more than showed why we were interested in the first place.

The deciding goal came from a corner once again. The marking was just horrible. Whoever was marking Darren Bent was nowhere to be seen and allowed the England forward the time and space inside the box to attack the initial delivery. It rebounded off an Arsenal player and right into the onrushing Bent who reacted quicker than Almunia and duly smashed it home. Our awareness and marking during set-pieces is really appalling. This is not something new and can be easily rectified during training but I’m not too sure if Wenger is even focussing on that at the moment. It’s infuriating to see the same mistakes repeating with such a high frequency.

Armand Traore was given a baptism of fire by Wenger, who showed the former faith by starting him ahead of Silvestre. Traore had a reasonable game but spent most of the time in his own half. Perhaps he was just trying to be a bit cautious and focus on his defending in his first start of the season. Fair enough, but it also made Arsenal’s game very 1 dimensional with most of the attack going on the right side through Sagna. That in itself allowed Sunderland the choice to focus defensively only on their left side while attacking through their right side. For all his exploits for the national team, I’m still yet to be convinced by Aaron Ramsey. Too many times tonight his passes went astray or even worse, direct to the opposition players. His decision making is still very raw in my eye.

This is our 3rd defeat of the campaign but it can be forgotten should we triumph against a rampant Chelsea next week. But for today, the desire was not there to be seen. Disappointing is the word.

How’s your french? Not so good? That’s great! Here’s “French For Travelling And Conversation”, a French language course on two disks. The instruction book that originally came with it is lost so I don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.

Here’s a sample:

Here’s the whole record (72mb) for grabs.

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