Having posted about the decline of Arsenal right before they beat Man Utd in a thrilling contest I felt a bit silly. I was going to write another post saying I've got it all wrong, but I honestly didn't believe that. This weekend proved to me that the Man Utd game was not the rule but the exception to the rule - the rule being that Arsenal are indeed going backwards. Big four clashes involving Arsenal will still be pivotal with regards the title race, but they will only be pivotal for Arsenal's opponents. The Gunners will be doing well to hang on to fourth spot, but it may not be well enough to keep hold of their stars. Third wasn't last season, so there's no reason to believe fourth will be this time around.
In other news, it's good that Del Piero was given a few more lessons by Cristiano Ronaldo on how to take free kicks. The last hundred or so that crashed into the wall probably didn't do Alessandro much good (though he may well have learned that it's probably not the best idea to shoot at goal from virtually any position in your opponents half. Just at thought Cristiano). In case you didn't know, according to Sky Sports it was Ronaldo who taught Del Piero how to take a direct free kick, and I can only imagine that it won't be long before we hear that it was also Ronaldo who taught Oliver Bierhoff how to head the ball and Diego Maradona how to dribble.
While Ronaldo's free kicks were OK (although when you see the 99 that he misses you realise it's just mostly pot luck when they go in), you'll be doing well to find a better worked free kick scored over the weekend than this gem by Xavi/Messi/Everyone on the Barca team besides Valdez. Just watch it a few times and you'll see the meticulous set up no doubt conjured up by Pep. It's not rocket science of course, but it was the x factor that Barca needed in order to secure a valuable three points.
In other news, it's good that Del Piero was given a few more lessons by Cristiano Ronaldo on how to take free kicks. The last hundred or so that crashed into the wall probably didn't do Alessandro much good (though he may well have learned that it's probably not the best idea to shoot at goal from virtually any position in your opponents half. Just at thought Cristiano). In case you didn't know, according to Sky Sports it was Ronaldo who taught Del Piero how to take a direct free kick, and I can only imagine that it won't be long before we hear that it was also Ronaldo who taught Oliver Bierhoff how to head the ball and Diego Maradona how to dribble.
While Ronaldo's free kicks were OK (although when you see the 99 that he misses you realise it's just mostly pot luck when they go in), you'll be doing well to find a better worked free kick scored over the weekend than this gem by Xavi/Messi/Everyone on the Barca team besides Valdez. Just watch it a few times and you'll see the meticulous set up no doubt conjured up by Pep. It's not rocket science of course, but it was the x factor that Barca needed in order to secure a valuable three points.
A Premier League handicap table consisting of Robbie Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard? Not sure about Keano, but the rest seems about right. Well done Paddy Power for telling it like it is.
2 comments:
More on Newcastle, damnit.
More? Have I done anything on Newcastle? I'll try and rectify that in the coming weeks, but I'm going to have to watch a game or two of theirs before I start writing anything about them.
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