Same Old Same Old

Is it just me, or do you see a waltz going on here?

On Saturday evening, we got to see the Walcott and Eboue that we're used to seeing. No more of this end product nonsense that has become of them lately. It was a welcome return to good old fashioned wastefulness. Granted Walcott set up the goal (although annoying in terms of Fantasy Football, the assist went to Adebayor, who more got in the way of the ball than passed it), but He should have done so much more with the good possession he got.

Fabregas had yet another less than convincing game, but he delivered two exquisite balls into the path of Walcott, only for the young whippet to either miscontrol the ball or choose the wrong option. Eboue, facing one of the leagues worst defenders, managed to do sod all in the entire match. I mean if you can't give Paul McShane much trouble, who can you give trouble to?

By the last half an hour of the game, Arsenal had to resort to crossing the ball into the box time and time again. With only Adebayor acting as a real arial threat, this was not the way for Arsenal to get back into the game. In fact it rarely ever is.

This wasn't quite down there with the performance against Fulham, but in some ways it was worse, because this was a game Arsenal should have won comfortably. Of all the teams in the big 4, Arsenal need to pick up as much points as possible from everyone outside the big 4, because I think they will struggle to get much from their clashes against United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

I expect Wenger to make some changes up front, possibly bringing in Vela instead of Walcott, and maybe introducing Nasri if he be fit. Both these switches would significantly improve the Arsenal first team in my opinion, and despite their good starts, I think the less Arsenal fans see of Walcott and Eboue the better. Walcott will always be a threat, but I think the bench is actually where he is most threatening for now. Bring him on after 60 or 70 minutes and he will run tired defenders ragged. The bench is also where Eboue is most threatening to the opposition, provided you don't bring him on at all.

This may sound like a knee-jerk reaction to an overall profligate performance, but out of 6 league games, Arsenal half been abject in 2 of them. With their kind fixture list, Arsenal should really be on maybe 16 points, if not the full 18. To make amends, the Gunners will need to first of all beat Porto (which I think they will do quite comfortably, though I only say that as a pure hunch), and also do better than expected against the big 4 in later games. In order to do these things however, decent players need to be replaced with better ones. Vela is of course unproven in the league, but he needs to be given minutes to show what he's capable of. And Nasri needs to stop getting injured, because he's without doubt Arsenal's most accomplished winger that isn't suffering from a long term injury (see Rosicky).

I'd like to say well done to Hull, but when you admit that your game plan is to get half a dozen corners and free kicks, I find it hard to applaud that style. Still though, a win is a win, so who am I to judge a team for doing so by whatever means necessary? Well, I'm a person who likes watching good football, that's who (I bet you thought that question was rhetorical, didn't you?).

Will They, Won't They? (Part 2)

I breezed over some of the finer aspects of Arsenal's play yesterday, and some of the reasons to be cheerful if you're a Gooner. Now it's time for some doom and gloom. I said from the outset that I don't think Arsenal will win the league, and here are some of the reasons why:

While the state of Almunia's hair might be a bone of contention for some people, I think we can all agree that he is not the most reliable goalkeeper around today (though Cech and van der Saar are certainly doing their best to make him appear otherwise). I said yesterday that he makes very few long passes (which is good), but unfortunately he also makes very few saves (which is bad).

He did well against Bolton last week it must be said, but he's not a goalkeeper I would put much trust in. He just doesn't seem to have full command of his area, and he doesn't have the kind of personality that puts fear into the defenders in front of him, which I think is a really important part of being a good goalkeeper.

For me, I almost get the impression that Almunia is just some bum off the street who wandered into Highbury, started fiddling around with some goalkeeper gloves that were left unattended, and was then thrown into the squad due to some form of mix up, or maybe they needed him for a training exercise because they were a goalie short. Either way, he's been playing there ever since, he now finds himself as Arsenal's no. 1, and is paid in sandwiches and hair dye. A lovely story, but not very confidence-inspiring.

Arsenal other weakness in the back 5 is obvious when you look at the two goals they've conceded this season - both headers, one from a guy being marked by Gallas, the other from a guy being marked by Toure. Granted, the first header was scored by a player who stood at 7ft 9" at last count, and the other was scored by a player who only ever plays the game with his head (and by that I don't mean he plays the game intelligently. I mean he literally plays the game with his physical head and nothing else).

Even so, the Arsenal centre-back pairing are notoriously weak in the air, and this will continue to be a big problem for Arsenal, against good teams and bad teams alike. Arsenal might pass the ball better than you, but if you can get a few free-kicks, a few corner kicks, or in Stoke's case, a few throw-ins, you are in with a chance of getting a good result. Such a weakness is not to be found in the other three central defences that make up the 'big four', and such a weakness will, I think, cost Arsenal dearly once again.

I've mentioned the many positive aspects of Arsenal's midfield previously, but the one overwhelming negative is a lack of forcefulness and grit that's necessary if you're serious about winning things. Somebody in your midfield needs to be prepared to do all the donkey work, and I don't think Arsenal have that guy. Chelsea have Essien and Obi Mikel, United have Hargreaves and Fletcher, Liverpool have Mascherano, but Arsenal have Denilson [?]. They also have Song, whom I rate reasonably highly, but I don't see him being the answer.

The only way Arsenal can get by without a donkey is if they play exceptionally well in every game, and don't even give the other team a sniff. However, since such consistent form is virtually impossible, you can be sure their backs will be to the wall on a number of occasions, and without that midfield general present, they may just crumble.

To be honest, I don't even believe Flamini was the ideal candidate, but he was certainly better equiped than any of the potentials I've listed above. Wenger seems to have rested all his faith on the existing squad however, so Arsenal are going to have to make do with what they've got. And exciting as what they've got in midfield is, I just don't think it's sturdy enough to go the distance.

One final worrying trend on this note is that Fabregas has been forced to be 'the donkey' on a number of occasions this season, and this is clearly not what a player with his talent is there for. This is part of the reason why he hasn't contributed any goals or assists so far, and if it continues then Fabregas will suffer. And when Fabregas suffers, Arsenal suffer.

As an attacking force, the Gunners have very little to be concerned about, although I would still question their clinicalness [?]. Adebayor misses too many chances for my liking, and such profligacy cost Arsenal dearly in the run-in last season. Walcott and Eboue have shown similar tendencies, though both have improved as of late, so there is reason to be hopeful on that front.

Over all though, as much as I do love to watch Arsenal play when they're on song, a lack of steel through the middle will once again scupper their chances in my opinion, but then I'm hardly the first person to say that now, am I?

Many people will tell you that 'strength in depth' is where Arsenal fall down. This is a fallacy in my view, because I actually think Arsenal have a second-string team that could beat most lower half Premier League teams (Man Utd being an exception), and even some in the upper half. However, can their first team beat the likes of Chelsea and United when it matters? I remain sceptical.

Will They, Won't They? (Part 1)

Through a combination of Liverpool's result against Stoke (which effectively canceled out their win against Man Utd to some degree) and Chelsea's result against United, Arsenal are actually top of the Premier League table coming into this weekends set of fixtures. This little fact was nothing less than news to a certain football-loving cousin of mine just yesterday, and I imagine it has escaped the attention of a few others in the realm of Premier League fandom too.

The question is, will Arsenal be there in 8 months time? I would have my doubts.

Lets look at the positives first. Arsenal arguably the play the finest attacking football seen on English shores (that they do so with one or maybe no English players in some games is no small coincidence either). When the team is in full flight, they are simply irresistible, both to admire and to defend against. There are a few key factors to this:

First, their goalkeeper makes very few long passes. Almunia (who will of course be mentioned when I look at the negatives, with reference to both his ability and his hair) is always looking to feed the ball to one of the defensive players, or even Cesc Fabregas or one of the other midfielders. This willingness on Almunia's part is crucial to Arsenal's style of play, because it sets the tone for the rest of the team.

Essential for this to be effective is a backline that is comfortable with stroking the ball around. Arsenal have got just that in Gallas, Toure, Sagna and Clichy, which really is a crucial (and often overlooked) element of Arsenal's passing game. Could you imagine what would happen to Arsenal if they had players with the ball skills of Ugo Ehiogu playing at the back? The whole system would collapse, because the defense would inevitably resort to pumping long balls up to the strikers, or more accurately, just pumping long balls up to nowhere in particular (I'm sorry Ugo. You know I love you. You were just a really crap passer of a ball, that's all. Aw come on, don't be like that).

Also, in Sagna and Clichy, Arsenal possess what I consider to be the best full back pairing in the league, and possibly the world! Their pace, speed, and quickness are just three of several attributes I could list. Seriously though, they are certainly fast, but are also good defenders, they are both good crossers of the ball, and they generally use it very intelligently when in forward positions. Unlike, say, Ashley Cole, who really isn't very good in attacking situations, despite what people will tell you.

When it comes to midfield (and by 'midfield' I mean all four positions), I would not be speaking in hyperbole if I were to say that Arsenal enjoy the finest array of attacking threats of any team in England, and are second only to Barcelona if you include all the teams in Europe.

A fully fit Arsenal squad could boast a midfield consisting of the likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Eboue, Rosicky, Denilson, Song, Vela, Eduardo, Ramsey, and even van Persie if you're so inclined. Though some may not be household names, these are all very threatening players in their own way. You could argue that two of the lesser stars on that list are Eboue and Denilson, but so far this season they've notched up 3 goals and 4 assists between them. A midfield consisting of Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf and Ambrosini might read better, but as evidenced by last seasons Champions League tie, it certainly doesn't play better.

The standout player in Arsenal's midfield (and squad) is obviously Cesc Fabregas, who really does make everything tick. He hasn't even been playing that well since he came back from injury, but his presence alone appears to lift his team to the next level (I'm beginning to sound like Robbie Earle on John Terry here, but in Robbie Earle's case, I'm pretty sure the statistics don't back up his claims). And despite his passing not being at it's usual high level so far this season, he still has other things to offer in terms of work ethic and defensive duties. This was clearly witnessed against Bolton last week, when he gave away the ball cheaply, but immediately won it back, which actually started the attack that lead to the second goal.

His value cannot be overstated to this Arsenal team, and if they are to mount a credible title challenge this season, Fabregas needs to play as much as possible (without wearing him down like last season of course). And if Arsenal are to win the league, then I'd be very surprised if the Spaniard wasn't the player of the season.

The capture of Samir Nasri was one that very much interested me during the summer, and so far it looks like Wenger has a real gem on his hands with this dynamic French prodigy. He has shown all the potential of being able to fill the hole left by Hleb, and has even equaled Hleb's scoring tally for the whole of last season, despite only having played three and a half games. Mind you, Hleb had scored both his goals by this time last year too, so maybe I shouldn't read into that too much.

Still though, Nasri is an exciting player to watch, and his style of football acts as a suitable compliment to the stylings of Eboue and Walcott, who are ferocious runners with the ball, if not very economical with possession as of yet (though admittedly improving where I thought improvement impossible i.e. I didn't think they were good enough to improve).

Up front Arsenal have a very potent strikeforce (doesn't that sound like the name of a geeky computer game played in online gaming cafes?) in van Persie and Adebayor. While they don't exactly engage in the best link up play with each other (I can't recall either one assisting the other so far this season) they both link up very well with the midfield, and between them they can score pretty much every type of goal possible, except maybe those sneaky 'fox in the box' type goals, which were added by Eduardo before 'Tiny' Taylor decided to inflict a not-so-tiny wound on his leg.

Reserve options include Bendtner and Vela, who probably won't cause the meaner defenses too many problems, but as witnessed on Tuesday evening, they're a handful if you're not on your guard.

The fact that Arsenal have quite a few attacking options this season is something that sets this one apart from the last, where they were forced to heavily rely on the goals of Adebayor, the assists of Cesc Fabregas, and the guile of Alex Hleb.

This season, Arsenal have had 8 different scorers so far, and out of the 13 goals they have scored with Cesc Fabregas on the pitch, he has yet to assist even one. That may sound worrying if you've got Cesc Fabregas as your captain in Fantasy Football (though those inevitable bonus points usually make up for any lack of end product), but it should serve as good news for Arsenal fans. Fabregas is still vital of course (as I mentioned earlier), but not quite in the same way as before, which is necessary if Arsenal are serious about winning anything.

This post has gone on long enough, so maybe tomorrow I'll look at the negative aspects of Arsenal's game, and give some of the reasons why I just don't think they'll cross the finish line in first place this season. And yes, Almunia's hair is one of them.

Ginger Ail

"Paul Scholes was the best player on the pitch before he went off" - Graham Souness - Premier Soccer Sunday

How someone can make such a claim is beyond me. I'm a big fan of Scholes, but it seems to me like the RTE panel are holding onto memories of yesteryear when analyzing his play. He did precious little in today's game against Chelsea, and he did even less against Liverpool last week. He still has something to offer this United team -- his performance against Portsmouth is proof of that -- but in the big games, I would honestly be more inclined to start Fletcher than Scholes, and that's saying something.

The RTE panel talk about him being the cool head and the guy who will keep hold of the ball when the chips are down. Against Chelsea, Scholes was anything but a cool head, basically wandering around the pitch looking to get sent off as quickly as possible by executing a series of vintage Scholes tackles. In fairness to him, he wasn't giving the ball away cheaply, but that's only because he rarely had the ball. He doesn't have the legs to get around the pitch when faced with a team like Chelsea, so the supply coming to him is extremely limited because he's never in enough space to receive a pass.

Against Liverpool and Chelsea, United regularly had to resort to the wings for attacking threat, and without Ronaldo (and even with him today), their wings aren't very threatening. When the big games come, they're finding it hard to go through the centre, and this is where United are most effective. Gone are the days of Becks whipping crosses into van Nistelrooy. Man Utd need the ball through the middle, and unfortunately Scholes doesn't seem to be able to provide that link when the big games come around. And even more unfortunately for Utd fans, they don't appear to have anyone who can serve that purpose.

Fletcher has been surprisingly competent this season, but he's not the solution. Neither is Carrick or Hargreaves or Anderson, good as they might be at various other things. What Man Utd basically need is Cesc Fabregas. I mean can you imagine their potency if the little Spaniard lined up in their midfield every week? He's exactly the kind of player that they need, because he's basically Paul Scholes minus 10 years or so. Until Ferguson finds a suitable replacement for the Ginger One, he's going to have to hope that Ronaldo scores another truck load of goals this season, otherwise United could be playing catch up to Chelsea for the rest of the campaign.

Before I go, I can't help but pass comment on Ronaldo today. Without wanting to sound biased, his presence cost Man Utd dearly. Fergie took a gamble, and it didn't pay off. Ronaldo left his teammates scratching their heads, with Rooney even coming over to the touchline to ask Ferguson just what they heck they're supposed to be doing in terms of positions. Ronaldo was just running all over the place, and of course doing very little tracking back, which gave Chelsea the chance to build things up from midfield.

And then there was the dive. Just shocking really. But, you know, he did score 42 goals last season so nothing else matters and we must all cherish him and welcome him back with open arms. Just wait until he leaves Man Utd. Then we'll see how much love they have for him and his greasy boots and his greasy hair (I meant to type 'green boots' but 'greasy boots' actually turned out better).

An Angry, Self-Righteous Rant

Supporters can be so fickle.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there was a little story involving Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid during the summer. It was fairly low key so it mostly flew below the radar, but the gist of it was that no sooner than Ronaldo had won the Champions League, he was knee deep in speculation about him moving too Madrid, largely because he wouldn't hush it.

As the summer progressed, more and more ridiculous things were emanating from the Bernabeu, chief of which being Calderon's claim that Madrid would be honoured to have Ronaldo on their team. Honoured!? Ronaldo did what any self-respecting footballer would do of course - he continued to fuel the speculation by remaining largely silent, saying only that he would announce his future plans after the European Championships.

Well, having massively underperformed in the game that saw Portugal crash out, Ronaldo's moment to set the record straight and clear up all this nonsense from Calderon came, and he took the opportunity with both hands by saying that he desperately wanted to move to Madrid and was just waiting on United and Real to settle the monetary issues (with the figures being thrown around more closely resembling a GDP than the price of a slave footballer).

To cut a long and painful story short, Ronaldo didn't get his dream move, because United would rather have left him rot in the stands than sell him. Doesn't that just sound like a lovely club to be a member of?

My point here is that Ronaldo had seemingly no regard for what United have done for him. If it wasn't for Ferguson, he'd be another Queresma, and that's not a good thing. It didn't seem to bother him in the least that he'd be moving away from the club that made him who he is. Had United accepted a bid, he would have been out the door before you could say 'arrogant tool'. He treated the club like dirt, and the only reason - the only reason - he's still there is because Ferguson is the most stubborn man alive.

My question is, what kind of fan reaction should a man like Ronaldo get? A man who considers himself a slave; a man who displays not an iota of loyalty to his club? Well, judging by tonights game against Villarreal, such a man should be applauded when he warms up, and cheered without hesitation when he steps onto the pitch.

The only conclusion to be gained from such a reaction is that fans can be so fickle, so hypocritical, that it makes me wonder what supporting a club really means to anyone.

If you really loved a club and everything it stood for, you wouldn't want someone like Ronaldo at it, no matter how many goals he scores. You see, if all you care about is your club winning, then that's basically saying that all you care about is you winning. You don't care about integrity, you don't care about the means by which something is done - you just care about winning. Why? So you can feel good about yourself and the team you somehow chose to 'support'. If an uncommitted, disloyal person helps you to achieve that goal, then so be it - applaud him onto the pitch, cheer him as he runs up and down the touchline, go wild when he scores another 'surprising' header. It doesn't matter. He makes you feel good after a game, and that's all that counts.

I don't mean to sound on a high horse here (actually, I kind of do), and I'm certainly not painting all fans with the same brush. But if you support a certain team, ask yourself why? Why do you want to see them win? (and saying 'because I support them' is not an adequate answer).

Maybe disloyalty and non-commitment are things that you can tolerate. Maybe you justify that toleration by claiming to care so much about a team that you're willing to forgive those traits so long as the person in question helps your team to win games. Well to that, I would say that you're not a fan of a club - you're a fan of winning, with the club being the means by which you yourself win. There's of course nothing wrong with that. I love winning as much as the next man. But to truly love a club and be a fan has to mean more than just seeing them win at all costs. If it doesn't, then what's the point?

Ronaldo will, in all likelihood, score in a coming game and kiss his shirt badge or something silly like that. Many United fans may rejoice in that moment, but I'll just take a few minutes to be thankful for the fact that I don't support a club, and therefore I don't have to embrace nonsense like that. And honestly, I really pity those who do.

Made To Look a Pool

As promised, I watched all three of the previously mentioned matches yesterday. Since there's so much I could write about each of them, and since I don't want to write it all at this moment (or possibly ever), I'll stick to the biggest game of the three.

Blackburn came into it with...

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that cheap joke. Despite what people might have told you, Liverpool v United was the game of the day. Never mind the 'clash of the cash'. Liverpool vs Man Utd is a fixture based on sheer, unadulterated hatred, and that's something money can't buy. Although it is something that possessing copious amounts of money can bring upon you (see Chelsea Football Club and Oprah).

I've made some snide remarks about Liverpool in this blog alone, and written some pretty horrible things about them in the recent past, all of which were true. However, I have to hold my hands up and say that they played very well yesterday, and thoroughly deserved the win. And while my hands are in an elevated position, I might as well give Dirk Kuyt some praise too, because at times yesterday I could actually see why a club would pay him to play football. Shocking I know, but it's true. He actually played very well, and was Liverpool's best performer in the first half (with Alonso/Mascherano taking over in the second).

The game, from a Liverpool point of view, started out as bad as can get, with them conceding a very goal, and being over ran in midfield. I mean I actually didn't see nor hear of Xabi Alonso for the first 20 minutes or so, and that's barely an exaggeration.

However, they soon began to get to grips with the task at hand, and even before they scored that lucky goal, they were looking the better team. Then from the equaliser onwards, they outplayed Man Utd in almost every department of the pitch. And what's even more shocking, they did so without their talismen - Gerrard and Torres. Now that I think about it, it really was a remarkable acheivment. Liverpool, with a front line consisting of the wildly out of form Robbie Keane, the unproven Albert Reira, the lightweight Yossi Benayoun and the not really very good Dirk Kuyt managed to beat a United team who were really only missing Cristiano Ronaldo. Granted that's a sizeable loss, but are Manchester United that dependent on him? Is Ronaldo to United what Fabregas is to Arsenal?

People (aka Alan Hansen) talk about needing strength in depth to win the title. Arsenal apparently don't have that, Liverpool apparently don't have that, but United and Chelsea supposedly do. Well, I would say that Chelsea definitely do (although if they were to lose Deco that would be a massive blow. However, they'd just go back to being the normal Chelsea and start winning ugly again). With regards United however, they're reasonably hopeless on the wings without the boy Ronaldo shaping up and down them.

It's pretty clear that Rooney is not a winger. It's pretty clear that Anderson is not a winger. It's pretty clear that Nani is a useless winger. And it's also pretty clear that Giggs is an old winger, who's best years are long gone. This is a huge weakness to have in a squad, and it's where United are inferior to the other big 4 (with the exception of Liverpool, but only just). Arsenal are actually arguably the strongest in this department, with Nasri, Walcott, Eboue, Rosicky, Eduardo, Vela, Van Persie and even Fabregas all able to play this position with competence.

The point developing here is that Berbatov isn't the missing piece in the jigsaw. In my opinion, United have major midfield problems, especially on the left, and even in the centre. These deficiencies were ruthlessly exposed by Liverpool yesterday, with Mascherano and Alonso enjoying more possession than they've probably ever had in most games, not to mention games against United. This is not a good sign for the Red Devils, and they need to correct this at Chelsea next week if they don't want to find themselves 9 points behind the leaders so early in the season.

How they correct it in one week is up for debate. Maybe this was just a one-off horrible performance and all will be made right next week. However, while United were uncharacteristically awful yesterday, I do still think there are problems in the camp. Ronaldo coming back will presumably solve some of those, but his return will also pose some new ones, chief of which being who gets dropped, and where does Ferguson play Rooney assuming he doesn't drop him?

United's problems aside however, Liverpool still had to play their part, and they did that as well as anyone could have. If they continue playing like that then they may just be there or there abouts come next May.

Alive

Just in case some people only know whether I'm alive or not based on the output of this blog, then I'd like to take the time to inform you that I am still breathing, despite my lack of recent posting. I'm just not too big on international games, that's all.

I have a full program of Premier League watching tomorrow however (and what a program - Liverpool v Man Utd, Blackburn v Arsenal and Man City v Chelsea), so expect backlash from those games (there's usually a lot of backlash when I'm forced to watch Liverpool play).

Also, here's my quote of the week:

"Real quality doesn't need to show effort."

Unsurprisingly, one Dimitar Berbatov uttered those words. I used to look down on his laziness - now I look up to it. And what's more, just like Jose Mourinho, he's a man of the Word. Who knew?

A Quick Word On Ireland

I've never been the biggest supporter of our national team, for various reasons. For one, too many of our players haven't actually been Irish in recent times, so I've found it difficult to get excited about seeing a bunch of guys from England with Irish grandmothers (or guys from England with Italian grandmothers) play in an Irish jersey, simply because they know they'll never be good enough to play in an English one. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a national team if you ask me.

Another reason I've failed to exhibit any real patriotism when it comes to Irish soccer is the fact we've always played a really horrible brand of football. The kind of football that turns me off a team. The kind of football Liverpool play. In a nutshell, it involves completely bypassing your midfield by playing long balls up to the strikers (or even just empty space) from the back. Being a sort of football romantic, I can't get behind this play. I can't bring myself to support any team that implements such ugly football, no matter who they are. I'm just not that guy.

With Trapattoni at the helm however, I was willing to give our team another chance. After all, his interviews alone are worth supporting, so I figured why not support the team by watching the actual game too? Well I did, and dare I say, it wasn't half bad. Ireland actually played some decent football for the first 30 minutes or so. The defenders were passing it to the midfielders, the midfielders were passing it to each other, or back to the defenders, or up to the strikers. It was all quite pleasant to watch, even if we did dwindle as the game went on.

One player I was very impressed with was Steven Reid. His passing from the middle of the park was as good as I've seen from an Irish player in years (doesn't it make you cry to think that Matty Holland and Graham Kavanagh once anchored our midfield?). It wasn't the perfect performance by any means, but it was a promising start. Some fundamentals still need to be sorted out however, chief of which being the swift removal of one Paul McShane from the squad. If you're not good enough for Sunderland's defence at the moment, then you are certainly not good enough to have any part in Ireland's World Cup hopes. He will do nothing but put them in jeopardy, so the sooner Trapattoni realises this the better.

Overall though, I'm hopeful, and I finally feel like I have a national team I can get behind. And what's more, with 8 Irish-born plays starting last Saturday, I finally feel like I have a national team that's Irish.

Real Men Cry

I just came across the following quote from Man City's new bargain buy Robinho. To give it some backstory, earlier in the week Madrid's astoundingly retarded President Ramon Calderon* came out saying that Robinho cried when he asked for a move to Chelsea. That sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn't it? Crying over a transfer? Well obviously this was quite the claim to make on Calderon's part. I mean if something like this was said about me and it was completely untrue, then whoever said it would be staring at the business end of a hissy fit, that's for sure.

So naturally enough Robinho really had come out strong and rubbish these claims. Pele has even made it known that he thinks Robinho is emotionally unstable, so Robinho really had little option but to set the record straight, and be the umpteenth person to prove Pele wrong. Here's an excerpt from his interview where he attempted to do so:

"I cried when he didn't let me play at the Olympics and you can check that by asking him. I didn't cry to quit."

Oh dear, Rob. I actually think crying over the Olympics is worse than crying over a move out of Madrid. It almost brings to mind a 15 year old girl who is told she can't go to the youth disco, so she goes up to her room and sobs for hours on end. If I were Robinho, I'd have just stuck with Calderon's story instead of coming out with the truth. I just love the way he says "and you can check that by asking him" so defiantly, as if what he's just told us clears his good name. Too funny.

The lesson here is that if you, like Pele, make an obscene amount of statements and predictions, then by the law of averages at least one of them will be right. In this case, Pele has it spot on - Robinho really is a nut case. My advice to Mark Hughes - always let Robinho go to the youth disco, but make sure you give him strict rules to follow, because after all, that's what children want - bounderies.


* I put a star beside Calderon's name because I just figured out how this whole Ronaldo saga is going to be solved next summer. Since Ferguson and Calderon are basically fighting over who loves Ronaldo more, I reckon they're both going to stand in a room with Ronaldo and do the following: Ferguson will call Ronaldo, Calderon will call Ronaldo, and then they'll see who he goes to. Given the way Ferguson and Calderon have behaved up to now, I can actually imagine this scene in my head, and let me tell you, it's as disturbing as it reads.

Unrivalled

In reading an article on Barry Davis, I came across the following video. I've seen many a penalty shoot-out in my time, but none compare to this, both in terms of quality and sheer tension. Take a look, and enjoy reliving a truly memorable sporting occasion.

Unrivalled

Movers and Sheikhers

Do we now have a 'Big 5'? Or are one of Arsenal or Liverpool going to be replaced in the 'Big 4'? This would appear to be Man City's intention, because you don't spend £33m on a player to guarantee yourself Intertoto football, that's for sure.

When writing about the transfer deadline day, I can only really start with City. Being taken over by Arabs certainly had an immediate impact for the lesser Manchester club. City were reportedly putting in bids for all kinds of big names - Villa, Gomez, Berbatov, Robinho. With the exception of Gomez -- whom nobody else seemed to want -- they were competing with Real Madrid, Man Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. That's just crazy talk. City? In bidding wars with the Madrids of this world? Surely not.

And what's even crazier is that Man City actually managed to out-bid Chelsea and land Robinho for a cool £33m. In other words, they out-Chelsea'd Chelsea! The question is, was it a wise thing to do?

On paper, I don't think it was. People are calling Robinho 'one of the best in the world', but he's not. He's got unquestionable ability no doubt, but he has yet to produce a very lengthy run of form to suggest that he's up there with players like Messi, Fabregas, Deco, Kaka etc. Ask yourself these questions - why would a player move from Madrid to Man City? Why would a club like Madrid sell 'one of the best players in the world'?

One of the possible answers to the first question is that he knew he wouldn't be getting games for Madrid. He knew they didn't want him. An answer to the second question is that Madrid simply wouldn't sell one of the best players in the world. They'd pay him whatever he wanted in order to keep him in a white shirt. It's perfectly obvious that Madrid are in the habit of pursuing the players considered 'the best in the world' when you look at their shenanignas throughout the summer and down the years. So if in fact they already possessed one, why would they let him go? Again I say they wouldn't, which is why I (nor Madrid) don't consider Robinho to be one of the best, and therefore he's not worth anything close to £33m.

I would say paying that kind of money is a massive risk, but that would be the equivalent of me saying that buying a choclate bar I've never before tasted would make me a risk lover. I can afford to splash 80c on some unproven confectionary, and this Arab group can easily afford £33m on some unproven players. While that makes me a little nauseus, it's nevertheless a fact of life.

Robinho could turn out to be a real star of course. I'm not saying he definitely won't. All I'm saying is that he's not yet the finished article, so expectations need to be kept down a touch.

A reliable source of mine says 'Man City to fall to pieces...you heard it here first'. I find that to be a little premature, because City were a pretty decent side before Robinho signed, so there's no reason to suggest they'll suddenly collapse. They can't buy anybody else until January, but maybe that's the best thing for them. It will give them a chance to properly examine the squad and see where the need to strengthen things up a bit. I mean could you imagine what would have happened if City had more time to spend this summer than a day? Merely adding Robinho to the mix is a much easier task than adding 5 or 6 big names (duh), so this will give City a chance to get their feet wet in terms of dealing with the big names of world football, and not be overwhelmed.

Will they crash and burn? Will they become a real footballing force? Their next game (against Chelsea, which is just perfect) will shed a little more light on those questions, that's for sure.

And if City turn out to be only an average team this season, then as Barry Glendenning said on Football Weekly, we'll be reading in the papers that they're 'No Great Sheikhs'. Heh...Sheikhs.

As for the big 4, Liverpool didn't really do anything special. Just the usual business of securing yet another deal for a winger who costs between 6 and 10 million, and in all likelihood will be a major disappointment, just as the preceeding several dozen were.

Chelsea didn't really do anything either, except not sign Robinho, which may turn out to be a blessing for them. The last thing they needed to do was to spend another collosal amount of money on someone who isn't worth it, so they've at least avoided the potantial of that happening anyway. And if any of the big 4 are adaquetly supplied in the midfield department, it's Chelsea, so the non-capture of Robinho isn't really a blow to their title credentials me thinks.

United signed Berbatov for something like £30m, which is again crazy money. I've made some of my feelings known on Berbatov already in this blog, but what I will say is that if it was between Berbatov and no one at all, then they had to get The Moody One. He's a nice player to watch, and he could do very well for United, but I would have serious question marks over his attitude and his big game temperment. I've seen him give up on too many occasions not to be concerned about it.

Also, what will this mean for Rooney and Tevez, and even Ronaldo for that matter? Will Ronaldo finally start crossing the ball again? Will Tevez or Rooney play on the left, or will one of them be benched? Can Tevez or Rooney play on the left to good effect? We shall wait and see.

As for Arsenal, well they did sod all on the deadline day, which is not especially surprising given that, unlike me, Wenger probably wouldn't spend 80c on a chocolate bar, not to mention a few million on a player.

I said before that they needed to buy a central midfielder. They didn't, and they will most likely pay for that against the big teams. Out of all the candidates for the position, I think Song might be the best equipped, but Wenger seems content to start him on the bench every game. Right now Denilson is the starting midfield partner for Fabregas, but he has yet to prove himself worthy of the position. He's promising, but he's not there yet.

Eboue has been good so far this season, but you can't ignore the fact that Arsenal have played 5 very easy games. When Eboue comes up against the big guns, his incompetence is plain for all to see.

Because of the lack of a steady, reliable partner for Cesc, I think Arsenal will struggle to make a title challenge this season. They may prove me wrong, like they did many last year, but Wenger is gambling with his teams chances. There is of course the possibility that someone will step up to the plate, much like Flamini last year. I mean if you had told me a year ago that Flamini would be an integral part of the Arsenal midfield I'd have burned you at the stake for heresy. Maybe someone like Song, Denilson or Diaby will prove the doubters and the sceptics wrong. But that's what Arsenal are relying on - maybe's.

Deh Roo Ron Ron

Pat Dolan -- who's doing for the wig this year what he did for the waistcoat last year -- wrote a quite shocking piece in today's Irish Star (I didn't buy it...honest). I can't really remember specific quotes, but the general idea presented is that Wayne Rooney is rubbish. OK I'm exaggerating, but he basically said that Wayne Rooney isn't even near as good as he's made out to be. The headline of the piece was something along the lines of 'Rooney Myth is as Big as Loch Ness Monster'. I'm sure other possible headlines eventually canned were 'Roo Are Not That Good', 'Ron is Better Than Roo' and others of the sort.

The main thing that struck me is that Pat thinks Rooney isn't intelligent enough to be considered world-class, whereas Ronaldo is. He says that he admires Rooney's work rate as opposed to Ronaldo's, but Rooney is not a defender, so it doesn't really count for too much. Pat complains at length about the English media also, saying that they're deluding themselves into thinking Wayne Rooney is something he isn't, and that there is only one great player at Manchester United - Cristiano Ronaldo.

I of course disagree with much of this, as I do with much of everything Pat Dolan says. Rooney may well be an idiot outside a football stadium. He may well have the IQ of a small child, or Paris Hilton. But when it comes to playing football, he possesses without doubt a good footballing brain. You can't explain it, you can't teach it, but I can safely say that Rooney has it. There are varying degress when it comes to footballing intelligence of course -- Zidane being at one end, Kuyt at the other -- but in my opinion Rooney is up there with the more intelligent players plying their trade today.

In fact footballing intelligence is right now pretty much the one thing Rooney actually has on Ronaldo, so Pat is well off with this remark. Ronaldo may be a lot of good things, but he's not an intellligent player. He's basically Theo Walcott with a better shot, better physique, and less sideburns. That makes for quite the effective player no doubt, but it doesn't make for a 'genius' of the game, which is what Gary Megson and many many others have called him without considering what the word really means.

However, one thing Pat is right about is the hyping up of Rooney from the media (though the media are just as guilty of hyping up Ronaldo too). Rooney really hasn't done it for United since his arrival. He's scored some goals, he's put in the work, he's showed flashes of excellence, but he hasn't been a consistent performer. He hasn't really dazzled or stood out like a Cesc Fabregas for Arsenal, and that should set United and England fans ill at ease.

His form wasn't great all of last season, culminating in a woeful performance in the Champions League final. And worryingly, he's continued that form on into the new season. Tevez is basically everything Wayne Rooney should be, but isn't. In Ronaldo's absense, it's Tevez who has stepped up to the plate, and if things stay as is, it's Tevez who should be starting ahead of Rooney if that's what it comes down to.

While certain aspects of Rooney's play annoy me, I can appreciate that he does have something speical about him. However, if he's not showing that week in week out, then it's foolish to have him on a team sheet without question. By merit, he should not be starting for England next week. If hard decisions like this are made, he will hopefully get the required kick up the backside, and his career will stop spiraling downwards. However, if his mediocrity goes unpunished, then he will have no reason to rise above it, and his 'potential' will never be fully realised, which would be a shame.