Match Reviews - Top Content

Swansea v Everton

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:54:32 +0000

Swansea vs Everton

Liberty Stadium, Wales

24/03/2012

A day at the Liberty Stadium.

Yesterday I went to Wales for the first time to watch the Swansea vs Everton in their Premiership clash at the Liberty. I was very excited and happy to be going to this game for a few reasons, the first was it would be my first time in Wales, secondly was that it was the first time watching Swansea in person and thirdly it would mean I have 6 more grounds to visit then I've been to all the Premiership grounds. The grounds I haven't been too yet are Old Trafford, Anfield, Villa Park, Craven Cottage, The Britannia and QPR again as last time it was when Fulham was there.

I set off for Swansea in a positive mood, was a bit tired as it was slightly early start but I felt confident of an Everton win however felt it was going to be a tight game with maybe only one goal to decide it.

The journey took around 3 and a half hours from where I live and going across the Severn Bridge was good, great view. Also on the journey I went past the Celtic Manor Golf Course and it was quite an interesting building and didn't notice it till I was quite close to it. Finally arrived at the ground where I got a KFC and for my order I had to wait in the car park for my order to be done, while waiting Everton's Chief Executive Robert Elstone walked past the car, noticed a bit late to do anything like say hello or shack his hand. After that parked up the car and then went for a pint in a Harvester next to the ground.

About the game, the first half wasn't brilliant for Everton on an attacking point of view as Swansea had a lot of the ball so we were limited on chances. Swansea although they had a decent amount of possession and they were the more comfortable on the ball they didn't really create much threatening chances Allen came the closet with a shot from distance which narrowly went wide.

The second half was a lot better than the first half, at the end of the first half we started to pick up our performance which we continued in the second and even step the performance up a level. Swansea were starting to struggle and they couldn't get much out of key players, Sinclair and Routledge who got subbed off. After a few close chances for Everton, we finally broke the deadlock when Baines had a run inside and won a free kick which he then put away beautifully. The partnership of Baines and Pienaar down the left side was brilliant to watch we have seen it for years and it was lovely to see that partnership again in person. The partnership between the two was giving Swansea a fair bit of problems. Jelavic made up for an earlier miss by taping in a pass from Fellani, who did excellent to keep the ball and cut the pass back.

Fellani made a huge difference when he came on, with his big presence and simple passes to keep the play rolling and his battling in the middle. Gibson put in a decent display also was unlucky to score his shot from distance, he gave us that extra bit of quality we need be it a small ball for Jelavic or Osman or threatening from distance which we don't do enough off. Distin and Jagielka were decent and solid at the back and Heitinga made a difference with his presence when he came on, he has really become a hero for the fans and what a difference a great season has had for him, last season he had a few fans that weren't keen on him, including myself at times but he has finally been given the chance at centre back and glad he has taken it. Good to see Moyes resting Heitinga and Fellani for the most part of the game after the heavy schedule.

In the end a 2-0 was a great result and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Swansea fans were loud and quite impressive, continued to back there team despite going a goal down and even 2-0 down. Came home and saw myself on MOTD a few times which was good surprise glad I recorded MOTD. Also my brother was close to getting Pienaar's shirt at the end a guy two seats next to him just got it.

Here a some images I took:

Thanks for reading

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Manchester United v Fulham

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:03:18 +0000

VS.

Manchester United vs Fulham

United have the chance to move 3 points clear of Man City but Fulham stand in the way. After the blue side of Manchester's disappointing 1-1 draw with Stoke following a goal of the season contender from Peter Crouch of all people, they lie top of the table only on goal difference. With the last game of this round of fixtures United can pile the pressure back on with a win.

United haven't played in over a week, which is a rare commodity, so the players will be fresh and Sir Alex can name a strong side. The back five will most likely consist of the now ever present David De Gea who has been earning plenty of plaudits in recent weeks after tough criticism early on in the season. The four in front will most probably be the solid partnership of Evans and Ferdinand in the centre, with Evra and Rafael flanking. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are options at right back but at home, risks can be taken and the attacking ability of the Brazilian may be key.

In midfield Michael Carrick will continue his recent form, which has made him a key member this season once again. Paul Scholes is a likely partner, with Ashley Young and the blazing Antonio Valencia on the wings. Valencia will be the one to watch after a man of the match performance against Wolves where he was involved in all the goals.

Wayne Rooney should be partnered with Danny Welbeck up front, the two working as a great partnership this year which will no doubt benefit United and England for years to come.

De Gea

Rafael Evans Ferdinand Evra

Valencia Carrick Scholes Young

Welbeck Rooney

The opponents Fulham are coming off the back of a heavy 3-0 defeat to Swansea, where loan star Gylffi Sigurdsson bagged a brace. They could either make a comeback statement tonight, or more than likely, be low on confidence and be there to take points off.

We may see a more reserved 4-5-1 formation coming to Old Trafford, which will still be full of threats. Pogrebnyak has scored a few goals since arriving in January and Clint Dempsey has scored 12 this season. Another man to watch will be Moussa Dembele who may be on his way out in the summer as he has impressed this season once again, his ball control and link up play being key to Fulhams attack.

Schwarzer

Kelly Senderos Hangeland Riise

Ruiz Dembele Diarra Murphy Dempsey

Pogrebnyak

Prediction for the game is a 2-0 win with Rooney scoring first. At home United have looked comfortable recently, and an attacking performance should see Fulham concede just as they did against Swansea.

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Manchester United vs Athletic Bilbao

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:29:36 +0000

Manchester United fans were left somewhat shocked, as Athletic Bilbao managed to exploit the frailties within the side, successfully beating them. United were outplayed for the majority of the game; much of that has to do with Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics. But it was the manner in which United were defeated that was worrying, to say the least.

Biesla has revolutionised the side, since taking over the summer. He has adopted a Barcelona-esque approach, not something that was expected considering that prior to him joining Athletic; they were more known for their direct, long ball approach.

Sir Alex Ferguson did say that he was going to field out his strongest line up, but it was far from that. United’s strongest line up contained Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones as central midfielders, and Park Ji-Sung as a left winger. Michael Carrick and Nani would have added more ammunition and self-discipline, a factor that was clearly lacking.

The side from Bilbao started off as the brighter team, with Fernando Llorente causing all sorts of trouble, and was unlucky to see his shot travel wide early on. However, it was United who stunned Athletic, after great link up play between Giggs and Javier Hernández, whose shot was palmed at by Gorka Iraizoz, but he did not get enough on it, as Wayne Rooney scored from the rebound.

It was against the run of play. However, this did not change the approach Athletic’s players took, and continued to knock the ball about with ease. Iker Muniain was finding it easy, one of the main reasons being that there was a clear lack of determination from United’s end. The sheer persistence paid off, just before the half, as Fernano Llorente, who had troubled Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans all half, scored a powerful header. Question marks were raised over the defending, though, as Jones left Llorente to go past him, without tracking him. This set the tone for the rest of the game.

United were allowed to cool down and get their acts sorted out. It was an opportunity to brush up on school boy defending and inject a bit of liveliness into the team. However, nothing changed in the second half, if anything, United got worse.

The Spanish side were still allowed to knock the ball back and forth, and looked assured throughout the second half. It was the same performance they put in, but United’s players backed off even more. David de Gea is to be thanked for the score line remaining a bit more respectable. The Spaniard produced two fine saves to deny Athletic the opportunity to lead the game early on in the second half. First, from Iker Munian, and the second was world class, to deny Llorente.

Chris Smalling could not continue and so, was replaced by Michael Carrick. Jones dropped to centre-back. Subsequently, Anderson was brought on for Park Ji-Sung, with Giggs switching to the left flank. It was not really what United needed.

The game looked to be done and dusted 20 minutes from time, when Ander Herrera found De Marcos, with a scrumptious ball, to score in emphatic fashion past de Gea. Although replays do suggest he was offside, it was nothing less than the Spanish side deserved, after outplaying United for the majority of the second half.

Nani was brought on late for Giggs, but it was too little too late, although he did do more than Park. More question marks were raised over the squad selection and why Nani was not included. His dynamic style would have caused more damage to Athletic’s defence.

The final nail of the coffin, or so we thought, was put in place when Munian scored in the last minute, after Rafael da Silva was unaware of the danger, it was a comedy error, one that you would expect your friends to make, but not a professional football. Of course, this all came after a controversial decision, which was the wrong one, but you have to be fully alert.

United were handed a lifeline though towards the end, as Rooney scored from the penalty spot. It was a bit unfortunate for Athletic and lucky for United, at the same time. It does provide United with a chance to score two goals, as opposed to three, but if Athletic score first in the second leg, then it will be lights out.

This season has been a sloppy European campaign for Champions League finalists. It is ironic that they find themselves struggling in the Europa League, less than a year ago, they found themselves playing against the best team in the world, Barcelona.

The only positive to take from this is de Gea’s performance. He really has found his feet now, and is displaying the quality we all expected from him when he arrived at the club. He made some great saves and, in essence, was the sole reason for the score being a bit more respectable.

The players are capable of much more. My main concern is that, if we do continue in the Europa League, it could potentially have a significant impact on our title campaign. In other words, it could ruin the team spirit and morale. We will soon find out.

Manchester United Fail to Convince, but Advance

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:23:02 +0000

That wasn't a Manchester United performance, I don't even know what that means anymore in Europe this season. Our European identity has faded away. To allow Ajax, who have been poor this year, to dominate in that manner is embarrassing. In the first half, it was fairly balanced, with Berbatov providing us with his class, but there is no point if we are not clinical and ruthless enough. Nani, in particular, has had the tendency more often than not this season, in presenting the ball to the opposition in our half. Fortunately, it went unpunished, but this problem has to be addressed. Anyway, in the second half, we dropped of completely and lost concentration. De Gea needs to be thanked for making that outstanding save, in essence, had that gone in then Ajax could have easily scored a third goal, they had more than enough time to do so. I'm just thankful that Scholes was introduced to slow down our tempo.

Certainly not happy with the performance, especially in the second half, but there are positives to take from the game. The twins managed to complete the full game with no injuries, we should be looking to extend Berbatov's contract after what he's produced in the games he has featured in and Hernandez's overall game looks to have improved, based on this game, which isn't much, I know. Credit to Ajax, though, not an easy thing to do.

Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:46:48 +0000

ARSENAL 2
OLYMPIAKOS 1

Most notable on the night, for his exuberant debut goal, was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal's young star in the making, fresh-faced, with Southampton DNA, became the youngest-ever Englishman to score in the Champions League, and in the process, he open his club account on the biggest stage of European football. Quite rightly, for most, he was the toast of North London, and the talk of the town.

However, in what was a tense group game throughout, it was Arsenal's defence that stood firm, held their nerve, and improved to such an extent in the latter stages of the match that, for me at least, their achievements overshadowed that of the mercurial displays of the English 18-year-old. With all three goals coming quickly in the first half, and Arsene Wenger once again opting to rotate his team's back line, though – with regards to his centre-backs – not entirely by choice, the match was won by the side with the better defensive display in the second half.

With guns blazing, Arsenal had two shots on target and an early two-goal lead in just 20 minutes, after Brazilian left-back, Andre Santos, cooly slotted home his first goal for the club by beating Olympiakos goalkeeper, Franco Costanzo, at his near post. The Greek visitors kept true to their manager's pre-match words though. Before the game, Ernesto Valverde had made a point of saying that his side were there to give a good account impression of themselves, and his team did not disappoint him. They did just that.

Just seven minutes later, the Greek side's quickly taken short corner caught the Gunners off-guard completely, and standing like statues, Arsenal's two-goal advantage was immediately halved just before the half hour. It was the same old story. Once again, Arsenal were struggling at the back, especially when it came to set-pieces, and if not for Mikel Arteta's brilliant off-the-line clearance, and Wojcech Szczesny's smart reactions, Olympiakos could have been level, had their tails up, and had momentum on their side, all before half-time. They ended the first 45 minutes with a counter-attacking run by Kevin Mirallas, who struck a low-angled shot that Szczesny deflected away with his knees.

Into the second half of the match, the tempo of the game continued at fast pace, chances were made at either end, but in terms of being the more inventive and attack-minded, it seemed to be Arsenal who were lacking, and more on the back foot. However, it was a more composed and resolute display by the home side, with the Greeks – having found another gear – only playing into the Premier League outfit's hands as the game went on. In fact, for once this season, there seemed to be a great unity within the team, Emmanuel Frimpong dug in, Arteta, who was the classiest midfielder on the night, provided some respite for the Gunners, and Tomas Rosicky provided some creativity in the final third, though not enough to extend Arsenal a bigger lead. At the back, Per Mertesacker and Alex Song both worked tirelessly to find cohesion, and where errors crept in either from midfield or the flanks, they were often the ones to clean up.

Although, as the Greek attack began to subside, Olympiakos captain, Vassilis Torosidis, after cutting inside Santos a little too easily, cracked a superb swerving effort that beat Szczesny, only to thunder against the bar. Another wonder goal wasn't to be the undoing of the Londoners this time though. After seeing the opposition coming so close to an equaliser, Pat Rice brought on Aaron Ramsey for a much applauded Chamberlain to strengthen the stability in midfield. For all his attacking prowess, the young Englishman gave his French colleague on the right, Bacary Sagna, a lot of work to do, and Ramsey would keep Arsenal's midfield more compact.

The Welshman's first contribution of the night though was to set Arshavin free on a run, but the Russian's quick shot was ably met by Costanzo. On 70 minutes, Robin van Persie replace Marouane Chamakh to lead Arsenal's front-line, with hopes of sealing the match with a third goal. This was met five minutes later with an Olympiakos double substitution, Mirallas and Pablo Orbaiz departing for defenders, Djamel Abdoun, and Francois Modesto.

That third Arsenal goal didn't arrive though, and sensing the opportunity to take something from the match with a late equaliser, Valverde threw on his final substitute, Serbian forward, Marko Pantelic. However, it was an act that proved to be fruitless, as the Greeks failed to score again. In the end, it was to be a Greek tragedy for Olympiakos in North London, as Arsenal worked like Trojans to achieve what Troy could not – and what other English sides in Europe's elite competition could not – the Gunners had held onto their first victory this season in their Champions League group. Job done.

Arsenal vs Liverpool, A Fan's Review

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:13:54 +0000

Firstly, Arsenal have a lot of issues, but not many will win at the Emirates this season, so hug these three points tightly as they are particularly warm. Thoughts on our team ...

- Pepe Reina and that save? Nice.

- Jose Enrique is quite something, isn't he? Even in moments where he's out of position by a yard or two he'll make up the ground so quickly and is hugely imposing physically when he gets there, fighting those in possession off the ball - all this and he still holds a real amount of technical guile, too. We don't know how the rest of the season will pan out for him, but anything close to the consistency of his first two games and he'll be noted as one of the players of the season. Alongside him, Agger and Carragher (a hoof or two or three aside) were excellent, I felt. Really brilliant. Their positioning was strong, their work in the air and on the deck was almost to the perfection - and this from a defensive duo that I do not think fits. And Kelly on the other side was trustworthy and very decent yet again.

- Adam was atrocious in the first half, not only because of his erratic set pieces, but because he just didn't do what he does best, and that is set the team on the offensive. He just failed to impose himself at all in the first half, and only in the second, when he tired, did he simplify his game and become entirely useful and effective. I like him a lot, but he needs to realise that if things aren't going his way then it's okay to adopt a more basic approach. Henderson is a guy someone can look to for the basics. That kid really loves the basics of football, and to be fair he was actually quite good today. His movement is great, and his close touch and short passing is spot on. He's Busquets, only not as dynamic (defensively) and plays higher up the field. I think Kenny will move him and contort his role quite often until something clicks, but he's got strong foundations for us to be somewhat expectant that it will indeed click.

- Lucas has yet to reach the levels of his great work of last season, but then he is just two games into his preseason. I particularly liked how there was no way he was pulling out of the challenge with (the impressive) Frimpong - ultimately leading to a red card that would change the game, that and the additional sight of Suarez hitting the field. Downing was again very good, although he does tend to drift out of the game for large portions. Kuyt was our worst player, which is never easy to me to say. Got nothing right and was entirely aimless.

- Re: Carroll

Vision of Division, on 20 August 2011 - 07:29 PM, said:

Now regarding all this shite and over the top comments about Carroll, did anyone actually take the time to realise that Vermaelen actually had an absolutely fantastic game? Carroll struggled because Vermaelen was on top of him all game. He won all the headers, all the tackles and just dominated Carroll. I'm not gonna lie but the entire Arsenal team today were rubbish but Vermaelen was their shining light. He was absolutely brilliant and that's why Carroll struggled.

- The introduction of Meireles and Suarez reminded me of Benitez's introduction of Alonso, Kuyt and Torres against Portsmouth (3-2 win) all those years ago. The perfect introduction of a perfect duo/trio (shared characteristic: talented) who would take advantage of the ailing opponent. While not always possible, it's also evidence to the potential of a strong squad. Oh, and Suarez is the most gifted Liverpool player I've ever seen. My only way of accurately accounting for this statement is to add up the amount of times I've said "holyfuckhowdidhedothat?" while watching him play. It happens many times. His movement is also stunning, and Meireles - as Bub said, not nearly as good as many suggest - understands Suarez's game, and I'd group Meireles with the more intelligent footballers of our squad.

- All in all, hard not to enjoy beating Arsenal/anyone away from home.