10 Potentially Pivotal Premier League Summer Transfers

June 5th, 2013 by Michael Cox

Fernandinho, Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester City

Although capped only five times by Brazil, Fernandinho is a highly impressive midfielder who would bring energy and tenacity to the centre of the Manchester City side.

Many City fans believe Manuel Pellegrini will require a solid holding midfielder this season, following last summer’s departure of Nigel De Jong, and Javi Garcia’s unconvincing displays since his arrival from Benfica. However, Fernandinho isn’t really that player – he’s a more mobile midfielder broadly in the style of Chelsea’s Ramires, dependent upon surges of energy to turn defence into attack smoothly.

Individually, he’s clearly good enough to play for City – but a partnership between him and Yaya Toure might not get the best out of either, and City probably need to strengthen in other areas to improve their title changes significantly.

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Top 10 Premier League Individual Performances

April 17th, 2013 by Michael Cox

10. Moussa Sissoko, Newcastle 3-2 Chelsea

Many expected January signing Moussa Sissoko to be used in a deep midfield position, with Yohan Cabaye playing at the top of the triangle – but Alan Pardew had other ideas. Sissoko was pushed forward in support of Papiss Cisse, and constantly drove Newcastle forward with powerful midfield runs.

In only his second Premier League appearance, Chelsea seemed unprepared for his direct running. Sissoko was involved in everything good about Newcastle, creating three chances for teammates, and popping up with two crucial goals in a 3-2 victory. His subsequent performances have been decent rather than spectacular, but this was evidence that Sissoko can be an invaluable player for Newcastle next season.

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United benefit from admirable disciplinary record

April 11th, 2013 by Michael Cox

When we look back upon the 2012/13 season in years to come, we’ll hardly consider the lack of bookings as a vital part of Manchester United’s title success – but a small, interesting part of their campaign has been their admirable disciplinary record. In the past couple of years, Sir Alex Ferguson has been in trouble with the FA more frequently than any of his players.

Along with Southampton and Sunderland, United are one of only three clubs not to have suffered from a red card this season – in fact, the last Manchester United player to be sent off in the Premier League was almost 18 months ago, when Jonny Evans was shown a red card for hauling down Mario Balotelli in the Manchester derby. United were only 1-0 down at that point, and went onto be thrashed 6-1 after pushing men forward and leaving their depleted defence exposed on the counter-attack. If they need it, that was a perfect lesson in keeping eleven men on the pitch.

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Manchester United v Manchester City betting preview

April 6th, 2013 by Michael Cox

When the 2012/13 Premier League fixtures were announced last July, this appeared to be the season’s pivotal match: another crucial Manchester derby, just eight games from the end of the campaign. However, with United 15 points clear and Sir Alex Ferguson’s 13th Premier League medal effectively already won (you can’t even back United at 1.01 on Betfair) the result will be irrelevant in the context of the title race.

Nevertheless, United will be determined to triumph in Monday night’s clash at Old Trafford. Memories of last season’s embarrassing 6-1 defeat are still fresh in the memory – even if Ferguson doesn’t want to discuss it. “Do you think I’m going to mention that?” replied Ferguson after being asked at a press conference this week. “Do you think? Jesus Christ. I can talk about our form this season – I will concentrate on that.”

Nevertheless, Ferguson will be encouraging his players to make a statement, and demonstrate they are capable of beating City in a direct clash – without the need for a last-minute, deflected free-kick helped on its way by Samir Nasri’s laughable attempt at a block – which was the decisive moment in United’s 3-2 victory at Old Trafford earlier this season.

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The Race for a Top Four Finish

March 29th, 2013 by Michael Cox

With the Premier League title effectively decided long ago, attention has turned to the battle for third and fourth places, and the all-important Champions League spots. Thankfully, this appears a genuinely exciting contest.

Chelsea and Tottenham are in pole position but have other distractions, while fifth-placed Arsenal appear to have the easiest remaining fixtures. In all probability, this will come down to the final afternoon of the season…

Chelsea: 3rd, 55 points

Fixture congestion has been a problem for Chelsea throughout the campaign: with participation in the Champions League group stage and then Europa League knockout games, plus the European Super Cup, the Club World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup and a run to the FA Cup quarter-final, Chelsea have played a staggering number of games this season.

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Top 10 Influential Premier League Managers

March 14th, 2013 by Michael Cox

1 – Sir Alex Ferguson

The obvious choice as the most influential manager. It’s not merely Ferguson’s amazing record of having won 12 of the 20 Premier League titles, it’s his sheer longevity – having managed United for over 25 years, he pre-dates the Premier League era.

Originally seen as primarily as a fine man-manager, Ferguson is underrated at the more subtle things. He’s become an intelligent tactician, especially against title rivals, is a clever rotator of players to keep them physically fresh, and his handling of the media is sometimes controversial but generally effective. With a statue outside the ground, and a stand named after him inside it, Ferguson’s influence is astonishing.

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Top 10 Under-performing Premier League players

February 28th, 2013 by Michael Cox

Samir Nasri, Manchester City

From nearly five years in the Premier League, Nasri has only played consistently well for half a campaign – the first part of 2010/11. “A player of this quality could be one of the best players in Europe, but it’s not happening,” a rueful Roberto Mancini told The Guardian last week. Nasri’s purpose in Mancini’s side is unclear – David Silva expertly plays the Frenchman’s natural role, and City look superior when James Milner offers mobility and clever runs to compliment Silva’s incision.

Nasri’s laughable understanding of what constitutes a defensive wall against Manchester United probably won’t turn out to be mathematically crucial – United will win the league by a distance – but it could be the defining moment of the season.

Nikica Jelavic, Everton

Jelavic was a revelation following his arrival last January, scoring 11 in 13 games. This season, his form has been worrying – sometimes he gets into good positions but misses chances, at other times he barely offers any threat whatsoever. David Moyes has voiced his concern, and his January pursuit of Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo was a recognition that Everton desperately need a reliable source of goals.

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Arsenal v Liverpool Preview 30-01-2013

January 30th, 2013 by Paul

Theo Walcott is making it really difficult for Arsène Wenger to deny him that strikers role he so much desires. The 23-year-old came off the bench at the weekend to spare The Gunners’ blushes of another Cup exit to a lower league side.

Since signing his new deal, which will keep him at the Emirates for a further three and a half years, Walcott’s started to payback that rumoured six-figure weekly wage with three goals in Arsenal’s last three games.

Walcott looks likely to start tonight and Stan James offer odds of 7/1 that he’ll score first at the Emirates.

Rumours were abound earlier in the week that we’d see the likes of David Beckham and David Villa strutting their stuff on the pitch wearing Arsenal colours but Arsène Wenger was quick to rubbish those claims and it looks like another January transfer window will shut with the North London club only willing to move players on than bring them in.

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Swansea City: The Laudrup Effect

January 9th, 2013 by Michael Cox

Replacing a particularly successful manager is widely regarded as an extremely difficult task – Jose Mourinho’s successors have always struggled, for example, and the next managers of both Manchester United and Arsenal will have extremely tough jobs when replacing club legends.

But while Brendan Rodgers enjoyed great success at Swansea, he was actually a decent manager to follow. As Swansea fans were keen to point out even before his departure, the Northern Irishman simply embraced and furthered the identity and the style of the club, rather than being an ideologue who dramatically imposed his short passing football against fierce opposition. He, in turn, had inherited a steady ship from Roberto Martinez. Kenny Jackett and Paulo Sousa also played their part.

Rodgers’ Swansea were relentless ball hoarders – their pass completion rate was the second best in the league behind Champions Manchester City, their average possession was third behind City and Arsenal. But while the football was attractive, and Swansea’s comfortable mid-table finish justified the approach, they weren’t very efficient with the ball. They recorded fewer shots than their possession would normally dictate – and also conceded a high number of shots considering their dominance of games.

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Forwards are the First Line of Defence for AVB Sides

November 28th, 2012 by Michael Cox

When Emmanuel Adebayor was dismissed against Arsenal at the Emirates earlier this month, it seemed particularly unfair that some blamed Andre Villas-Boas for selecting him in the first place.

Yes, Villas-Boas had taken the decision to start Adebayor in a potentially fiery battle against his old club, when he was likely to be jeered throughout the match – but he could hardly be accountable for such a reckless, unnecessary tackle on an opponent. In that kind of situation, the player must take responsibility for his actions – and besides, in opening the scoring, Adebayor had shown there was some merit to Villas-Boas’ selection decision.

But what if Adebayor’s tackle was a natural result of Villas-Boas’ gameplan? The Portuguese coach wants his team to be compact, and his players to be all-rounders. Defenders must start attacks, attackers must be the first line of defence. Under Harry Redknapp, Tottenham’s attackers had few defensive instructions – Defoe sometimes occupied an opposition holding midfielder when fielded alongside Crouch, but Rafael van der Vaart was hardly a winning runner. Now, they must chase, harry and tackle – and that doesn’t come naturally to strikers. Why else is ‘a forward’s tackle’ an established football cliché?

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