Goals Galore !

Lots of goals were scored over the weekend and plenty of action took place on the football field. Racking up the goals were Man. Utd and Barca who humiliated their opponents hands down. (although Jose M will refute that). Man Utd was back to its best thanks to Berbatov, who is only a handful in history to score 5 in a match in the EPL. Perhaps the return of Rooney had something to do with it? I've always admired Berba as a player - technically he's a genius and he's a very smart player. Lazy it seems at times but that's how he plays the game - effortlessly & gracefully. And the Venky's must have thought if they bought the right team. 

5 goals hero

Despite the highly anticipated El Clásico,  it once again proved to be one-sided. With Jose in charge, I expected to see more steel  and resilience in the Madrid side. Thought they would give Barca a hard time and with the tactical genius of Jose, he would suffocate the Barca midfield. Guess I was wrong and in the words of Mourinho , "Barca is the finished article and Madrid is still a long way off that".

Portugese muted by the dazzling Barca

Back to the EPL, West Gram finally got their much awaited win. For now , it looks like the job is his. Another "big" game, Spurs Vs Liverpool brought a lot of excitement to the neutrals. Missed chances, missed penalty, injuries and an own goal! Plus Carragher may be out for as long as 3 months. What has uncle Roy gotta do to catch a break? Everything seem to be going against him at the moment. If he's lucky to stay until January, he may just be given the luxury to bring in some reinforcements.

The race to the end of the rainbow...my 2 cents.

1/4 of the EPL is over and the race at the top is as tight as ever. One of the tightest I've seen in recent years. The usual suspects are there with the exception of Liverpool. Spurs on the other hand is proving to be a force to be reckon with ; in England and Europe. All the years of hard work by Harry Redknapp is finally bearing its fruits. Not to mention his astuteness in the transfer market. Van der Vaart in my opinion is thus far the buy of the season. Vdv and Gareth Bale has been a revelation to the Spurs team who look increasingly dangerous as the season progresses. This surely doesn't augur well for Liverpool who will visit the white hart lane this weekend.

Despite the comfortable win over West Ham who look awful, this Liverpool team spells inconsistency. A win over Chelsea followed by two disappointing results against Wigan & Stoke has many Liverpool fans dreading the weekend. No one knows which Liverpool team is going to show up. Perhaps the most worrying factor is the fact that the team is not playing as a team. Lack of passion, determination and guts have proved costly in recent games. Many still cannot identify the type of football Roy wants the team to play and the jury is still out on some of his buys. Having said that, Meireles looked good in the centre of midfield in the absence of Gerrard. I've always thought he's a good player, technically. Hopefully he's able to make a strong claim for the centre mid position in the next few games. 

The usual suspects

Chelsea looked like its wheels has come off in the last couple of weeks. The sacking of Wilkins and the rumoured resignation of Ancellotti (and then denied) is definitely taking its toll on the team. The loss to Birmingham and the unconvincing win over MSK Zilina in the Champ League spells trouble. But surely this won't last when their influential players come back from injury. 

Arsenal on the other hand, still lacked maturity and experience on the field despite the manager denying the fact and the need for a proper goalie. Until Wenger realises the shortcomings in his team and stops being a soar loser ; Arsenal will continue to live in this make believe world that they're a strong contender for the EPL title or for the matter Champions League. 

The midweek win over Rangers and the winning goal scored by Rooney is a very positive sign for Man.Utd who thus far remains unbeaten in the EPL despite placing behind Chelsea. In my opinion, this team is not as strong as it used to be. Over reliant on senior players and some buys who don't look good enough to wear the united shirt has thus far managed to keep Man.Utd in the hunt. Having said that, this team will need strengthening in the January window to really have a go at the big titles.

And Man City will just continue to buy buy buy.....

Pondering about their futures