The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Manchester United, down but not out! Posted: 19 Aug 2011 04:58 PM PDT AUG 20 — With only one home win on Matchday 1 of the English Premier League (EPL), courtesy of Manchester City last Monday, will we see home sweet home perhaps on Matchday 2? If you are a Spurs fan, then the answer must surely be "Most likely, yet unfortunately", tradition suggests three points will be dropped at Old Trafford. This despite the injury-hit defence, for Manchester United had encountered problems of the same nature or worse in previous seasons too. I still remember the Michael Carrick-Darren Fletcher central defensive partnership from a couple of seasons ago. Certainly the natural centre-back pairing of Jonny Evans and Phil Jones will provide more solidity in front of David de Gea. But is de Gea, the new Robert Green or is he the heir apparent to Heurelho "Ho Ho Ho" Gomes, who will be standing between the posts for Spurs. The Red Devils will want to protect their goalkeeper on his Old Trafford debut to prevent his career being curtailed early. The game of the week is surely at The Emirates with Arsenal looking a little shorn of ideas in midfield. The departure of Cesc Fabregas came a season too late as his unhappiness eventually distracted the squad and laid seeds of doubt in the players' minds. Add to that, the ongoing saga of Samir Nasri, who is hoping to leave as well. However, such talk has shifted the spotlight onto Thomas Rosicky and Andrei Arshavin, two of their less-consistent performers, but just as talented footballers, last season. The biggest question is if Theo Walcott is ever going to be a true premiership class players never mind world class. This is a big season for Walcott to build his career upon by being more consistent and imaginative. The Reds played very well for 60 minutes against Sunderland but pressure on the defence forced the midfield to be bypassed in search of relief and with Lucas and Charlie Adam too deep to win the second ball, the Black Cats chanced upon an apparent weakness. King Kenny could do with a younger pair of central defenders. Still, we will expect a good game of football if Luis Suarez has anything to do with it. The EPL looks too easy for him and no surprise then that another South American striker too made his debut look like a stroll in the park. The introduction of Kun Aguero galvanised Manchester City and to see a top class striker make an effortless transition is like music. After the huff and puff of Carlos Tevez's performances, it is great to see the difference genuine world-class strikers make. It is Bolton next for Aguero and quite an interesting clash as two teams with full points and four goals respectively between them promise more fun and games. Now, let me take a moment to offer my heartiest congratulations to Tan Sri Tony Fernandes for taking over Queen's Park Rangers. His new club's visit to Goodison Park for Everton's first match of the season (since their match against Spurs last weekend was postponed) should see a buoyant performance after the thrashing at the hands of Bolton. There are big questions to be answered but Tone is tailor-made for making and taking big decisions. Down at Villa Park, the Villans should not be unduly worried as little then a month ago they beat Blackburn Rovers in Hong Kong in the Premier Asia Trophy. Although, I think they could do well to keep an eye on Mauro Formica. The Argentinean has got the style and an eye for a pass quite like Kaka and will be the key for the Rovers not to lose two in a row. There seems to be more promise this weekend and it could well all kickoff the EPL season for real after a slightly false start last weekend. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2011 04:55 PM PDT AUG 20 — With the new English Premier League season less than a week old, there are already ominous signs for the newly-promoted clubs with Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and Swansea suffering 4-0 thrashings against Bolton and Manchester City in their respective opening day fixtures, and Norwich scraping a 1-1 draw at Wigan. In my estimation, QPR, now owned by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes after Thursday's takeover, have the most to fear and I'd be surprised if the West London club can extend their long-awaited return to the top flight beyond the one solitary season. Even this early into the new campaign, and despite the riches promised by Fernandes, there are serious problems at Loftus Road. Gaining promotion should be, and nearly always is, a joyous, inspiring and entirely positive experience, but Rangers have endured a summer of discontent to lose their momentum and make memories of last season's title-winning campaign recede into the distance. In fact, the influx of negativity around the club started before the end of last season, which saw Rangers stutter into the Premier League by winning just one of their last five games. A particularly sour note came in March, when their impending promotion was threatened by an investigation into their signing of Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin. It was alleged that Rangers had breached "third party ownership" rules and, although they were eventually fined rather than deducted points, the saga certainly put a dampener on their promotion celebrations. The problems continued into the summer, with battle-hardened veteran manager Neil Warnock regularly intimating that he expected to be sacked due to the board's supposed desire to install a higher profile name. For now, Warnock's job has remained safe — but it would be a bold man who wagered anything on him remaining in place until the end of the season. Similarly questionable is the future of Rangers' most talented creative player, Adel Taraabt. The volatile but gifted former Spurs trainee, who won the Championship's player of the year award last season, was heavily linked with a move to Paris St Germain that ultimately failed to transpire, but it would be no surprise if he heads elsewhere before the end of August — or when the transfer window reopens in January. Further disquiet was caused amongst supporters when ticket prices were subjected to a huge increase for the new campaign, making Loftus Road one of the most expensive venues to visit in the Premier League — despite possessing probably the worst facilities out of all top flight stadia. The new ticket prices were probably a contributory factor to the attendance of just over 15,000, well below capacity, for the opening fixture against Bolton. With all that bad stuff going on, the last thing Rangers needed was to endure further demoralisation by suffering a home thumping in their first game, but that's exactly what happened last weekend when they capitulated to a 4-0 loss against experienced Premier League campaigners Bolton. Now they need to bounce back quickly, starting with today's tricky trip to Everton — the optimism generated by Fernandes' arrival could quickly dissipate unless results improve soon. Despite suffering a similarly heavy 4-0 thrashing in their opening fixture at Manchester City, fellow new boys Swansea City can be far more upbeat about their chances of survival. The Welsh club can take genuine solace in the fact that they won't face many tougher tests all season than their opening day trip to the Etihad Stadium, and there was plenty of encouragement to be garnered from the way they passed the ball in the opening 20 minutes on Monday night. My fear for the Swans is their lack of physicality. The biggest single difference between the Championship and the Premier League is the strength, power and speed of nearly every player, and Swansea's squad does look lightweight in purely physical terms. They pass the ball superbly and possess some wonderfully talented footballers in Leon Britton, Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer, but all four of them are notably small in stature and may find themselves bullied out of games by more experienced Premier League opponents — just as they were following their bright start against City. Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers, a former colleague of mine at Reading, is an ambitious, intelligent and astute coach who spent four years on the coaching staff at Chelsea and therefore fully understands the mental and physical demands of the Premier League. Until now Rodgers has insisted that Swansea will not compromise their style of play, with its emphasis on controlled passing, but he's too clever not to realise that his team may have to modify their approach if they are to retain their status — especially away from home. Swansea's home form will be crucial. Their proud and boisterous fans are guaranteed to create a magnificent atmosphere inside the Liberty Stadium, and it could just be that their purist footballing approach will yield sufficient points on home turf to keep them safe. Today's home opener against Wigan (managed by former Swansea boss Roberto Martinez) will be a fascinating starting point. The other top flight newcomers are Norwich City, and I'm prepared to be more honest than many pundits by admitting that I don't know much about them. Unlike QPR, the Canaries are bursting with momentum after gaining two successive promotions and their relatively unknown squad of players, which contains very little Premier League experience, will be desperate to prove themselves as capable performers at this level. That kind of hunger can often be a recipe for success, and will give Norwich the best possible chance of surviving. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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