Arsenal Clobbered
March 24, 2014
Mourinho has been coy in denying that Chelsea are the favorites to win the English Premier League title in 2014 but their clobbering of Arsenal 6-0 demonstrates that they are on target to be triumphant in 2014. Liverpool and Manchester City must be considered as serious contenders.
Liverpool beat Cardiff City this weekend but once again they gave up three goals in their 5-3 victory. Suarez and Sturridge were the potent combination that we expect of them. Between them they scored three goals, Suarez 2 and Sturridge 1 and Skrtel, the central defender, scored a brace, making him one of the difficult defenders in the EPL to mark on set plays.
Wenger’s team are more pretenders than they are contenders. Manchester City destroyed them 6-3, and Liverpool also hammered the Gunners 5-1. One would expect a contender facing a contender, that it would be a hard fought game, not a walk in the park.
Arsenal has been hurt by injuries. Ozil, Wilshere, Ramsey and Walcott are in the recovery room. Nonetheless, Wenger has failed to put together a solid mid-field. Arteta is not a top class defensive mid-fielder and Oxlade Chamberlin can play behind the center-forward but he is not a bonafide mid-field player.
Alex Song has been gone for two years and he has not been replaced. Wenger made a lame attempt to acquire the Brazilian, Luis Gustavo when he was leaving Bayern Munich but he signed with Wolfsburg as Arsenal could not meet his terms.
Wenger has too many would-be playmakers – Cazorla, Wilshere, Ozil, Rosicky and Oxlade Chamberlin. This shows a lack of building astuteness.
Arsenal is standing still, marking time, good against mediocre teams but falling apart when faced with top opposition. Wenger has had a long career with great success in his early years but if Arsenal is going to move forward, they need to enter the post-Wenger age.
The El Classico in La Liga `Barcelona came through with a 4-3 victory over Real Madrid. We were treated to some spectacular football as the game see-sawed as both teams exchanged temporary dominance.
There was no shortage of talent on the pitch. Barcelona had Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar, Messi and Busquets. Real Madrid was arrayed with Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, di Maria, Alonso and Marcelo.
It is perplexing why a top team like Barcelona has failed to acquire a top flight central defender to shore up their defense rather than using the converted defensive mid-fielder, Mascherano as a converted central defender. Benzema hurt them in the air as Mascherano could not cope with the Frenchman’s leaping ability.
Ronaldo failed to place his stamp on the game. Messi scored two penalties and another from the field. The player for Barcelona was Iniesta who opened the scoring for Barcelona and late in the second half was fouled in the penalty box.
Neymar looked dangerous and it was his breakaway that forced Sergio Ramos to take him down and to deny a goal scoring opportunity. Ramos was sent off as this absurd rule was invoked.
Barcelona’s victory tightens the race and Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona will slug it out for the remainder of the season. La Liga is no longer a two club title race. There is now a third horse and a couple more would make the La Liga closer to the competitive state of the English Premier League.
Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks
