Believe It, Arsenal Are League
Contenders Than United
Arsenal’s amazing run of form has got people asking the big question: can they really win the Premier League this season?
The answer is simple. They can.
It’s always difficult to predict the number of points needed to win the title, but with Manchester City having problems away from home, Chelsea failing to hit the ground running and united in a bit of a mess, Arsenal will be there right till the end.
The big question mark for them is their numbers. Do they have enough quality players in the squad to last the distance?
Their problems in the past have almost always come against the big teams: they simply haven’t won enough matches against potential title rivals.
But it’s their ability to win games this season that has been hugely impressive. They’ve just got so much forward-thinking talent that they’re grabbing wins where they might not have done so in previous seasons. They’ve now won eight Premier League games in a row away from home, and that’s a fantastic record in anyone’s book.
The match against Swansea on Saturday was a perfect example. The game was going nowhere, but then their big players stepped up and bang, bang, bang, the game was over. Any team who have the ability to do that consistently will always be title contenders.
Mesut Ozil is a huge part of that, and his role in the second goal against Swansea illustrated it perfectly. He picked up the ball and there was an obvious pass down the line.
He ignored it, and cut inside, and that changed the game. If he’d gone for the pass, Swansea had the situation covered. Instead, he did something completely different, opening up the play by going the other way, and immediately it looked as if Arsenal would score
Ozil is extremely gifted, and though we’ve got some great number 10s in the league he’s probably the best of the lot right now. He was a unique talent even before he joined Real Madrid, and he’s certainly no worse now. And almost the most amazing thing is that he’s still only 24.
Arsene Wenger must be hugely excited to have him in his side, and I hope the success of the signing has made him realise just what can be gained by spending big money. Bringing exciting young talent in is all well and good, but sometimes there’s no substitute for the finished article – and that’s exactly what Ozil is.
Not that the Gunners don’t have problems to solve still, since a couple of injuries would change everything. They could really do with another centre-half, despite Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny combining well this season. Thomas Vermaelen has had several injury problems over the last few years and I’m not sure he’ll ever get back to the level he used to be at.
And of course, they are desperate – absolutely desperate – for a centre forward. I see Bendtner is back in the matchday squad but they’ve been down that road before and know he’s not the answer.
How they managed not to sign Gonzalo Higuain over the summer I’ll never know… That could be an expensive one. They needed him, and simply didn’t do enough. It’s a mistake that might end up costing them the title.
That’s the problem when you’re suffering from a lack of depth in the squad. Maybe Wenger will be hoping that their success in the league so far will help them sign a big player in January. But realistically, is there a striker out there who’ll be both good enough and willing to move half-way through the season?
So if you gave me a free £10 bet today on who was going to win the Premier League, it wouldn’t go on Arsenal. I can’t get away from Manchester City as likely champions. That win over United in the derby was far and away the best performance we’ve seen from any side so far this season. If that’s the level they can reach, they’ll be unstoppable if they can find the consistency they’re lacking right now.
As for Manchester United, this weekend they’ve gone from bad to worse. I’m starting to look at their players and wonder who, if any of them, would even get into the team at one of the other title contenders. Who would City take, for example?
Fergie left David Moyes a very mediocre squad. Last season they managed to paper over the giant cracks between Rio Ferdinand at the back and Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney up front, but they’re not going to pull that off this time.
It makes you wonder about the reports in the papers on Monday, with Ferguson apparently having warned Moyes not to axe the back-room staff.
When Moyes decided to appoint his own coaches it seemed an excellent move; after all, the big thing for him was to establish himself as his own man at Old Trafford. But it seems like he took the cull too far: losing key guys like Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan is something that he’s probably going to regret.
In their place Moyes has brought in ex-players like Phil Neville, and Ryan Giggs has been given a coaching role too. That’s fine in itself, but not at the expense of experience. I’ve talked before about how Moyes is inexperienced at this level – but so are his coaches. In these tough times what he needs is a backroom full of experienced football men. And that’s exactly what he is missing.
Heartland Players Meet Okorocha
Over Sign-on Fee Today
…Insists on No Pay, No Play
With only four games to the end of 2012/13 Nigerian Professional Football League season, Heartland players have decided to take the bull by its horn in collecting their entitlements both for the past and current season.
Reports reaching Trumpeta sports desk indicate that the players will this morning have a serious discussion with the number citizen of the State, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okoroch at the Government House where they will table their grievances concerning their entitlements which has long been overdue.
The players who refused to turn up for their usual morning training session yesterday stormed the Douglas House, Owerri were its reported they met with the Chief of Staff, Government House, Sir Jude Ejiogu who apparently arranged for their meeting with the Governor himself as the matter at hand seemed to be beyond his office.
It will be recalled that the players had before their week 34 NPFL encounter with ABS FC in Ilorin, embarked on a warning strike pressing for their over 10 match bonus and their sign-fees including some part of last season and about 75% of this season.
The Naze-Millionairse are currently in the 12th position on the log with 46 points and are billed to take on Sharks fc of Port Harcourt in a week 36 encounter of the Npfl.
Meanwhile, the current situation and the stand of the players concerning the deaf ears the authorities have been paying to their entitlements; the team may for the first time boycott their league game against Sharks fc.
“My brother the suffering has been too much for us to bear, how can we be toiling only to be hearing promises upon promises with empty stomach?
“Most of us are bread winners in our families and we have to meet our demands at the end of the day, so we have decided that if we don’t get our money, they will be no match, “one of the players said.
If the threat of the players sees the light of the day, it therefore means the club will be going on relegation for the first time since their history.
The team won the Federation cup back-to-back in 2011/12 but has lost 3 home games and drawn 2 this season, which has placed them at the verge of going on regulation if the ugly situation is no arrested.
NPFL To End October 20
…As Enyimba Intensify for League Crown in Ijebu-Ode
The League Management Company (LMC) has announced that the Nigeria league will now end on October 20 against the earlier date of October 13.
The LMC effected changes in the earlier released amended fixtures which were necessitated by the decisions of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) organizing and disciplinary committee (O and D) on various cases arising from league games.
A statement from the office of the LMC chief operating officer Salihu Abubakar read: “In view of the appeals received from some of the clubs on the decisions of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and the need for us to have smooth ending of the season, matches of the Glo Premier League are now to be played as follows – Matches of Week 35 will now be played on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 with Week 36 matches slated to be played on Saturday, October 12. Week 37 matches will hold on Wednesday, October 16, and the season-ending matches of Week 38 will be decided on Sunday, October 20.
“The new schedules took into consideration the Super Eagles World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia, which has been scheduled for October 13 to free the day for Nigerians to focus on the game.”
Meanwhile, Enyimba, who have already clichéd the Nigeria FA Cup, the Federation Cup, lead the 20-team table with 58 points from 34 matches.
The top two teams will represent Nigeria at next year’s CAF Champions League, while the third-placed club will feature in the Confederation Cup.
Nigeria league leaders Enyimba have set up a training camp in Ijebu-Ode ahead of Wednesday’s Week 35 clash against hosts 3SC.
Enyimba lead the table with 58 points, while 3SC are second from bottom with 42 points and set to drop to the lower league by season’s end.
Enyimba are poised for a league and cup double and they are not leaving anything to chance as they also trained in Benin City before they moved to Ijebu Ode.
Enyimba forward Chimezie Amanfor told MTNFootball.com they are going for victory against 3SC.
“I know 3SC will fight hard to get victory, but we are going there for victory that will make us move closer to the title. We are equal to the task,” Amanfor revealed.
EPL RESULTS WEEK 6
Man Utd 1 2 West Brom
Tottenham 1 1 Chelsea
Swansea 1 2 Arsenal
Aston Villa 3 2 Man City
Sunderland 1 3 Liverpool
Stoke City 0 1 Norwich
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (1/10/13)
Basel — Schalke 04
S Bucuresti — Chelsea
Arsenal — Napoli
B/Dortmund — Marseille
Zenit — Austria Wien
FC Porto — A/Madrid
Ajax — AC Milan
Cetltic — Barcelona
2/10/31
B/Leverkusen — R/Sociedad
Shakhtar — Man United
Juventus — Galatasaray
R/Madrid — FC Copenhagen
Anderlecht — Olympiakos
PSG — Benfica
CSKA Moscow — Viktora Plzen
Man City — B/Munich
NPFL WEEK 36 GAMES 2/10/13
Sharks fc — Heartland
3SC — Enyimba
Sunshine — Rangers
ABS fc — Nasarawa Utd
Akwa Utd — Nembe City
Bayelsa Utd — Warri Wolves
Wikki T — Kaduna Utd
Kano Pillars — Kwara Utd
Lobi Stars — Gombe Utd
El Kanemi — Dolphins
Emma Okewuluon’s Cup
Umuezeala 2 0 Umunumo
Okata 2 2 Atonerim
Ehume 5 1 Umunachi
