Power 6 Hours of Footy after dinner. Thats’ whats up.
What a day to black out news. January 31st. Transfer Deadline.
So young Ravel joins West Ham. I could not think of a better destination, considering a move was inevitable. He’s a great talent, but also a raving lunatic who has beat his own mother. His playing for the reserves was outstanding, but never really got to show us anything in the first team due to limited experiences. It’s hard for any man to show what you’ve got in 10 minutes of a dying game when your teammates are simply interested in keeping the ball and not conceding. So he goes, and so does his ego, and his talent. Big Sam is a perfect boss to give him a strong hand, and West Ham is a great place to foster his talent as a young Englishman. Best of luck Ravel. We hardly knew ye. Buckle down and focus on soccer, you nut.
His counterpart Pogba looks set to stay. Fucking agents keep messing with these players, and his turnover of agents certainly does not help. What was great was his 15 minute cameo today. He looked incredibly comfortable, passed with accuracy and flair, and put in some strong tackles. Nothing more to ask, and I’m simply excited for him to develop more this season. If he stays, its evident that he will have a big future with us. And unlike his former midfield teammate, he is not clinically insane.
Once again due to my fatigue and inability for coherent composition of thoughts, I will defer to the list method. Inevitably, United will be the subject of the first several:
1) United playing Scholes (who is now 95% back to pre-retirement Scholes), Park, and Carrick will not lose the ball, even with a rampant Palacios running around. The midfield was so commanding and flawless, it wasn’t even funny.
2) Young Ben Amos might have to start for us regularly. His handling wasn’t good at all, but his presence in the box is more commanding than De Gea. As much I like David De Gea, I prefer talent out of Carrington. If potential is the same between the three goalkeepers we have, I prefer the kid whose lived at the ground since he was 9.
3) Ironically, our best transfer of the season was Darron Gibson, who opened up the title race for us. His shot was classic Gibbo too. The guy was average at everything else, but he could always strike a ball.
4) Pogba’s 15 minute cameo was the third most encouraging 15 minutes of the Manchester United season thus far. The first was Cleverley, the second was Big Phil.
5) Most EPL teams outside United, Chelsea, City, Arsenal, and Liverpool pay scouts an average of 20,000 per week for scouts to find them talent. David Moyes obtained a free copy of Football Manager from Sports Interactive and found Denis Andrés Stracqualursi, one of the really few players that I’ve looked upon and said, who the hell is that guy? He looked fantastic against City. He trapped well, played in his teammates well, and harassed Kompany. Not bad for a loan signing from Tigre. Considering that Moyes has worked on a tremendously limited budget, his ability to find bargain talent is incredible. Incidentally, the one other player that I had never heard of when he signed for an EPL team was Apostolos Vellios, a Moyes signing this year.
6) Liverpool his a stride. I’ve been screaming for the Scum to play Bellamy. Now that he plays week in and week out, his form is outstanding, and is undroppable at this point. Congratulations to Andy Carroll for finally scoring.
7) Tottenham is becoming much too reliant on Gareth Bale, who seems to have adjusted to his right flank role. Most games it looks like he is swapping flanks at will, and it certainly worked to good effect today. He has added attacking runs to his game as compared to the past two seasons, and its paying off in goals.
8) Swansea should have really beat Chelsea today. Its such a shame. Credit to David Luiz who made a good goal line clearance today. Always good to see a rejected player play against the club that rejected him. Sinclair had a good game, but as always I feel Dyer did the bulk of the impressive work. Bosingwa’s equalizer was a garbage deflection and I feel very sorry for the ever excellent Michael Vorm.
9) It looks like Jack Wilshere will be out much longer than the anticipated short return forecasted by Wenger in December. Its too bad. We need all the best talent in the EPL, and his loss for Arsenal certainly marks a big gap in talent that could have grace this league. All the best to his recovery.
10) Tottenham sends out Pav to Stuttgart, thank god, and signs Saha on a loan deal. What a great move. Saha is a better striker, and Pav’s warming of the bench is becoming embarassing to people not even affiliated with the club. Redknapp and Levy are often made fun of, but one thing that they are is wise with money. At least in recent seasons.
11) Zamora joins QPR, which I think is a mistake. Zamora hasn’t had the best form, but part of that has to be on Jol. As much respect as I have for Martin Jol, I think Zamora’s direct style can still pay dividends for Fulham. Ruiz is too soft to play up front on his own, and Andy Johnson is a speedster, not a target man. Considering Dempsey is not much of a hustler of the ball, having Zamora use his physicality to bring the ball down for his teammates can be an asset. Ask Hodgson’s side of 2010…Having said this, 5 million pounds for mid-table player on the wrong side of 30 is not a bad deal.
12) John Terry’s trial is rescheduled until after Euros, which infuriates me. I support England wholeheartedly, and having John Terry is a great asset, but justice must be served. If Luis Suarez got such swift retribution for his actions, Terry deserves no mercy. This sheds a bad light on the league because we are sending mixed signals about our way of dealing with alleged racism. We are treating Englishmen in one way, and foreigners in another. We are also sending the message that we give quarter to established England internationals, but not foreign internationals. These only serve to damage the reputation of the league and I do feel very aggrieved about the decision. Particularly considering the postponement concerns England’s Euro squad.
12) Arsenal rejects loaning out of Park. The guy who has played maybe 2 league games. This is incredibly idiotic.They have loaned out Miyaichi to Bolton, which will definitely be a good move for the youngster. The young Japanese kid is a really good talent, and Bolton will tough him up as they toughed up a frail Wilshire.
13) A makeshift center defense consisting of 5’8”, just returned from injury, right back, 30 year old Tony Hibbert, and a 5’11 defensive midfielder Johnny Heitinga kept out Silva, Nas, Dzeko, Aguero, and Adam Johnson. City is not as impregnable as everyone thinks they are. Hit them in the right spots, stifle the midfield, and anyone, particularly an EPL team, has a credible shot. And for our sake, I pray teams hit them hard now.
So thats it for now. Maybe ill add some more tomorrow.
But the message Everton sends to everyone in our beloved league is that City is beatable. It just takes vigilance and defensive determination. So do us some favors fellow leaguers.
The Beautiful Game 