Man U win a thriller over Celtic, EPL picks and thoughts
Man U 3 -2 Celtic
Man U will be take the result, but I think there are some ominous signs looking forward:
- They lost Giggs to injury and revealed Park will be out for several months.
- Scholes and Rooney both looked really rusty. Rooney will shake that off, but you never know with aging players like Scholes exactly what level of play they will produce. Scholes did have a pretty assist to Saha for the second goal.
- SAF is still sticking with Darren Fletcher, a player who should start for a side like Blackburn, but is not up to snuff in the midfield for an EPL title contender. With above injuries, there are still real questions in the middle, despite the addition of Carrick.
- The defense looked terrible, especially on crosses into the box. Just slack.
Positives:
- Saha was rampant and I think looks the part this year. He still squandered some great chances, but he created so much with his athleticism and work rate up front. I think a Rooney/Saha partnership with Solskjaer coming off the bench will be great. Solskjaer got the winner in typical poachers fashion, smartly hustling to clean up on another Saha break away miss to give United the 3 points.
- In the first half I thought Man U looked really soft on tackles and Celtic was repeatedly winning 50/50 balls. With the scored tied 1-1, Carrick finally got stuck in on a tackle, won the ball, fed Scholes, who fed Saha for the go-ahead goal. Thought that play changed the match.
I think Celtic will be pleased with their performance, as they certainly showed that they belong on the pitch with a top English side, and I think could have easily gotten something from this match.
Celtic goalie Arto Boruc was outrageous and my man of the match. It is rare that a keeper conceding 3 goals played so well, but he was not at fault on any goal and made an array of first class saves.
Gravesen suffered through an awful 2nd half with repeated giveaways - one leading to Man U's 3rd goal. (Graveson did almost score the equalizer in 78th, but was denied on a great save by Van der Saar.) I still think Graveson and Lennon will prove dominant in the SPL and perhaps give Celtic an outside chance for some CL success after some embarassing showings over the last few years.
Nakamura looked quite good - nice touches and composure and a gorgeous direct kick goal that left Van der Saar frozen.
Tommy Smyth was far less irritating today and I agreed with his comments re: the terrible PK call and Rooney's sub-par perfromance. The Giggs PK call was awful. Ref Lubos Michel was right on top of play as well, which made it even more shocking.
Tommy lowlight: re: Celtics' JvH: "He may have the longest name in football, 23 letters, but he knows how to put it away." Huh?
Other CL news:
Rosicky did for Arsenal what I said was missing since Pires left - someone to check in off the left and curl in a shot (or drill in Rosicky's case). The Czech provided the clinching goal for Arsenal against Hamburg in a tough opening group match.
Lyon buried Real Madrid 2-0. I am not on the bandwagon that Madrid, despite great additions, will win Spain this year or the CL for that matter. I think Madrid has a better chance in the CL as I think Barca is a special side and will not be caught in La Liga. Also, I would love to see Lyon make a deep run in the CL this year - promising signs - Juninho's devastating free kicks and Fred finishing up front.
Pipo Inzaghi was on target for AC Milan. I have never been a big fan, but I enjoyed this article and agree that AC Milan is a real contender for the CL:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=378931&cc=5901
For this weekend in the EPL, I like Villa to take all 3 points away to Watford. As Bobby McMahon noted, Villa is unrecognizable from last year. They looked fantastic against a tough West Ham and deserved victory.
I also like that O'Neill started Juan Pablo Angel - I think Angel needs a manager to say, "You are my guy - you are starting the next 10 matches no matter what." With Villa creating many more opportunities, I think he will deliver goals this year.
I do not like Baros - the guy has just never been a consistent scorer in the Prem, despite some sparkling form for the Czech Republic. I also think he has terrible vision and often dribbles into corners. His transfer was a colossal overpayment by O'Leary, and I think if he has some strong performances for the Czechs in qualifying, O'Neill would be wise to sell to him to another European side (there has been interest expressed in the past).
I also think Arsenal will give Man U problems this weekend. The Gunners are huge dogs, but I think they have played way under their capabilites thus far, while Man U has sparkled against some mediocre competition early. Man U has looked weak against Spurs and Celtic in their last 2 matches and have a host of injuries. Arsenal had their first solid result against Hamburg and I look for them to build on it.
Man U will be take the result, but I think there are some ominous signs looking forward:
- They lost Giggs to injury and revealed Park will be out for several months.
- Scholes and Rooney both looked really rusty. Rooney will shake that off, but you never know with aging players like Scholes exactly what level of play they will produce. Scholes did have a pretty assist to Saha for the second goal.
- SAF is still sticking with Darren Fletcher, a player who should start for a side like Blackburn, but is not up to snuff in the midfield for an EPL title contender. With above injuries, there are still real questions in the middle, despite the addition of Carrick.
- The defense looked terrible, especially on crosses into the box. Just slack.
Positives:
- Saha was rampant and I think looks the part this year. He still squandered some great chances, but he created so much with his athleticism and work rate up front. I think a Rooney/Saha partnership with Solskjaer coming off the bench will be great. Solskjaer got the winner in typical poachers fashion, smartly hustling to clean up on another Saha break away miss to give United the 3 points.
- In the first half I thought Man U looked really soft on tackles and Celtic was repeatedly winning 50/50 balls. With the scored tied 1-1, Carrick finally got stuck in on a tackle, won the ball, fed Scholes, who fed Saha for the go-ahead goal. Thought that play changed the match.
I think Celtic will be pleased with their performance, as they certainly showed that they belong on the pitch with a top English side, and I think could have easily gotten something from this match.
Celtic goalie Arto Boruc was outrageous and my man of the match. It is rare that a keeper conceding 3 goals played so well, but he was not at fault on any goal and made an array of first class saves.
Gravesen suffered through an awful 2nd half with repeated giveaways - one leading to Man U's 3rd goal. (Graveson did almost score the equalizer in 78th, but was denied on a great save by Van der Saar.) I still think Graveson and Lennon will prove dominant in the SPL and perhaps give Celtic an outside chance for some CL success after some embarassing showings over the last few years.
Nakamura looked quite good - nice touches and composure and a gorgeous direct kick goal that left Van der Saar frozen.
Tommy Smyth was far less irritating today and I agreed with his comments re: the terrible PK call and Rooney's sub-par perfromance. The Giggs PK call was awful. Ref Lubos Michel was right on top of play as well, which made it even more shocking.
Tommy lowlight: re: Celtics' JvH: "He may have the longest name in football, 23 letters, but he knows how to put it away." Huh?
Other CL news:
Rosicky did for Arsenal what I said was missing since Pires left - someone to check in off the left and curl in a shot (or drill in Rosicky's case). The Czech provided the clinching goal for Arsenal against Hamburg in a tough opening group match.
Lyon buried Real Madrid 2-0. I am not on the bandwagon that Madrid, despite great additions, will win Spain this year or the CL for that matter. I think Madrid has a better chance in the CL as I think Barca is a special side and will not be caught in La Liga. Also, I would love to see Lyon make a deep run in the CL this year - promising signs - Juninho's devastating free kicks and Fred finishing up front.
Pipo Inzaghi was on target for AC Milan. I have never been a big fan, but I enjoyed this article and agree that AC Milan is a real contender for the CL:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=378931&cc=5901
For this weekend in the EPL, I like Villa to take all 3 points away to Watford. As Bobby McMahon noted, Villa is unrecognizable from last year. They looked fantastic against a tough West Ham and deserved victory.
I also like that O'Neill started Juan Pablo Angel - I think Angel needs a manager to say, "You are my guy - you are starting the next 10 matches no matter what." With Villa creating many more opportunities, I think he will deliver goals this year.
I do not like Baros - the guy has just never been a consistent scorer in the Prem, despite some sparkling form for the Czech Republic. I also think he has terrible vision and often dribbles into corners. His transfer was a colossal overpayment by O'Leary, and I think if he has some strong performances for the Czechs in qualifying, O'Neill would be wise to sell to him to another European side (there has been interest expressed in the past).
I also think Arsenal will give Man U problems this weekend. The Gunners are huge dogs, but I think they have played way under their capabilites thus far, while Man U has sparkled against some mediocre competition early. Man U has looked weak against Spurs and Celtic in their last 2 matches and have a host of injuries. Arsenal had their first solid result against Hamburg and I look for them to build on it.
posted by the idiot at 12:12 PM
1 Comments:
Yes, good to be back. Couldn't bear to write about Germany beating San Marino 13-0 (which I watched).
This Watford match is a good test to see if Villa was enjoying the new gaffer "bounce" or if this is truly a different side. I believe the latter, and despite Watford being difficult, I think they might lose a little heart from not getting any results from their valiant effort thus far.
I should have couched the Angel comment with the notion that I do not love him - just would start him every time over Baros. Think Angel is more of a poacher and will benefit from more chances/service that I think Villa will create this year.
I find Baros' game juvenile - like kick and chase and head down full-bore. Just never feels like there is a ton of thought to his play.
But, fuck it, I love O'neill and am backing your boys. They just really won me over with that strong match against a very difficult West Ham side. It was mostly dumb luck that cost them victory.
Agree w Booby M re: Carrick - seemed a really promising player last year for Spurs (a bit of a Stevie G. can make things happen feel to his play, albeit in a deeper role). But the transfer price was ridiculous. Just no guarantee he will continue to improve or, even if he does, will justify that price. Its the Intra-Prem transfer inflation. There are no worse deals to be had than those (like Heskey etc).
For Spurs thoughts they are in the Prem Saturday Everton Romp... post. No Lennon for a while is a blow to a team lacking any invention from the midfield. Even w out Bullard (rough blow), would not be surprised to see Fulham get a result at White Hart Lane.
Ill say it agian - Davids has to sit/quit. He is awful now. You saw the Man U/Spurs match - his one produtive play (the feed to send in Dawson I think) came after yet another errant pass luckily bounced back to him. He is making Makelele look like a fine craftsman in distributing passes.
We are in standard agreement re: MAan U has midfield troubles (why I liked Arsenal to trouble them tomorrow, but no Henry or Van P might be a big ask, but not beyond the realm in my view = still betting gunners)
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