A Question of Centimetres
Way, way back in March 1983, when haircuts were judged on quantity, not quality, Roma President Dino Viola complained to the press that his side’s 2-1 loss to Juventus in Serie A was “a question of centimeters” following a controversial offside decision. The next day, Juve President Giampiero Boniperti duly sent Viola a ruler in the post.
Louis van Gaal could really have done with Viola’s ruler on Sunday, not to measure offsides, but the height of his defenders. In the aftermath of Robin van Persie’s dramatic last minute equalizer in Man United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the Dutchman claimed: “I predicted that they would score from a corner kick [which Chelsea duly did] before the game, because they are 10 cm taller than us.”
Didier Drogba soared above Rafael to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead in the 54'. (Photo:@thehazardtouch | Twitter)
All of which begs the question: why was Rafael (1.72m) marking Didier Drogba (1.88m and one of the deadliest headers in world football) at set pieces? It was another damning indictment of the distinct lack of quality and organization within The Red Devils’ defensive line, an all-too predictable consequence of their top-heavy transfer activity in the summer. United have employed eight different centre back combinations in nine Premier League fixtures this season, while Chelsea have used just one (John Terry and Gary Cahill).
Although van Persie’s 90th minute strike unsurprisingly grabbed the headlines, de Gea deserves the plaudits for United extracting a point from this tie. He continues to bail out a team for which defense is a secondary concern. Edward Woodward would do well to reward his young Spaniard with both a new contract and a couple of solid defensive signings come January.
Scraping the Barrel
Brendan Rodgers has taken some heat for Liverpool's formation which resulted in a 0-0 tie to Hull at Anfield. (Photo:@br_uk | Twitter)Brendan Rodgers has taken some heat for Liverpool's formation which resulted in a 0-0 tie to Hull at Anfield. (Photo:@br_uk | Twitter)
"They're a team that have scored two goals away at the Emirates and scored two away at Newcastle already this season. For us to keep the clean sheet was important.”
If you were presented with that quote from Brendan Rodgers with no idea of when he said it or to whom he was referring, which team would you guess was the object of his musings? Chelsea? Manchester City? Real Madrid?
No, it was of course the mighty Hull City Tigers, a club that has spent fewer than four seasons in its entire history within the Premier League, and made the trip to Merseyside with a solitary striker and a loaded defense.
Well done Brendan, you kept a clean sheet against Hull. At Anfield. And you still didn’t win.
In completely unrelated news, Liverpool are thought to be considering the sale of Mario Balotelli to Napoli in January for $10M less than they paid just less than three months ago.
Bargain Basement
The 2014 summer transfer window saw a record $1.4B spent on players by Premier League clubs, as bumper shirt sponsorships and a new domestic TV licensing deal kicked in. Manchester United spent over $240M and Liverpool nearly $200M, while the EPL welcomed such luminaries of the world game as Alexis Sanchez ($50M), Diego Costa ($50M), Angel Di Maria ($100M) and Radamel Falcao ($100M+, potentially) into the English fold.
How ironic it is, then, that the most transformative signings of the season so far were largely sourced from world football’s bargain basement. Southampton’s Dusan Tadic (7 EPL assists, 1 EPL goal) and Graziano Pelle (6 goals in 9) cost roughly $15M each; West Ham’s Diafra Sakho (6 goals in 6, including the winning strike against Man City this weekend) cost a meagre $8M, while Gylfi Sigurdsson (7 assists, 1 goal) cost Swansea Ben Davies, a product of their youth system.
Impressive scrimping, so far as spending millions of dollars can be considered miserly. But the Premier League’s scroungers are blown out of the water by Championship (one division below the EPL) side Ipswich Town, who sit just two points outside of the playoff places with a first team squad assembled for the princely sum of $16,000.
Once is Misfortune, Twice is Carelessness
To miss an open goal at the first attempt is unfortunate. To miss again at the second time of asking is downright woeful.
Did Esteban Cambiasso not get the memo on Nigel Pearson?
Flying High, For Now
Southampton has been just one of the many surprises this EPL season. They're second in scoring with 20 goals, which only trails Chelsea's 23. (Photo:@squawka | Twitter)Southampton has been just one of the many surprises this EPL season. They're second in scoring with 20 goals, which only trails Chelsea's 23. (Photo:@squawka | Twitter)
Speaking of teams operating on modest budgets, it continues to be a wonderfully varied start to the season, with more surprise packages than a night out in Bangkok. Southampton sit second, West Ham fourth and Swansea sixth, but how sustainable are their current achievements? While their league positions are impressive, their point tallies are less so. Last season, after nine games, Swansea’s 14 points would have been good enough for 9th, West Ham’s 16 points would have them 8th, while Southampton’s 19 points would have them in 4th. Of the three, only West Ham have recorded a victory (admittedly twice) against one of last year’s top 6 finishers.
In short, we’ll be mightily impressed if any of the three are still in the top six by the end of the year.
Buried at the Bottom of the Page
Dear Alan Pardew, following Newcastle’s 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane, The18 would like to apologize for suggesting that, based on recent history, your team would be steamrollered by Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
We were wrong, but you were lucky: only 33% of possession and two goals from just two shots on target.
