The Elano Supremacy

Hi All,
Another weekend of top notch Premier League action has passed by, and it's Elano Blumer who once again catches the eye. The former Shakhtar Donetsk man has been the inspiration behind Man City's excellent ascent to the Champions League positions, and is surely the buy if the season so far (other notable nominees - Santa Cruz, who is a man reborn, Sagna, and Torres).

On recent evidence, one wonders why he spent so long in Brazil, until 2005, before moving to the Ukraine. It was a lucrative move but eventually Sven trusted him to do the business in the Prem. 4 spectacular goals in his first 10 ten games, and 5 assists is a great return.
See his amazing freekick against Newcastle, and against Boro.

He recently gave an interview in The Times and seems an all round nice guy, an (so far) unassuming man who is the Brazilian equivalent of Michael Essien, playing in every position for Santos, bar goal. Inevitably, a player so talented will be subjected to transfer rumours, and it seems to me that City will need to finish in a high position in the table to keep him. Then again, they could give him a massive contract at the end of the season - after all, it worked for Berbatov...

Man City look set for a great season, now how about a striker to liven things up in the top 4?

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The Champions League is back tonight, and after the poor quality football on display in the Internationals, it is a welcome relief. For the neutral there are not many interesting games, on the surface, but there are bound to be some interesting events, as there is always. Arsenal play Slavia Prague at home, in what should be a routine victory. Lassana Diarra has been complaining of not getting playing time (despite playing 2 full matches for France recently) so we may see him come in to anchor the midfield. Also, in his last 2 sub appearances, Walcott has done well, but will Wenger risk him from the start? Eduardo da Silva has a bit to prove after his nondescript showing at the weekend, and a goal here could do his confidence good.

Man Utd play Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, which they seem likely to win if they can be bothered, and the Rangers v Barca tie should be an interesting affair. Barca will want to bounce back after defeat at the weekend, and Ranger's will be buoyed by their stuffing of Celtic (and their 100% record in the CL so far)

Tomorrow: reaction and more previews.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

PS Goodbye Stan, :)

Here's Sissoko, Oh No, Now Marseille Have It....

These Champions League reflections are much easier than predictions, so with ease of mind, I'll get started.
Liverpool - Benitez is assuming the look of a desperate man (and no, I'm not talking about his 'goatee deflecting attention away from fatness' look) and he has started blaming his players outright. The players he bought.

"Everything was wrong" he blubbed, "it is the whole team who played badly". The team you picked, Rafa.

"Today the team was not good enough". "We were not controlling the middle".

It is hard to control the middle when you have the position-insensitive Gerrard buzzing around the place, and Momo Sissoko, the professional footballer for whom the old quote applies - he can control it further than I can kick it. His misery of attempting to control a football was shown last season against Man Utd, when he attempted to solo the ball, but instead kicked it 20 yards up in the sky. Last night he gave another reminder of his ineptiude.

So, tough times for the 'Pool, but they plays Spurs at home next, which should be the perfect chance to get their season back on track, and take the heat off Rafa. And if they can't, what fresh excuse will he dream up?

Man Utd - another lack lustre (like an empty can of pear halves) performance, but another 1-0 win. Roma had good chances to at least draw the game. Nani showed glimpses of his talent in his best game so far, but his play-acting and poor decisions are reminiscent of the old, bad Ronaldo. Anderson's cameo was lively enough, but he looks a bit lightweight yet. United have Wigan at home to continue their run of wins but the absence of Fletcher, Carrick & Hargreaves will probably mean the horror of O'Shea in midfield.

Arsenal - another game, another win, how long will it be before everyone is tipping them for trophies? Doubts remain, but they are cruising so far.

Chelsea - is the old spirit back? No, it's Carvalho. A fantastic player who made vital interceptions and organised the back line well. That John Terry fella looks like a good player with him in tow. Terry and Ferdinand must get together and pray that their co-defenders never get injured again. Sheva must wish he invested in an English teacher rather than make the move to London to learn the language. Nobody missed his witless presence last night.

Celtic - they are short on quality but they held their own against a Milan team who didn't look too bothered about the whole thing until they fell behind. Gave away a ludicrous penalty but fought back well and received their just rewards. They are handicapped by having an extremely annoying, jumped up runt of a manager and idiot supporters who think it's a good thing to run onto the pitch and caress Dida's breast.

Rangers - I thought they'd head to France and get a draw but they surpassed themselves against Lyon. Poor oul Alain Perrin must be feeling the heat over this one. 6 points from 6 for Rangers mean even a spectacular collapse should see them into the UEFA Cup.

So, it's all action this season, it's UEFA Cup time tonight but that won't get interesting until next March, join us from tomorrow morning for the podcast, where, among other things, we hate Jamie Redknapp. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

Paul Robinson & The Rocket

Who's that idiot with a desperate look on his face? Why, it's every opposition's favourite goalkeeper, Paul Robinson. The latest in a list of calamities occurred last night as he dropped a cross, allowing Villa to score. A freekick later exposed his inadequacies further, poor positioning of the wall and himself gave away another soft goal. This man has done more than anyone else to try to lose Jol his job this season and how is he rewarded? Constant selection and the England No. 1 jersey. Tottenham have been a disaster at the back this season, making a mockery of rubbish predictions of 4th place (i.e. mine) but with Lardy Robbo in goal crumbling to pieces at the sight of a cross into the box it is hard to see it getting much better in the short term. Jol should be smart & ruthless and bring Cerny into the team but doesn't it strike you as strange that Robinson has been the most vocal backer of Jol? I wonder why that is....

The Champions League is on tonight and the most interesting encounter is Man Utd vs Roma. Roma have conceded plenty of goals lately (not least a 4-1 loss at home to Inter) but should be a bit more savvy this time round. United's lineup will again be interesting, a miserly defense and flukey 1-0 wins are OK in the opening weeks of the League but I get the feeling that they need to improve quickly to stay in the title race. The loss of form of some players is alarming from United's perspective - Rooney, Tevez, Scholes & Giggs have been poor by their standards, while Ronaldo is in the 'could do better' bracket. They are relying on their defence heavily, and with Hargreaves scheduled to play tonight, I can't see much luck for Roma, and sooner or later, United will click past 2nd gear - unfortunately for neutrals, probably not tonight.

Arsenal are off to Bucharest to play Hagi's former charges in what should be a leisurely stroll while Lyon take on Rangers in a much more interesting match. Rangers got off to a flyer by beating Stuttgart while Lyon took a 3-0 pasting away to Barca. Lyon have had a poor start to the season, not helped by injuries in goal and defence (or by the fact that Alain Perrin, former Pompey 'supremo' is the man in charge). Walter Smith has turned around Rangers and I'm taking a punt on a draw here, with the wonderfully named Jean-Claude ('The Rocket') Darcheville to be fit and throw his considerable weight around.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com