RSS
Home
EPL discussion and the Tevez issue
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
AP Photo/Ernst Norde
Okay, apologies – after spending the last few days in Berlin, there shouldn’t be any more huge gaps like that one. On the German football front, I was unfortunately denied a tour of Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) because of some sort of press conference, so that was unfortunate. But hey, at least I got the postcard.
You have to love the pace that Liverpool and Chelsea are setting thus far, especially after the Reds’ 3-2 victory dashed the hopes of the revamped Manchester City club who had stormed out to a 2-0 lead. You keep waiting for Liverpool to start their normal collapse, but so far they look great. With Fernando Torres back in form, this team is set for a run (but that’s no different than similar squads they’ve had who have faded out).
Manchester City, meanwhile, is learning a tough lesson that massive spending doesn’t bring results straightaway. They’ve now lost their past two Premier League games, although they were able to claim a 2-1 UEFA Cup win at home on Thursday to advance to the group stages. The Liverpool game could have been a big statement, but instead it’s turned into one huge “what if.”
They’ll have to learn the Chelsea lesson that big spending doesn’t cure all – but big spending over several consecutive years certainly can.
Meanwhile, Hull City continues to impress (alone in third with 14 points), and I should be attending Nov. 1’s Man United/Hull matchup, which is looking more enticing every week. If they can win at the Emirates, who is to say that Old Trafford will escape their hot streak?
The last Premier League topic to throw out there comes from Manchester United’s 2-0 win away against Blackburn on Saturday. There’s no doubt that Wayne Rooney is starting to find his form, as he’s scored in each of his past three games.
The question is where Carlos Tevez will be fitting into this lineup with Dimitar Berbatov up front now. Tevez played some beautiful football during the first month of the season while Rooney seemed to struggle at times, but he has now started only one of United’s past five games. There was talk earlier in the season about signing the Argentinean to a long-term deal, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be excited about such a move now.
What do you think, should Tevez be finding a spot in United’s starting lineup? Would you rather have Tevez or Rooney in the long run? And does Liverpool have the squad to make a deep run this year?
