BPL - Week 1 - Contd.....

In the last blog, the game between Aston Villa and Fulham was not commented on. I guess it suffice just to say that it was intentional.

The usual suspects, Rooney and Nani were good as well as the new boys - Young and Jones.

David De Gea will be the only reason, compounded with a reasonably new defense, that will be Manu's undoing this season. Otherwise they are still the favorites in my book.

Patrice Evra was missed at leftback....... Surprising how much difference a good leftback makes to the overall makeup of the team. If Evra and Ashley Cole stay fit, then they are the best 2 in the league and they will make a huge difference in the title decision.

The Baggies have come a long way over the past year.... i was very impressed with Tchoyi and the new boy Shane Long. And they have Odemwingie yet to start.... They will comfortably finish mid table..... with a little luck perhaps higher ........

Mancity will be in the next blog ..............

BTW a big thanks to the guys at fantasy.premierleague.com for providing us with a boost of free transfers and other freebies due to the site problems at their end on Saturday........

Barclays Premier League 2011-2012 : Opening day

Amazing week to start with, considering that the whole fixture was list in jeopardy due to unruly events in Britain in the preceding weeks. But the entertainment once started lived upto it's hype !!.

Main points -

1) Not a single home win on opening day.

2) Jaded liverpool with too many people in midfield and most of them often bumping into each other. One thing i have learnt through personal experience is that for a team, and i mean any team, to be successful, it is utmost crucial that every team member knows exactly what he needs to do and what is expected out of him. That was missing in the liverpudlian midfield. Hope it comes soon to make the race at the top interesting.
BTW the Larsson goal was a sublime volley... something that was maybe expected from one of the liverpool players.....

3) Bolton thrashing tyros QPR. But they were too good last season till the last 10 or so games where they went AWOL. QPR have a loooooooong season ahead of them.

4) Wigan will also have a loooong season ..... maybe their last, with all due credit to Roberto Martinez. (Personally, he should have taken the Villa Job, I doubt he would have got anything better). For the Canaries, the verdict is still out..... The draw against Latics should not be taken as a bench mark for things to come.

5) Chelsea are going nowhere unless they buy Modric.... period. It seems they have all the ingredients for a good team except for a creator / schemer in midfield....

Another thing i had noticed last season when they were demolishing opponents was that Ashley Cole was getting forward a lot and swinging crosses in and when that stopped halfway through the season, maybe when Ray Wilkins left, from then on he did not get forward and so did Chelsea.... but then this was just my innocent observation and not something that Andre Vilas-Boas is going to read or take note off.

Finally the sooner Sturridge, Romeu, McEachran, Kakuta and Benayoun start playing it will be better for the Blues in the long run.

With all due respect to the established Chelsea players, the team is missing the "Youth Factor".

Potters keep getting better each year and i am desperately waiting for year they start playing football ...............

6) Then comes the incident(s) of the opening day ...... yes the el classico of premier league - Geordies v/s Gooners !!.

No Cesc, no Nasri and no Jo(e)y for Arsenal !!.

Gervinho was lively... too lively perhaps..... with step-overs, mazy runs and perhaps a dive or two !! And of course, Joey Barton can look forward to a career in Anger Management counse...... oops, i meant acting. But the good thing is that once Gervinho starts clicking then he is going to have a bagful of goals to show for this season.