Week 6 Preview: The Biggest Weekend Since Last Weekend

After the drama of last week's Premier League games, this gameweek on paper looks a tad less exciting...

The weekend arguably offers one (maybe two - for the purposes of our preview, anyway!) stand-out game: that being Arsenal v Chelsea. The lunch time kick off on Saturday promises to be an exciting one, and as with Arsenal's game last week is another test of their title credentials. While Chelsea sit top of the table, Arsenal have been the more impressive side this season in many respects. After Chelsea's humbling in the Super Cup by Falcao and co they seem to have struggled and I think that central midfield is where the problem lies. Mikel and Lampard is a very unimpressive duo to sit in front of the defence in my opinion; Mikel has always struggled to live up to his wonderkid tag he got 10 years ago, while Lampard's legs seem to have gone and he is no longer the dynamic force he once was. Lampard appears to be trying to reinvent himself a la Paul Scholes as a defensive playmaker but Chelsea don't need any more playmakers, with the likes of Hazard, Mata, Marin and Moses in their team. Both sides have an identical goal record this season having scored 9 and conceded just 2. However, Arsenal have already played Stoke away, Liverpool away and Man City away while I don't think Chelsea have really had a test this season (sorry QPR fans), so Arsenal's record is a lot more impressive in my view. That said, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 games so Arsenal's forwards will need to have a good day for the Gooners to get a result. Last season there were 8 goals in the 2 matches between these sides but they all came in the first fixture at Stamford Bridge where an RVP inspired Arsenal ran out 5-3 victors. The season before Arsenal won 3-1 but that was their first victory against Chelsea for over 3 encounters - seemingly always Didier Drogba inspired Chelsea as well. Neither side have lost so far this season and expect it to be tense with both sides wanted to avoid defeat first and foremost. For that reason, we're predicting a draw.

Prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea

There promises to be a 'cracking' (Warnock, 2012) West Midlands derby at Villa Park on Sunday when Aston Villa take on West Brom. The home side have not had the best of starts to this season but will be buoyed (and also tired) by the extra time win over Man Citeh on Tuesday night. Encouragingly for Villa, their most potent attacking threats of last season (N'Zogbia, Bent and Agbonlahor) have all netted in the last week which fans will hope will have brought confidence flooding back. WBA have made an outstanding start to the league season, drawing plenty of plaudits with their positive attacking football and resilient defending that has seen them concede less goals than two of the three sides above them, including not at all at home. But they have found points on their travels more difficult to come by, picking up just one so far this year (in fairness, they've only had a possible four points, but they rolled over fairly easily at Fulham). They did, however, win 2-1 at Villa Park last season, their first win there for over thirty years, which will give them hope they can claim something here. Add to this the Paul Lambert footballing ethos and I'm expecting an open game here with a flurry of goals.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 West Brom 

In the Championship the pick of the week is Cardiff v Blackpool. Both sides suffered surprise defeats to Palace (away) and Huddersfield (home) respectively. Of the last 6 matches between these sides half of the games have ended in a draw but impressively Blackpool are unbeaten against Cardiff in their last 5 meetings. Obviously Blackpool also won the biggest fixture in May 2010 emerging 3-2 victors in the play-off final. Both teams have scored in the last 5 fixtures between these 2 teams so if you're a betting man that seems like a decent one (don't blame us when it inevitably doesn't come through though!). Cardiff have been impressive this season though and have won their last 3 home games in the Championship, so this is a tough one to call. However I'm expecting Tom Ince to run the show here and Cardiff to go missing in a big match yet again.

Prediction: Cardiff 1-2 Blackpool

On to our teams then, and at 17:30 on Saturday Old Trafford plays host to Manchester United v Tottenham. United haven't really hit top gear this season yet but they sit in second place, encouragingly. It's well documented that United are unbeaten in their last 26 matches against Tottenham in all competitions and Spurs haven't won at Old Trafford since 1989. Worryingly all the signs point to a United victory - they've won 10 of their last 11 home league games and kept 6 clean sheets in their last 8 home league games. Runs will always come to an end, but given Spurs mediocre start to the season hopefully it will be a narrow win for the Reds.

Crewe face a difficult looking away trip to Stadium:MK, where the home side have only dropped two points so far this season. This has lead the club's PR machine to interview as many players as possible in a week and have them tell the club website how the team will be going to Buckinghamshire 'with no fear'. The Alex, who go into the match on a run of four consecutive draws, have also intriguingly recruited Andy Bond on loan this week from Colchester. Bond is former Railwayman that left the club seven years ago without ever having made an appearance for them!

It's a Brandenburg derby for FC Union Berlin this weekend as they welcome 2nd placed unbeaten rivals Energie Cottbus to Köpenick on Saturday lunchtime (12:00 GMT kick-off). Union will be looking to build on a mini-run of form that has seen them beat Köln followed by a decent away point at Aue on Wednesday night in a virtually unheard of midweek 2. Bundesliga game. They will, however, have been left pondering what might have been on Wednesday after leading 1:0 for much of the game, only to concede an own goal in the 83rd minute. That's the way things go when you're struggling down at the bottom! Ich drücke euch die daumen, Union.

Finally, Monday night football comes from Loftus Road as QPR take on West Ham under the lights. This has just got to be the game that we get the three points we so desperately crave. I don't care how we do it this time, just as long as we get the job done. I can't bear any alternative outcome! In all honesty, I am expecting a really tough game, I think it'll be frustrating at times because West Ham are a technically strong side that don't get the credit they deserve because they are instantly dismissed as a purely 'hoof ball' team - which, of course, is partly true, but their midfield are no mugs and they have players that can finish chances all over the park. I have little doubt they will score at least one. From a QPR perspective, I just hope that Zamora continues his scoring run and that Cisse rediscovers his! If that happens, I think we'll be OK here.

All in all, plenty to look forward to this weekend. Enjoy the football and look out for our review on Monday in which we'll no doubt have something to say about this evening's news of Steve Kean resigning at Blackburn. C will also have a match review from the Loft on Tuesday evening.

C&J

I should have known...

Match Review: QPR 2-3 Fake Hoops

Surprise surprise, QPR are out of the Capital One Cup! And unfortunately, I was there to suffer it...

This was a repeat of just about every home cup tie performance against inferior opposition that QPR have had over the past few years, bar Carlisle and Walsall at home (the latter, coincidentally, one I deliberately missed for the very reason above). I've seen QPR lose to Rochdale, Port Vale, Sheffield United, Northampton, Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town. I've even seen Accrington Stanley run them close. But I was lured to this game because they promised it would be different. This game they promised they would play the strongest available side (which they did). This game they promised me a ten pound ticket and extra loyalty points (which they did). And this game they promised me they'd turn in a 90 minute performance, which they most certainly didn't... In fact, I'd go as far as saying they put in about fifteen minutes of a performance.

The game started in a similar vein to the last two league games - QPR in the ascendancy and playing nice football, particularly in the middle of the park. Stephane Mbia was making his full Hoops debut and showed some assured touches, leading the couple behind me to repeatedly turn to each other to remark on how well he reads the game (obviously know his ability well after watching him for five minutes). And just like there has been in the last few games, there was yet another early injury - this time just 52 seconds in Junior Hoilett went down in pain. Thankfully, after some delay he was able to return to the pitch and went on to score the opener after 14 minutes. He beat two Reading defenders who tried to slide in on him in desperation before firing low into the far corner with an accurate finish. This was all very promising - we'd started well and even had a goal to show for our efforts, and looked as though we could now go on and win the game comfortably. But I'd forgotten to factor in the current worrying tendency of this R's team to switch off completely in the aftermath of a goal scored. A needless free kick was given away about thirty yards from goal, which Nicky Shorey (who always saves his best for us) swung in and was met by Kaspars Gorkss, who had the freedom of the QPR penalty area to manouvre himself and powerfully head home. 

Reading had barely threatened up to this point but this gave them something to work with in the game. They responded by upping their tempo. QPR still looked a technically better side, but what Reading didn't have in quality they made up for in determination and they just ran and ran to put pressure on QPR's midfield when they didn't have the ball. This knocked the R's out of their stride and the first half performance was increasingly disjointed. Worryingly, Mbia picked up a yellow card and looked as though he would get himself sent off. Whilst Jamie Mackie was offering very little in attack, and also offered absolutely nothing in defence, prompting Clint Hill to have a 'quiet word' during a break in the play. As the half wore on, Mbia's performance increasingly reminded me of the debut of Samba Diakite, who completely lost his head to get himself sent off for two bookings after just 30 minutes on that day at home to Fulham. What is it with defensive players from the French league being so eccentric? 

At half time it was anyone's game, but Reading will have been the happier with their first half performance, and you'd have expected Mark Hughes to tell his players to up their tempo and get a grip on the game. But they came out looking more disjointed than when they went in. Park lost his magic touch, Granero was shot shy and Hoilett was taking an age to set himself to shoot or even pass, a crime he was guilty of on Sunday at White Hart Lane. Jamie Mackie also continued to have a shocker.  

The referee, Roger East, was becoming more and more fussy, but this could partly be attributed to Reading increasingly employing their renowned Championship tactic of getting in his ear at every opportunity (something Mr East will no doubt have been used to, after being promoted, like Reading, to the top flight this season). The usual perpetrator in chief, Jem Karacan, had taken centre stage and began to referee the game himself, reminding QPR fans what a serial moaner, ridiculous feigner of injury and all round complete tart he is. He plays football how you'd imagine the characterless, always hard done by Brian McDermott would play.

For the whole game so far, Djibril Cisse had continued to look off the boil. He chose not to try and take on a defender with his undoubted pace but instead to shoot wildly from distance with shots that ended up closer to the corner flag, presumably of the belief that eventually one would go in. And on 72 minutes, after the QPR fans had vented their frustration with these continuous distant hit and hopes, one did indeed go in. A real rocket into the top right corner that gave McCarthy no chance (who had probably been lulled into a false sense of security by Cisse's earlier efforts). Typical!

Now it seemed the Superhoops would go on and win comfortably and Djibril had the goal he needed to get his hunger back again after having looked a bit sorry for himself ever since missing a penalty at Norwich away. But yet they didn't go on and win, because nothing's quite as straight forward as that at QPR. Again QPR were caught napping after scoring and gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position (although this one was earned by the well known extra from Platoon, Jay Tabb). Shorey again stepped up and scored with an excellent strike that went in off the bar. 

This time QPR looked shaken, panicky and subsequently neglected to defend altogether for Reading's third. The Royals broke down the left hand side and the R's sent two defenders over to deal with the same ball, leaving two biscuit boys at the far post with all the time in the world to beat Julio Cesar from about four yards from goal (Pogrebnyak did the honours). Absolutely shambolic defending, but then again, this is QPR in the cup, I should have seen it coming. Reading successfully saw out the last ten minutes through a combination of timewasting, cramping up and winning cheap free kicks off their officiating friend. There was even time for them to win what was a seemingly inevitable penalty off of him (right decision, though, this time!), which Cesar encouragingly managed to beat away very well indeed. However QPR failed to take advantage and disappointingly didn't force McCarthy into any further saves.

The concern is that this team is the strongest we have for the foreseeable future, and if we can't beat the poorest side the Premier League has to offer, then where are the points going to come from? Somehow, I'm still convinced we'll come good... Probably... Maybe...

Cesar had an eventful night, shipping three and saving a penalty, but could hardly be blamed for the outcome

Man of the match: For the first time this season, I'm going to give this to an opposition player because the QPR team was devoid of any performers warranting of the status. Kaspars Gorkss was colossal on his return to Loftus Road for Reading and had Cisse and Zamora in his pocket all game. I also always admire footballers that show respect to their former clubs when they score and the Latvian did just that after scoring the 1st. Letting him go and keeping Fitz Hall was Neil Warnock's biggest mistake, in my opinion. Having said that, we were far too kind to him on the night and he will be given much sterner tests this season.

C

The Weekend That Never Stops Giving

Another eventful weekend in English football with plenty to chew over.

Man United v Liverpool was a highly controversial game, and predictably supporters from Liverpool will argue all the big decisions went against them wrongly, while United fans will claim they were correct. I can't really be bothered going into why I think Shelvey's red card was correct, or why I think it was a penalty on Valencia. What I will say is that all fans have watched 16 replays from 14 different angles and come to their obviously correct conclusions. Sky zoomed in on Luis Suarez's foot to determine he reached the ball a microsecond before Jonny Evans and as a result it was a penalty. Mark Halsey saw these decisions in real time with no slow mo's and no extra angles for his benefit. It is easy to judge with the benefit of hindsight but spare a thought for what a tough job it is to make a decision on a split second's judgement knowing millions of people are watching and won't all agree with it. In the game, Liverpool bossed the field, and had 63% possession in the first half, but yet again they didn't have a clinical striker to take advantage of all this possession. Obviously Shelvey's sending off influenced the game hugely and by the end United had 48% of the ball throughout the game. I do think though that another major factor in their success in the second half was the substitution of Scholes on for Nani. I thought Nani had quite possibly his worst game in a United shirt yesterday. He had a passing accuracy of just 65% - to put that into perspective only Pepe Reina had a worse passing percentage yesterday of every single player on the pitch. He gave United no directness and was a liability unfortunately. As soon as Scholes came on and Giggs went to the left, they had more shape, space and width to pass the ball about. Obviously the extra man helped with this as well though. I think that the difference between the two sides was mainly up front: Liverpool had 6 shots on target and scored just 1 - a conversion rate of just 16%, whereas United had 3 shots on target and scored 2 - a 66% conversion rate. Liverpool have had a tough start and shouldn't lose patience in Brendan Rodgers, but from a United perspective the fact that they are picking up wins whilst not playing well (something City haven't mastered this season yet) is encouraging. Eventually they need to click or it will come back to bite them, but I think that if you give RVP and Kagawa a bit more time to develop chemistry the signs are there that it could be a good partnership.

Well Man City v Arsenal was a confirmation that we might have title challengers from outside of Manchester this season, if you didn't already know. Arsenal showed resilience to come from behind to earn a point at the Etihad which they maybe wouldn't have had last year. By the end of the game you'd probably have to say that Arsenal deserved to win the game really, but ultimately the result is the only thing that matters. I think City are finding it a little bit more difficult this season as teams are upping their game for the 'Champions' (I feel a little bit sick still saying that). City have already dropped 6 points this season after just 5 games - that is nearly a quarter of the points they dropped all season last year. It's hard what to say the most impressive aspect of Arsenal's game has been this season - their excellent defensive displays, or the imperious Santi Cazorla (I'm not sure, but having listened to Jamie Redknapp I think he might be quite 'little'). Arsenal had 59% of possession in this game, and if they can get a clinical striker (sorry but Podolski hasn't proved he is yet) firing then they really could be in with a very strong shout for the title.

If you haven't watched Everton's second goal from their match against Swansea yet, watch it. Watch it now. Phil Neville picked up the ball right by their corner flag to end a Swansea move. Within 3 short, sharp, incisive passes Steven Pienaar had been released down the right and he played a magnificent first time cross perfectly into the path of the onrushing Kevin Mirallas to score at the second time of asking after his first effort had been tipped onto the crossbar. This goal shows the other side of Everton that people don't give them enough credit for usually. Against United they were set to be bullying and physical (in a good way) but this game shows they are a terrific footballing side when the time calls for it. Everton actually had a higher passing accuracy than Swansea, who are lauded for their tiki taka football, throughout the game (85% to 81%) and Everton had more possession of the ball - which not many teams will achieve at the Liberty Stadium this year I imagine. A lot is made of Everton being notoriously slow starters, but this is their best start after 5 league games since 2007/08 when they also had 10 points. Last year at this stage they had 7 points, in 2008/09 they also had 7 points, in 2009/10 they had 6 points and in 2010/11 they had just 2 points after 5 games. I think though that Everton's style of play is more impressive than their points total. They have a swagger about them this season we've not really seen before. They have depth up front, they have creativity in midfield and solidity in defence. Basically all signs point to Everton having a very good season and I think that if they carry on playing this well consistently throughout the season they could well challenge for a top 4 place.  

Southampton's season essentially started in earnest on Saturday and what a result it was for them. When they received their fixture list they will have earmarked the Wigan game as a must win I imagine, but Nigel Adkins will probably have realised his team would be highly unlikely to pick up much after their first four games which consisted of both Manchester clubs and Arsenal. They shipped 14 goals and looked very ropey defensively. Unfortunately for Saints Kelvin Davis just doesn't look up to the standard of a Premier League goalkeeper. He was finally dropped this week after conceding 14 goals in 4 games, and they only conceded one with Paulo Gazzaniga in goal and now they've signed Artur Boruc on a free this week as well. Rickie Lambert however looks right at home in the Premier League. In 137 games for Southampton he has scored an incredible 82 goals. He got 30 goals in League One in 2009/10 and 21 the following season in the same league. He made the step up to the Championship and scored 27 goals in 42 games last year, and now he has hit the ground running again with 4 goals in 5 games so far this season, including 2 against Manchester City and United. Following on from the success of Grant Holt and Danny Graham last year who also made their way up through the Football League, Lambert is showing that a clinical finisher can perform at any level if he has confidence. Southampton certainly look as if they will approach games with the Kevin Keegan mentality of defending by attacking. Whilst the Saints defence is undoubtedly very leaky - statistically the worst in the league at the moment - they have scored the 5th highest total so far with 9 as well (just 1 behind Man City). Last year in the Championship Saints scored 85 goals all season. This indicates their strength most definitely lies in going forward and attacking teams. It promises to be an exciting season for Southampton and you get the feeling that they may well be one of the most interesting teams to watch this season, especially in terms of goals! They certainly look much more well-equipped for the Premier League than Reading and Gaston Ramirez's performance looked like a very good sign. Nigel Adkins has done an excellent job at Saints to get them from League One to the Premier League and surely that should buy him some time out of the 'back page sack race', especially since they had such a challenging start to the fixture list. 

Unfortunately the other big talking point this week is John Terry. As much as we don't want to give him any more publicity, he has now announced his retirement from international football, something we couldn't just let slip. J mentioned in our preview of the England game against Moldova that he thought this had been coming for a while now. England have got a lot of very good options at centre back with the likes of Gary Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka already in contention. Maybe it's time for someone like Ryan Shawcross or maybe Steven Caulker to be given the chance to come into the squad and gain experience, which is the only way they will be able to develop as international class central defenders. John Terry stated that the FA had made his position in the England team "untenable" by putting together an investigation about his alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand last October when he had been acquitted in a criminal court of any wrongdoing. In the past if an England player was accused of a criminal charge was not eligible to be picked for the international team; John Terry was. When relations between England's usual centre back pairing became untenable due to Rio Ferdinand's unhappiness at Terry's behaviour towards his brother, Rio Ferdinand was dropped entirely and not picked; John Terry was. John Terry is said to have slept with his international and club colleague's ex-girlfriend (I thought that was a fact but apparently it isn't) and yet Wayne Bridge was the one who was forced to declare himself ineligible for selection whilst Terry was still in the team. In short, it's pretty difficult to see how the FA have made his position "untenable". As a matter of fact it appears to the outsider that they have bent over backwards to accomodate their brave leader at any cost. Therefore, it leads us to the conclusion that John Terry must know this FA investigation, which starts today, will not end favourably for him. In essence he has walked before he was pushed, and it is hard to take any other stance than he deserves what he gets. Though let's not forget, possibly the most important thing to come out of this is that Championship's Wayne Bridge is now surely in line for an England recall?

Roundup of our teams

As mentioned above Man Utd beat Liverpool 2-1 away from home, with a Rafael curler and Robin Van Persie penalty (finally we scored a penalty!) cancelling out Steven Gerrard's opener in a tense game at Anfield.

If you haven't read C's excellent review of the QPR - Tottenham game from yesterday yet why not? QPR were extremely unlucky to come away with anything from the game, let alone missing out on 3 points. Bobby Zamora's opener put QPR ahead but a Faurlin own goal and Defoe goal in one mad minute put paid to the R's hopes of a first away win in 16 games.

Crewe drew 1-1 with Leyton Orient to frustratingly record their 4th draw in a row in the League and sit in 15th position. Matt Tootle put the Alex ahead after 2 minutes but L'Orient equalised in the 19th minute through former QPR man Martin Rowlands. The Alex are really missing the presence and finishing ability of Mathias Pogba up front, and while the talented duo of AJ Leitch-Smith and Max Clayton are more than capable at this level there is a dearth in back up behind them, and thankfully for the Railwaymen Mat Pogba has returned to training this week to hopefully rectify this situation.

As reported in Friday's weekend preview, Union Berlin claimed their first league win of the season against the team who were placed immediately above them before the weekend, FC Cologne, who look to have carried their form from last year's relegation from the Bundesliga into this year. Union won 2-1 in a game that we are hoping will kickstart their season proper! Silvio and Torsten Mattuschka won the game for Union and moved them out of the relegation places into a lofty 14th position in the league.

What we learned this week:-

- Your Mrs ranting on Twitter still won't get you into the Reading team right now, Mr Federici. And on yesterday's evidence, you'll be warming the bench for a while; an excellent display from Alex McCarthy away at West Brom showed that he more than merits his place in the starting 11.
- Carl Jenkinson has been immense so far this season.
- Would you like to learn how to put a young child in his place with just a little laugh and smile?

- What a terrible shame that Nathan Dyer should come on for Swansea only to be booked twice in thirteen second half minutes (the two bookings incidentally just a minute apart). Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
- Surely this is the most ridiculous time to sack Steve Kean? Out of all the moments they could have done it now makes absolutely no sense with Rovers 2nd in the Championship. Another example of Venky's complete lack of understanding about how to run a football club. Seems similar to when Gareth Southgate was sacked by Middlesbrough after guiding them to relegation he then saw them to 4th place and 1 point off top when he was then sacked - and look what's happened at Middlesbrough since.

- There were a fair few football league hat-tricks around this weekend but one that stood out was that of Dean Bowditch. Bowditch is a player I've always thought has flattered to deceive after bursting on to the scene at Ipswich, but he helped himself to his 2nd career hat-trick for MK Dons away courtesy of Bury's generous defence. I'm reliably informed that this was his first treble in 8 years (the day of his senior debut).

- There are no dead certs in football, just ask everyone that had Birmingham v Barnsley down as a home banker! A terrific away romp for the Tykes with Craig Davies on fire. He also gave an excellent post-match interview about how Birmingham is significant in his life because it's where his Nan lives, so it's ultra special to have scored four goals there rather than anywhere else. (I wish I could link you to it but can't find it at the moment.)

- Tranmere and Gillingham march on at the top of League One and Two, both picking up away wins respective in games at Crawley and Port Vale, arguably the toughest test each side has faced so far this season. 

- A special mention for Leon Clarke, who has found himself in another one of his spurts of form after joining Scunthorpe, where everything he touches is currently turning to gold (4 goals in 4 games). He never did find one of those said spurts at Wolves, or QPR, or Preston, or Swindon, or Charlton. Clarke is a truly odd confidence player who never ceases to amaze me with how many clubs he's been at, how high up the Football League ladder he has played and how little he offers to a team when he's not scoring. I wonder how long this run of goals will last before Scunny fans see the worst of him.

- The wait for another home win for Morecambe fans still goes on, this time they blew a 2-0 lead over Plymouth and went on to lose 3-2. Unbelievable!
- How has Sylvain Ebanks-Blake's 'straight down the middle' penalty routine not been sussed out by goalkeepers yet?! He's been doing it for ages now!

It's the turn of the CoC (Capital One Cup - obviously) this week and two ties that look particularly tricky for  Premier League sides are Tottenham away at Carlisle on Wednesday and Everton travelling to Leeds on Tuesday. We don't promise excitement - it is the CoC - but it could be intriguing. C is heading to Loftus Road to brave the rain on Wednesday night for the R's tie against Reading, so expect another match review from that.

Enjoy the week

C&J

*Also a little quick note to cheer up our friend JJ who hasn't been too good this week. Get well soon mate!

A minute of madness

Match Review: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

Onlookers will see the scoreline and think this was a routine Tottenham home win and an equally routine abject QPR away performance. Those who were at the game will know the true story. For QPR fans it was an absolute travesty to come away with nothing. And it all boiled down to one mad second half minute...

QPR went into this one with long odds against their name and a patched up team with no less than four defensive absentees (Traore, Fabio, Ferdinand and Mbia). Four became five just three minutes in to the game when Jose Bosingwa felt his hamstring go and immediately signalled to the bench to be taken off. Emergency wing back Kieron Dyer was thrust into action, himself a man made of glass. However, what was to follow was a remarkable performance from Dyer and the rest of the patched up Rangers side.

Anton Ferdinand was sitting amongst the travelling support

The R's had started brightly and were pushing the ball around the makeshift side nicely. Hoilett, starting in an unfamiliar striker's role alongside Zamora, seemed to adapt well to the short passing game and possession football was the order of the day. Granero and Faurlin picked up where they left off against Chelsea and sprayed the ball all over the park all game - yet again they appeared a classy combination. It did look as though the defence was vulnerable to the trickery of Bale and pace of Lennon and Walker down the Spurs right hand side. But Rangers dominated possession with neat play which meant Bale et al were given a taste of their own medicine for a change and were left chasing Rangers shadows. Even when the R's did lose the ball, they were very effective at winning it back again through the once again outstanding Ji-Sung Park and Granero. The attacking mentality instilled by Hughes was a joy to watch given how hopeless QPR have been on the road for the last season (and in many gone by). A further plus for the R's was the quality of Granero's delivery from corners - for years now QPR have suffered from Adel Taarabt's bizarre corner routines but now we really do look a threat from them. This all gave Brad Friedel plenty of work to do and his first half performance was a stylish retort to the suggestions made by a certain Monsieur Barthez during the week that he didn't deserve to be first choice at the club and should immediately have been displaced by the incoming Lloris. However Friedel couldn't keep out Bobby Zamora in the 33rd minute, who scored with a fine finish after clever play from Faurlin.

After the goal, there was more of the same from the away side and the home fans grew in frustration in a half in which they were totally outplayed, and where Cesar did not have a save to make. Spurs' best chance fell to Dembele who hit a shot high and wide from range. Spurs did have the ball in the net but that was about thirty seconds after play had been stopped due to Defoe being offside (Rangers caught him off three times in the first half). I'm sure that not playing to the whistle earned a certain Robin Van Persie a second yellow in the Nou Camp in a Champions League game once upon a time, and since that day I don't think I've seen a single player receive a card for committing that offence. Where's the consistency?!

This was without doubt the best away performance I've seen for QPR since they played Ipswich in a midweek game at Portman Road in the promotion winning campaign. White Hart Lane was a library and Spurs were there for the taking. The only regret was that for all the Hoops' endeavours it was only 1-0...

Tottenham emerged after the break with a tactical substitution from AVB, with Gylfi Sigurdsson withdrawn to make way for Steven Caulker to both shore up the defence and allow Bale and Walker to push further forward and force the issue. It was clear straight away that Clint Hill was vulnerable to the pace of the Tottenham attack (particularly Lennon and Defoe) and the second half wasn't going to be as easy a ride as the first. However, QPR still continued to dominate possession and looked as though they could continue to cause the Spurs defence problems themselves. But then, on 59 minutes, disaster. A harmless looking corner had been partially cleared and then pinged back into the box. The ball was met inexplicably by a defending Alejandro Faurlin who put through his own net to gift Spurs a foothold in the game.

This visibly lifted the crowd and Spurs players and, with their tails up, they immediately pressed for a second goal. And somehow, within a minute of the own goal, QPR's game plan was in tatters as Spurs carved the defence open and scored a second, with Defoe driving home a rebound from a shot which Cesar had brilliantly tipped on to the bar. It was gut-wrenching.

QPR were forced to open up as they went in search of an equaliser which left them short at the back when Tottenham countered, but Cesar was solid and kept them in the game. Zamora soon tired and Hughes should have taken him off earlier than he did. However, his replacement, Djibril Cisse, looked off the pace and out of form when he entered the fray, perhaps an explanation as to why Hoilett was preferred to him for a starting position. At this stage Hoilett and Wright Phillips' play was diminishing in quality and Hoilett took far too much time over a one on one situation with Friedel which allowed a defender to get back and steal the ball from him just as he was about to pull the trigger. This was to be the best chance for an equaliser and in spite of the fact that the R's continued to make all the running in the game and dominate possession, they couldn't create any further clear cut chances before full time.

The result leaves us languishing in 19th spot in the Premier League with just two points from five games. The moral of the story? If you don't score when you're on top in a game, you'll get punished. And that is especially true against the top sides (and Tottenham). QPR have got to start turning performances into points. And that ought to start at home to West Ham on Monday night, in what is now a hugely important game for us.

Man of the match: Yet again I find myself spoilt for choice with candidates, but this week I definitely will award the coveted accolade to Ji-Sung Park, who has been everything QPR fans hoped he would be since joining the club and whose tireless work rate and outstanding ability are a pleasure to watch. An excellent choice for captain by Hughes, too, I must add.

Weekend preview: Super, Magnificent, Phenomenal, Hype Inducing Sunday Is Nearly Here...!

It's a classic Sky Sports double bill this weekend as 'Super Sunday' © ® ™ returns to our screens with two big matches between Liverpool & Man Utd and Man City & Arsenal. 

I’m sure you’re all sick of reading about it and we’re sick of saying it but here is a little note to say that we really hope that there is no offensive chanting at the Liverpool – Man Utd game at the weekend. Let’s hope that we’re talking about the football at the end of the game and not the actions of some mindless few.

Anyway on to the football…as a United fan I can’t help but be pessimistic about our chances in this match as we haven’t won at Anfield in the League at the last 4 attempts and no matter how badly Liverpool seem to be playing at the time, the game against Man Utd always seems to spur them onto a good performance. Liverpool will press the ball quickly and high up the pitch which won’t suit United especially if the likes of Carrick or Scholes are playing (can’t see Scholes playing though after 2 games already in the last week). These players prefer space and time and they won’t get it at Anfield. Liverpool’s possession game may also be tricky for United to deal with. Unlike Liverpool, the Red Devils don’t really have any ball winners in their team to upset this which could mean long periods of possession for Liverpool. The duel of Raheem Sterling against Rafael also looks like an opportunity for Liverpool, as Rafael is more known for his attacking play than defensive capabilities (this is assuming Rafael will play but with Smalling injured and Phil Jones I can’t see him going with Valencia there in this game after the Everton debacle). That said Liverpool’s possession this season has not amounted to wins largely due to the fact that their front line is not very clinical and this hasn’t changed. I can see Liverpool having more chances and it may depend on whether Suarez or Borini have put their shooting boots on or not. United will be more likely to be clinical which could give them an edge. They will need to pass the ball better in midfield than they did against Galatasaray though if they are to stand any chance of avoiding defeat. Reading an article by The Secret Footballer it seems that Brendan Rodgers may be under fire if Liverpool don’t win this game, and you have to wonder if their hunger to win the first game of the season at the expense of their bitter rivals will see them win out in the end.  All in all this is a tough one to call and I’m erring on the side of predicting a loss but then it could be a draw.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd

Immediately after the Liverpool-United game is another humdinger, which obviously Sky won't hype to the hilt promising it is the most important match since one Anthony McPartlin met a certain Mr Declan Donnelly on the set of Byker Grove. I think that this one is the most interesting game this weekend to be honest. It is the acid test for just how good this Arsenal team is and maybe even can be. A lot of people are talking up Arsenal’s chances of challenging for the title this season and we will begin to get an idea of how serious we should take this talk by 6:30 on Sunday evening. I'm sorry but I don't consider that Liverpool game to have been a serious test, I'm talking top 4 really at the moment (as in Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea mainly). Arsenal have looked really good so far this season they seem more balanced and Santi Cazorla looks like an outstanding player. But the 6-1 against Southampton wasn't that impressive to me since Saints defence has been very leaky, and they scraped past a Montpellier side which is languishing in 16th place in Ligue 1 and is a shadow of the title winning side last year, which was picked apart by the vultures (such as Arsenal, taking Giroud). Therefore, this is the time when we can hopefully see if Arsenal have the ability to challenge this season. As much of a cliche it is to say it, I think this game could all hinge on the first goal. Arsenal's ability to keep clean sheets looks like it has come back again after going missing for about 7 years, so if they go in front it may well be that they will keep hold of it. But if City go in front it will be interesting to see if the fragile nature of Arsenal's confidence comes to the fore again or if that is now a thing of the past. I think Arsenal will get a lot of chances in this one. City have conceded 9 goals in 5 games in all competitions so far this season, but then they have scored 11 in 5 as well. In short, Arsenal's defence will have its biggest test to date this weekend! Overall, I can actually see both teams settling for the draw if they head into the last 20 minutes on level terms. It would be a decent result for both teams and this early in the season I think that both will go in with the objective of avoiding defeat.

Prediction: Man City 1-1 Arsenal

Leeds v Nottingham Forest - We've picked out this game as all the signs point to there being goals, goals, goals galore at Elland Road on Saturday. Last year this fixture Forest ran out winners in an amazing 3-7 match. Furthermore, in the last 3 league games between the two sides there have been over 3 goals every time. This sounds promising you say? Well to add to this excitement, there have been 16 goals in Nottingham Forest's 6 league games this season (scored 9, conceded 7), and a phenomenal 21 goals in the same amount of games for Leeds (scored 10, conceded 11). Forest are unbeaten in their last 6 games whilst Leeds have lost their last 2. But Forest have been drawing matches away from home rather than winning really. All signs point to either a high scoring draw or a Forest win essentially. Leeds are sitting in 14th in the league and were booed off against Hull in midweek, so you have to feel that if Forest can score early Leeds fans could get on their players backs and the away team could run out winners.

Prediction: Leeds 0-0 Forest...Only joking! We're going for Leeds 2-3 Forest

For QPR this weekend it's another London derby as attention turns to 'The Lane'. Spurs will want to make up for a poor run of form at home of late which has seen them find the net just twice and pick up draws against Norwich and West Brom in the league. Both the Canaries and the Baggies will have been viewed by Spurs fans as cannon fodder before their respective match ups but, encouragingly from QPR's point of view, both sides were able to provide more than a match for the home side and will have left the Lane ruing missing out on what might have been three points. Having said that, the R's will have to play arguably the paciest right hand side in the football league and one of the best left midfielders on the planet without a recognised left-back (I don't count Onuoha or Hill in spite of their apparent 'ability to play anywhere across the back line') and with just two recognised centre halves due to a spate of injuries. Still, as long as we go there and play more positively than we did in last season's trip in the first half, then we should at least see them put up a better fight than the 3-1 reverse suffered a year back. AVB will no doubt be out for revenge as it was ultimately the QPR v Chelsea fixture almost a year ago that ruined his excellent start at Chelsea manager and saw the wheels begin to fall off of what looked like it might have been a decent campaign (what a shame, eh?!). Much has been made of the fact that QPR haven't won at Tottenham for 18 years but, in their defence, they've only been there three times since, so it's hardly a surprise! Still, I'd suggest there's a strong possibility of that number becoming 19 come 6pm on Sunday...

After picking up a creditable back to back away draws at Stevenage and Carlisle, Crewe host the QPR Reserves (better known as Leyton Orient) this weekend at Gresty Road. L'Orient are on a good run themselves (although having watched their 1-0 win over Brentford last weekend, they seem to be having some good fortune along the way!) so this will be an intriguing encounter. It was pleasing to see Max Clayton pick up League One's Young Player of the Month accolade, a deserved reward for a player who has really stepped up to the plate so far this season in spite of having had the burden of filling the void left by Nick Powell departing firmly placed upon him. We can only hope that his form continues but also that this isn't a precedent for the vultures to start circling around him too.

Finally I am delighted to bring the news that on this very evening 1. FC Union Berlin claimed their first league win of the season at home to struggling 1. FC Köln, themselves also still seeking a first league win since being relegated from the top flight (they are in fact winless since 10th March!). Silvio and Tuschi (Torsten Mattuschka) scored the goals for the boys from East Berlin in a 2:1 victory. An excellent start to the weekend indeed! Here's hoping they've finally turned the corner - St Pauli away up next in the league.

C is off 'daan the Lane' on Sunday afternoon and a match report will follow along with the usual weekend roundup.

Enjoy what will arguably be the best weekend of the season yet.

C&J

United Don't Quite Stuff Turk(ey)s

Match Report: Man Utd 1-0 Galatasaray

I'm going to start this report by saying I am mostly going off of my thoughts on the game at the time last night. I've only seen an 8 minute highlight clip on the internet this morning after hearing that there were 2 penalty appeals I was not really aware of at the time so don't think it is total bias when I downplay them a bit.

I was really looking forward to last night's game. There is nothing like a Champions League night at Old Trafford in my opinion and Galatasaray fans have such a good reputation for atmosphere. I thought it would be a cracking game. After last season's debacle in Europe this was also a chance for the players to right some wrongs, but I think that proved more of a burden in the end, which I will come to. Fergie's programme notes said that he took the blame for last year's exit as he experimented with the lineup too much in Europe, and that he wouldn't do the same thing again this year. He was true to his word last night as he picked a very strong team from the outset (thankfully).

The game started at a very lively pace and to be honest like I said above, I wasn't really aware that there was a big penalty appeal from Gala straight away in the game. Vidic looked like he got the ball from where we were sitting and Umut Bulut seemed to go down rather theatrically, which probably didn't help his cause with Wolfgang Stark or 'Wolfsta' as I know him. On closer inspection it did look like a penalty, but that was with the aid of a replay.

Subsequently, United then seemed to start playing the ball nicely and Carrick scored after 7 minutes with a peach of a goal. It was a really nice move and his interplay with Kagawa was lovely. He took the goal with aplomb and took it round the keeper with some style. You'd normally associate a goal like that with someone like RVP and it was a great start.

Galatasaray then seemed to come into the game a bit more, or rather were let into the game a lot more by United being sloppy passing the ball. They hit the top of the bar through Nordin Amrabat who looked really quite handy down their right hand side. It seemed like Gala attacks were mainly coming through wastefulness in possession by United who just seemed a notch down from their usual level of passing. I think they wanted to take the sting out of the game and pass it around too much and Galatasaray came with a plan to counter attack in numbers and at speed which was the perfect game plan to take advantage of United this match, since their passing was so lackadaisical and sloppy. Gala also hit the post from a nice little free kick routine where Hamit Altintop was given the freedom of Old Trafford to pick his spot and curl one in. Fortunately for United he didn't get quite enough bend on it.

Throughout the game, but particularly in the first half, I thought that once again Shinji Kagawa was superb and looks like a genuinely class player, or as 'Arry would put it - 'a top, top player'. His ability to find space to receive the ball is uncanny and also reminiscent of a player who's name begins with P and ends in aul Scholes. His passing is also really triffic (Arry again) and is so clever. Just look at the passes to release Nani for a one on one in the first 5 minutes and then for Carrick's goal and you'll see what I mean. You get the feeling him and RVP haven't quite got the perfect understanding at the moment but I'm sure that will come, and I cannot wait for when it does.


I thought that Kagawa was United's best attacking spark as the remaining attacking trio of Nani, Valencia and RVP all lacked a final product. RVP never really got into the game and that's credit to the 'Gala' defence as he didn't really have a sniff all night. Valencia put in a lot of industry and gave the 'Gala' left back a good roasting at some points but he never really came up with any end product to match his effort. His crossing seemed off all game and I lost count of the number of times he overhit a cross or just failed to find anyone. It seemed that he was just crossing for the sake of it last night and didn't really ever have an intended target for any of his crosses. That said, he was constantly a threat and is almost always a better outlet than Nani who had another one of his infuriating nights.


When United got their penalty in the 52nd minute the Stretford End immediately began chanting Robin Van Persie's name in anticipation, until Nani picked up the ball. Nearly everyone around us was asking 'What?'. It seemed inevitable he would miss and I'm not exaggerating when I say I don't think many around me were confident of him scoring. His run up was ridiculous and his penalty was tame. I don't know why he thought he should take the penalty and Fergie has since blamed himself for not designating RVP as penalty taker before the game. Nani has so much potential but he sometimes seems to lack any brain cells when picking what to do, and his dive in the area from a corner was indicative of this. He completely fooled the defender and would have had space to take a shot from a decent position in the box, but instead he chose to dive (terribly, I might add) and unsuprisingly nothing was given and Galatasaray almost scored straight from the counter attack that followed but for a brilliant double save from David De Gea.


In the brightest spot of the game, Darren Fletcher returned to the team after 10 months out with a bowel problem, and he was given a magnificent standing ovation by OT. It's great to see Fletcher back as he was one of United's best midfielders before his illness and his determination and grit is exactly what the midfield needs when times get tough. He can add a bit more steel than other midfielders who are all a bit more creative. He looked like he was understandably lacking sharpness and I think he'll be eased back gently over the next few weeks/months until he regains match fitness.


Chicharito came on for RVP in the latter stages of the game and as the match became more stretched with 'Gala' trying to find an equaliser he could have had a hat-trick. But all in all this was a solid result for United. I thought the team looked increasingly nervous throughout the match which could be as a result of last season's dismal performances in Europe. Hopefully this win will give them some confidence to move forward and on this game's evidence, I wouldn't be surprised if Galatasaray qualify from the group, as long as they take their chances a bit more clinically. United would have come undone against a better side I am sure, but they did enough to win this game and the three points is all that matters.


*A quick note to say how lovely it was to hear 'Viva Ronaldo' ringing out through OT after his winning goal against City the night before. Just remember Cristiano (he's a regular reader of the blog don't you know): you're always welcome back anytime!

J

Gameweek Five Proves a Hive of Activity

After the tedium of the international break it was good to finally get back to a full calendar of football this weekend and it did not disappoint. There were quite a lot of talking points and it seems that a lot of the leagues are beginning to take shape.

One thing that struck us this week was that there were an awful lot of goals by debutants in the Premier League this weekend. Dimitar Berbatov, Javi Garcia, Alexander Buttner, Nick Powell and Christian Benteke all scored on their debuts for their respective clubs this week. Obviously this could be (and most probably is, but I've got a nice theory so bear with me) a coincidence, but I think that this is an encouraging sign for the Premier League. I think that this shows the depth of Premier League squads is improving and competition for places is hotting up at almost every PL team. It used to be the case that team's first XI's were strong and were the main focus and the squad was made up of players not quite good enough to get into the starting XI or who were young prospects. Nowadays though there is a lot of more emphasis on the squad and strength in depth is a necessity to compete in the PL. Therefore, new signings are under instant pressure to perform rather than getting into the team by virtue of being a big money or high profile new signing. Dimitar Berbatov has to compete with Mladen Petric and Hugo Rodallega - any one of those could viably start for Fulham. Javi Garcia has to jostle with Gareth Barry, Jack Rodwell and Yaya Toure et al. Alexander Buttner is vying for a place in front of Patrice Evra while Nick Powell has Paul Scholes, Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick in his position. Christian Benteke is a bit more of an anomaly but he does have Darren Bent and Andreas Weimann in his position and he was arguably not expecting to walk into their first team straight away. New signings are desperate to prove they merit a starting place when they get to a new club and the challenge comes when they are required to keep up their good start and maintain a high level of performance. One thing is for sure though it's good to see top quality players like Berbatov and Garcia come to England (or stay in Dimi's case - and boy he is a joy to watch when he plays), and see good young prospects like Buttner, Powell and Benteke grow and mature in the PL into (hopefully) future stars.

Another interesting point to note is the form of Fulham. They look like they will be a strange team again this season in respect of their home form v away form. Last year Fulham won 10 matches at home and lost just 4. Conversely they won just 4 games away and lost 10. This season so far Fulham have won both of their home games but lost both of their away games. They've scored 8 and conceded 0 at home, whilst scoring just 2 away from home and conceding 6. So that begs the question is Fulham's style too cavalier away from home? At home they play swashbuckling football and look as good as any team outside of the top 4 arguably when they play well, but away from home something seems to go wrong. The answer may be that Martin Jol's style of play, whilst admirable and very attractive, is simply not suited to playing away from home. The likes of Man United and Man City have in recent years adopted stifling tactics away from home similar to their European tactics which is designed to primarily avoid conceding and then grinding out a goal or two at the other end. Fulham are perhaps being a bit naive in thinking they can win away games in the same style as they can at home. The problem is that this will start to put pressure on their home games sooner or later and they will have to win at home just to stay out of a dogfight at the wrong end of the table. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that they will be in any kind of trouble, I just don't think that their tactics are the smartest way to go about it. But hey, they've had the heart ripped out of their team with losing the likes of Dempsey, Dembele, Johnson and Zamora so it may be that they will start to adopt a more pragmatic approach away from home, and having Berbatov up front will probably help that as well. Either way Martin Jol has done well to keep Fulham's style at home, but may want to consider toning down his attacking away from home.

Roundup

As you will have seen in the excellent match report here QPR got a very credible 0-0 draw against the League Leaders Chelsea. In my opinion, it is the clean sheet that is most impressive about this result for the R's as Chelsea have been popping in goals for fun in their previous games - all in all, a very good debut for Julio Cesar then.

Man Utd beat Wigan 4-0 in a fairly unspectacular contest at Old Trafford. I hope Danny Welbeck gets a dressing down from Fergie about that dive it was embarrassing and the last thing we need is for another one of our players to get a reputation for diving after Ashley Young's shenanigans last year. Welbeck is a good enough player not to have to resort to diving so please stop eh Danny? On another sad note it seems that there were some chants about Hillsborough and I'm not going to debate whether it was referenced specifically or not - as a human being it is disgusting to even make a thinly veiled reference at such a human tragedy and it needs to stop. Please don't think all United fans feel the same and these 'fans' aren't fit to wear the shirt even in the stands. On to the match and the most pleasing thing was that United won without the likes of Rooney, Kagawa and Van Persie. A big effort is needed in Europe this year after last years disaster so it's good these players got to rest for the Galatasaray game. Buttner at left back looked pretty good from the highlights and hopefully now Evra has some genuine competition his form will get back to the high standards it was before it dipped in the last 2 years I'd say.

Crewe drew 2-2 at Stevenage having been 2 goals up after just 10 minutes. AJ Leitch-Smith produced 2 clinical finishes and looked to have put the Railwaymen on the way to a second away victory of the season, but Stevenage pulled one back before half time and then Chuks Aneke's sending off (coincidentally on his debut - so forget what I said above!) put too much pressure on the Alex defence and Stevenage equalised to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. All in all though not many teams will come away from Broadhall Way having taken points off the hosts this season so I think the Alex can be fairly satisfied with that point.

Union Berlin did actually play this week so our German correspondent Hans Vree finally got something right. They did unfortunately succumb to a 90th minute winner by FC Ingolstadt's Manuel Schaffler and they now sit second from bottom in 2. Bundesliga worryingly. They've got a massive match coming up next though against 1. FC Cologne who sit directly above them in the table so let's hope they can get a result from that one.

What we learned this week:

• Peter Crouch doesn't just have the necessary height to succeed in the NBA he's got mad ball skills, as shown by his 'NBA goal' against Man City.
• Andy Wilkinson is still a thug, and he's lucky Balotelli's reputation probably stopped him getting a red card.
• Jermain Defoe is on fire, and how long will Adebayor be willing to wait in his shadows?
• Southampton's defence is shocking - I saw a suggestion of Craig Gordon in goal for them; might not be a bad shout?
• Barnet look very rocky this year - could they finally be going down?
• Gillingham and Tranmere look very good at the top of their divisions.
• Christian Benteke is the oldest looking 21 year old I think I've ever seen.

This week the Champions League proper is back - YAY! - and the standout fixture is obviously Shakhtar v FC Nordsjaelland...I kid, it's obviously Real Madrid v City. I for one can't wait to see the ideas that José Morais picked up whilst scouting Stoke play City at the weekend be put into action on Tuesday night!

We will have a report from the Man Utd v Galatasaray game which yours truly is attending. Crewe are also playing on Tuesday against Carlisle. So enjoy your football this week there's a lot of it!

J

Match Review: QPR 0-0 Chelsea

Some of the pundits will have you believe this was a bore draw and I've little doubt that it'll have been on towards the end of Match of the Day, but it was far from dull...

As you'd expect, all of the pre-match attention surrounded the 'will they or won't they' handshake saga. Well, they didn't. And that's all the coverage I'm going to give to that.

The match started at a high tempo with tackles flying and referee Marriner was letting an awful lot go. Ramires was booked early on and another referee might have dismissed him within the opening 20 minutes; for a while it looked as though he and a few others would yet again be unable to keep their heads in front of the highly charged home crowd. How Ji-Sung Park managed to stay out of the referee's notebook I will never know! In fact, Ryan Bertrand was somehow the only other name taken in a full-blooded first half that saw QPR lose Andy Johnson and Fabio to injury and Chelsea denied two penalties, the first a rugby tackle on John Terry by Ryan Nelsen which wasn't given because nobody likes John Terry, whilst the second was a coming together between Shaun Wright-Phillips and Eden Hazard which was less clear cut but SWP can consider himself lucky as he certainly didn't get any of the ball. 

It was a real shame for QPR to lose Johnson and Fabio as both had started the match extremely well and contributed some fine touches to some neat attacking football from the home side who looked to start this game just as they finished the one at Citeh. However it was Chelsea who created the best opportunities of the half and forced debutant Julio Cesar into a couple of smart saves. On the subject of Cesar, the QPR defence looked so much more assured in front of him than they have done in front of Green in the first few weeks, he seems to bring a presence in the area that all good goalkeepers bring and I felt so much more relaxed when the ball came into the QPR half than against Swansea, Norwich or Citeh.

Another point of note in the first half was the performance of Esteban Granero, who, just as he did at Citeh, seemed to struggle with getting the Premier League ball out of his feet and his flighted passes struggled to pass men immediately in front of him. He was better in the second half but it still seems like he is used to kicking a different ball. I remember seeing Taye Taiwo having similar issues in his first couple of QPR games last year when on loan from AC Milan. Maybe it's just me that's picked up on this but it definitely didn't look right.

The second half was somewhat different with QPR upping the tempo and forcing the issue a little more. Chelsea were not allowed as much time on the ball as they were in the first half and Park, Wright-Phillips and Granero were absolutely outstanding in work rate, always chasing lost causes and pressurising Chelsea when they had the ball. In central defence, Torres and Hazard got absolutely no change out of Ryan Nelsen who stifled Chelsea's aerial threat brilliantly. Torres' frustration was growing and he fell to the ground more and more frequently in the second half with the kind of melodrama that will forever be associated with Chelsea strikers. Meanwhile Hazard was kept very quiet but for one golden opportunity in the last few minutes which he blazed over. Cue chants of 'what a waste of money!'. The biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for John Terry pulling up injured in front of the Paddocks which provided the best opportunity to send some abuse to the subhuman scum-bag.

The R's probably had the better of the half and the best chance fell to Bobby Zamora who, after managing to take Petr Cech out of the equation, spent too long dilly dallying before finally finding three Chelsea players back on the line ready to block his tame shot, which the first one did with ease. Before that, Ji-Sung Park had a free header at goal but could only head straight into the arms of Cech, which was hugely disappointing.

All that said, this was very positive for the home side. Alejandro Faurlin looked back to his pre-injury best as he sprayed passes all over the park. Esteban Granero showed he is extremely capable at coping with the physical demands of the Premier League whilst proving he has a fantastic work rate. Ji-Sung Park is showing he isn't past it as many United fans have made out. 

Unsurprisingly, Di Matteo was wearing his Chelsea hat during his post-match interview and chose only to focus on the two said incidents rather than the fact that QPR had provided more than a match for his expensively assembled side. Every player put in a great shift in Hoops for this and this all bodes well for the coming fixtures away at Spurs and home to West Ham where their work rate will be key to getting positive results. Nobody will roll over for you in the Premier League, and QPR were definitely guilty of believing that Swansea would in the first week. I think they've learned their lesson now...

Man of the match: This could have gone to either Ji-Sung Park or Ryan Nelsen, but I'll go with the latter. What a fantastic signing for QPR he appears to be - I wasn't sure at first given his advancing years but he showed in this game he is still top class. He looks the best centre back we've had for a long time, and who knows, we may even have another better one yet to debut in Stephane Mbia. Very encouraging indeed.

C

Week 4 preview: A ding dong derby

The Premier League returns this weekend and the stand-out fixture (well maybe I'm biased) is the West London derby between QPR and Chelseascum. 

It's derby day in West London for QPR on Saturday afternoon as they host Chelski at Loftus Road. I will be in attendance and I for one am hoping that this is a repeat of last year's game as to unsettle Chelsea seems to me to be the only way for the R's to get three points - the pensioners are on form and are undoubtedly superior in every department but there are still some loose cannons in that side who the QPR fans will want to agitate. In reality though, I am very worried that this could be a cricket score if the defence is as pedestrian as it was versus Swansea, and I'm similarly worried that the occasion will get the better of Anton Ferdinand just as it did at Stamford Bridge. Maybe Julio Cesar and Stephane Mbia will be thrown in at the deep end for QPR debuts (what a game to make it in, wish it was mine!) given that the R's don't have a settled back five at the moment. Having said that, I hope that Hughes continues with Ryan Nelsen after his steady performance at Citeh. 

I'm also hoping for good shifts from Jose Bosingwa and Shaun Wright-Phillips who will both have a point to prove against their former club (ironic that it was the former who got sent off in this fixture last year for a foul on the latter!). On the subject of SWP, I think that away at Citeh he produced his most accomplished Premier League performance since playing Newcastle at home on his QPR debut and I'd love to see more of the same. Sparky repeatedly tells us that he thrives on confidence and now he's found the net once or twice in the cup I'm hoping that is the catalyst for some improved performances.

From my ramblings above, it's plain to see that 'hoping' is the order of the day on Saturday... Oh and finally, sod the handshakes, and please send off Terry Mr Marriner, I dare you! 

There are few fixtures that stand out this weekend apart from that. Sunderland v Liverpool is always appealing as it conjures up memories of the inflatable variety, but I guess Everton v Newcastle on Monday night should make for good watching. Everton will want to show that their defeat at in-form West Brom was a blip and that they really are over their traditional start of season blues but Newcastle have shown signs that they are capable of hitting the heights of last season's campaign again this time around. This game will be about how Newcastle deal with Pienaar, Fellaini and Jelavic who are a huge threat and all on fire at the moment. Having said that, Newcastle have some players which will need watching of their own, particularly Hatem Ben Arfa who has made an impressive start to this season and scored a belter on this ground last year. I can see this being an entertaining score draw.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 Newcastle

Super Sunday sees Reading take on Tottenham at the Madejski (presumably Sky had to fill up their quota of Reading games for this to be shown instead of QPR v Chelsea?). I'm tipping an away win for Spurs but it won't be plain sailing for Spurs and I wouldn't mind betting that the goals will come towards the end of the game after Reading have thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at Spurs for 70 odd minutes. Spurs have enough quality to sink the Royals and I'm predicting a debut goal for Dempsey and another for Defoe to settle it.

Prediction: Reading 0-2 Tottenham

Manchester United are hosting Wigan where it's usually a five-niller or a fine Ali Al-Habsi performance to frustrate the home crowd. With Van Persie in deadly form and their tails up from that late win on the South coast, it'll probably be the former this time, but Wigan are a tougher nut to crack this year so they'll only ship four.

Prediction: Manchester United 4-0 Wigan Athletic

In the football league the headline  game is in-form Bristol City hosting a Blackburn side with a squad that looks capable of returning to the Premier League at the first attempt. Bristol City have really impressed me so far this year and have made some excellent signings for modest fees including Sam Baldock, Greg Cunningham and Steve Davies. Having failed to reproduce the kind of form that took them to the play-off final in their first season back at this level, it looks like Derek McInnes has brought together a group of players that might be able to challenge in the upper echelons of the Championship once again. Blackburn did look on the ropes at times against Leeds and I think the Robins will inflict Blackburn's first league defeat of the season here.

Prediction: Bristol City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Elsewhere it's a busy weekend for the rozzers as Cardiff take on Leeds and Hull host Millwall.

Crewe face a tricky looking trip to the Lamex stadium this weekend where they will meet a Stevenage side performing well in the league so far this year. On a related note, I was delighted to see this week's renaming of the away stand at Gresty Road to 'The Ice Cream Van Stand' under a new sponsorship deal with Whitby Morrison. I personally think it's a great idea and a fantastic wafer generating new business for the company.

1.FC Union Berlin are off to the south of Germany to play Ingolstadt 04 (a game which didn't take place last week even though we said it was going to, more dud info from our German correspondent). We're a little concerned with Union's start to the season and hoping Uwe Neuhaus can turn it around sooner rather than later.

Enjoy the weekend's football and stick with your team, win, lose or draw.

C

Match Review: Morecambe 0-4 Fleetwood Town

Shrimps Battered As Cod Army T-Hake All Three Points

On Saturday the Globe Arena in Morecambe was the plaice to be as ESDB Football attended the ‘seafood derby’ between Morecambe (the Shrimps) and Fleetwood Town (the Cod Army). Both teams went into the match fly(fish)ing high in 6th and 8th respectively. This was the first time we had visited the Globe Arena and the first thing to say was that the bar in the ground is very nice and well worth a visit (home fans only though). ESDB Football made some new friends from Inverness who were down due to no football taking place in Scotland this weekend but luckily we kept our views on Scottish league football and its general crappiness to ourselves!

The game started off fairly evenly with both sides seeming to f-eel each other out and getting into the game slowly. There were a lot of Fleetwood fans who packed out the away end and seemed in expectant mood for the game. Morecambe fans seemed fairly quiet and almost nervous. The reason for this didn’t become apparent to us until after the game when we found out that since moving to the Globe Arena from Christie Park Morecambe have played 48 League games and won just 12! The last time these two teams played in the league was in 1993 and both seemed anxious to gain one over their local rivals with Fleetwood being the new squids on the block having had a meteoric rise from the non-leagues.

Fleetwood took the lead after 21 minutes after Morecambe goalkeeper Barry Roche had a turtle disaster and missed a cross from the right leaving ‘Big’ Jon Parkin (which he shall henceforth and forever be known as) to tap into an empty net. Morecambe were very blunt up front and there was a lot of industry in the Fleetwood half but no cutting edge at all. They were restricted to mainly long range shots and the front trio were blunt. Richard Brodie in particular had an awful first half and was booed throughout by the Fleetwood fans after he spent a period on loan with them last year. He seemed affected by the abuse as his first touch was absolutely pollocks and time and again he miscontrolled seemingly routine passes into his feet.
Fleetwood passed and moved the ball very well and Junior Brown on the left hand side looked particularly bright in the first half but they couldn’t really create any more chances and went into half-time 1-0 up.

After half time Fleetwood manager Micky Mellon’s half time teamtalk buoyed the players and it was immediately fruitful as they started by pressing Morecambe back in their half swinging in cross after cross. The pressure told in the 50th minute as Big Jon Parkin musseled his way into a position to have a free header after Barry Roche again flopped at the ball.

Morecambe quite simply couldn’t deal with crosses in this game and every goal for Fleetwood came from a cross. In particular Fleetwood exploited Morecambe’s weaknesses down their right hand side and Shaun Beeley the right back for Fleetwood had a very good game. He almost got on the score sheet as Fleetwood put together a lovely counter attack involving a lot of incisive passing ending with Beeley rattling the crossbar from about 20 yards out.

By this stage of the match it was all one way traffic and it was more a question of how many Fleetwood would get. Big Jon Parkin deservedly grabbed his hat trick in the 76th minute after another break-away left Andy Mangan in the clear and he slotted the ball over to Big Jon who had got his skates on (as much as he can) and tapped in for the match ball which he was very keen to keep as you can see!

By this time the Fleetwood fans were having a whale of a time and a conga line was even started in the stands. The icing on the fish pie was then provided by Big Jon Parkin as he unshellfishly put a magnificent cross in with the outside of his boot for the onrushing sub Barry Nicholson to dive onto and stick in. It was great to see Big Jon Parkin put on a goal for salmon else and it was done with the swagger of someone on top form, and capped a brilliant man of the match performance from the target man. Though one fan found it all too much and tried to storm the pitch pretty unsuccessfully, but it took ESDB back...we remember our first beer too.

It seems that Big Jon Parkin has definitely found his level. He was excellent on Saturday and his clinical finishing were a big part of why Fleetwood won so easily. A mass exodus of Morecambe fans occurred as they had haddock enough, and the game ended with no further incident.

Overall, it was an excellent day for the Cod Army and they were truly supreme over their local rivals, and if they can keep Big Jon Parkin in such good form all season they will definitely be in or around the promotion mix. As for Morecambe – they could do with improving their home form soon. The fans seem very subdued at the Globe Arena and that is probably not helping the dismal home run, and the cycle of this will continue until Morecambe start to pick up more victories at home or they could face a long uneventful season well outside of the promotion picture.

We would both like to thank you all for bearing with us through all the fish puns if indeed you did read all the report. We had to get this in for the Seafood derby and we can assure you it won’t happen again!


C&J

Yes There Is Football On This Weekend Actually

I'm going to start this post by saying I will try to make this weekend sound as enticing and interesting as possible but I'm not sure it will work very well since international weekends have become as exciting as Mark Lawrenson.

England are playing Moldova tonight in Chisinau in what I am sure will be an enthralling match. I actually think that it is a shame that Andy Carroll is injured for this match as he seemed to have a new lease of life last weekend in a West Ham shirt and when he is in the right mood he can be unplayable, as demonstrated by that monster of a header against Sweden in the Euros. England have quite a few injuries and the likes of Carroll, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Adam Johnson are all missing from the game and John Terry is not 100% fit (though I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing as I think Cahill and Lescott are the way forward for England). Up front England look a bit light with only Jermain Defoe, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge in the squad, but you would hope that they will still be too much for the Moldovan defence. I hope Oxlade-Chamberlain and/or Cleverley will be given a chance in central midfield to give England some dynamism which they will arguably be missing if Gerrard and Lampard start. The Gerrard/Lampard axis is tried and failed as far as I'm concerned and that was in the days that they were both more attacking and dynamic than they are now. The squad as a whole though is pretty uninspiring and only Ryan Bertrand is untried. I hope Roy gives the likes of Cleverley and Welbeck and Sturridge a chance to make England a bit more exciting than the usual dross we're used to but I'm not holding my breath. 

Prediction: Moldova 0-2 England in a dour affair

Now we get to the tricky bit...if you're reading this hoping for a Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland prediction it's not going to happen sorry. Instead we're going to focus on a Football League weekend. This weekend if you usually go to a Premier League or Championship game then you should make the effort and go to a lower league club or non-league game and support the lower reaches of the game instead of moaning about the lack of football.

C&J are both doing a first ESDB Football day out (patent pending) and heading up to the glamorous Globe Arena to watch the Irish Sea derby between Morecambe and Fleetwood! The game should be a feisty affair as Sporcle in a recent quiz informed me these two clubs regard the other as their main rival (I'm not sure how true this is though!). Morecambe and Fleetwood have both started the season quite well and lie in or around the play-off places. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the battle up front for Fleetwood with Jon 'The Beast' Parkin going toe to toe with former Crewe defender Chris McCready. I am also looking forward to seeing the most unlikely looking winger in football Kevin Ellison weaving his magic for Morecambe. This should be a full blooded derby hopefully with both teams having little to lose at this stage of the season and I have no idea what the score will be but hopefully there will be goals!

Crewe are playing Tranmere this weekend armed with new recruit Chuks Aneke who was signed on loan from Arsenal to replace the departed former captain Ashley Westwood. Now to be honest I know nothing at all about Aneke and I'm sure not many other than Arsene Wenger will, but the fact he is at Arsenal says a lot for his ability. Steve Davis played with Arsenal coach Steve Bould at Stoke so hopefully his mate will have done him a favour and Davis has said he hopes Aneke will 'excite' fans and Saturday will tell us something about that. Tranmere have started the season really well and currently sit top of the table so it will be a tough test for the Alex.

Union Berlin travel to FC Ingolstadt on Saturday having not won in 3 games. They could really do with a result in this game having slipped to third bottom of 2.Bundesliga. Last time these teams met there was a 3-3 thriller and fans I'm sure will be hoping for a similarly exciting match! 

Lastly, having heard the apparently false news about Samba Diakite's extended absence from QPR being  due to depression (apparently he has personal issues to sort out and isn't suffering from depression) I'd just like to make a point that depression in football needs to be talked about more often so that the football community can understand it more. If you've never read it before Ronald Reng's book 'A Life Too Short: The Tragic Story of Robert Enke' is a superb narrative about Robert Enke's career and battle with depression. It's not a story that's designed to make you feel sorry for Enke just to understand what he and countless other footballers have gone through, so it is well worth a read.

Anyway, enjoy the international break everyone and we'll be back next week with a match review from the Morecambe v Fleetwood game as well as a recap of England etc.

J

Week 3 Review: Deadline Day Dust Settles

Well after the transfer deadline mayhem this was actually a pretty unremarkable week for analysis we thought, without droning on about Liverpool's travails which have been covered in far too much detail everywhere else for us to bore you with our views as well.

Aston Villa fans must be going into the international break with a newfound sense of optimism after their performance against Newcastle. After their deadline day dealings we were fearing the worst for the Villains. Their signings consisted of League One players and a 21 year old striker from the Belgian league. Villa have very little experience in their side and it says something when Stephen Ireland is one of the most senior players in your squad. The thing about young players though, as commentators love to remind us, is that they are fearless and Sunday’s result could show this. It’s about time Shay Given was dropped after his terrible Euros and start to this season, but the central defence seems too inexperienced. James Collins was sold which is strange considering Richard Dunne is still injured from the Euros. Up front, Villa look very light weight, as mentioned in previous posts, and it really does seem like they will struggle this year to score goals. But if one man can do it it’s Paul Lambert. He weaved his magic with Norwich bringing in League One players such as Elliott Bennett and Anthony Pilkington who made the step up with aplomb, and he must be hoping Jordan Bowery and Ashley Westwood do the same, and who knows maybe they will?

In the football league, Sheffield Wednesday fans finally found out that Dave Jones does not in fact walk on water and is still a horrible, bitter man and the sorest loser in football. After his first defeat as boss of Wednesday, he blamed the officials for changing the game by changing their minds about giving a penalty against his team, claiming it incensed the Crystal Palace crowd and created a feeling of injustice which spurred the Palace players on to victory! Ridiculous.

Roundup

QPR produced arguably their best half of the Premier League season away at Manchester City on Saturday evening. In spite of what the clueless Jon Champion and Chris Waddle might have made you believe, the R's did offer something to the game at the end of the first half and through most of the second half. They began playing some neat passing football after half time and were rewarded for being more daring with a goal to make it 1-1 and have City worried. Perhaps they could even have scored a second if the ball had fallen to someone other than Ryan Nelsen. Maybe City took their foot off the gas, but given how abject our football has looked this season to date, this was tons better from Rangers and gave the away support plenty of encouragement that all these signings might actually gel to form a decent team. (Note from J – as a United fan the most annoying thing of this game was that when QPR put some passing together their football was excellent, but this happened all too infrequently – one friend said to me Mark Hughes is the wrong manager for the new crop of players and I’m starting to agree).

After 2 games of this season Manchester United have already recovered more points from losing positions this season than they did throughout the whole of last season (6 v 3, thanks Opta Joe!). The signing of Robin Van Persie already looks like it is paying off and United look very confident in front of goal. He has taken no time at all to bed into the team and looks totally at home in this team, even praising Paul Scholes to the heavens yesterday. It seems like this is a match made in heaven and hopefully it will inspire Wayne Rooney and Chicharito and Welbeck to keep up with RVP as well. The defence is still looking susceptible to goals and the time may come sooner rather than later to see how Alexander Buttner can adjust to being thrown into the first team as Patrice Evra’s form continues to slip. The problem with him and Rafael as full backs is that their main strengths are both attacking rather than defending, though Rafael is improving - but he had no chance against Rickie Lambert on Sunday!

A return to winning ways for the mighty Crewe was most welcome. The Railwaymen saw off a sorry looking Coventry thanks to a scrappy looking goal from Max Clayton after he'd missed a sitter earlier in the game. Who needs Nick Powell or Ashley Westwood eh? Let’s hope the fabled academy produces someone else to step up though as there is a lot of burden on Abdul Osman and Luke Murphy at the moment!

Unfortunately, the news on Monday night wasn't quite so positive from the Alten Försterei as 1.FC Union Berlin went down 2-1 at home to city rivals Hertha BSC. Union pulled the game back to level terms but, just like the City v QPR game, parity lasted just a few minutes. On a side note, we were surprised to see that Ben Sahar has turned up at Hertha!

What we learned this week:-

-  Steven Fletcher looks like exactly what Sunderland needed and is already looking like he can justify his price tag
- As expected, Andy Carroll and West Ham looks to be a match made in heaven
- Liverpool could do with another striker before the transfer window clo-... Oh.
- The Albion continue to make a mockery of J's league prediction
- Neil Warnock and El Hadji Diouf are best friends, honest!
- Paulo Di Canio will take you off after 21 minutes if he thinks you're having a bad game, whatever position you play in, and then criticise you for reacting badly when substituted even though he demanded to be substituted in a game against Bradford City in 2000!
- Finally J got the first correct score of the season with the City v QPR result – psychic I tell you!