Dalglish Sputters

By Bagga Wilks

Kenny Dalglish made some canny moves over the summer to acquire Charley Adam, Downing, Henderson and before Suarez and Carrol. They seemed poised for greatness but suffered a meltdown against Tottenham.

Harry Redknapp didn’t make that many moves over the summer. He adroitly acquired Adebayor and Scott Parker, kept Modric and jettisoned Crouch. Against Liverpool, Redknapp’s two acquisitions, Parker and Adebayor, played magnificently. Parker was his usual busy self in mid-field and Adebayor took up where he left off when he was one of the premier strikers in the EPL.

Liverpool had an emotional letdown. Charley Adam received a red early in the first half. Then Skrtel who had Bale skirting around him for the entire time he was on the field also joined Charley Adam with a red card. Yellow cards and red cards are becoming a menace in football. Eleven against ten is an unfair advantage much less eleven against nine.

In addition to keeping his Liverpool players on the field, Dalglish needs to shore up his defends. He has acquired Sebastian Coates, the young Uruguayan, a central defender but it will take him some time to adapt to the speed of the English game. Liverpool and Arsenal seem to be swimming in the same leaky boat. Harry Redknapp has the horses to finish among the elite.

The First Battle of the Titans

The Manchester United vs Chelsea game lived up to the expectations. In the first half, it was clear that the Chelsea defenders could not cope with the Manchester assault. Not long after the referee blew his whistle, Chelsea were three down with goals by Smalling, Rooney and Nani.

Chelsea came alive in the second half and there are signs that Torres is awakening from his long slumber. He ran off the ball well and Anelka delivered an exquisite through ball which Torres deposited in the back of the net. He received another perfect through pass from Ramires, beat the goalkeeper and blew the “sitter”. But Torres and his coach should not be daunted by him missing the “sitter”. The key is that he is making the beautiful runs that have made him a thorn in the side of defenders.

Manchester United is a cut above the rest in the EPL. Manchester City allowed Fulham to come from behind and tie them to a 2-2 draw.

The EPL is off to a great start and Manchester United, even though the last four intermittently looked shaky, the offensive weapons are too variegated for defender to cope. Rooney, Nani, Young, Chicharito and Anderson are playing at a level that their match up with Barca later in the season should be an epic.