3 Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd fans from Lebanon and England see whether they can agree on 5 major talking points from the Weekend’s Premier League action.
1) Mark Clattenburg’s performance was yet more evidence of pro United refereeing bias
Nadim: AGREE
I’ve written a lot on this subject so my views are clear on this.
There were bad decisions all weekend. The 3 games I watched (Arsenal vs QPR, the Merseyside derby and Chelsea vs United) were all decided by refereeing mistakes. The difference between all 3 games though is that I actually predicted what would happen in the United game- and indeed it actually fits into a pattern of behavior from referees that had gone a long time without reffing them.
Joe: DISAGREE
He certainly has a few bigger questions to answer for than those of United refereeing bias if he is guilty of what Chelsea have alleged…
The question of refereeing bias towards United is one that always intrigues me, for example the headlines will read United get lucky when on the same weekend Arsenal and Everton have questionable decisions go their way too.
Oh, and Villa should have definitely had Herd sent off for a dreadful challenge when already on a booking. Still it is United yet again that people will focus on and rightfully so as United got decisions going their way during a period of the game when they needed it most. Ivanovic had to go; Torres was very unlucky with his second yellow. Hernandez fell lucky of not so much refereeing bias but assistant referee ineptness.
Samer: AGREE
Clattenburg’s performance in the first half was acceptable. The Torres kung-fu kick wasn’t intentional. The second half is where the problems were and have been well discussed.
Not here to offer more to a conspiracy theory, however, the amount of decisions that Clattenburg gave United while they were under pressure are just too many in a short period of time. When united were cruising, he was top notch, guess he felt the same pressure they did when dropping a 2 goal lead.
Whether or not this conspiracy is true, the amount of refereeing decisions that United were awarded in that 2nd half does give food for thought for any football fan of any kind, well except united supporters who enjoy a win over a team with 9 men and an offside goal.
2) There's no light at the end of the tunnel for Aston Villa, they're going down
Nadim: AGREE
I’ll be shocked if they don’t go down.
Their next few games are very tough (United, City and Arsenal in 3 of the next 4) and they look completely devoid of creativity or goal threat. From what I know of Villa, there’s very little money in the bank for January.
Villa have been regressing under 3 managers now. They’ve spent 3 years selling their best players to the extent that there’s very few players left that are any good. In all honesty, I can’t see one redeeming factor in their play and nothing to suggest there’s 3 teams worse than them. Going down.
Joe: AGREE
If Villa were to stay up then a victory against Norwich was crucial, but they found themselves down to 10 men (should have been 9!) and hanging on. Paul Lambert has a lot of cred amongst the footballing fraternity so people are not twisting the knife too much but deep down he must know that he is doomed this season.
Samer: AGREE
They’re running out of solutions. Paul Lambert has worked miracles with Norwich and Colchester in previous seasons. This time it might just be out of his reach.
Lambert’s team at the moment isn’t anywhere near clicking. His top scorer starts on the bench and keeps sending out disgruntled messages; his backline could be playing for a U 21 team. He’s got problems. They haven’t faced anyone tough in the league yet, bar Spurs.
Lambert is a good tactician and with one or two good signings in the winter window, he could pull off a good run of results to keep them up. Things at the moment look pretty tough and chances are pretty slim for them to stay up this year.
3) This could be the most exciting title race for ages
Nadim: DISAGREE
Genuinely think we’ll have a 3 horse race for the first time since 1999 (2002 race ended 1 month before conclusion).
Chelsea have improved a great deal while both City and United have looked shaky at times. United are the weakest of the 3 but have the best manager and that will to win of theirs (as well as other factors in their favor). It’s hard to separate the 3 teams, and I think it could well come down to head to head games between them. It’ll go to the wire.
But not to the 93rd minute of the last game of the season. As such, disagree.
Joe:AGREE
With the organized chaos that both Manchester clubs appear to indulge in when chasing the league added to Chelsea’s in house drama, this season is all set to be another exciting one right to then end.
No team will run away with the league. Question marks over how much Spurs or Arsenal can chip in as Spurs have previous for caving in but if we have 4 teams still in it come December and then 3 by March the neutrals are in for a treat.
Samer: AGREE
The big three are favorites, but it’s hard to ignore how much of a role Arsenal and Tottenham may have in the title race. I do believe Arsenal does have an outside chance, but it’s a small chance, it’s nice to believe though.
City have been stuttering, but still getting the results. United have started strong and Chelsea before yesterday were absolutely flying, although their fixture list has been kind to them. The league starts to shape up around December, Come May, one of that list will be crowned champion, one thing’s for sure, and it won’t be as easy many think.
It’s going to be a long, controversial and enjoyable title race.
4) Luis Suarez is the most entertaining player in the league
Nadim: AGREE
Love him or hate him (and I don’t know of a single Red who doesn’t love him and a single non Red who doesn’t hate him), the boy is great value.
You can’t take your eye off him. He’s the sort of player who gets you off your seat the minute he gets on the ball if he’s on your team. Concurrently, he must scare the living daylights out of you if he’s playing against you.
And you’ve got all that other stuff coming with him, the dive yesterday was pure comedy gold. His reactions to decisions at times are hilarious. If he was in the WWE, you’d pay good money to watch him get beaten up. The perfect villain but so entertaining.
Joe: AGREE
Entertaining but not necessarily the best because on current form, that title would go to Juan Mata who is the best player for the best team as the current table stands.
Suarez is giving fans the pantomime villain that they have craved since Cristiano Ronaldo left in 2009. Fans will go to games ready to goad him, defenders too. One thing for sure though is that he is a marvel to watch, no quiet moment when he is on the pitch.
Samer: AGREE
I have to admit; he’s got a great touch, lovely movement, tremendous skill and can probably be called the Premier League’s nutmeg king.
He does have a negative side to him, many would call him being singled out or victimized, but if you see the series of incidents he involves himself in, he doesn’t do himself any favors.
He is dirty with undoubted ability and skill. If anyone were to ask me if he was the best footballer in the Premier League, I’d say no but he’d be in the top 5.
On the entertainment side in general, he’s undisputed number 1 – with only PL referee’s being his out and out rival.
5) Stoke and Sunderland are the worst teams to watch in the Premier League
Nadim:AGREE
They’re just atrocious to watch.
I’ve watched 4 Sunderland games and seen them create 2 chances. Sessegnon is the only player with any creativity in that side and he’s had an awful start to the season. They rely heavily on their wingers who are giving them nothing at the moment.
Stoke are a bit more fun, simply because their style of play is such a relic to days gone by and there’s usually a good atmosphere at the Britannia. But God knows what they do in training. Kick, long ball, header, throw in, tackle, foul. Do they work on anything else? Do they even have coaches? Surely they don’t need them.
Joe:AGREE
Sunderland will move into November with only 1 player registering a goal as Stephen Fletcher…
A shocking stat.
Even the generous refereeing which resulted in them facing 10 men for the majority of the Tyne-Wear derby could not allow them to buck this trend and they needed an own goal to help them out. I would hate to support them.
But not as much as I would hate to support Stoke. Pulis claims to be attempting to adapt their style… really? With the players he has at his disposal don’t expect any tika taka anytime soon.
Samer: AGREE
Stoke usually are at the bottom of my watching list, unless they’re playing against us. Regardless my personal opinion about Stoke, they always have come across as big bullying footballers who have zero tolerance for mistakes. Even when they added players with pace and flair, their game focuses on being the bigger bully.
It’s been a rough and boring start to the season for both teams, Even MOTD chose to play their game last and it’s going to be a long season for both clubs’ supporters.
Until there’s some sort of improvement, it’ll be a long time before any “neutral” supporter will want to be watching one of their games.
So there you have it, 3 conclusions from the weekend out of 5 that a Liverpool, Arsenal and United fan agree on. Please leave us your comments should you have any.
Comments