Cosy Scholesy! The legend fired Man Utd to victory

 Hoping to avoid a humiliating third consecutive league defeat, Ferguson fielded Evans with Ferdinand at centreback and Rafael started at right back as Jones and Smalling both lost their fitness battle. Paul Scholes, after making a 30 min cameo against Man City last week started in midfield alongside Michael Carrick. Welbeck retained his place up front with Rooney and Berbatov remained on the bench with De Gea.

Cahill, on the verge of joining Chelsea, was not included in the lineup and was replaced by Wheater. Ngog continued to spearhead 19^th-place Bolton’s attack in place of Kevin Davies and Klasnic with Eagles and Petrov supporting on the flanks. Adam Bodgan, after conceding a 92-yard goal from Tim Howard last week, kept his position as first-choice keeper Jaaskelainen remained injured.

Play of the Game

Man Utd: A return header from Scholes found Valencia with space on the right flank before the winger decided to burst through 3 Bolton defenders to the byline. A low cross drilled to the far post had beaten everybody but Wayne Rooney was just late to slide the ball into the net in the 61^th minute.

Bolton: Mark Davies showed good anticipation in intercepting Evans’ poor square pass to Evra before speeding into United’s box pass Ferdinand just after the break. He then laid the ball back to Ngog who fired his shot into row Z.

Paul Scholes enjoys sharing the spotlight with King Henry

Key Moments

• In the 20^th minute, Rooney’s spot kick was pushed away by goalkeeper Bogdan and the Red Devils started to get nervous after their early domination failed to pay off. Bogdan on the other hand regained much confidence after last week’s bizarre goal and managed to fend off Man Utd’s ensuing attacks. Sir Alex would have hoped at least either one of his keepers had such confidence.
• Scholes’ goal just before half time came at the perfect timing. Starting the second half with a 1-0 lead made it much more comfortable for the nervous Red Devils to control the game at home and Scholes apparently regained his confidence in the 2^nd half after giving the ball away carelessly several times in the first.
• A Petrov corner was met by the head of Steinsson and it was only kept out of the line at the far post by Rafael in the 68^th minute, which could easily have changed the game if it went 1-1.
• Sir Alex brought on Giggs and Park on for Scholes and Nani in the 69^th minute aiming to keep possession and hinder the liberated Mark Davies before pressure became too intense when it was still 1-0. This was a better change compared to the FA Cup match at Etihad Stadium, when Alex brought in Scholes to pair a combined-75 years old central midfield with the lead only stood at 3-1.
• Carrick bended a 25-yard shot with his left foot to the bottom corner in the 83^rd minute to ensure Man Utd return to winning ways as they continue to pile on pressure to leaders Man City.

Verdict

Man Utd

It was a much-needed victory for Man Utd as they look to take advantage of Man City losing key players to the African Nations Cup to close the gap or even supersede their neighbor in the league table after a good-result-poor-performance match in the FA Cup derby. Although playing at home, they welcomed Bolton’s attacks in the early stage and countered with pace up front. However frustration began to build up after the penalty miss as they couldn’t convert their chances into goals before legend Paul Scholes slotted home from close range to keep their plan on track. Their lack of concentration was still occasionally evident especially at the backline but was overshadowed by the impotency of Bolton’s offence; nonetheless brilliant performances by Valencia and Welbeck was enough to secure a win as the Red Devils look to recover from two consecutive league losses.

Bolton

The offence was rather hopeful in the early stages but the defense was horrid from the first minute. Man Utd players were given immense amount of space throughout the match and were rarely closed down. Chris Eagles shouldered the attacking burden in the early stages and combined with Mark Davies on several occasions to create nerves for the majority in Old Trafford but their poor defending (excluding goalkeeping) was frequently exploited to disrupt their rhythm. The penalty save gave confidence to the Bolton players but the lack of organization eventually paid the price before a demoralizing goal just before the break. Despite showing promises against a shaky United backline in the early minutes of the second half, Owen Coyle’s men were only further exposed and they may find themselves at the bottom of the league by the end of tomorrow.

Best Performer of the Game

Antonio Valencia. Having been deployed at the right back position during Man Utd’s injury crisis, Valencia reminded fans of his favorite right wing role as he continually terrorized Samuel Ricketts and it was definitely a nightmare the Bolton fullback would like to forget. The winger’s quick feet, strong physique and high pace was too much to deal with and crosses constantly came in from the right flank. The tireless Ecuadorian was having one of his best nights in front of his home fans as they were cheering for him whenever he touched the ball in the latter stage of the encounter.

Growing defensive mind in his effective attacking game

Who could do better?

David Ngog. The former Liverpool striker has been heavily involved in Bolton’s season so far but once again he’s made Bolton fans miss Kevin Davis more.  The Frenchman did not show enough strength needed to outmuscle 33-yeard-old Ferdinand and retain possession and was seldom involved in his team’s counter attacks with average movement. He lacked Kevin Davies’ strength and hardwork in closing down defenders and he lacked Klasnic’s killer shot in front of goal. Owen Coyle must make a decision in whether to keep faith in the Frenchman or revert to old times as Bolton continue to fight against relegation.

The two most over-rated left backs in Premier League

Who’s the world’s best left back? If your answer is Roberto Carlos, we are on the same page. There have been a lot of world-class right backs, Sergio Ramos, Maicon, Dani Alves and so on. How about left backs? Perhaps onlyAshley Cole could achieve similar status. While Arsenal are struggling to replace Ashley Cole (for six years!),Manchester United and Tottenham appear to have enjoyed stability, at least, at their left back position. However playing regularly in a top team does not necessarily mean you’re a top player.

Patrice Evra joined during in January 2006 as Argentinan left back Gabriel Heinze was injured and needed swift cover. By the end of 2006, with compatriot Silvestre’s long-term injury, Evra had cemented his place in Manchester United’s starting lineup and have since played around fifty matches a season for the Red Devils and is now the stand-in skipper.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto was signed by then manager Martin Jol as a bright prospect in summer 2006 but it was not until his greatest admirer – Harry Redknapp – took over in season 2008-2009 that Assou-Ekotto was playing week in week out for Spurs. Even with superior physical strength compared to ordinary attacking full backs, he never established himself as a fan favorite since he surprisingly proclaimed his genuine motivation in playing football lies in his paycheck rather than passion for the sport.

His peak may have gone past

Evra does own a world-class resume: Four Premiership titles, three League Cups, one Champions League title, but people seldom realize his decline in work rate. He rarely earns the upper hand over top class wingers, let aloneJamie Mackie of QPR. His attacking form is also over-shadowed by the Brazilian Da Silva twins. What makes things worse is his incapability to follow the example of his fellows, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, to step up as an influential leader at the backline. When Manchester United was on the back foot in the infamous Derby loss and the crucial match at Basel, Evra had never delivered an inspirational moment throughout.

the same mindset as cashley cole, but the quality differs

Assou-Ekotto can concentrate on his defence duty while enjoying the partnership of the flamboyant Gareth Bale, though from time to time he looks shaky in key moments. Already reluctant to use his weaker foot, he has always failed to clear a ball promptly and showed a lack of concentration, most notably in leaving Sturridge unmarked in the box to allow Chelsea leveling the most recent derby.  He can only hope this will not come back to haunt them by the end of the season, though we would guess Benoit can’t care less as long as he is paid.

While other Premier League teams are also having difficulty to field a natural and reliable left back, with Newcastleemploying right back Ryan Taylor, Wigan playing midfielder David Jones, Sunderland playing right back Phil Bardsley, there are also left backs that are doing a great job for their team and are on the verge of representing their country on a regular basis.

At 27, Leighton Baines is already in his 7^th season in the Premier League and is always remembered as the most hardworking player in the team as well as a good striker of the ball. In Baines, you can see the passion to play and you can feel his athleticism is the engine of the Merseyside team.  When Ashley Cole retires, he will be the undoubted replacement for the three lions.

Jose Enrique seemed to be the long term solution for Liverpool. He doesn’t have the thunderbolt shots of John Arne Riise but the indefatigable Spaniard has a rich blend of strength, pace and bravery that gives confidence to the Liverpool faithful which was not found in Traore, Dossena or Insua. His occasional surging runs are good enough to produce half-chances for Suarez to convert into goals. Consistent performances for his club could easily impress Del Bosque as the ideal replacement for Joan Capdevilla.

Having written the article, we saw Assou-Ekotto outperformed Baines last night, leading Spurs to victory with a brilliant assist and a 35-yard screamer, where Baines was tortured by the speed of Lennon. Harry will be absolutely delighted if he can sustain this level of performance, but mark my words Spurs’ fans, apart from Gomes, Assou-Ekotto will ever be the most dangerous bomb.

Can Harry's wand avoid Tottenham's fumbling?

It was a season that Tottenham was looking forward to, though the ending was not quite the fairytale one they anticipated.

Gareth Bale shocked the world with the explosiveness of Welsh, but the gap in quality was exposed in Bernabeu. The players were completely drained by the European campaign. Injuries and fatigues caused them to finish the season behind their North London rival, Arsenal, but the exclusion from Champions League was even harder to swollen.

Harry Redknapp knows his players are not mentally ready to challenge the top flight teams. He had made it no secret that all they are looking for this year is Champions League qualification. They have overcome the turbulent August and find themselves just behind the two teams that clobbered them in the early season.

A mission far from simple

While pundits credit their success to the addition of Adebayor and Scott Parker, it is the consistency of the line-up which retains the team chemistry and allows them to grow and flourish. The fluent and flowing game that Tottenham is playing is something even Manchester United is of no match.

They will also be thankful of the squad depth they enjoy, which enables them to keep their key players away from Europa games, a competition they are less interested in.

A coin always has two sides. While Harry insisted his team selection during Christmas/New Year period, Tottenham was hit by a growing injury list, adding Parker, Sandro and Gallas. Tired legs have dragged performance of Bale, Modric and Kyle Walker significantly. From time to time, they remind the fans of the shaky group last season that dropped points to the bottom half teams.

Holding a healthy lead over Chelsea and Arsenal, Tottenham cannot bear a moment of complacency at all. Still having to visit Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the 2nd half of the season, a group of 14 players will not be physically and mentally strong enough to secure their European ticket.

No matter how unwilling Harry is, he will have to start utilise the quality players on the bench. Pienaar and Kranjcar can provide strong backup to Modric and Bale, whereas Corluka (out of favour) and Danny Rose are reliable fullback reserves. Neither Defoe nor Pavlyuchenko is an ideal lone striker, but they have their own ability to be a goal-grabber; not to mention the young and talented dos Santos who always gave his best when played.

Having already crushed out of Europa, Tottenham deadly needs to maintain the fitness of the second string team. The 4-4-1-1 (or 4-3-2-1 recently) formation is the most effective with Van der Vaart, Bale and Modric accompanying Adebayor, but they would need to inject some tactical surprise now to mix in the reserve players with the starting XI. 

Nobody would question the quality of Tottenham's squad, but the fans will be absolutely devastated if the meltdown last March is repeated. Harry Redknapp has already been prompted an early alarm in the match against West Brom;  at such a quick pace, one single wrong move in the Premier League could lead to unrecoverable results. Harry and his coaching crews will have a difficult task to accomplish in the following five months. 

The Little Men will have to act big

How things are after Christmas

he Christmas and New Year Fixtures (CNY) have always been an entertaining time for the English Premier League. This year the teams have had to play 4 matches from 21 Dec to 4 Jan (15 days!). It’s a test to the squad depth; it’s a test of man management; it’s a test of strategies. So how have the league table changed so far? Is fate decided?

Title Race

Man City recovered from the goalless draw away at The Hawthorns and the frustrating loss to Black Cat with a 3-0 win against Liverpool, but Roberto Mancini will have to worry about the absence of powerhouse Yaya Toure as well as exhausting the proven-indispensable David Silva. Man Utd have undone their brilliant effort against Fulham and Wigan with consecutive losses to Blackburn and Newcastle. Fergie would hope their long list of injured players could return to fitness soon and re-challenge their noisy neighbors. Spurs may have numerically trimmed their deficit with the Manchester Clubs, but they may find it difficult to keep up with the summit after the weary CNY campaign, although European football is all they are yearning for.

Ferguson (left) and Mancini concluded 

2011 with mows and moaning 

Going to Europe?

Chelsea continues to disappoint with consecutive draws and an ugly loss at home against Aston Villa. When Drogba and Kalou returns from the ANC, the Blues may have already drifted away from 4^th. Arsenal remains at the 5^th place after picking up 7 points and more injuries at the back. Their goal-scoring form, Van Persie in particular, has cooled but the return of King Henry and perhaps more new faces are expected to boost Arsene Wenger’s young squad. Liverpool disappointingly drew against relegation candidates Wigan and Blackburn, collecting only 5 points in CNY and it would be intriguing to know whether the return of Gerrard could compensate the long suspension of Suarez as Kenny Dalglish’s side vies for a top 4 finish. Newcastle closed out the CNY period with a 3-0 victory against Man Utd sitting just below the Kops at 7^th. The missing of Demba Ba would be their only downside in the chase of European football.

Reign of Chaos

Martin O’Neil took over Sunderland and helped them amass an impressive 11 points from the CNY fixtures, stunning Chelsea and hammering Wigan en route to 10^th. Fulham have recovered from the miserable Europa campaign and managed to steal 4 points from Chelsea and Arsenal, despite losing heavily at home to Manutd. Swansea are also charging up to the top half as they finish the CNY with their first away win against Aston Villa. QPR have found themselves next to the relegation zone having only collected 1 point in 4 matches. Warnock will hope he could secure more signings than Macheda in January to prevent a return to the Championship. Mick McCarthy’s Wolves sit on top of QPR by GD but may find themselves in the bottom 3 soon following the suspension of Milijas and losing playmaker O’Hara to injury if they don’t start improving their home form.

Jumping for Joy: Martin O'Neill celebrated his debut winner 

The Great Escape?

Steve Kean saved his job by getting four points at Anfield and Old Trafford, but Blackburn are stuck at the bottom of the table and are still far away from safety. Retaining the service of Christopher Samba will boost their chance. Bolton grabbed a massive 7 points in 4 matches and is only 1 point away from QPR, although they will be almost certainly losing their captain, who scored the winning goal against Everton. Wigan would have much to think about their goal-scoring ability as the goal difference might turn out crucial should they still be in the relegation zone for the 2^nd half of the season. 

Steve, I don't think you have enough
fingers for your league position

3 Points for Tottenham

Tottenham would be looking forward to take advantage of the miserable weekend for the Manchester clubs. Harry Redknapp was still reluctant to shuffle the squad, despite the heavy legs shown by Modric and Bale at Swansea. The injured Scott Parker would be replaced by Jermain Defoe. Van der Vaart would play on the right flank again in this 4-4-2 formation.

West Brom made three changes to the side that suffered from Anichebe’s late winner on Sunday. Chris Brunt and Shane Long would not feature, while James Morrison was dropped to the bench. 18 years old George Thorne was handed his Premier League debut.

Play of the Game

Tottenham: In 62th min, Defoe broke the deadlock with a brilliant effort. Van der Vaart again found space in the box and squared it to Bale. His cross targeted Defoe, whose first touch left the ball in the air, but he cleverly backed off his defender, and fired a low shot which is beyond the reach of Ben Foster.

Match-winner Jermain Defoe celebrates

West Brom: Bale and Adebayor exchanged passes near the box. Bale laid a delicate pass to Adebayor how looked to be free with only Foster to beat, but Billy Jones made a last ditch sliding tackle to disrupt the pass and denied Tottenham's nice flow.   

Key Moments

·         Sandro was not at his best in the early first half, being robbed twice in his own half. Modric and Bale are far from their best. The Tottenham midfielders didn't have the sharpness to break through the organised West Brom defense.

·         In the 25 min, Kaboul marched up and released Bale on the left. The Welshman's cross was met by Van der Vaart, but his first time left foot shot was just parried over the bar by Ben Foster. This was the best chance for Tottenham in the first half.

·         Miscommunication between Livermore and Kaboul caused a headbutt that forced both off the court. West Brom strived to take advantage of the extra manpower and piled on the pressure, but it was Van der Vaart who became the saviour, who made an excellent tackle to deny Odemwingie on the left flank and drew a foul. The whistle allowed Spurs to restore to 11 men.

·         Sandro limped off with a hamstring injury in the 28th min; Gallas and Livermore were both taken off. The injury problem has started to haunt Harry Redknapp, particularly at the holding midfielder position. They will be hoping for quick recovery of Parker.  

Anecdotes

·         Having already scored four times in his last five starts, Defoe seemed to have run out of ideas to impress Harry Redknapp.  Will he be spotted with his new hairstyle?

·         Tottenham fans were surely slowed down by the congested fixtures. The usually ever-going chanting in White Hart Lane was missing in the first half. No wonder Tottenham was outdueled by their opponents.

·         Harry Redknapp had surely not been prompted for emergent substitutions for long. With 9 men on the court temporarily, Harry struggled to restore the manpower, when West Brom strived to put some pressure on the short defensive line.

Verdict

Tottenham

It was not their "A" game, but 3 point is all they need. Defoe and Kaboul were the stars of the match. Walker was less energetic, but stayed solid at the back. Questions arise again about Harry Redknapp's squad selection. Adebayor and Modric suffered from tired legs and three more players went down for injury. Livermore, Bassong, Defoe, and even Kranjcar, not at his preferred position, showed they are all in good shapes. It is crucial for Tottenham to maintain a healthy squad for their tough fixtures coming up in late January.

You tired, Bale?

West Brom

They have put up a very respectable performance. Roy Hodgson had his players sticking to his gameplan and had kept Tottenham off-balance for the whole match. West Brom had every chance to claw a point back when Livermore was off with a mouth injury, but Hodgson would be worried about the lack of creativity in their midfield. Scharner was particularly destructive, committing a lot of meaningless fouls.

Best Performer of the Game

Rafael Van der Vaart. He never enjoys playing as a right wing, but he showed the energy and creativity that the entire Tottenham midfield had been missing the whole night. It was not once or twice he found the gap in West Brom's box. His aggression had contributed in the build-up of the winning goal. He also covered a lot of ground, helping to fill up the voids left temporarily by the injuries of Kaboul and Livermore.

Who could do better?

Harry Redknapp. Rather than spotting the lazy legs of Adebayor and careless pass of Modric, Harry Redknapp should be the one to blame for the lack of sharpness of his first-team players. The most significant one was Kyle Walker, who seldom showed the explosiveness at right wing last night. With successive home games coming up, Harry must utilise the squad depth that their North London rival envies so much to prevent them running out of gas soon.  

Belated Happy Birthday Fergie!

Sunderland emulated Blackburn in stealing points from a Manchester club. Injuries had forced O’Neil to name Craig Gardner and Jack Colback as fullbacks and hot prospect James McClean was given his first start at his new club. Simon Mignolet also returned to the starting lineup as his impressive understudy Kieren Westwood picked up an injury in training.

Roberto Mancini boasted his luxurious but unconstructive bench players by resting David Silva and Sergio Aguero while Samir Nasri and Adam Johnson supported Edin Dzeko in a 3-men frontline. Nigel De Jong and Kolarov were also given a start in the busy Christmas fixtures. However, Man City may have wasted the best opportunity to open up another lead against Man Utd in the title race.

Does Roberto Mancini regret leaving
him on the bench?

Play of the Game

Sunderland: Sunderland had a great chance to take a surprising lead in front of their own fans in the 2^nd minute after Stephane Sessegnon held up the loose ball from a Man City corner with his skill and strength near the half-way line before releasing Nicklas Bendtner with a diagonal through ball only to see Joe Hart coming out commandingly to block off the Dane’s weak shot.

Man City: After some patient passing in Sunderland’s half, Silva found space and his 20-yard strike was pushed away by Simon Mignolet. Micah Richards was in the right place to pick up the loose ball but he headed it against the crossbar in the 88^th minute and it was the closest Man City got to scoring a goal.

Key Moments

·         Adam Johnson took a short corner to Zabaleta and got the return pass before curling his effort just above the woodwork at the far corner in the 13^th minute to make it 1-0 after surviving Sunderland’s early scare.

·         Wes Brown was limping after clashing with Adam Johnson in the 25^th minute and Sunderland was lucky they were temporarily in control of the match before Mancini’s men could exploit his injury. He was replaced by Matthew Kilgallon in a peculiar back four with more than an hour more to play.

·         A Sunderland throw-in just inside the City half was recklessly headed back by Kolarov and Sessegnon was lightning-quick to pick up the loose ball before sending Kompany the wrong way just to see his shot from the outside of his right foot swerve wide from the far post in the 63^rd minute.

·         Micah Richards came on for the vulnerable Kolarov in the 66^th minute and Mancini had used up all his substitutions. He might have regretted such an idea as his players, Adam Johnson in particular, became exhausted as they chased for the winner.

·         In the 93^rd minute, a 5-on-3 Sunderland break that ended with Sessegnon’s return pass to Dong-Won Ji just outside the box was proved to be the ultimate assist as Ji rounded Joe Hart calmly before sending the ball into the empty net to hand Man City their 2^nd defeat of the season. The linesman however was not up to the pace with the break and was unable to flag correctly Ji offside.

Verdict

Sunderland

Despite the absence of first choice defenders and the injury of Wes Brown, a disciplined and hardworking Sunderland team’s gameplan worked out perfectly well. A textbook counter attack tactic was deployed from the first minute and they managed to keep City players at bay with a packed midfield line. O’Neil made direct substitutions to ensure they continue to frustrate Man City with stubbornness and ubiquity at the back. Even if David Vaughan didn’t have his best game ever, their overall team effort was rewarded with a counter attack goal in the dying minutes (although it should’ve been ruled offside).

Man City

A 2^nd consecutive scoreless match and their 2^nd defeat of the season. With their game against Liverpool in mind amid the busy festive fixtures, Mancini opted to rest Aguero, Silva and Balotelli and relied on Dzeko to send them 3 points ahead United. Yet without Silva nothing seemed to connect on the pitch for Man City. It was evident the Blues became more threatening with Silva (not Aguero) but it was too late for the little magician to conjure a winner. With nearly 70% of possession, they rarely created goal-scoring chances and Roberto Mancini will definitely need to figure out how to regain their 53-goals-in-16-matches form.

Best Performer of the Game

Stephane Sessegnon. Having finally adapted to the Premier League this season, the attacking midfielder showed strength and skills in holding up the loose ball against the huge Man City players and was always looking to invent counter attacks. He had good understanding with lone striker Bendtner and was aware of his teammates’ movement. He was unlucky not to get himself on the scoresheet but his 5^th assist of the season proved to be a giant-killing one. 

Stephane Sessegnon holds off Barry

Who could do better?

The linesman (not the writer). Sunderland’s winning goal was proved offside by TV replay and it was equally obvious that the linesman could not catch up with the match at the latter stages. The decision was huge and we could expect the City boss to be exasperated in his press conferences. Does this call for the need of an additional linesman? Or even video replay technology? The quality of refereeing, including linesman, has constantly come under fire this season and it is pity for games or even competitions to be ruined by misjudgments.