Soldado --- the scapegoat of the toothless Tottenham

The movie "Moneyball" illustrates you don't need to invest as heavy as New York Yankees to enjoy success in the business of sports. The message might not be well-received by Premier League club owners. Manchester City did not get their return of investment until the final minute of 2011-12 season. The flop last season only means they need to spend more.

Despite their generous spending, Tottenham's balance book looks relatively healthy, offset by the income from the sale of Gareth Bale. The board would still be convinced this has in fact upgraded the team from over-relying on individual flair to become more all-rounded and complete, not until the recent humiliating defeat at Etihad Stadium.

Soldado has only scored from the spot this season 

It leaves Andre Villas-Boas puzzling about the lack of firepower in his squad, with more than half of Bale's sale was spent on Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela, also seeing Andros Townsend bursts into the first team, so as the National team. If the concept of expecting one goal per £1 million invested in a striker is to apply, Robin Van Persie was a bargain for Manchester United, whereas Soldado will have to be in goals galore to reach the minimum expectation.

Jermain Defoe's eye-catching form put more pressure on Soldado. The Spaniard goal-scoring ability is beyond doubt. The difference in performance of the two strikers does not only lie in the level of competition they have regularly been featured in, but it is AVB's failure to get the best out of Soldado under his system.

Neither physically gifted nor possessing enormous pace, it is Soldado's technique, delicate touch and football intelligence that makes him one of the most prolific strikers in Europe. Playing in AVB's 4-2-3-1 formation, the former Valencia centre-forward struggles with opportunities to showcase his talents, while often finds himself being outnumbered in the final third.

Although the depth of the bench is not of a worry for Tottenham, they are in fact over-abundant in central midfielders and wingers, but relatively short in the no.10 position, whose presence alongside Soldado is exactly what is missing in Tottenham's attack. Christian Eriksen is the best fit to the vacancy since Rafael Van der Vaart's departure, although he has yet to flourish since his impressive home debut. The next closest match, Gylfi Sigurdsson, has instead found his new comfort zone on the left.

On Thursday night, Soldado was given a rare start in Europa League, as if an ultimatum given by AVB to his starting berth. Moussa Dembele was the man behind him, but the Belgian's terrible goal-scoring record has reflected his unsuitability to the role. Dembele is indeed way better as a distributor and looks more threatening arriving late at the box.  

Soldado thus spent more time showing his frustration in the first half, rather than contributing in the attack. Lack of penetration, mobility and creativity on Tottenham's side saw the ball often stall on both flanks, which by no means Soldado can find an easy way to threaten the opponents' goal. It appeared to be another night the striker again failed to impress his manager.

Constant pressure from Jermain Defoe

The own goal by Tromso's Adnan Cauevic opened up the game in the second half, also relieved the pressure of AVB's side. Playing with more liberty, Soldado showed glimpses of what he can bring to Tottenham's offense.  The timely dummy run in the box freed Dembele that saw him score again for Tottenham in over a year. Minutes later, he placed a first time flick perfectly to release Dembele once again but only saw the post deny the Belgian a brace.    

The skills are elementary, yet executing to perfection while making it look simple, Tottenham has gone in the right direction in investing in Soldado. If not contributing by putting the ball in the net himself, Soldado has a complete package to help the group of talented attackers Tottenham possessess to shine. Rather than suspecting his main striker's form and confidence, AVB might have to understand better his player's strength and the adaptability into his gameplan. 

The man who turns over a new leaf --- Alexis Sanchez

It s a great honour for a player to play for a title-winning team. At the same time, if only being assigned a bit-part role, it could be hard to swallow. Alexsandr Hleb, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Martin Caceres and more recently Thiago Alcantara had left Camp Nou in search of more regular playing time. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played regularly but was not treated as the key in attack, departed to win the attention he needs.

Alexis Sanchez chose to switch to Camp Nou in 2011 after being rated as one of the most exciting youngster at Udinese. The Chilean is seldom under the spotlight and has been overshadowed by superstars like Xavi, Iniesta and Lionel Messi, but Alexis has not been discouraged by the change of circumstances and has finally lived up to potential this season.

The Tiki-Taka style advocated by former Barca player and manager Pep Guardiola places emphasis on possession, patience and involvement of midfielders in attack. The attacking force led by the false no.9 Lionel Messi has driven Barcelona near to unbeatable in the past five years.

At his best when given the license to run

Alexis is at his best with ball at feet and running directly at defenders. Under the Tiki-Taka style, Barcelona often builds up the attack slowly and Alexis often finds himself isolated up front and being forced to retreat.  Not quite at full strength due to the mismatch with the tactics, Guardiola and Vilanova had been selecting Pedro over Alexis, with the former 's speed and off-ball movement being the perfect match to the penetrating passes by the playmakers.

Recent European stumbles as well as defeats in El Clasico raised the awareness of the necessity of a plan B. Vilanova's successor Gerardo Martino adds extra dimension to Barca football by introducing pace and directness. Counter attacks that were unseen in Barcelona past few years is rediscovered this season.

Alexis has clearly benefited from the change in playing style. While Messi's injury has opened up the opportunity in striker position, under Martino's system, Alexis finds himself with a lot more support in the final third and is encouraged to be more aggressive in challenging defenders. Also possessing the technical skills to play the Tiki-Taka football, the versatility of Alexis is valued by the new manager. The renewed confidence is reflected on his scorecard, having bagged 8 goals in 10 league games, including the sensational chip shot that sealed the El Clasico victory at home. 

The El Clasico's lob

His individual show at Wembley Arena might have shocked England. For those who have seen him play at Udinese would not be too surprised by Alexis' ability. His re-emergence has come at the right moment for Chile ahead of the World Cup next Summer. Even though Chile is far from being the favourite of the tournament, an Alexis in superb condition will strongly boast their chance in qualifying for knockout round for the second successive tournament. More importantly, the young Chilean is once again enjoying his football. 

Honours split in the six-goal Merseyside Derby

There is never disappointment in the Merseyside Derby. With Everton being rock solid at the back lately and Liverpool finding renewed hope in the SAS partnership, the clash was destined to be colourful and mind-blowing.

The usually fierce derby did not produce the first blood until the half an hour mark. Kevin Mirallas' reckless stud-first tackle on the already-limping Luis Suarez would have sent him for an early bath, but Phil Dowd took exceptionally long time to decide a booking was sufficient to suppress the temper.

Before that, Tim Howard was already beaten twice. Philippe Coutinho smartly escaped the defence and met Steven Gerrard's corner at the back post. The Brazilian calmly flicked it past Howard, who could have made himself bigger but did not react quickly enough.

Liverpool's second goal further undermined the creditability of the American goalkeeper. Howard instructed a 4-man wall to protect a freekick from outside 30 yards, while room was left between Steven Pienaar and the wall. It was as if a mental game played by Howard to challenge Suarez to beat him through the gap. Suarez accepted the challenge and completed the task, despite Steven Pienaar's attempt to narrow the gap. Whether Pienaar should have been part of a 5-man wall instead, Howard would have a lot to explain to Roberto Martinez.

In between, Kevin Mirallas managed to find his first goal of the season. Liverpool could not deal with Leighton Baines' freekick cleanly and Simon Mignolet was beaten in close range by compatriot Mirallas. The winger looked active especially with Liverpool fielding young John Flanagan at left back, who more often plays on the opposite flank.  The Belgian, though, further irritated Liverpool fans in the second half when he elbowed Jordan Henderson in a header contest but escaped a second booking.

As Daniel Sturridge was only fit to make the bench, and with Coutinho and Glen Johnson only just back from injury, Suarez was the only threat in Liverpool's frontline. Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka looked well prepared for the Uruguayan. When Suarez finally managed to beat the defence, with the help of the opponents, Joe Allen infamously put it wide, with only Tim Howard between himself and the goal. The Welsh's woeful Liverpool career continues.

Lukaku hit the brace against Mignolet

An accidental step by Henderson on Baines' right foot forced the dead-ball specialist to depart shortly after the interval. Still, Everton had no problems in mastering possession at home. Deulofeu was introduced to enrich their attacking options, with Barry dropping to left back. The energy on the Everton side seemed to have enlightened Romelu Lukaku.

The on-loan striker was far from his best for most of the afternoon, even with Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho only on the bench. When given the opportunity, the young Lukaku was able to deliver and once again he proved, maybe to Jose Mourinho in particular, himself to be a prolific striker in the Premier League.

In contrast to Howard, Mignolet had an outstanding afternoon. Ross Barkley's cunning shot towards the bottom corner in the first half could not trouble the Belgian keeper. Both Deulofeu and Lukaku also could not get the better of Mignolet in one-on-one situation. When Lukaku's deflected freekick was one again being parried out, it seems to suggest this is not the day for Everton.

Sturridge came to rescue

Persistence finally paid off. Shortly after Lukaku's freekick being saved, Everton reorganised the big Belgian calmly placed the shot past Mignolet near the penalty spot to equalise at 2-2. 10 minutes later, just as Roberto Martinez was ready to consolidate the defence by introducing John Stones, the fans ruptured into celebrations when Lukaku's header brought them the lead for the first time in the afternoon.

Martinez had overturned his Merseyside Derby debut from disastrous to delightful, but Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to deny the Spanish manager a winning one. The English striker converted captain Gerrard's freekick to conclude the eventful derby. It might be a bit disappointing to the home fans but they would be content with the results after trailing twice. On the other hand, Brendan Rodgers would count themselves very lucky. Being the second best, SAS has preserved Liverpool second position in the Premier League table. 

Does A.C. Milan have what it takes to bounce back?

Allegri banks his hope on Kaka

Reform is often painful, particularly when revolutionary changes are to be made to a historically successful empire. 18 times Serie A winner AC Milan decided to withdraw their veterans policy a couple of years ago and started to rebuild. It did not appear to be a tough transition when they finished 2nd and 3rd last two seasons. But parted away with the very last piece of Golden Age puzzle --- Massimo Ambrosini, Milan seems to have lost identity and is already 19 points behind league leader Roma only 12 games into the season. Frustration is surfacing in San Siro. Although coach Massimiliano Allegri is not the one being targeted, his job security still remains in doubt.

The art of managing a football team could be as complicated as rocket science. The problem with Milan, though, is fundamental  --- they don't score enough. Unavoidably, the blame will be on Mario Balotelli. "Super Mario" has single-handedly rescued Milan's season last year but has yet to hit his top form. Despite Allegri's reluctance to admit, Balotelli is indispensable to Milan, being their main source of goals, something that Alessandro Matri and Giampaolo Pazzini will not be able to replicate individually.

It is not as if Milan is completely a one-man team. Before the arrival of Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy quickly emerged as the star striker, but then followed by a rapid drop in form, suggesting he is yet to be physically ready for the full season of Serie A football. Robinho is another talented attacker who would form a good partnership with Balotelli, but the Brazilian has been hit by injuries, while rumours about his return to Santos do not help either.

Having not possessed adequate assets, Adriano Galliani decided against paying an insignificant transfer fees to get Keisuke Honda five months earlier than planned. Selling Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had been featured regularly in Allegri's team, is also questionable, although it could be a decision based on discipline problems. Missing out on two younger guns, Galliani has instead brought back a familiar face from Real Madrid --- Kaka. 

He knows San Siro well enough; he has the motivation to break into Scolari's squad for next year World Cup; and he is only 31, having only played about 20 games each season with Real Madrid. He certainly still has something left in the tank. This might be the fair justification of Galliani's refusal to bring in Honda earlier.

Nevertheless, it is quite a different team to the one Kaka played with in his first spell with Rossoneri. Carlo Anchelotti, a midfielder himself in his career, believes in possession football and utilised a balanced 5-man midfield to support lone striker Andrei Shevchenko. With the like of Gattuso and Ambrosini offering defensive support, the transformed Andrea Pirlo to link up plays as an anchorman, also the skills of Clarence Seedorf and Rui Costa to dictate the tempo, Kaka was able to shine in the no.10 position at the age of 21.

Those were the days

With Allegri taking charge, the Rossoneri is playing at much quicker pace than Anchelotti's era. Players of high efficiency, like Muntari, Emanuelson, Nocerino and De Jong are at the front of pecking order. Although it remains as a 5-man midfield formation, Kaka finds himself having to chase around the ball much more than he likes to, as Allegri expects his midfield to roam forward when possible and cover for each other in defence. Clearly, Kaka does not quite fit into his system. No wonder, Boateng, who is not a typical creative playmaker but more a trequartista, had been Milan's no. 10 in the past two years.  

When you cannot score, gradually the pressure on the defence grows. Philippe Mexes, their most capable leader,  is far from composed and has a long history of temperament issues. Long term servant Ignazio Abate and Christian Abbiati coincidently are suffering from a dip in form. Ultimately the defence buckles, but Allegri has little options on the bench to restore the order. French centreback Adil Rami may be the saviour, if he does not trouble the club like what he did to Valencia.

Amidst the misery, there are still some positives to take. Allegri has a lot of exciting youngsters awaiting for opportunities to break into first-team. Left back Kevin Constant is already a regular in the absence of Mattia De Sciglio. Although still error-prone in defence, his energy and potential are highly rated. Midfielders Bryan Cristante and Riccardo Saponara have both impressed in the limited playing time.

There are high hopes on Honda even before his arrival

Help is on the way, as De Sciglio and El Shaarawy is close to full recovery, though the latter is likely to be on the way out, also with Rami and Honda joining, together with the experience and quality of the squad, if Allegri can keep the team motivated, formulate the formation that best executes his preferred style of play and get all cylinders firing, it remains optimistic that Milan could be back in the race.

Is it finally the year for the Gunners?

The last time they mentioned about winning silverware in 2011, Laurent Koscielny comically gave it away to the relegated Birmingham at Wembley. 10 gameweeks have past, Arsenal finds themselves at the top of the table, convincingly leading co-2nd place Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham by 5 points. Nevertheless, the Gunners have been relatively cautious in all discussions about "title hopes" so far. There are solid reasons behind this, that also drive BBC Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy playing down their chance of topping the table next May.

The recent pain may finally be relieved

Arsenal have not had much troubles in beating weaker teams usually. Strong performance in the second half of the season has fuelled them to finish among the top four consistently in recent years. What Arsene Wenger and the team have improved further this year is the stability of the squad early in the season. late August departures of key players like Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri and Alex Song had unsettled the balance of the team. More often than not, they were out of the title race by October.

The opening day defeat against Aston Villa seems to resemble the misery, but Wenger admirably led the team to win 8 of the next 9 league matches. Deadline acquisition Mehmet Ozil has already established as a key figure in North London, bagging 2 goals and 4 assists in his brief two months spell.   

They have not looked back since the opening day defeat

What Arsenal has yet to demonstrate is the quality and characters to beat the top teams. The visiting Tottenham and Liverpool were overpowered, with the former was more concerned about the transfer window and the latter was tactically outperformed for 45 minutes, but undoubtedly, getting the better of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea is the key to winning the league.

Flamini the X-factor

It would be harsh to rule them out any chance in beating the trio, but one thing for sure is they need a healthy Mathieu Flamini. There are plenty of talents and creativity in those midfields that without a tireless warrior like the Frenchman, Arsenal looks incapable to protect the back, let alone winning possession to allow their playmakers to take charge. Their recent defeats against Dortmund in Champions League and Chelsea in Capital One Cup, playing without the injured Flamini, have proved the point.

The depth of the squad is also an uncertainty. Flamini might be the only defensive midfielder in the first team. His fellow Olivier Giroud has also growingly become irreplaceable. The in-form striker is a rare big man who enjoys success as a Arsenal striker. The concern for Wenger would be the lack of reliable substitute on the bench.

While resources in attacking midfield are more than sufficient, those on the defensive end are scarce. Carl Jenkinson is a promising youngster who could provide some cover for Bacary Sagna, but only out-of-form Thomas Vermaelen is available to back-up Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. The likelihood they could survive from injury problems in the next 7 months is very limited. January addition is almost inevitable.

A good start is vital to success. After a brilliant three months time, the real challenge has arrived, with Manchester United, Southampton, Everton, Manchester City, and Chelsea all lined up before Christmas. If Wenger can convert the enormous confidence of the players at present into critical victories in the next few weeks, the title talk might finally become realistic after eight years of drought.