10 Things We Learned in the Premier League

By: Daryl | October 6th, 2008

1. Liverpool are king of the comebacks.
They did it in the 2005 Champions League final, they did it in the 2006 FA Cup final, and now they’re doing it in the Premier League. Two goals down at Man City yesterday and Liverpool came back to win 3-2. They also came from a goal down to beat Man Utd at Anfield not so long ago. This probably isn’t the first time we’ve thought Liverpool were finally ready to challenge for the title, but this is the most convincing statement of intent so far.

Video of the game after the jump:

2. Chelsea are deep
No Didier Drogba, no Deco, no Michael Essien, no Ricardo Carvalho. But Chelsea still pulled off an impressive 2-0 win over what we know to be a very good Aston Villa team.

3. The Man Utd juggernaut is rolling
After a slow start, it looks like Man Utd are starting to dominate. Exhibit A: not only did Fergie’s men outplay Blackburn, they also had a massive slice of luck when the ref failed to spot Nemanja Vidic’s blatant foul on keeper Jason Brown for Man Utd’s opener.

4. Video replays are coming
If we continue to have a replay worthy event every week, then eventually the momentum will be impossible to resist. Last week it was Rob Styles awarding Cristiano Ronaldo a penalty just for falling over, this week it was Robin van Persie’s goal being disallowed because the ball may (or may not) have been out of play before Theo Walcott crossed it:

What do you think?

5. Geovanni loves visiting London
Phil Brown’s men followed up last week’s 2-1 win at Arsenal with a 1-0 win over Spur’s. Even better, Hull’s Geovanni pulled out yet another long range strike:

Hull are currently third in the Premier League. They may not be there come the end of the season, but they’ll be there for the next two weeks.

6. It means more when you score for your hometown team
Just ask Grant Leadbitter. I’m pretty sure he was crying after scoring for Sunderland.
UPDATE: It’s since been pointed out that Grant Leadbitter lost his father during the summer, and his father’s ashes were scattered at the Stadium of Light. Apologies for any offence or misinformation caused by my lack of knowledge. Leadbitter’s celebration was an excellent tribute to his father.

7. Gianfranco Zola’s honeymoon period with Lady Luck is over
Zola’s first two games in charge of West Ham went nice and smoothly, but he got a taste of cruel the Premier League can be when the usually reliable Rob Green made two howlers to gift Bolton a two goal lead. Bolton went on to win 3-1 and now Zola has his first defeat.

8. Peter Crouch will always look awkward…
…even when successfully executing a difficult feat of athleticism and co-ordination:

9. Stoke are twice as good as Spurs
That’s what the points totals say anyway:

10. Juande Ramos should try some swearing
Joe Kinnear’s four letter interview extravaganza made him an internet phenomenon last week. And not the good kind. But no arguing with results. Watching from the stands (touchline ban still in effect) Kinnear’s Newcastle came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Everton to finally give the Toon Army something to cheer. Maybe with everything that’s happened at Newcastle lately a tirade of filth was exactly what was needed.