10 Things We Learned in the Premier League: Anelka > Drogba

By: Daryl | November 17th, 2008

1. Nicolas Anelka > Didier Drogba
Great player that Didier Drogba is, he seems a little too injury prone and a bit of a danger to the public right now. His big presence is also a temptation for Chelsea to go direct. With Nicolas Anelka dropping the sulkiness and buzzing with confidence, he looks like the pacy dead-eyed goal machine of his Arsenal days. His two deft finishes against West Brom takes his tally to 13 in all competitions this season. And it’s only November.

2. We can stick a fork in Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge
Because it’s done. The win against Man Utd was excellent but Wenger’s men are just dropping too many points. The defeat against Villa means Arsenal’s real challenge now is finishing in the top four.

3. Tony Adams is a grumpster.

“I don’t actually like people,” he says. “I’m a loner and if I had my way I’d just walk my dogs every day, never talk to anyone and then die.”

4. Respect for Referees gets harder every week
Wigan’s Emmanuel Boyce got a second yellow sending off for this tackle on Shola Ameobi, in which he very very clearly gets the ball:

Go to the 3:10 mark on the above highlights (found on 101GG) to see a slo-mo replay that should make referee Andre Marriner rethink his decision.

5. Heurelho Gomes hates YouTube…
…and DailyMotion and Sapo.pt and Megavideo and PhotoBucket and all the other sites that host footage of all his howlers. Because every time Spurs’ new Paul Robinson makes a guff like this horror against Fulham on Saturday, it gets replayed over and over again on video sites around the world.

6. Titus Bramble has it in for Newcastle
Playing for the Toon, he made many many many memorable defensive howlers. Playing against them he scores a powerful headed 89th minute equalizer:

7. Stoke City are target practice
The Potters have put in some decent showings this season, but Man Utd ate them alive with a 5-0 win this weekend. It actually looked like the United players were having a contest to see who could score the best goal. 17 year old Danny Welbeck won. Highlights at Man Utd Offside.

8. John Terry is a medical mystery.
The Chelsea captain had to come off towards the end of the 3-0 win over West Brom. But Big phil Scolari was at a loss to explain exactly what was wrong with him:

“It is underneath the foot,” explained Scolari, looking perplexed. “It is one of those new football injuries.”

9. Comedy defending is en vogue
Richard Dunne missed Hull’s 2-2 draw with Man City, but there was still plenty of hilarious defensive mishaps to go around. First City’s Tal Ben Haim gifted Hull’s Daniel Cousin the opening goal:

And then City equalized after Kamil Zayatte returned the favour for Steven Ireland:

10. Roy Keane is tougher than Paul Ince
Was great to see the two old Man Utd warhorses square up to each other when Sunderland visited Blackburn. Keane’s men showed more fighting spirit, coming from a goal down to win 2-1, but what really put Kean over the edge in toughness is his terrifying new beard: