Ten Things We Learned From The Premiership 09.02.07

By: Daryl | September 2nd, 2007

Benitez gazes on Torres While certain early Premiership frontrunners like Man City and Wigan Athletic are beginning to fall away, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and - believe it or not - Everton are still up there. Fernando Torres and Liverpool have started the season like they mean business. Whether of not he was overpriced at £27 million, he’s given Liverpool whatever it was they were lacking up front. Something seems to be clicking at Arsenal in the post Thierry Henry era too. And with Villa beating Chelsea 2-0 this afternoon it really could be that the rest of the league have closed at least some of the gap between Manchester United, Chelsea and the rest.

Here are 10 Things We Learned From The Premiership This Week…

1. Roy Keane has wasted a lot of money
I know he’s supposed to be some kind of managerial messiah, but that doesn’t excuse spending £11 million of Niall Quinn’s friends money on Kenwyne Jones and Michael Chopra. And Craig Gordon is alright, but he’s not alright enough to be worth £9 million. So basically Keane has assembled the most expensive Championship team in history at Sunderland, and then asked them to compete in the Premiership. Don’t tell Keane I said anything though, he’s still scary.

2. You don’t realise how good Frank Lampard Jr. is until he’s not there
Chelsea lost for the first time in ages, 2-0 to Aston Villa. And it wasn’t all due to Jose Mourinho’s weird new slicked back hedgehog haircut. Without Lampard, Chelsea lacked a certain drive through the middle. And did you know Jose Mourinho has never won a game at Villa Park? You do now.

3. Steve Sidwell is the new Scott Parker
He’s disappeared from the Chelsea first team, and wasn’t even in the 16 today despite Lampard’s thigh tear. I see a disappointed transfer away from Stamford Bridge in Sidwell’s future.

4. There’s going to be at least a semblance of a proper title race this season
With Chelsea and Manchester United looking at least beatable, and Arsenal and Liverpool making strong starts, we could have a four way title race. If that happens then the phrase “big four” will at last mean title contenders instead of just Champions League qualifiers.

5. Gareth Bale is the answer to Spurs’ left sided problems
But not Steve McClaren’s. The young Welshman looked impressive on Spurs left flank, rounding off his performance with a confident near post finish.

6. Overhead kicks are easy
There was Obafemi Martins at the start of the season, Paul Scharner last week, Kevin Prince Boateng in Spurs Reserves and now Diomansy Kamara for Fulham. I thought overhead kicks were supposed to be difficult but it seems anyone can do them now.

7. Clint Dempsey is finally settling in at Fulham
It took him a while, but of Fulham’s three goals on Saturday Dempsey scored one and assisted on the other two.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo knows how to throw a party
If this is true he does anway.

9. Michael Owen is back, but his vocabulary needs some work
Owen scored the winner for Newcastle against Wigan, but got stroppy in a post-match interview over suggestions he wasn’t match fit. “What does match fit mean anyway?” he asked.

10. There’s no such thing as the luck of the Irish
Poor Kevin Kilbane of Wigan accidentally clashed heads with Newcastle’s Alan Smith, but for some reason referee Steve Bennet decided it was a deliberate headbutt and gave Kilbane a red. Who in their right mind would deliberately headbutt Alan Smith?