Things We Learned in the Premiership This Week 11.11.07

By: Daryl | November 11th, 2007

Cristiano Ronaldo scores

With Arsenal holding fire until Monday, a Rooney-less but still ruthless Man Utd took full advantage and jumped to the top of the Premiership. Chelsea’s recent form stuttered, but just a little, while Liverpool stopped rotating and started winning again. Despite all the recent doom and gloom, Rafa’s side are still unbeaten. Tottenham finally got it together and started to pull away from the league’s nether regions, which was bad news for the other bottom feeders, with Derby taking a beating while Middlesbrough and Bolton failed to find the back of each other’s nets.

Here are things we learned in the Premiership this week…

Midweek European games ruin the Saturday schedule
Only three games were played on Saturday, mostly to accommodate teams who’d been busy Thursday night in the UEFA Cup. It’s a pain but there’s really no way around it, unless Tottenham, Bolton et al carry squads of 100 players.

Joey Barton will never change
He’s still a talented midfielder, but seems like Barton will never learn to keep his temper. His Souness-like tackle in the Tyne-Wear derby is the latest bit of evidence.

Glen Johnson is getting carried away
After his great goal recently, Glen Johnson looks keen to get forward. The Portsmouth right back had at least three shots in the 0-0 draw with Man City, one of which hit the bar.

They may need to rename Pride Park
There’s nothing to be proud about losing 5-0 at home to West Ham.

They brainwash young players at the Aston Villa academy
How else to explain the Birmingham City captain’s own goal against former club Aston Villa?

Man Utd can cope without Wayne Rooney
Most teams would struggle, but with Tevez, Ronaldo and all the other talent to choose from, Fergie can cope without Wayne for a bit. Steve McClaren may feel differently.

Rotation is over at Anfield, for this week anyway
Benitez stuck with the team that won 8-0 in midweek, and was rewarded with a 2-0 win over Fulham. The big test will be what he does next week. Whatever else he’s doing at Liverpool, Rafa is returning the excitement to the team selection bit of Saturday afternoons.

Tim Cahill watches Major League Soccer
Clearly the Everton man saw Taylor Twellman’s bicycle kick on Thursday and thought “I’ll try that in the 90th minute away to Chelsea.”

Bolton vs Middlesbrough was about as exciting as it sounded

The Berb is back
Dimitar Berbatov didn’t score in Spurs’ 4-0 win over Wigan, but he did look a lot more like his old self, putting in a fine display.

Did you learn anything?