Ten Things We Learned from The Premiership This Week 09.30.07

By: Daryl | September 30th, 2007

Benjani scores for Portsmouth in their 7-4 win against Reading This week’s Premiership goings on lacked the drama and intrigue of last week, but that’s probably a good thing. The ins and outs at Stamford Bridge gave us plenty to talk (and, of course, blog) about but in the end it’s all a bit tawdry and takes the spotlight off what happens on the field, which is where all the drama is supposed to be. So big thanks to Portsmouth and Reading then for staging an incredible game of football.

Here are Ten Things We Learned from the Premiership This Week…

1. Some games are a lot more exciting than they look.
Portsmouth vs Reading probably wasn’t a fixture that had neutrals salivating, but it finished up the highest scoring game in Premier League history as Portsmouth won 7-4. There was definitely some bad defending and double definitely some bad keeping (David James got beat when he seemed to go for a wander up to midfield. I say the man needs a rope round his waist that’s exactly 18 yards long, so he can’t go charging out of his area anymore. Harry Redknapp could untie it at half time and refasten it at the start of the second half) But there was also some really entertaining football, especially from Portsmouth. The almost unpronounceable Mwaruwar Benjani got himself a hat-trick, the always entertaining Niko Kranjcar capped a nice display with a goal and Sulley Muntari hit the most confident penalty I’ve ever seen. The best thing was Harry Redknapp pointing out afterwards that he played 4-5-1, and so suggesting tactics and formations are all just made up.

2. Clint Dempsey is a bad ass.
The Texan has previous. Back in 2006 he was in a punch up with his New England Revolution captain Joey Franchino that left Frachino needing a trip to the hospital for X-Rays. He started life in the Premiership fairly quietly but has recently been putting himself about ~~a bit~~ a lot more, like when he elbowed John Terry in the face yesterday and cracked the England captain’s cheekbone. Ouchy.

3. Andriy Shevchenko is now the worst signing in the history of the Premier League.
Think about it. Not only has the £30 million signing been poor value for money on the pitch (goals, performances, attitude) a neverending trend which he continued in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Fulham. He seems to have been the central figure in the rift that saw Mourinho lose his job as Chelsea boss and everything fall apart. Winning teams are usually dismantled by players being sold, but Chelsea paid £30 million for the pleasure.

4. Mikel Arteta is important.
Without the Spaniard, Everton look like a team with too many defensive midfielders and not enough ideas going forward (I’m looking at you, Neville, P.) But with Arteta back, even stuck out atright mid, Everton have someone to pull the strings and make it happen. His corner led to Lescott’s goal (he’s now the club’s top scorer with four, by the way) and he squared the ball for Steven Pienaar to score Everton’s second.

5. Not all Brazilians bend free kicks.
Some of them, like Man City’s Elano, just send them directly into the top left corner at 1,000 mph. It was genuinely unstoppable. Man City are still looking like the real thing, and Sven think they’re going to get better as they more used to each other and more settled. “They start to speak English, almost all of them now,” says Sven, who’s probably a lot funnier than he gets credit for.

6. Mido + Dong-Gook Lee = no goals.
The two did not look like Premiership strikers. We know Mido’s got some talent, it just depends if he’s in the mood. While you’ve got question Lee’s Premiership credentials, especially as he’s yet to find the net in 14 games. Maybe he should join Toronto? Boro bass Gareth Southgate let them know what he think, subbing out both men and playing youngsters Tom Craddock and David Wheater up front. Craddock is at least a young striker, but Wheater’s a defender.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo’s season has officially started.
He didn’t have an amazing game against Birmingham, but he did score. Again. After his start to the season was interrupted by his rubbish headbutt attempt against Portsmouth, Ronaldo is back to finding the net for Man Utd on a regular basis, adding the one he got here to the Champions League winner against Sporting not so long ago. Whether you love him or loath him (or whether, like me, you wish that he’d at least cheer up a bit) the Portuguese winger is worth your attention when he’s on form.

8. Rafa has learned his lesson.
I say this cautiously because he’s tricked us before. But by starting with – gasp – his strongest team, especially his forwards, Benitez got 3 points from what could have been a difficult trip to Wigan. Though neither Kuyt nor Torres scored, they still looked dangerous, and Yossi Benayoun made himself the most successful Israeli in the Premiership this week, by scoring a very cheeky goal with two turns and a finish. Liverpool got lucky though, as Marcus Bent had a very onside goal ruled out for offside.

9. David Bentley 1-1 David Beckham.
Beckham always said he wanted to move in from the right wing and be a center midfielder. He might be doing that at Galaxy, but he never really got do it consistently (or very well) at the top level. David Bentley on the other hand, made the move this weekend when Blackburn boss Mark Hughes overhauled his tactics to face Roy Keane’s Sunderland. Sparky ditched Robbie Savage, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Beni McCarthy, and started Bentley in center midfield. Bentley’s response was a goal in the 53rd minute that sent Blackburn on the way to a 2-1 win. How does Beckham equalize in this battle of the Davids? Bentley is sporting the old shaven mohawk that Beckham had about five years ago, and it looks even sillier now that it did then.

10. The only good squad rotation comes in quotation marks.
Fernando Torres plays well. Next week he’s out of the team. Next week he’s back in. It’s all a bit random. But down at Arsenal, Wenger is doing “squad rotation” the old fashioned way: Dropping the players who are in shitty form. Like Robin van Persie, who’s early season form earned him a place on the bench for Arsenal’s 5-0 demolition of Derby. But back in the team yesterday and with a point to prove, Van Persie scored the only goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over West Ham.