10 Things We Learned in the Premier League

1. The Big Four are Back
No, not that big four. The other one. The top four Premier League teams are now Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal. No more Hull City, and Aston Villa missed their opportunity to join the party. You have to worry about Arsenal a little, but looks like this could be another year of same old same old in the Prem’s top 20%

2. No one wants to get relegated
Of course every team theoretically wants to stay up. But this week Tottenham, Newcastle, Stoke, Bolton and Wigan all played like teams who really were staying up and took all three points. Here’s hoping for a ferocious relegation battle in May.

3. Why Heurelho Gomes plays in goal


Plenty has changed at Tottenham since Harry Redknapp replaced Juande Ramos. But keeper Heurelho Gomes’ apparent lack of nerve endings in his feet isn’t one of them. Mabe Gomes has been watching the goalkeeping in Brazil’s Serie B?

4. Thomas Sørensen is a tease
Stoke’s Thomas Sørensen waited and waited and waited to pick up a loose ball, daring Arsenal’s Robin van Persie to come and get it. RVP couldn’t get it, so he gave Sørensen a hefty shove instead. Red card. Interestingly, Sørensen knew exactly what he was doing: “I was teasing Robin,” he said. “You could see in his eyes the frustration. I used that.”

5. Spurs love injury time
An equalizer against Arsenal and a winner against Liverpool. Harry Redknapp’s team are apparently at their best when the clock ticks past 90. There’s definitely no better time to score.

6. Richard Dunne must be doing it on purpose


Poor Dunne put the ball past his own keeper for the second time in four games on Sunday, bringing the Man City defender’s career total “accidents” to a suspicious eight.

7. Respect has to be earned
The Respect for Referees campaign is a noble idea. But it’s hard to respect the man in the middle when he’s making horrible decision after horrible decision. During West Brom 2-2 Blackburn, Mike Jones managed to annoy both managers, and put another nail in the Respect for Referees coffin.

8. Life is full of second chances
Hayden Mullins could have hid his head in his hands after completely whiffing his first attempt at goal, but he took another swing instead and volleyed into the upper 90:

9. Anyone can join the hundred club these days
Both Frank Lampard and Emile Heskey reached the 100 Premier League goals mark this weekend. And I’m not sure which is more surprising: That a midfielder like Lampard has 100 Prem goals, or that a useful but non-lethal striker like Heskey has amassed a ton. Full list of all 16 players in the 100 club over on Premier League Offside.

10. Saturday kickoffs now feel weird
Eight games on Saturday, one on Sunday, one on Monday. Just like old times, sort of. But is it weird that it felt weird to see so many Saturday games?

	Soccer Forums	Team/International Results

Category: English Premier League, World Football

Tags: Arsenal, Big Four, Bolton, Chelsea, Emile Heskey, English Premier League, EPL, Frank Lampard, Fulham, Hayden Mullins, Heurelho Gomes, Liverpool, Man Utd, Mike Jones, Newcastle, Premiership, Richard Dunne, Stoke, Thomas Sørensen, Thomas Sorensen, Tottenham, Wigan, World Football

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share