10 Things We Learned in the Premier League

By: Daryl | February 4th, 2008

AJ confused 1. The offside rule is very very confusing.
First Everton’s Andy Johnson was offside but inactive, then James Vaughan slide tackled Brad Friedel outside the box and squared it to Johnson who was now onside and active and skipped past a Blackburn defender to score. Except it was ruled out for offside. This whole thing needs to made clearer. At least clear enough for players and managers to understand it, and maybe even fans and bloggers.

2. You can have too much time.
Wigan’s Marcus Bent had all the time in the world to pick his spot when one one one against Robert Green. After much deliberation he chose a spot somewhere towards Row Z. Chances are if a defender had been breathing down Bent’s neck, or Green had charged towards him, then instinct would have produced at least a shot on target.

3. It’s better to take your earring out than to cover it with half a roll of tape.
This means you Claude Makelele.

4. A change is as good as a rest…
..unless you’re Jermain Defoe and you’ve already had two seasons or more worth of rest on the Tottenham bench. Then a change means you actually get to play for Portsmouth and remind everyone that you’re a talented young(ish) goalscorer.

5. Carlos Tevez is a proper Man Utd player now.
Fergie’s men always seem to get it done in the final seconds. Remember Steve Bruce’s goal against Sheffield Wednesday? Teddy Sherringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the Champions League final against Bayern? Now we have Carlos Tevez against Tottenham. It wasn’t quite as important as the other goals mentioned above, but tradition is tradition.

6. Brian McBride is back!
Word was that the American striker’s football (or soccer) career might be over after he was injured while scoring early this season. But McBride came off the bench for Fulham against Villa and was part of the Cottagers surprise 2-1 win (surprise because they haven’t won for so long.)

7. Bend it like Bullard
Though it was great to see McBride back in action, the man who won the game for Fulham was Jimmy Bullard. His late free kick wasn’t just Beckhamesque (though not quite Ronaldoesque) it was very very important. If Fulham do survive in the Premier League, they can look back on Bullard’s goal as the turning point.

8. Benitez was right to ditch Dudek for Pepe Reina
With the 3-0 win over Sunderland, Reina became the fastest keeper to reach fifty clean sheets for Liverpool. Though this could also be a reflection of Benitez’s sometimes too cautious approach.

9. The Sven bubble has finally burst
City’s form has been pretty poor recently, but at least they could still claim a proud unbeaten home record. And then Arsenal and Emmanuel Adebayor came to visit and cleaned up 3-1.

10. We have a leader
Arsenal’s win and Man Utd’s draw finally opens a little gap at the top. It’s only two points, but it puts a little pressure on Fergie and friends. The title race has begun.