Aaron Lennon is set to become Liverpool’s number one transfer target this summer, and I can’t help but think that this move is going to end up being remarkably similar to Liverpool’s last Tottenham signing failure, with Robbie Keane. Aaron Lennon is having a fantastic season, he’s been a revelation through pace and his ability to take on defenders on the right or left flanks, but I still don’t think Lennon is ready for a club like Liverpool because of his inconsistencies.
Aaron Lennon can’t deliver a decent cross to save his life some matches, and that will make Lennon practically useless for Liverpool. Lennon needs a little bit more seasoning, and Tottenham aren’t going to let a player with that much potential go cheaply, which means that ultimately right now, he just isn’t worth the money. Aaron Lennon has the skill to be a great, but has yet to show himself completely able to deliver the way a great player should.
Dave Kitson has found himself back at Reading after his time at Stoke found the striker playing less than convincingly. Although it’s fair to say Kitson clearly gave his all in every one of his 18 appearances in a Stoke shirt, but failing to score when you’re expected to play as a dedicated striker is pretty much unforgivable.
But good news for Reading, as they’ll get the man that helped them so much with their run in the Premiership, not to mention the way Kitson has always helped Doyle to play up to his full potential. And considering Reading’s place in the table now, and the reacquisition of one of their finest stars, Reading have to be almost assured promotion come the end of the season.
And finally, Jose Mourinho is now vehemently denying reports that claimed the Portuguese manager had voiced his interest in managing Manchester United. Which is probably best for all parties involved, considering Jose Mourinho isn’t the right fit for United, and the move would probably turn out to be almost as unsuccessful as his time at Inter Milan is becoming. If Mourinho really want’s another Premiership job, he should try and rebuild the burned bridges at Chelsea, as they’re bound to need a permanent manager after this year, no matter how Guus Hiddink functions. The way I see it, may as well be Jose Mourinho, the man who made them the club they are today.
Aston Villa flopped in what should have been an easy three points against Stoke City at the weekend. Villa manager Martin O’Neill blamed his side’s overconfidence for the blunder, and I’d have to agree considering the Villans completely threw away a two goal lead in the last three minutes of the match. When you’re challenging to break into the Champions League, a two goal lead should always be enough to get past opposition that’s much further down the table like Stoke City.
Aston Villa need to learn how important matches like these are. Some people would say that you have to beat the other clubs in the top four in order to win the league, or be successful, but that really isn’t true. Look at Manchester United, they don’t always have the greatest record against other top four opposition, but they win the league by winning practically every match that they should win, something Aston Villa haven’t been good at in the past, and need to avoid this time in the latter half of the season. Or despite Arsenal’s many shortcomings this year, Villa could find themselves out of Champions League contention really fast.
Speaking of clubs that find their hopes in danger of being dashed, Liverpool lost a match they should have won fairly easily, as the league hopefuls were overwhelmingly defeated in a 2-0 loss at Middlesbrough. I understand Liverpool haven’t been very successful at the Riverside in recent years, but when Rafael Benitez is hoping to win the Premiership for the first time, a broken down Boro side that’s got a fairly atrocious league record should be a guaranteed win.
But instead a pitiful uninspired Liverpool side completely rolled over, and let three more points escape, giving league leaders Manchester United the potential to go ten points ahead at the top, after they play catch up from their Carling Cup final victory.
Well it’s footballers go to jail day today, apparently, and first up is Ricardo Fuller of Stoke City who finds himself jailed for suspicion of driving offences. Although Stoke won’t miss their striker much, considering he’s been out of action anyway with a dislocated shoulder since February 7th. And I seriously doubt a reckless driving charge will keep him away from football for any longer than his shoulder injury has already threatened to do.
Marlon King joins Ricardo Fuller as strikers in trouble, the Hull City man faces a court charge of sexually assaulting and punching a woman in an incident at a bar from December 7th. A fairly serious charge if Marlon King can’t offer some sort of defence, and King is the sort of player Hull City really would miss, especially with the way that they have been struggling in the latter part of this season. But I have to say, I really won’t miss watching King play should he be guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, something about that would just make me respect a player’s ability less.
And finally, Pompey rejected a takeover bid from Swiss finance group VS Investments. Apparently current owner Gaydamak was unhappy with the amount, which apparently was low after factoring in Portsmouth’s £40million debt. Meaning anybody who was unhappy with the way Portsmouth is being run will have to wait a little longer until anything is actually sorted out.
Well, big Sam Allardyce started Blackburn’s holiday off perfectly with a well deserved 3-0 victory against Stoke. And I have to say, I know Stoke aren’t the best club in the world, but Blackburn looked completely differently, and would not be denied. I have to say, Ince looked depressed on the sidelines every time Blackburn took the pitch, which is understandable considering their poor run of form under Ince. But if Allardyce has done one thing right, it’s about the same thing Harry Redknapp did to turn Tottenham around, and that’s let your players know how talented they are, and inspire them.
Ince just looked too depressed to inspire anything, standing on the sideline looking like his girlfriend just broke up with him, Ince didn’t know how to get the players going again. But clearly in the span of a week, Allardyce has inspired his men to become a club that isn’t going to be threatened by relegation come next year.
The physical presence I predicted Blackburn would have under Allardyce’s tutelage was completely evident, as Blackburn really only needed three sniffs of goal and they scored each time, all in the first half. Sure they started things off in the ninth minute with a McCarthy penalty, but that still counts. And any injection of life at this point is exactly what Blackburn needed, and what Ince didn’t have the experience to provide.
Hot off Arsenal’s embarrassingly bad performance, Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen is still jabbing the Gunners. As quoted in The Sun Sorensen said of Arsenal’s performance, “I think with the way the other teams are playing, it’s going to be really hard for them.”They are a fantastic football side, but they are just lacking that bit of physicality.”When Chelsea came here, they matched us in the challenges, but Arsenal weren’t quite there. That’s the difference. They lack that bit of spine you need.
“They want to play all the time and sometimes you have to work hard and earn that opportunity to play your football.
“I’ve played against Arsenal a lot of times and I expected much more of them.”
I personally loved the lacking spine part. Apparently Arsene Wenger agrees though, as he’s been Arsenal’s biggest critic in the time following Arsenal’s horrifyingly bad performance. But one thing about Wenger’s argument about the loss, is that the straight red against Van Persie was harsh. What?
Was Wenger watching a completely different match? Because in the one I saw, as it happened the ball rolled to Sorensen, who clearly picked the ball up, to which Van Persie continued his run and shouldered the Stoke keeper down to the ground for completely no reason. That’s vindictive and dangerous, Van Persie should absolutely have been sent off and meant to suffer the three match ban.
Hull City completely deserve any praise offered, because they are a rarity in the Premier League. Hull City are a promoted team, that play as though they’ve never known anything but the very best in top flight football. Brown has instilled an incredible amount of confidence in his men, as evidenced in their defeat by Manchester United 4-3. Yes it was a defeat, but Hull did what most could never do at Old Trafford, and that’s give Manchester United a true test of character, forcing the champions into a corner and almost succeeding in gaining what would have been a very unexpected point.
But unfortunately for Hull, Ronaldo has finally appeared to hit his form after suffering an ankle injury that required surgery, during Euro 2008. Cristiano is on fire, and looks likely to light up the scoreboards much in the same way he did last year. Combined with the strength of Berbatov on his game, a hungry Wayne Rooney still questing for that elusive 100th career club goal, and the return of a healthy Michael Carrick’s passing, Hull should have been completely routed into a much larger margin of United victory.
But Phil Brown’s men have shown that they belong with the best, and I’ve no doubt they will continue to do so. A fifth place finish for Hull? Completely possible the way they’re playing.
As for top flight football elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsene Wenger continues to evidence why he just needs to go. Arsenal dropped all available points against as Stoke surprised them 2-1.
Arsenal just don’t belong right now, and Arsene Wenger does not belong at the managerial position of the club. Should they hope to remain in the top four as the season winds down anyway.
