Beautiful, tense, packed, upsets. Just few words to describe Week 13 of the Premier League. Martin Jol finally falls under the axe, a domina...
Beautiful, tense, packed, upsets. Just few words to describe Week 13 of the Premier League. Martin Jol finally falls under the axe, a dominant display from Arsenal at Cardiff, Newcastle moving forward, Hull City tear the script and a breath-taking game at White Hart Lane between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
There is little break for teams as we return to the party in a couple of days' time but for the moment here are the things we got to see and learn from the Premier League this weekend.
GOODBYE, MAARTEN JOL
Honestly, I'm going to miss this not so jolly fellow. He has been in almost everything to learn and expect from the Premier League and it all hovered around the sack.
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| Fulham won 4 in their 21 under Jol... Not so jolly! |
Since the win against Crystal Palace, Fulham have been in free fall and the finally straw was the 3-0 loss against West Ham at Upton Park. Enough was enough, and the board together with the Chairman have cut their losses as they announced the termination of the Dutch's contract with Rene Meulensteen, a former coach at Man United taking the reins at Craven Cottage.
While we might have learnt about the sack if there is anything all head coaches should be picking up is "You are more likely to get the sack from your managerial duties when a backroom signing generates more news than you and your team's performances".
Arsenal Is Still Matching On
"Oh, it is just September, please", "October would be crucial," "Yes, their tests are in November". Well happy new month to the Arsenal detractors out there, it is December and the Gunners are topping the league with a four-point cushion.
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| The Gunners have defiled all odds this season! |
With each match come and gone, the Gunners are taking giant strides into the New Year with impeccable performances from Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil. The London club is doing what champions do- get the three points, and being paragon here, they are doing it in more spectacular fashion.
Lukas Podolski and Ox Chamberlain returns on the horizon and Walcott getting on the board with an assist against Cardiff, Arsene Wenger is going to have a healthy amount of personnel to choose from.
Though it might be early, if the Gunners could pick up maximum points in December, all they need to do is, hold on... the trophy is coming home.
It's A Boy, It's A Man, No It's Lukaku
Okay, forgive me for rendering the worst it's-a-bird-it's-a-plane-no-it's-superman impression in the history of, urrm, impressions but after much said in the media by Mourinho on the Belgian loving to speak, Lukaku is really doing his speaking on the pitch.
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| Lukaku has scored 8 goals so far in the league... Potent! |
In a press conference where the Chelsea boss hit out at Lukaku for speaking too much and not saying the reason why he left for Everton on loan, the striker is going on about his business with his goal against Stoke City taking him to fourth on scoring charts and pushing Everton to 5th on the table.
Romelu Lukaku came out in the week to say he was considering a Chelsea exit, and with him banging in goals for Everton far higher than what any Chelsea striker might have or has not produced this season, whatever the reason for Lukaku joining Everton, he seems to be backing it up.
Window Pain
More importantly something we seemed to pick up from this weekend's matches was that teams need to run into the January transfer window as soon as the bolt goes off.
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| Rodgers has said that the Reds can't cope without Sturridge who is out for 8 weeks |
Liverpool looked short of creativity against a defensive Hull City, and with Gerrard dropping from his advanced playmaking role in previous years to a more partnering role in the hole, the Reds might just have to go into the market for an already established playmaker. They had possession but could not work their way around Hull and it does not stop at Liverpool.
Arsenal, Man Utd, and Tottenham both have to dip into their pockets; Arsenal against Cardiff, Giroud looked somewhat jaded in the latter minutes and with more important matches to come might just suffer a burnout so a secondary striker is essential to ease his burden.
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| Oliver Giroud looks tired just after 14 games |
United’s problems are already known and needs to be sorted out quickly while Spurs would be looking to see how they could get an established EPL striker in their ranks with rumors of a bid for Javier Hernandez not far off. But all these teams should not be expecting this players to come cheap and so most go in with enough purchasing power after all keys open doors but bricks open windows.
Changed Objective
"Get into the Premier League...Check! Buy 15 new players to cover up for Zaha... Check! Remain in the League This Season... Surpass 2007/2008 Derby County's record of 11 points... loading".
Ian Holloway cut his losses, yeah he did, smart move if you ask me. Not the best of CV's having two clubs relegated under your leadership. The Eagles are in the drop zone and although it would be too quick to write them off on staying in the league like I just did, Tony Pulis' men need to come correct.
They have far less attacking quality than the teams around them at the bottom but need to still pick up points from relegation rivals. A loss to Norwich City put more daylight between the two rivals and while the Eagles might just be 5 points off the safety zone, they need such wins as their oppositions at the bottom can easily pull through.
The earliest bird gets the worm and the Eagles needs to capitalize on Fulham and Sunderland frailties till then it looks like Crystal Palace would be looking for those same five points to just better Derby's poor record of points amassed in the Premier League.
Written By: ChukaMVP. You can follow him on twitter Follow @chukamvp
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