English Premier League: Losers of the fourth league weekend – Part 4
Manchester City and Liverpool’s competitors for the top four spot, Tottenham Hotspurs are also one of the losers of the fourth league weekend. The coming week has a lot on store for Tottenham and how they fare in the Champions League will ultimately decide the course of their 2010-2011 Premier League season as well as their European football hopes.
Against West Bromwich, a team which should be whipping material for the likes of Hotspurs, Harry Redknapp’s side only managed a draw. This is why Tottenham will always remain a club with hopes of “just about making it”, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal usual bulldoze past the likes of Bromwich but Harry’s inability to marshal his team past teams which make up Premier League fodder thus ultimately defines why Tottenham have failed to compete for the English Premier League title.
Before the season started, Hotspur’s manager Harry came out in the media and said that his team are capable of challenging for the title. From the evidence that has been under review so far in the 2010-2011 season, one cannot help but disagree with the former West Ham manager. Right on the deadline day, Van Der Vaart was signed by Tottenham for a mere eight million pounds, this buy was questioned as the London club already had their fair share of creative attacking midfielders i.e. Luka Modric and Nico Kranjcar. What Spurs, really needed was a top class striker, someone who will put finishing touches on the chances that fall his way.
Injuries are now taking toll on Tottenham’s season already, with Jermaine Defoe out with injury, Harry has to choose from Crouch, Pavlyuchenko and Robbie Keane, clearly none of them can be considered as world class. It is a pity if bad business in the transfer market costs Tottenham their season in terms of both domestic and European competitions.
Tottenham’s rivals, Liverpool on the other hand have also been in deep trouble. Their main striker Fernando Torres looks out of sorts, against Birmingham on Sunday evening, his performance was off the mark totally. He was ineffective and frankly looked rather scared going onto the little fifty-fifty challenges that he battled out last season. One might say that he is still suffering from the last season’s injuries and the effects of a long and hard World Cup with Spain but Liverpool will be hoping that El Nino hits top form sooner rather than later.
The reds drew against Birmingham at St. Andrew’s Stadium and the most appealing thing about the match was the lack of chances that Liverpool created. There was no flair or guile for them in the middle of the park and the former European champions looked rather weak against a hard working Birmingham side. Liverpool’s start to the season has been quite disappointing and it is not bound to get any better soon as next weekend, they face Manchester United, if there was ever a team against which Torres needed to perform, it has to be the Red Devils at the theatre of dreams.
Sunderland is also another Premier League team who are specifically looking at the erratic behaviour of their present captain, Lee Cattermole. After failing to use any God given common sense that the Englishman might have, Cattermole has now foolishly gotten himself sent off for the second time in three matches for Sunderland this season. His manager has already hinted at certain changes. Steve Bruce told the media after his team’s match against Wigan that he will have a talk against Lee about the player’s regular sending off.
Bruce quite rightly has realized that his club captain is no good to Sunderland if he is suspended out for most of the season. Some discipline and tackling sense would do Cattermole a world of good for the rest of the Premier League season.
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