By Andy Jones
This week in football has been pretty good (from my point of view that is and possibly for some neutrals as well). Chelsea lost while Man United won in midweek, and Arsenal won at Stoke, making the title race come down to just 2 and 3 points difference now. At the same time, Sunderland continued their free fall and extended their winless streak to 14 games. 14 games for any team is tough to take, but considering Steve Bruce did have substantial funds available in the summer (I believe the amount touted around was £200 million by their Chairman Ellis), his team really should be doing better. In fact, I expected them not to be challenging for Europe, but to be a comfortable mid-table team in the positions between 9 to 12, but I was clearly wrong.
On the topic of players who signed for teams, the rumour mill over who is going where in the summer and who is staying put has begun with news that West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola and owner David Sullivan are apparently disagreeing and beginning to fall out over discussions about a number of players being sold and offered new contracts. The three biggest players who are at the center of this argument are Behrami, Diamanti and Jack Collinson. Personally I think if West Ham have the financial clout to hold on to all three of these players, especially Collinson, as he is a young talent who is only earning £2000 a week and was going to be offered a contract of £4000 a week, because these three have been stand out players throughout the season and with the vultures probably circling around players such as Carlton Cole and Upson, they need to keep hold of everyone they can.
And talking about young talent, I have to mention Aaron Ramsey. Being an Arsenal fan myself, I will admit to swearing and seeing red once it was clearly he was injured, but in retrospect, I agree with the statements that Ryan Shawcross didn’t deliberately attempt to injure. But it is a terrible loss, not just for Arsenal as a club, but for Wales in which Ramsey has been going from strength to strength, and of course for him personally. No matter what stage of your career you are in, a tackle like this can completely derail you. There aren’t any real positives for Ramsey from this except that doctors have said it isn’t career threatening, so I wish him the best possible recovery. As for Shawcross, you could see how broken up he was once he realised what he had done and I hope it doesn’t leave him mentally scarred either, he too is a young player and these are the sorts of moments that can define you. I hope it doesn’t affect his game either, because I can see him and Gary Cahill one day being the two at the back for England, who knows what could happen in a couple of years?
The final thing I would like to mention is the Red Knights group who want to buy Manchester United from the Glazers. The group is a number of well off business men who are gaining more and more support everyday, including from the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST). The Glazers are sticking to their guns and state they are not looking to and will not sell the club. It will be interesting to see what happens and I’ll give you an update once there is more to know!
Finally, my pick of the weekend games of course:
West Ham vs Bolton has to be the one to watch, both teams have been playing good football this season and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top as both managers like their teams to play the passing game. Oh and let’s not forget, Bolton sit two points above the relegation zone while West Ham are only 3 points above.
Have your say! What did you think about the past week in football?
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