Fish & Chip Shots: Pulling Away

Drogba & Evans | Everybody was kung fu fighting…

The quality is there and you would think that there would be the most beautiful of football displayed. I won’t gripe on this too much, but we could really see a better match if the managers of either team, Sir Alex and whoever Roman sees fit to run the Blues at the time, just opened things up a bit. Bygones.

What I did enjoy was the ‘battle’ aspect of things (the first paragraph makes sense now, you see?) in the match. Sometimes you’ll be watching a match between two teams who treat each other like two poodles at the Westminster Dog Show. That is not ok in my book. You could see the loathing in the play on Sunday and it did an alright job of covering up the game’s shortcomings.

So what did we learn from this high profile showdown? First off, Chelsea are a better team, top to bottom. Outside of Wayne Rooney up top, United can’t match Chelsea on talent, and that is not the situation Sir Alex wants to be in. You have to think that if everyone’s favorite Portuguese playboy, Cristiano Ronaldo was playing in the match, things may have been different. Regardless, Chelsea, for the most part, looked to be the better side.

Moving right along to John Terry’s goal (a bit of redemption perhaps?), here is where the title of the column comes into play. Pulling away. Yes, Chelsea are now five points above United and could easily stretch that lead in the coming weeks. It also plays on the fact that Wes Brown was quite blatantly pulled down by Didier Drogba in the box. Normally I wouldn’t care, but if Brown wasn’t on his back after Terry nodded the header towards the net, the ball would have hit him on it’s way in, thus wiping out the goal. That and it was a foul.

Carlo Ancelotti | Picture Sir Alex's head in there.

I won’t get into conspiracies, as they are a total waste of time, but I do have a hunch that since it was Chelsea against United and not say Wigan against United there wasn’t a call made. We all know Sir Alex gets calls his team’s way, and perhaps if the fixture was at Old Trafford the whistle would have came, but not in this case. Not at the Bridge.

United played well after the goal and could have equalized by Chelsea do not like giving up goals at home (one all season) and it just felt like one tally would be all we’d get. The win, as I mentioned, sent Chelsea five points clear at the top and gives them so much needed breathing room. We do have a long way to go however and I seriously think the Blues will struggle when their African players are away on international duty. We shall see.

Pickled Onions

Another strong week improves my record once again. I had Chelsea beating United I think 2-1, without looking at Friday’s TFE. They won by a goal and more importantly, I predicted it to be a boring yawner, which is what it was.

In the second match of the weekend, I had Spurs topping DB the Truth and Sunderland at White Hart Lane. That also happened. Tottenham needed to bounce back from two tough losses and they were able to do so. It helped that my main my Darren missed a penalty. More on that later.

The last fixture of the weekend was probably the most exciting and had the most talking points. I had Liverpool overcoming all the adversity they’d be struck with lately by beating Birmingham handily. The Midlands side held their own though and squeezed a point out of Anfield, and if fair is fair, should have had three. Anything less than a win should be considered a negative for Liverpool, and the result keeps Rafa firmly planted to the hot seat.

Overall Record: 21-9

Only nine losses from 30 matches and three months in. That’s something like an average of one a week? Is that right? I have no idea, math was never my strong suit. Kind of like Michael Ballack and professionalism.

Mushy Peas

With the EPL on a break this weekend, we again have to turn our attention to the international scene. I remember writing after the last break that it was all over with. How naive of me. I failed to realize that there would be a break for the playoffs and a whole host of pointless friendlies. Forgive me, I won’t overlook such important matters again.

England will travel to Qatar and take on Brazil in what is in my opinion more of a publicity stunt then a football match. It’ll be good for the fans of the area to see two of the top international sides in the world, being that they normally wouldn’t. Outside of that, it’s quite a useless match.

If you think Don Fabio doesn’t have his 23 players picked right now, you’re not with it. The man is a planner, a schemer and I can guarantee he knows exactly how he wants to play in South Africa, and injuries or severe dips in form aside, he’s good to go. I’d say that Rio Ferdinand has been the biggest spanner in the works so far, but he has plenty of time to change that. Luckily, England is reasonably deep at that position. One redeeming factor of the Brazil match? We’ll see DB in white once again.

As for the playoffs, I’d love to see Ireland beat France. Would absolutely love it. Just to stick it to FIFA and their absurd selection process. The fact that everything is about money these days just infuriates me. Thankfully, I’d say that baseball and American football in this country are much worse than ‘soccer’ worldwide, but you have to think that getting France and Portugal into the World Cup has to do with nothing more than some extra profits.

Robbie Keane | I never ask anything of Ireland, but beating France would certainly evoke some Guiness drinking.

I have a problem with greed. The idea of it eats at every fiber of my being and I try to make an effort in my own life to avoid being seen as someone who puts money above all else. When I see that the thing I love most in the world, football, is being corrupted by the all powerful $ or € or £, I can’t help but feel a bit forlorn. Moving on.

The Fixins’

“...And The Award Goes To…” Of The Week: David N’Gog, Liverpool

If you’re Eduardo, you’re smiling. Why? Because I will no longer reference you in any of my columns as being the worst diver in football. You’re crown has been stolen by a young Frenchman who for all intents and purposes shouldn’t have been playing yesterday. If Fernando Torres was fit, he would have played, not dived, and probably scored on the play anyway, thus saving me this heartache. Nope, N’Gog had to come in and make an absolute mess of things. What on earth was he thinking? I’ll admit on the first look, it looked dicey, but after review (which referees don’t have, coincidentally) it could be seen as the worst case of diving I have ever seen. Ever. I won’t even get started on Didier Drogba’s pretend seizure on Sunday…

Tweet of the Week: @IBleedOrange

“@shanEvans Sad, but true.  I don't know why Americans can't just STFU for a minute...very disappointing”

Another thing I have issue with: silence during a moment of silence. Watching Liverpool-Brum yesterday, and all the EPL matches this weekend for that matter, you could literally hear a pin drop in the moment of silence before the match. That isn’t even much of an exaggeration. Just frustrating that that type of respect isn’t displayed in this country…

Player of the Week: Heurelho Gomes, Tottenham

He didn’t have the best of starts with the London club, but lately he’s been on his game and has made some great saves for his team. The match against Sunderland was a prime example of this. A few world class stops and a penalty save, Gomes was easily the man of the match, and my player of the week. Hopefully for Spurs sake he can keep it up as the season moves forward.

Rotten Egg of the Week: Wolverhampton Wanderers

Two own goals against Arsenal is not a good way to start the match. The first more blatant than the second, the Gunners should consider themselves lucky as they weren’t in their outstanding form the rest of the match. Who was the man in the middle for Arsenal though? None other than Eduardo Alves da Silva. Who else? Controversy follows this guy around, I suppose.

Goal of the Week: Cameron Jerome, Birmingham

Cameron Jerome | His goal should have meant so much more...

It’s a shame that such a beautiful goal was dubbed less-significant due to N’Gog’s antics later in the match. This one should have been a match winner, simply put. Could have been a match winner in any level really. Truly blissful. Taking the ball some 35 yards out, Jerome muscled his way a few yards closer and blasted a thunderous drive that snuck over Pepe Reina’s head. It’ll be in the running for Goal of the Season as well, no doubt in my mind.

Gaffe of the Week: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United

Playing one striker against Chelsea was not a good idea. Rooney is a fantastic footballer, but he cannot do it all himself, especially against a defense playing as well as the Blues back four. I’m not sure what is going on with the Scot, but over the last year or so, the big game has evaded him (CL final vs. Barcelona, vs. Liverpool, this weekend vs. Chelsea). I’m interested to see what he does in January to remedy this apparent lack of options.

Game of the Week: Manchester City 3-3 Burnley

A bit of everything in this one. A shocking 2-0 lead for an away side that hadn’t won a point all year away from home. A three-goal comeback by City that showed true class and determination on their part. And of course, a game-tying goal at the death. Thinking about the table three months in, would anyone have thought Burnley be sitting in 11th place? Not I, certainly. Moreover, this is the Citizens’ fifth successive league draw. Heads will roll, heads will roll.

Shane Evans is an Associate Editor of Goal.com. His feature, "Fish & Chip Shots" appears weekly. Contact Shane at shane.evans@goal.com with questions, comments and concerns or follow him on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/shanevans

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