Game week one result and comments EPL 11/12

  August 13

Blackburn R.	1-2	Wolverhampton W.
Fulham	0-0	Aston Villa
Liverpool	1-1	Sunderland
QPR	0-4	Bolton W.
Tottenham	Postp.	Everton
Wigan A.	1-1	Norwich
Newcastle U.	0-0	Arsenal

August 14

Stock C.	0-0	Chelsea
West Brom. A	1-2	Manchester U.

August 15

Manchester C.

4-0

Swansea C.

Looking into game week one it was for me a disappointing start to the season, with some positive and negative notifications. The round only gave us 16 goals in 9 games and 3 0-0 games. I personal watched 5 matches this weekend. First off was the game between Liverpool and Sunderland at Anfield. The home side dominated the first 30 min or so of the game, but the rest of the 60 min Sunderland was just as good or even better then Liverpool. At the end of the game one could say that Sunderland deserved the point and could actually have take all 3 points when Cattermole got a change in overtime from 16 meter, but blew the shot wide and over goal. Liverpool could do well this season if they can keep the momentum going for more than 30 min of a game. Sunderland looked strong take into consideration that Anfield is still a hard place to travel. From all the new signings I would say that Downing and Enrique look strong for Liverpool while Sunderland looks to have done two good signings in Brown and Larsson. Man of the match in this game was Louis Suarez for me. The striker looked very strong considering he had only 5 days with pre-season training before the game.

The second match I watched was Newcastle U against Arsenal. Both teams had a lot of trouble during the summer and I didn’t have much hope for a good match. And I would say I was right in my predictions. Arsenal looked still like Arsenal, but didn’t have the sting they needed to win the game, and Newcastle, well they didn’t look very impressing. Barton was the one who made the most of the game for the home side and got Gervinho sent off. Barton claimed the Arsenal striker had dived in the penalty area and confronted Gervinho in an aggressive style which should in my opinion ended in a red card to Barton as well. After this Barton went down like a girl when Gervinho threw, what looked to be a slap rather than a punch. So who was the best movie actor or Mr. Hollywood here Barton!? The worst part is that Barton actually is a very good footballer when he plays the game. Well back to the game again, it was more or less the story of the game. It was a lot of free kicks and yellow cards, 8 yellow and one red if I remember correct. Which is too high for any football match, and I bet FA will have a look at the game in the days to come. Both sides look to be in trouble this season in my opinion like I predicted before the season started. Gervinho impressed me in the game until he got sent off. He always looked a treat and could prove to be one of the best signings this season

The 3^rd match was between Stoke and Chelsea. Yet another 0-0 match, which didn’t impress that much. Chelsea had a lot of possession in the game but don’t have the finishing touch which is needed still. But that being said, playing away to Stoke is not an easy away game and I believe that Chelsea will be fighting for the premiership title. Stoke looks strong on set pieces and solid in defence at home. Players that impressed my was new signing Woodgate. If he can stay fit, he will be a good signing this season for Stoke.

My 4^th match was between West Brom and Manchester U. United looked a lot like Liverpool in their match. United was very impressive the first 25-30 min, but after that West Brom came more and more into the game. And before Youngs 2-1 winning goal, West Brom looked like they could actually could have taken all 3 points from United. But Sir Alex Fergusons team still have players that can win these tight games alone, and Ashley Young is one of those. Even though United played poor they got 3 points on a difficult plays to travel to, and are still the team to beat this season. Roy Hodgsons team looked strong and will take a lot of points at home this season I’m sure. Players that impressed in the game were new signing Ashley Young for United, while on West Brom Long and Tchoyi looked strong. Man of the match with out of doubt Ashley Young.

The 5^th match I watched was finally a one which actually had some good football in it. The game was between Manchester City and Swansea. First of Swansea impressed me with good football, and they actually showed that they got a good team which can play with a lot of possession in the premiership as well. The promoted side played well in almost 60 min before City turned up the pace a nudge and trashed Swansea 4-0 in the end. One can’t talk about this game without mentioning new signing Sergio Aguero at City. He got around 30 min on the field and nicked two goals and an assist before the game was over. One could ask if there has ever been a better debut in the history of the premiership. That being said it was still just against newly promoted Swansea, so it might be early to call it a super signing, but it’s going to be fun to watch City and Aguero this season I think. Swansea also looked very good for a long period of the game and I still believe that the team could manage to clear of relegation. Man of the match for me was Adam Johnson who always looked a treat and was behind almost everything City produced. 

The rest of the games I didn’t watch, but Boltons 4-0 victory away to QPR is a strong result. I thought QPR would kick start the promotion with the home win against Bolton, but I guess they weren’t prepared for the tempo in the premiership just yet. Wolverhampton got a good start to the season with a win away to Blackburn. While Wigan and Norwich drew 1-1 in a game which Wigan should have one if they want to stay up this season. The Tottenham – Everton game was postponed due to the riots in London.