Having recently retired as the “undisputed prediction king – failed abysmally“, (for the time being anyway), our thoughts now turn to new, (or at least re-worked old), ways of filling the column inches.
The first subject which springs to mind is the return of the Champion’s League. You know, that tournament which, according to stubborn old man at Arsenal, has lost some of it’s sparkle. This is what he said. (more…)
Well, avid readers, so far it has been a very mixed weekend in prediction land, which is where WSA has been living for the last 24 hours.
The first prediction we made was that Manchester United may play in grey and would win 3-1.
Wrong! On both counts. They played in black and white which was almost as dull and boring as their performance. (more…)
(“They’re behind you!” Antonio Valencia tries in vain to find his team mates, who have become invisible thanks to that magical grey kit)
Manchester United will have an opportunity to wear their new grey third kit when they play Southampton at St.Mary’s on Saturday. If they do, then it will be the first time they have worn it in the top flight since they wore it in a 3-1 defeat at yes, you guessed it, Southampton.
On that day, back in 1996, Ferguson ordered the team to change their kit at half-time, blaming it for the players having become invisible whilst wearing it and being unable to see each other on the pitch. (more…)
At around the same time last year Manchester’s City and United were about to meet each other in the derby, the loss of which was to be followed by a change in fortune for United.
Having started the season, along with City and Chelsea on a 100% winning run they were to go on and draw many games they should have won and finish the season in sixth, whilst the other two, as we all know, finished first and second.
Here we look at the opening few games of the so-called “big six” and compare them, where possible, to results against the same opposition last season. (more…)
The first thing to point out is that Paul Pogba’s injury, which may keep him out for a month or even six weeks depending upon your daily rag of choice, is not the end of the world.
Yes, he is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has been in good form recently, even scoring a couple of goals in the opening games, and yes, he will be missed.
He will probably be replaced, however, by Ander Herrera in some games and Marouane Fellaini in others and, occasionally, by both. The way the pair have been playing recently means that the loss of Pogba will not be felt quite as much as it might have been at a different time of the season. (more…)
Alexandre Lacazette – Arsenal
A ÂŁ52.7 million signing from Lyon, Lacazette scored with his first attempt at goal in his Arsenal debut. Shortly afterwards he was, totally inexplicably, dropped for the game against Liverpool where Wenger, in a moment brought on by ever-increasing bouts of insanity, preferred Danny Welbeck up front.
Arsenal, unsurprisingly, lost the game heavily and question marks have been raised again, and very early, about the role of the manager in this loss.
Why spend all that money on a player then drop him to the bench for the first “big” test? (more…)
(The players may wear the shirts but the owners and chairmen are proving, for the moment at least, that THEY wear the trousers!)
Riyad Mahrez, Alexis Sánchez, Virgil van Dijk and Philippe Coutinho. All players who, in order to try and force a move away from their clubs, handed in a transfer request.
Also all world class players who would be welcome in most teams so why is it that, as the transfer window slid shut on Thursday night, they all remained at their clubs.
There are a few reasons but the overriding feeling is one that player power has been defeated, on this occasion at least. (more…)
(All targets for top clubs who failed to sign any of them!)
In general the top six did some pretty reasonable transfer business. Manchester United and City both spent fortunes and got the majority of their signings in early. Liverpool also managed to bring in most of the players they wanted.
Tottenham Hotspur had a good final day and only Arsenal and Chelsea could be said to have failed abysmally at getting their targets through the door.
There were, however, some very good players who stayed exactly where they were, sometimes through good management from their clubs and sometimes through rank bad management from the club trying to buy them. Here’s some of the big names that the top six missed out on: (more…)
After only two games of the new season we are already into the debate about who will finish in the top six, who will win the title and who will be relegated.
Whilst these are fair questions it is a little early to provide any concrete answers just yet. What we can do, however, is check the evidence we have so far and then do what the national press do all the time, indulge in wild speculation.
The advantage here is that, if we are right, we can say that we told you so and, if we are wrong then it was only wild speculation anyway and never intended to be taken seriously. That would seem to be a no-lose situation which is just the kind we like. (more…)
With the draw for the group stages of this years competition due to be made on the 24th August in Monaco, we look at who the British contingent could face and assess their chances of qualifying for the next stage. First up is:
Chelsea
The Blues could face Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund or Porto.
Roma, RB Leipzig, Basel, Feyenoord and Anderlecht are also possibilities. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 