So small break due to health but I am back at it. This week lets go and review by club where things are at.
Arsenal: Lets say congrats , top of the EPL & UCL. That said I worry for them. Arsenal have a hard time with breaking down defenses. Defense and midfield I would argue not many are better. They control the game and have most of the ball in games. Declan Rice and Martin Zubbemendi really dictate what happens in their games. And even when there were injuries the defense was still as solid as anybody. I think that can get you far but can it get you a title. Every time someone wins there is a Haaland, Mbappe, Dembelle leading from an offensive perspective. You might point to Saka but lets be honest he has not produced this year. Yes he is double marked in all games, that has allot to due with it. But I have also seen a side of him that I think is a symptom of past seasons without an offensive “leader” in the side, he has become selfish. I have seen many times that a pass through the box would have found a man or at least create the chance, instead he will fire from a tight angle or on his off foot before feeding the ball . My hope is that they continue and come away with success of some sort. They have come along way they past several years, that about as non bias as I can be being an Arsenal fan :).
Man City: Pep has had a past couple of years , none of which I feel is due to him. Last year the team didn’t have the will. This year its more about injuries. Offensively I still feel they are the gold standard in the EPL. Cherki , Seymeno have been such great additions. Rodri being back is taking time to get back to his best but you can see slowly he is directing the center of the park again. Arsenal watch your back I think they can still catch you.
Aston Villa: Such a solid team, however they are taking some injury hits and as the season keeps going that I can see catching up to them. McGinn, Kamara and Tielemans are going to go missing for a chunk of time, that is the heaartbeat of this team I feel. Lets hope they come back soon, Villa have looked a tough to beat team.
Man U: Well its been something hasn’t it? Currently they have looked good with those last two results, you might say they are back. Not sure I see it that way yet. I still feel they could get rid / replace a few. but they have come back to a few players that have been on the bench and they have stepped up in a big way to stabilize this current group. Can they sustain, well thats my fear , will they slump back to the side that Amorin couldn’t get going or will they remain the Carrick fighters. My hope is the latter, EPL is better with a strong Man U no matter how much I don’t want that ;).
Chelsea: Much like United allot has happened. New coach , young coach. With the huge squad and they red card issues its been and roller-coaster watch with them. There is no doubt they have the talent on board to do great things. I have always thought it might be a matter of time more like next season to really compete. This could be the fork in the road they might not want. Footballers are not known for patients when it comes to winning. I see Enzo, Cole Palmer looking around and saying uhm is the grass greener possibly in Madrid or in and different EPL side. That might be what happens even though in the case of Palmer he has been out so often and he is such an influence on the “winning” of this team. Joao Pedro & Delap I thought would really kick on at Chelsea, Joao Pedro has shown glimpses , I still like Delap but they might still need one more to get there. Next Year look out I think that is where we see a really dominant Chelsea.
Rest of the EPL: Newcastle, Sunderland I really like watching both, they are not going to win the league but on any given day they are tough. Sunderland being a promotion based team, wow, they could not have done any better tot this point, my hope is this kicks them on year over year. Newcastle really tough side, Bruno and Tonali in midfield are so good will someone snatch them up? My bet is lots of teams are looking that them. The rest of the league, Everton show that fight again, Fulham playing well, Brentford with Igor Tiago, what a find keeping you in the top side of the table, so good.
Bayern Munich: Yes they will own Germany, UCL is where they will get attention. Although Arsenal beat them in the first phase I still see them as the favorite to lift the Champions League trophy. Diaz coming into this team and Karl coming on the scene when Musiala was down and now Musiala is back,,, oh my !!!!
Barcelona: Well I still think they can beat anyone any day, but I can also think they can lose to anyone also. Its not as clear this year who the number 9 is. Lenwandowski is still as good but seems to be in a weird Hansi Flick rotation if you will. Yamal is not the upstart . now he is more marked than ever. Pedri needs to remain healthy. Raphina and Rashford on the left side have been great. Fermin Lopez just have him in the team , he is their swiss army knife. Torres has goals in him. Then there is the back line,,,, hold on tight the rest of the year should be exciting.
Real Madrid: LOL!!! Its Real Madrid , they used to call Bayern Hollywood FC, I think Real has taken that mantle. Vini Jr. is a problem , has been a problem. One year he was the best arguably but before then and after we see a glimpse but only that. When you think of greats, more to the point Brazilian greats most recently Neymar, they can carry teams, Vini can’t plain and simple. Bellingham has not been what he was in his first season and seems to have a bit of an attitude to go along. The attitude I hope is just his “flex” but he needs to get his game back to where it was. Rodrygo he has started to find form again, I think his talent if far greater than Vini Jr. , he might need a fresh start some place else. I could go through the team and critique them all, the talent is there but it is not a team or at least a motivated one. That brings me to the only positive Mbapee !!! He is holding this team together (the best he can). Nothing stops him from scoring, I think he could score more! That is the issue, he is playing by himself IMOP. Now why is that. When you watch Madrid , watch Mbappe and Vini, they always fill the same spaces and are not to far away from each other. Mbapee loves to drift in from the left. Madrid should let him, prioritize that! Look for a new number 9, play Mbapee from the left his production will not change, your number 9 will see decent opportunities provided by him. Obviously there is work to do in Madrid, allot of work. The new FC Hollywood will be in all competitions just based on talent. But in order to form a team and one that can be unbeatable, they need to be honest with themselves and really address the issues. It will mean a few departures.
AC / Inter Milan: Top of the table in Italy these two look to battle it out the rest of the season. Inter are always top usually alone, they tend to have the most complete team YOY. Sucic & Barella are very impressive, I think as Sucic grows they once relied upon aging players won’t hurt the team as most thought they might. AC Milan this year not playing in Europe is keeping them on Inter’s heals. That might be what can keeping Inter out of top spot. AC has made great additions in Modric, Rabbiot & Ricci. Great balance in midfield has been what has kept them shinning. But up front you might ask, who is supposed to own those spots. I am not sure Allegri could tell you. Pulisic has been the most prolific and consistent. Allegri however continues to place Leao and Nkunku up front. Nkunku was once very good, injuries really stunted his form, we have not see the Leipzig form that earned him praise. Leao , Fulkrig , Gimenez all perform better when partnered with Pulisic. This might feel like a biased opinion but the numbers don’t lie, take a look. My fear is Allegri is looking to Pulisic (like other managers have) as a supper sub. This would be a mistake long term. Pulisic can score goals yes but he is much more than that as we have seen. He can play as a “tenish” player stringing together offensive opportunities. That has been missing lately. In the Roma match you could see Leao and Nkunku just chasing balls not coming/falling back to produce something . Hope this is changing, Milan was more fun to watch with Pulisic’s creativeness.
This is just getting back into the groove, more to comment on in the coming weeks.
Happy watching!!!