The League that matters

The Premier League is back and what a way to kick off the start off the new season with a big upset in the very first game! Well, some might not consider it an upset but rather just Arsenal being Arsenal, never the less what a dream start for newly promoted Brentford getting maximum points over London's most famous club. For Mikel Arteta, his woes have already begun, the team did do a lot of spending over the summer but for their first outing it looked like it was done in all the wrong places. As much as we can laugh about this result, to the fans and supporters of the club, it ain't no laughing matter but reality is, Arsenal need to step up or they might find themselves in heaps of trouble, one thing results like this will guarantee for the rest of us is some epic AFTV viewing. 

Last season's second place team, Manchester United have laid down quite a statement with their opening fixtures against old rivals Leeds United, Ole's men took a while to find the back of the net but it was none other than star player from last season, Bruno Fernandes who opened their account and followed that up with two more goals to give himself a hattrick in the impressive 5-1 victory at the Theatre of Dreams. Paul Pogba still remains a hot topic for the club as many questioned where his loyalties lie after he was looking to move away from Manchester but those rumours should be put to bed with an impressive performance from the French World Cup winner, getting 4 assists in the game. Unless he was putting on a show for prospective buyers? One thing is for sure, Man United have claimed stake as title contenders and are willing to prove last seasons finish was not a fluke. With impressive signings over the summer, we could just see them fighting their city rivals this season. 

Speaking of their City rivals, the team in Sky Blue had a rocky start to the campaign as they opened the season with a 1-0 loss away at Spurs in London on the Sunday. Nuno Espírito Santo men held off a rampant City in the first 20 minutes at the Spurs Stadium with Son managing to get a stunning goal in the second half which secured the London teams 3 points. It was a spirited effort from Spurs which saw them play the game without star striker Harry Kane, who is reported to want a move to Man City. After seeing his teams performance, with the new manager and fans now back at the stadium will that have him change his mind? It's tough choice for him to make, will he be willing to take the risk to stay with his boyhood club and try to win silverware with them or opt to join a club like City whom are perfectly positioned to get trophies, season after season. 

It seems London clubs are the topic of this blog post as the next team that gets a mention is Thomas Tuchel's team, Chelsea! A surprise addition to their team see's former striker Romelu Lukaku  re-join Chelsea at an exorbitant £97 Million for the Belguim striker. He had an impressive stint at Inter Milan after leaving Man United where he just didn't seem to gel with anyone and the less said about his first touch the better but Tuchel see's something in him that we all don't, lets see what he can offer Chelsea on his second time with the club. 

Liverpool didn't fair too badly on their first outing in the league for the 21/22 season after notching up all 3 points on offer as they travelled to Norwich. Star play Mo Salah got onto the score sheet and provided 2 assists as Klopp's men recorded a 3-0 win. Last seasons wonder signing Jota got the Reds off the mark after latching onto a mistimed touch from the Egyptian, while Bobby Firmino got the Reds second. The team looked impressive but most importantly solid at the back, Tsimikas who was stand in replacement for Andy Robertson had a few mishaps but was firmly put in place by a returning Virgl van Djik and James Milner. The Reds looked comfortable throughout the game, with no major signings apart form Konate as back up central defender, one wonders if they have sufficient firepower to compete against City and the rest of them? It proves to be an interesting season ahead, and I for one cannot wait to see how it plays out. 

The Fickle Few

It's always a case of not all but a few who are the rotten ones in a bunch, but this few is growing larger and larger.  Being a supporter of a football club isn't easy, especially now in the business end of the season. Liverpool find themselves in a strong position both in the league and Champions League, with the distraction of the FA Cup not there, it gives Jurgen and the team time to concentrate and really make this final push to the end of the season one that will bare some reward. At the moment, it's City in the driving seat for the league, while we do occupy top spot, they have a game in hand and if that translates into a win for them, it would change things immediately. It's not the first time Liverpool have been in this position, it's harsh but back in April 2014, we were strong contenders for the league title and we had a home game against Chelsea that weekend, it was the same game of "the slip" and while many put that down as the deciding factor in us falling short that season, I still say it was not. I could list over ten reasons why but that will just be dwelling in what could have been while we now can chat of what could happen. 

Which is why the team, more than ever needs every ounce of support from their fans, whether you're at the ground or at home watching them play. But while we are winning games and getting results, I've found a number of fans, especially online being highly critical of players and in other words, talking a lot of shit. This needs to be cut out, if you don't know what you're saying, don't say it at all. I've seen our captain, Jordan Henderson catch a lot of flack for merely just being on the starting line up. These fickle few want other players to start every game, like they have not heard of player management and fatigue. Also if the manager deems it good enough for a player to start, you go with it, if in the case like last week against Southampton, things are not working out, the manager and his coaching staff will change things to try and gain an advantage. After Jordan and James were brought on at St Mary's, the entire team dynamic changed, Jordan was playing in his preferred forward position, made life difficult for the opposition when they had the ball. Many cheered Salah's goal that broke the tie but not many realise that it was Henderson's header, that make the break happen in the first place. 

Then his goal, to seal the deal was the icing on the cake, you could see the emotion in him after he netted, what it meant for him, what it meant for the team and more importantly what it meant for the fans. The players go out there every week and give it there all, for the fans and this is how the fans return the favour? By slagging them at every opportunity online? Facebook groups, Twitter, comments on the clubs Instagram pictures?! When I see these comments I feel embarrassed being grouped with supporters like these. Those who only have negative comments, who see Salah missing one opportunity and want him subbed, those who see Jordan pass the ball back on more than one occasion and feel he isn't good enough, those who criticize Bobby for not scoring in more than one game, it's like they just started watching football recently and haven't a clue how this game works or how our team play. It's one of my biggest fears that we get glory hunting fans that only support the team because we're winning, the type of fans became synonymous with Manchester United, Chelsea and Man City. 

We don't need that crap at our club, we want fans that devote their passion of support to the team, those give of positive energy and not negative bile at every disappointment we see. Our club have achieved a points total that would be worth of winning the league 5 seasons ago, but yet here we are with still 5 games to and the league undecided. While Liverpool have the supposed "easier run in", every game from now on will be a final for the team and judging from the past few games, nothing is going to be handed to us. This weekend, we face Chelsea again, a battered giant, a team that started the season strong but found themselves coming up short after the turn of the year but the same team that provided a massive stumble in our challenge back in 2014. Some of their star players are looking to move away in the new season so they'll be here to perform till the end of the season. We already saw Hazard steal the show on Monday night and you can bet your bottom dollar he'll be ready to go again on Sunday. 

The team say a number of times, they're here to do their job not for themselves, not for the club but for us, the fans. The least we can do is show them support and not be a bunch of fickle idiots on the internet by moaning and groaning at any chance or slating players. Lets back them, as this is the time, more than ever they need us. 

The Greatest League

Go back 10 years ago, the English league was the best league in Europe. The money, the mangers, the big names, it had it all. The teams were dominant in the Champions League and it was one of the toughest leagues in the world but then something happened. Not quite sure what it was but it lost it's dominance, players were attracted to other leagues such as the German, Italian and Spanish, the English teams that did make it to Europe often faded away early in the competition and overall it fell behind the likes of LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie-A. 

Has all of that changed now? This season see's probably the best line up of managers ever seen in a league and they're all managing English teams. Mourinho, Conte, Klopp, Wenger, Guardiola and Ranieri (I had to slip in ol Claudio there) take on each other in the English Premier League in whats set to be one of the most anticipated one yet! Most of the managers will have their first test this weekend seeing that they have been brought in during the summer with the exception of Klopp, Wenger and Ranieri. While Jose has managed in the league before at Chelsea, it will be a different kettle of fish for him as he tries to exorcise the demons that has plagued Old Trafford for the past 2 seasons. 

While on the subject of Jose, he's causing quite a stir so far and even though he's at the team I love to hate, I'm rather loving it. He's known for shit talking and to be honest, the league needs that. Whether or not his demons of last season at Chelsea have followed him to United remains to be seen but one things for sure, he's certainly doing things his way. Firstly the signings, Bailly, Miktarian, Ibrahimovic and the signing everyone is talking about, Paul Pogba. Jose literally broke the bank to bring in the French International and while the spot light has been on him for the past month, I don't think he will be their key signing for United. Bailly for me will be of more significance to the team as their defence seems to be in tatters after the departure of their famed brick wall of Vidic and Ferdinand. 

Last season saw a complete outside take the title and for that, we now don't know what to expect. Many are scared to make any predictions, can Leicester do it again? I doubt it but there's always a chance that they were not one season wonders. They've made some good signings and managed to hang on to star striker Jamie Vardy but they still need to keep the others that played a pivotal role in last seasons success. 

Coming back to the battle of the managers, many seem to think Jurgen Klopp has the upper hand. He came in almost midway through last season so he's had some time to assess the players and see which individuals will be key to his revamp of the squad. He's made a number of good signings, nothing record breaking but from what we've seen in the preseason, it was money put to good use. The stand out for me has been Sadio Mane, yes we've got a habit of poaching players from Southampton and whilst most of them haven't shined as they did at the Saints, I believe Klopp is spot on with this one. He's got the pace, he's strong and he has knowledge of the English game and while he didn't cost 89 million pounds, he didn't come in cheap at just over 30 million pounds. Many argued that it was a bit much for him but I rate him being a better buy than Pogba, so come the end of the 16/17 season I'd love to see a head to head stats between the two of them. I still don't thnk Klopp has the end product and the injuries don't help him either. He isn't far off from that and we've seen glimpses of the team he wants, the demolition of Barcelona at Wembley was simply breathtaking so lets hope we can see more of that come the start of the league this weekend. 

Liverpool have the toughest opening fixture list from any of the other top teams with most of their matches being away from home, some of them by choice as Anfield see's their new mainstand take shape and increase the overall capacity of the stadium. Arsenal away is first up and while many bemoan the lack of activity from the Frenchman, I don't doubt his tactics. He's the longest running manager in the league of our decade, he's been through it all, seen it all and he's proven that he doesn't need a lot of cash or big name players to do the job. The board are happy with him as he makes them profits and the fans, well the fans of Arsenal will never be happy regardless. They normally don't hit the ground running in the league so Sunday's encounter will be a tricky one.

Overall this season is going to be one of the greats and everyone in the world will be keeping an eye on it. From world class managers to the most expensive player in the world, it has it all. Entertainment? You bet it will be, with even the smaller teams wanting to prove a point. Everyone is going to go out there and try to be a Leicester City, whether or not they can achieve it remains to be seen. One things for sure, it's going to be great viewing pleasure and will reaffirm the English Premier League as the Greatest League, once again. 

The madness continues

The English premier league isn't short of controversy, whether it's a team and their manager celebrating a draw at home or a side that's just been promoted, topping the table before Christmas. It really is one of the most exciting leagues in the world and you can understand why supporters of it go into mass depression during the off season. 

Just today Jose Mourinhno, probably one of the best managers the league has seen was given the axe at his much loved Chelsea Football Club. With their dismal performances this season, it's hard to say it wasn't inevitable but still, sacking a manager of Jose's calibre is unheard of. The guy just won the Premier League title with the very same team last season and now they're languishing 1 point above relegation. It's madness I tell you! It's difficult to pinpoint where it all went wrong for the Portuguese coach but it was clearly evident that he lost the faith of his players and once that happens not much can work in your favour. Even though club owner Roman Abromovich and him are close friends, business is business. 

For Chelsea to take such a rash decision right before the crunch Christmas period, they have to have someone in mind to replace Mourinho as you wouldn't want to go into a fury of fixtures with someone who's there just to fill the gap. With rumours running rife about Pep Guardiola due to leave Bayern as well as Diego Simeone's name popping up, there seems to be some good talent waiting to take over the reigns at Chelsea Football Club but if you have to look at the number of managers they've had over the years, it really seems as if they're whorinng themselves out to managers. Whatever the case, it add's to the madness of the Premier League. 

Moving across to Manchester, starting off with the better half that is City, all is not well there. They've been having a shaky time of recent with some lacklusture performances and unfavourable results which see's them slip down into 3rd position. Pelligrini, another under fire manager, then again any person who manages City are under fire all the time but the Italian will have to figure out a way to dig themselves out of this slump. He has some positive news going into this weekend though, with star striker Sergio Aguero returning from injury so that should help the team out. 

Right, now we go to the other side of Manchester, the Shitty end. The jury is still out for the drunk Dutchman, yes Louis van Gaals army have been blowing hot and cold but of recent they can't blow anything at all. There seems to be a goal drought affecting the team and with that saw a string of results that didn't make their supporters very happy, not forgetting them getting dumped out of Europe. With Wayne Rooney still a ghost like figure in the team, one wonders if it's time to let him go? I mean not everyone can be a Scholes or Giggs. 

Moving on to Liverpool, yes many mocked Klopp for his "celebrations" after the draw with West Brom but any twit with half a brain would know that it was more of a thank you to the supporters than a celebration. The fans urged the team on in to the 8 minutes of injury time to find that second goal to equalise against Tony Pulis side who employed Jose "park the bus" tactics and tried to kill the game off, then again they tried to kill Dejan Lovren but luckily the Liverpool centre back isn't too badly injured and only suffers a few weeks on the sideline. Klopp is turning out to be quite the character and I like him, the league needs someone like him, his english isnt great now but he gets his message out there one way or another. The passion he has for the game is very evident and thats what Liverpool needed, lets hope our injury woes come to an end soon and we start firing once again.

Last but not least, Leicester City! I know right? The team everyone thought would be number contenders for relegation are now number one in the league, what the fuck? Got to hand it to Claudio Ranieri, he's done a stellar job at the Tigers and proved to everyone it wasn't just a lucky start to the season. He has a quality squad filled with players we never knew about but they doing things right and they're winning.  Their lead striker, Jamie Vardy is scoring goals for fun and breaking all sorts of records, the other striker Riyad Mahrez scored one of the goals of the season on Monday night to beat Chelsea and probably get Jose fired. Only one thing I can say to them, respect!

It's On!

Yup, in little under 3 days time the most important football league in the world will kick off the 2015/2016 campaign to see who will be crowned Champions of England. Yes while the competition might be just for teams in England, it's fan base knows no boundaries as I'm sure if there were intelligent life out there in the universe, they to would have vested interest in the Barclays English Premier League. 

Anyway back to matters on earth and particularly, England, it's very hard to say if current Champions Chelsea have what it takes to retain their title. Yes, manager Jose Mourinho still has a very strong squad and the spine that turned out to be his winning formula is still very much intact, their summer signings aren't one to make the headlines apart from the signing of United flop, Falcao. Now we don't want to delve into why the Colombian wasn't a success in Manchester but Jose obviously feels that it had nothing to do with the league but rather the team and management. Time will tell whether he would be a worthy acquisition and if history goes to show anything, Jose gets out the best in the players he wants. 

Moving things across to Manchester, starting off with the biggest side, Manchester City... (see what I did there), their ever flowing cash reserves continued to flow during the summer transfer window with their biggest signing to date being Raheem Asswipe, I mean Raheem Sterling. Okay, take nothing away from the kid, he is a quality player and has a lot to offer any team, and he's British but I still think he is an unfinished product, he might have felt that he was wasting his time at Liverpool but no one knew him better than Brendan Rodgers and maybe just one more year at Anfield could have sharpened those skills he needed to be that great of a player but he and his dumbass agent chose to move on and things didn't start off too badly for the lad with him scoring within the first 5 minutes of his Citeh debut. City do have a strong squad that could prove to be one of the main contenders for this seasons title but this year might not be a two horse race, because the Wenger Boys are coming to the party. 

Yup, Arsenal of late are starting to show a lot of promise, besides beating Chelsea last Sunday in the Community Shield, they really did prove the doubters wrong last season, one of them being myself. Arsenal always get off the mark really well but fall down in the second half of the season, credit to them, even though they had a bad patch they still kept fighting till the end and with that in mind, I can see them pushing Cheslea and Man City all the way till the end. They have a young squad, they play some beautiful football and they have a manager that is out there not only to prove a point but to save his job! Whilst winning the FA Cup might have been a life line for Arsene, he knows he has to deliver again this season or he might find himself out of favour with the fans and the club board. 

Now that we got the certain top 3 out of the way, it's time to talk about who will take 4th, last season those Manc's pipped it and with that made it in to Europe. Their season wasn't the best and the star signings they made last season have all gone, in Falcao and DiMaria, their drunk manager van Gaal has however added another two big names during the summer break in German Midfield sensation Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneidelin. Both very talented midfielders but is that what they really needed? Their defence is currently in a mess and with the departure of Rafael, it's not looking any better, hence the biggest thing for them is keeping the services of DeGae in goal. Then again the window is still open and they'll be fighting harder than the Nights Watch at the wall against the white walkers to keep him there!

Next up my beloved Liverpool, I honestly don't know what is going to happen this season, from the total collapse of all things last season to the emotional goodbye to our stalwart Steven Gerrard and then Brendan completely formatting the backroom staff, who knows what to expect this season? It's going to be a fresh new look for sure as coaching styles will differ with the new men in charge, new players coming in the likes of Danny Ings, Christian Benteke and the man that everyone is looking forward to see play in Red, Firmino. I still think our key players will be Henderson, Coutinho and Skrtel with James Milner coming into play a pivotal role in midfield. Lovren needs to up his game this season, our defence has been shocking for the past two seasons but last season our lack of goals was more worrying. Hopefully with the new look strike force and a fit again Sturridge things might change and we will contend for 4th. 

Other teams that will cause a headache for these teams are Spurs, who with Harry Kane in the front could do damage to anyones goal average. Ronald Koeman still seems to be working wonders at Southampton, so they're another danger side. Alan Pardew and his Crystal Palace team will want to upset a few and at his old club Newcastle, long lost manger Steve Mclaren will want to prove he still has what it takes to manage in the Premier League. Another Premier League oldie returns, with Claudio Ranieri to Leicester City, but I doubt they will be a thorn in the side just yet.

One things for sure, given what happened last season, it's going to be an open race, if Chelsea have the start they had last season, they could runaway with it again but nothing can be predicted in this league, BRING IT ON!

Let the games begin

This weekend marks the start of the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season, like every year everyone, many fans go into the season with high hopes for their team but like always, we want to win the race before it has even begun. The first two months of the season are important but in no way decides how the season will go on. We've seen it many a year where teams who peak too early fall hard towards the end, last season saw Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal fail at the final hurdle and Manchester City walking away as champions. 

This years season will be an interesting one, apart from the top four from the last campaign wanting to prove a point, the Premier Leagues most successful club Manchester United will have something to say. After a dismal season which I'm sure most fans of theirs wanting to forget, they come this season with a new manager, some new players and a fresh outlook. As far as whether they will challenge for the league title, it remains to be seen but they wont be pushovers like they were last season. 

Manchester City have made some smart buys during during the transfer window, the most surprising signing from them has to be ex Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. With City already having such a commanding midfield it will be interesting to see what Pellegrini has lined up for the England midfielder. Their squad is a pretty strong one and they have plenty of depth to see them through till may next year. With captain Toure leading them, they will be a force to reckon with, just as long as the club remember to wish Kolo a happy birthday. 

Chelsea, always the dark horses and with the Special One at the helm you know its going to be hard to get a result against them. Unless the premier league ban parking the bus, sides are going to find it tough to break down the double decker that Jose has employed last season. It's been an interesting preseason for them, they let go of two long serving players in Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard , then sold striker Lukaku and opted to keep two left feet Torres, I suppose they realised their error, hence they then re-signed ex striker Drogba. We know he knows where to find the net. Another note worthy buy for them was Cesc Fabragas, that won't go down well with half London but see if he cares. 

Liverpool, or should I call my team Liverhampton/ Southpool? Yes we've been the butt of many jokes seeing that Brendan Rodgers practically raided Southampton for our first 3 signings in Lallana, Lambert and Lovren. Like always Brendan has a plan though, the money from the Suarez deal is being used wisely to strengthen our squad and also provide depth. With Champions League now on the offering the team doesn't have the luxury like last season to just focus on one competition. Other signings of Can, Markovic,Manquillo and Moreno are exciting as they bring fresh new qualities that our side lacked, especially in defence. 

Our preseason tour to the USA provided a mixed bunch of results but we rounded off the last of our friendlies quite nicely on the weekend with an empathic win over German side Dortmund at Anfield. The player that's stood out by far the entire preseason was Coutinho, the kid just keeps on getting better. maybe being left out of the Brazilian world cup squad was a blessing for Liverpool. Rahim Sterling was also running circles around defenders and it was good to see Sturridge get a goal. With Suarez gone, we need all the goals we can get from all areas of the field. My aspirations for Liverpool? Many already writing off their top 4 chance but I reckon we'll be in the mix for the title again, we may not have signed big name players but Rodgers instills the right mentality in the players to make them winners.

There are many other clubs with points to prove this season and it could be very open for a long time which makes for a very tantalizing prospect. We all can't wait for kick off on Saturday as the banter has already begun between the supporters and its good to have that back. May the best team win!

Make us dream

I've been adamant from the get go, this season (2013/14) all I want is for Liverpool FC to finish in the top four. But ever since that first game against Stoke, when goal keeper Simon Mignolet made his first league début for us, with many of the fans questioning his ability seeing that we all were pretty happy with outgoing keeper Reina, even with his selection shrouded with uncertainty, he stepped up and saved a penalty in the dying seconds of the game. It ultimately gave Liverpool the win and their first 3 points of the season along with full faith given to the new boy. Ever since that moment you couldn't help but wonder, maybe this is it?

It wasn't going to be easy for this side under the guidance of Brendan Rogers, the previous season we finished strong but we were no where near close to match the top four. With our key striker, Luis Suarez serving the rest of his ban carried over from last season, the team knew they had to dig deep and others needed to stand up, so did Daniel Sturridge. He fitted into the line up like a snug fit glove, his continuous scoring game after game didn't even make us miss Luis the slightest but we all knew that El Pistolero was itching to come back into the team. 

After he served the 6 game ban, he and Daniel forged a partnership that the Premier League hasn't seen in a long time. Dubbed SAS, which ironically is also the abbreviation of the British Special Air Service, they went rampant on teams they faced. The link up between the two was even better than Gerrard and Torres. Forget about mind reading, its like they both know each others movements before it can happen. We all knew at the time that what Liverpool have is something special but as we move into the business end of the season, we really are seeing how ruthless and commanding this strike duo are. 

Luis, even after serving a 6 game ban at the beginning of the season is the leagues highest scorer with 28 goals, Sturridge isn't that far behind the Uruguayan with 19. Combined the two have netted 47 goals in the league, that's more than the total managed by 15 other clubs! The current league partnership goal record is held by Beardsley and Cole, who managed 55 in the 1993/94 season. That's just 8 off SAS, with 8 games still left for Liverpool, many tipping the duo to break that record. Luis is also on course to break Alan Shearer and Andy Cole's joint record of 34 goals in one season, again with 8 games left I wouldn't put it past him. He's been in fine form with a short dry spell not to long ago saw him go 3 games without scoring but that fear was quickly put to bed after scoring in both of the last fixtures, including a hat trick on the weekend. 

The run in till the end isn't an easy one with Liverpool having to face both teams that are above them, Chelsea and Manchester City, along with top four challengers Spurs. They have also got to rely on the top two dropping points to take advantage and given the form they have been in, it isn't looking likely. Like I've said from the beginning, give me a top four finish and I would be happy, Brendan Rodgers also admitted that the team we have now is still short from a title winning team with some improvements and players needed to get us there. I tend to agree with the manager seeing that our defence isn't the most solid one in the league and our midfield is sometimes lacking but the work rate from most of the individuals is nothing short of brilliant. Guys like Henderson, Allen and Flanagan that don't often make the headlines put in the hard graft required of them week in and week out. They have got to be commended for getting the team where it is currently. 

If you look at statistics, everything points at Chelsea or Manchester City lifting the trophy in May and if they do it would be well deserved but there's something I heard during the course of this season, to win the league, the team has to have some luck on the way and I won't lie, there have been some times where we did get lucky. Also if Brendan Rodgers was planning on leading this team just to finish in the top four, I'm guessing Luis and Daniel didn't get the memo because they're making us believe we can achieve something greater!

You'll Never Walk Alone

The not so beautiful game

When the idea was first mentioned to me, I thought it was the most absurd thing I've ever heard! TV officials for football? you must be crazy! it will ruin the flow of the game! It will make matches more longer than they're already are, not to mention waste time and take away momentum from the attacking team. Yes having a TV ref for football games doesn't make the least bit of sense but of recent the English Premier League in particular has seen a host of refereeing blunders that are causing massive consequences for teams.

 

I can dig back to many past games but I'll stick to the ones that are fresh in our minds, that is this weekends events. First up Everton vs Liverpool, the Merseyside Derby never fails to disappoint as each side fights for bragging rights of the city. It is a usually no holds barred match with loads of ferocious tackles flying in left right and center. With such high tentions and fast pace of the game there always is loads of cards being shown with the odd red card being brandished as proven over the years. This weekend was no different but getting back to the matter at hand, with so much happening it is only natural for the officials to miss certain things that we at home have the benefit of television replays to help with, for example Suarez treading on a defenders calf only to be shown a yellow when many of the opposition thought it deserved a red.

Then theres the case of Evertons second goal, the ball clearly went out off an Everton player and the touchline official awarded Liverpool the throw but the match official over ruled and awarded the throw in to Everton which subsequently led to the goal. Was the ref 100% sure that it was an Everton throw in? why didn't he consult with his official on the side line who felt it was the other way around? Then the big question mark was the disallowed goal. Suarez clearly onside, blasts home in front of the goal what was sure to be Liverpools winning goal. When questioned after the match by captain Steven Gerrard whether Luis was offside, the touch line official replied "I think so".... now I've harped on this before and many also believe that the EPL is the biggest league in the world and has the largest global audience, is there really room for a "I think so decision?". That decision cost Liverpool 2 valuable points and it was away from home.

Moving onto the next game, a table topping clash between Chelsea and Manchester United. 2-0 up and comfortably in the lead, Chelsea then score 2 goals to put themselves back on level terms. They then had their right back Ivanovic sent off for fouling Ashley Young, minimal contact at that but contact none the less and he was sent off as he offended Young's right at goal. Little later on, Evans catches Torres on his way to goal, albeit it he wasn't past the last defender but was caught,  he did go to ground but the ref seemed to have though that he dived. Torres was then brandished his second yellow and sent off, thus causing Chelsea to play the remainder of the match with 9 men. Inevitably, United did mange to score a winner from Hernandez, but again video replays show he was clearly coming from an offside position to slot home the winner. None of the officials spot this, end result was United get all 3 points and Chelsea are left with 2 men facing bans.

Suarez offisde/ Hernandez onside

Now, if the game did have the technology to review or refer these decisions the outcomes in both matches could have been very different. Yes just like how we have in cricket and rugby, video referrals do tend to take a while but 9 out of 10 times the correct decision is made. Football being a fast pace game, one would think there is no place for such a thing in it. Yes, I still agree that we should just take some of these bad decisions on the chin as its part and parcel of the game as they do tend to swing in favour of every team, one more than the rest *cough* Man Utd *cough* but of recent bad decisions are becoming a bit too common. The only solution other than introducing technology is for the ref's to get a proper beat down to up their game, just like footballers they are professionals at what they do and they have to be the best to be in this league. If I cant do my job properly, I will be replaced and they need to realize that they're aren't there to make "I think so" decisions, it has to be a conclusive one. I can go on about the topic but I think I'll give a rest for now. Lets hope this weekend sees a much better performance by the officials.