Premier League Footballer of the Week, Gameweek 9

EPLTalk F of the W 2 Premier League Footballer of the Week, Gameweek 9

As much as I do enjoy the off the field entertainment associated with football in England, early Saturday kickoffs are always a welcome relief to the insanity of contract negotiations, rumors and managerial master classes. While topics concerning the week that was have been written on at length, its now time to get back down to the exploits on the pitch in what ended a weekend of Premier League football with plenty of talking points.

It was a decent enough couple of days in the Premier League that saw Manchester United finally win their first away game of the season, witnessed Chelsea continue their dominance and experienced West Brom jump into fourth spot, if only for a day or so. Manchester City failed their big test against Arsenal, although the neutrals hated to see Dedryck Boyata sent off so early in the encounter that promised to delight had XI men stayed on for both sides.

Spurs and Everton drew in a match that screamed one side was coming off a European hangover and the other was still searching for their best form while Liverpool got back on track with a win at home against Blackburn but remain in the relegation zone, if only on goal differential. West Ham remains worst but set out to attack while Blackpool were blanked away to Birmingham City.

Honorable Mentions

Joey Barton, Newcastle Newcastle won an important away game on Saturday v West Ham and Joey Barton played the role of provider for both of Newcastles goals. While it was far from a dominating performance by the Toon, theyll take the points away from home any day of the week. Barton started the game on the right side of midfield giving way to Kevin Nolan and Cheick Tiote and his usual central midfield role. It was Bartons cros! s in the 23rd that found Andy Carroll who won the header to set up Kevin Nolan for the equalizer and again Bartons service in the 69th which found Andy Carroll for the winner when the striker headed home decisively.

One thing were learning about Joey Barton being back in the Premier League this year is that when hes removed his head from his nether regions, hes a decent enough footballer. Itll be Bartons leadership, experience and the occasional goal that will help Newcastle stay up this season, consolidate and push on in the coming years. Newcastle proved a few years ago that no team is too big to go down. While they currently boast a good enough squad through Nolan, Carroll, Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini and Barton himself to stay up this season, heres hoping football fans dont have to experience another Geordie meltdown in the near future.

Nikola Zigic, Birmingham City The Serbian has now enjoyed two goals in as many weeks as his most recent effort proved enough to seal a 2-0 win at home to Blackpool on Saturday. Upon his move from Spanish side Valencia, Zigic took some time to settle into life as a Premier League footballer. In fact, he seems to still be settling. Although his goal on Saturday was the epitome of being at the right place at the right time, it just may be the little bit of luck he needs to get his first season in the Premier League off to a flying start.

Samir Nasri, Arsenal To exclude an Arsenal player from at least the honorable mentions would be unfair to a side who saw off a determined Manchester City 0-3 away from the Emirates. Although the final scoreline shows Arsenal to have won without much fuss from City, the match itself was closer than the 3-0 mark leads it on to be. Even with a man less, City maintained some form of cohesion throughout the remainder of the encounter while some credit is due to the oft-criticised Lukasz Fabiabski who had a fine game in goal for Arsenal.

While the Gunners were able to win an important! early s eason match to secure second spot, it was their ability to play as a team without one standout performance in the side. Cesc Fabregas was good, but failed to convert his penalty while the three goals for Arsenal came from three different players. All this said, Samir Nasri continued his good form for Arsenal when he combined brilliantly with AndreiArshavin to open the scoring in the 20th minute, the goal his fourth in the league this season. Late on, Nasris hustle kept the ball in play and the Frenchman was able to slid a neat ball into the path of the just on Nicklas Bendtner who finished past Hart to seal the game.

Premier League Footballer of the Week -

Stoke City v Manchester United , Premier League 24/10/2010 Javier Hernandez of Manchester United celebrates scoring the late winning goal 1-2 Photo Marc Atkins Fotosports International Photo via Newscom

Javier Hernandez, Manchester United Chicharitos exploits saved United on and off the pitch on Sunday. His brace secured Manchester Uniteds first away win of the season and quieted fears surrounding the Wayne Rooney saga, in that United have options up front with the Little Pea and through Dimitar Berbatov whos contributed goals for United this season. While United maintain the services of their talismanRooney, Fergies early summer buy ofChicharito looks to have been a smart one.

If theres one thing Premier League fans have learned about Hernandez thus far this season, its that hes an accurate finisher with pace. His clever back-header opened up the scoring for United, a goal that was as brilliant as it was difficult to complete, and his winner late on was a precise reaction finish that only the best strikers can pull off with their keen instincts.

Hernandez ! is an ou t and out striker the likes of a young Michael Owen. He works and works and doesnt need a myriad of chances to put the ball into the net.While United fans mull over whether or not theyll accept Rooney upon his return, theyll take calm in the play of Chicharito and welcome him into the family with open arms.

View Poll

Related posts:

  • Premier League Footballer of the Week, Gameweek 5
  • Premier League Footballer of the Week, Gameweek 2
  • Premier League Footballer of the Week, Gameweek 28



    • Football Betting Tips, Odds, Asian Handicap, Picks, Preview & Prediction

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Mr. Hodgson Or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying And Blame The Manager

    Image
    The manager has risen from club secretary to official face of the club since the creation of football teams worldwide. He has moved from the man that kept the record books to man that is larger than the football team he manages. Commentators and pundits refer to Fergusons United or Wengers beautiful, passing football. He even has books written about him. The Manager by Barney Ronay, an excellent book that discusses the rise of the manager into the modern game, unearths some of the origins of the managers image and attempts todiscuss what kind of person the manager really is. While the book wasnt ever intended to be an academic study of the merits of various tactical thoughts of managers, it does address some of the often listed character traits ofsuccessfulmanagers. When all these traits are put together, to many the manager appears to be a father figure, a scary headmaster, a politician youd like to have a beer with, or somecombination. Yet despite all this popularity, he is little mo...
    Keep reading

    England World Cup camps need to lose doomsday siege mentality

    Image
    One day last week, near the junction of Maude Street and Rivonia Road, in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, a line of smiling young men in shirts and shorts strolled along the pavement towards their hotel. Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Mark Van Bommel and the rest of the Dutch squad waited at the lights until there was a break in the traffic and then ambled across the road. These were some of the best known players in the world, superstars of the game, walking along city streets on their way back from training and looking as though they did not have a care. There was no security with them. None to speak of, anyway. There were no photographers running in front of them and taking their picture. There were no girlfriends tottering along beside them. None of them wore headphones. They did not insulate themselves. They seemed at one with their surroundings. It was only a snapshot of the way the Dutch are living their lives at this World Cup but ...
    Keep reading

    How an American Influence Is Rubbing Off On Manchester City

    Image
    Manchester Citys match day experience is becoming more and more American with each new season. While Maine Road was what you could expect a typical British experience of what it was like to see an English football match in the 80s, the City of Manchester Stadium experience seems as American as apple pie. In previous seasons, City have tried to focus on improving the match-day experience. Theyve added buskers, i.e. public performers, around the ground to add to the atmosphere. And recently theyve adopted American entertainment methods such as turning down the house lights before kick-off and trying to get everyone excited for the big match. Theyve also been a pioneer in English football in their usage of American social media sites such as Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr and others to create a bond with supporters. And now for their first home match in the league for the 2010-11 season, against Liverpool tonight, theyre set to unveil two new features. Both of them have a uniquely American...
    Keep reading