La Liga

5 Things We Didn’t Learn From The Weekend

How long will Barca be preeminent?

Many who support teams in direct competition with Barcelona, at home and in Europe, regularly consume the small crumb of comfort that Xavi is nearly 32 so, sooner rather than later, the most fearsome attacking triumvirate in modern football will be broken, giving the Reals, Bayerns and Manchester Uniteds of this world a look in. But if there is one player you would want to replace Xavi, and uphold the Tiki-taka trend,  it is surely Cesc Fabregas. Sadly for the rest, Barca have him too. They outclassed Manchester United in the Champions League final in May and then immediately went out and bought the stupendous Spaniard and Alexis Sanchez – another who got his name on the scoresheet at The Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night. At a shade under 23, Sanchez already looks to have somehow sharpened, rather than just brushed the teeth of Barca’s attack.

Many publications, soccersweep included, speculated before El Classico that the gap between Spain’s big two had narrowed considerably. But Barca showed on Saturday that they are seemlessly evolving and, concurrently, staying a step ahead of the rest in terms of new signings. So the timeline on Barca’s eventual decline is more vague than ever. Such is the state of the Primera Liga that they may still lose the title but, head to head, they are comfortably superior to all-comers. At least Puyol’s getting on a bit!

We can of course console ourselves, meanwhile, in the knowledge that we are possibly witnessing the best football that has ever been played. Finally, anyone who needs empirical proof of the existence of extra terrestrials need look no further than Lionel Messi. Human beings simply don’t have that much control over their feet.

Will Ashley Young succeed at United?

He got about a dozen minutes at the weekend after a limp performance on Wednesday night against FC Basel. The ex-Villa winger started his United career brightly enough, linking up well with Evra down the left and scoring two stunners in the spanking of Arsenal. But, as with United as a whole, Young’s weaknesses have been exposed as the season has progressed. Young too often plays the ball backwards and doesn’t seem to possess the guile or raw pace to beat his man. United fans have been so spoilt by the abundance of these qualities in their wingers down the years that they have come to demand and expect it. Tracking back and working hard sadly isn’t enough at United. Young needs to improve a great deal and fast, or he will be forced to look on from the bench while Valencia and Nani close the door on the wide positions this season.

Can Arsenal challenge come spring?

They scraped a win against Everton in a game they might easily have drawn in the autumn and have picked themselves up admirably after an almost impossibly bad summer and season start. Their reliance on Van Persie is as heavy as a bus load of Sumo stars but every great team has a talisman who delivers week on week. His body shape for the decisive goal at the weekend was exquisite. Still, it remains to be seen whether Arsenal are good enough to avoid being brushed aside by the most widely touted title challengers. An off-form Chelsea didn’t provide the stiffness of test that will come away at Manchester City next weekend. After that game we will be closer to answering this question.

Can Tottenham gatecrash the elite? 

Tottenham hadn’t lost since England’s best attempt at T-shirt weather in the late summer, but they succumbed to Stoke at the weekend, raising questions as to whether they can sustain a credible challenge this season. In most recent seasons they would be much closer to the top, but City’s white hot start has left them trailing by 7 points, despite their own blistering form. Any team can fail at Stoke so this game shouldn’t depress fans too much. It’s a question of whether they can now put a similar run together to take them through the winter. They certainly have enough good players.

Will Balotelli ever learn?

If he’s not ruining his own doorstep with fireworks, he’s allegedly adorning the doorsteps of bars and clubs, hours before one of City’s biggest games of the season. Onlookers view his plight with amazement. All he has to do to earn about £200k a week is turn up for a kickabout 4 times a week, get to bed early before the matches and generally just play loads of PES. What a life! Why oh why would anyone piss this peachy existence up the wall? You’d have to ask him. At least if he does fail in football he can start a decent fast food business, what with all the chips on his shoulders.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. footiebootie

    Dec 16, 2011 at 9:00 am

    messiah?? love it, great writing mate

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