Gert & TheBoy's Official VNA Soccer... err Football Thread

[Gert-Jan]

What a wonderful Saturday with a tsunami of 35 goals in total. Spurs went into this weekend being one of the teams with the least amount of goals scored and faced Man City, who had only conceded two. I personally feel City played at 80% and that Pellegrini made the choice to rest Hart as well as Kompany for the CL. Borussia M'Gladbach awaits and they can't afford another loss whereas the confrontation with Spurs is just one of 38. Both sat on the bench and were fit enough, but Pellegrini's gamble didn't turn out so well, lol. They have an extraordinary squad, whoever is unavailable due to injuries (such as Silva) or suspension, it should not be an excuse for a club like City to underperform like they did on Saturday. Nonetheless, Tottenham Hotspur were fantastic in the second half!

We can talk about Chelsea weekly and journalists too like writing about Mourinho. Fact is, no matter if you play Zuma or Terry, they suck defensively. Falcao and Remy are not good enough, their only successful striker (Costa) is more busy boxing than scoring goals, so where does that leave skilled midfielders Fabregas, Oscar and Willian? The back four are running around like headless chicken, which means the midfielders can't press high up the pitch, but at the same time people do expect them to produce assists and goals. I think it's necessary to get two good new centre-backs (Stones) and a reliable goalgetter. Something tells me they won't take my advice, lol. Had Newcastle gone for the winning goal, Chelsea would have scored once or twice in the counter attack.

It was great seeing Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal do well. Sturridge, Rooney and Sanchez are off the mark and all 3 clubs can only hope this will be the start of a rise in productivity. Promoted teams Norwich and Bournemouth are doing much better than expected. Eddie Howe didn't sound optimistic though when asked about Wilson. Any news? Meanwhile, Koeman and Southampton seem to be on the right track again. Watford vs Crystal Palace was boring and I don't expect much of WBA vs Everton either. Bring on the Champions League already, lol.

FIFA's general secretary Jerome Valcke got suspended last week and Swiss prosecutors have also started investigating Sepp Blatter. Oh oh! The annual FIFA excutive committee meeting in December has been moved from Tokyo to FIFA headquarters in Zurich. The 79-year old avoids traveling to countries which have an extradition treaty with the US.

Lionel Messi suffered a serious knee injury and is out for two months!

[TheBoy]

Yes the injury to Messi was probably the biggest story of the week really! I'm sure Barca will cope without him, but it's very sad to see a player like him out for 2 months. He might only get 40 goals this season now lol.

You know Gert, even though I can see it with my own eyes, the more I think about it, I find it hard to fathom how Chelsea have suddenly become so bad at the back. Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta - all four of them solid as a rock last season. Surely a few months older hasn't suddenly made Terry and Ivanovic too old? And surely it can't be totally blamed on the suspension and injury to Courtois? Matic is another who is looking like a lost sheep. Just what is it that has caused them all to lose form at exactly the same time?

Could it be Mourinho? His bizarre situation with Eva Caniero perhaps highlighted that something is wrong with Mourinho and maybe that has crossed to the players? Is it his tactics that has seen him remove all sightings of attractive attacking football from day one? Maybe it's the relative lack of transfer activity - Stones was the most obvious missed target, but there were numerous rumours about Jose wanting another left back amongst others. And did he really want Falcao?

And finally, to touch on your point of Diego Costa. You're totally right that he seems to enjoy being the pantomime villain rather than being a striker! But again, is it Mourinho that is pushing this side of him? We saw the comments after the Arsenal game when he said that Costa was his man of the match and played the game how it needed to be played.

Whatever the situation, I'm pretty sure that all non Chelsea supporting football fans are all enjoying this stuttering start and hoping it long continues!

Yet more disaster for English clubs in the Champions League so far with Arsenal losing rather shamefully at home to Olympiakos and Chelsea taking a defeat to an impressive looking Porto side. I have no sympathy at all with them though as both managers rested players for no apparent reason. Arsenal in particular choosing to 'rest' Cech and play Osipina in goal who then once again cost them a goal got exactly what was coming to them. I don't understand why teams field alternate teams in the Champions League. I mean, they spend all season trying desperately to get into it and then suddenly decide that they are too big for the group stages! It could be argued that with the amount of money splashing around the Premier League, they should be able to field almost two full strength teams. But as we are seeing all too clearly, it appears that the squads are not as strong as they could be.

There's the very real possibility that England could lose their 4th Champions League spot in 2017 if there performances do not pick up in Europe (and that includes the Europa League). Can you imagine what that would do to the league if all of a sudden the chances of qualifying were to become even slimmer? It could turn into a situation where the three same teams - Man United, City and Chelsea qualify every year due to their financial strength with no chance of the others ever catching up. It's hard enough for a team to claim 4th place outside of Arsenal and Liverpool, so for a spot to be lost, I don't see how any other teams would ever make it.

[Gert-Jan]

Yeah, I've been asking myself pretty much the same questions over the past few weeks. Chelsea and Mourinho just doesn't seem to be the perfect marriage anymore. Media talk about megalomaniac Mourinho and his behaviour on the sidelines or during press conferences, but the defensive organisation that looked so solid and dependable turns out to be a house of cards. Clean sheets don't exist anymore. It's super weird. I can't image Roman paying off Jose's new 4-year contract, so Mourinho ain't going anywhere. Chelsea vs Southampton up next....

Do Liverpool and Tottenham take the Europa League serious or did they rest players? AZ Alkmaar defeated Athletic Bilbao and the Spanish Super Cup winners started with their B-team, lol. Stars Raul Garcia and Aduriz had to come off the bench after the Dutch side went up 2-0, but thankfully we were able to hold on and collect 3 points. Bilbao obviously don't care about the tournament. Ajax drew 1-1 away at Norway's Molde FK, which is a bad result as we dominated possession and had tons of scoring chances.

Super Sunday! Big weekend ahead with the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park between Everton and Liverpool. Will the Toffees' home advantage and hostile atmosphere plant a seed of doubt in Daniel Sturridge's mind or will the Liverpool striker net twice again? Swansea City play on Sunday as well and hopefully Monk's team can get the early season spirit back. Gomis hasn't scored in 3 matches and was substituted after 45 minutes at St Mary's. And who will be crowned King in the clash of the titans Arsenal and Man United; Sanchez or Martial?

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund .... Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid. So excited!

[TheBoy]

Spurs fielded a surprisingly strong team v Monaco - just Trippier and Rose (who should be first choice left back anyway) as 'by choice' changes and Chadli coming back in to replace the injured Son. Liverpool meanwhile made I think 7 changes for their game v Sion and in the end paid the price with a rather embarrassing 1-1 home draw. Spurs were frustrating. It was like watching one of the bad old games with slow, boring build up and no real spark in attack. The aforementioned Son - worryingly out for 'a few weeks' with a foot injury was sorely missed as he had been providing that spark and energy up front which then rubbed off on others. With Chadli back, it was frustrating to see him slow down play and watch decent looking attacks end up with balls being played back to the the central defenders far too often.

Monaco had plenty of chances and it was fair they scored, but Spurs really should have been out of sight by the time of the equaliser. Kane once again the culprit of not burying relatively straight forward chances.

Yep, quite the Super Sunday ahead indeed! Everton v Liverpool should be a feisty affair and I'd probably put Everton as favourites for this one. Home advantage, coming off the back of a huge comeback last week v West Brom and Liverpool seemingly out of sorts with a manager who can't help making things worse for himself with his quotes and demeanor. Arsenal v Man United will be very interesting and the outcome could shape the next few weeks of the season. Wenger has obviously grown jealous of Rogers taking the limelight in recent press conferences, and today decided to have a grumpy day at the press. In fairness to him, asking idiotic questions about goalkeepers, I think he has every right to call the journalists lacking in creativity! As for the game, I think it's a tough one to call. Normally I'd say a draw and sit on the fence, but I don't see that happening - I think we will see a winner.

Lol, Swansea can get back to winning ways next week Gert! This week they need to taste defeat again ;)

I haven't followed much of the European leagues so far this season - how have Dortmund started under new manager Tuchel?

[rokkerr]

I finally got around to ditching a bunch of my players... time to try and actually get some points....

Rodgers out today after what 8 games and a 1-1 tie? That's about as absurd as getting rid of Pardew and almost getting relegated....
Manchester United was the only game I saw and boy.... they were pretty turgid.

[TheBoy]

By far the biggest talking point of the weekend has been the sacking of of Brendan Rodgers by Liverpool. I mentioned over the past week or so that he had been making some very foot in mouth comments (even more than usual!). However, the timing of it... very odd. I could understand if they were in Chelsea's position or had just taken a 3-0 beating in the Derby v Everton but the reality of it is they are only 3 points off the top 4 (which is currently held by Palace and Leicester). Sure the results haven't been that great, but bad enough to sack him? The international break is possibly part of the thinking, meaning it gives them time to get a new man in. And that would appear to be former Borussia Dortmund coach and hipster's favourite, Jurgen Klopp.

One thing that always puzzles me with football, is that despite all the money splashing around and big business owners in control, they would sack the focal point of the club and not have a replacement signed sealed and delivered to take over the instant the sacking is announced. I can't think of any other multi-million pound business where this would happen. Companies replacing a CEO, etc will have headhunter teams spending 6 months finding the best replacement. Yet football, it's almost a whim decision and then the realisation kicks in that, oh crap, they need to find someone else!

Rodgers wasn't the only manager to leave his Premier League job this weekend as Dick Advocaat walks away from Sunderland. I have to say, I find it rather disappointing on Advocaat's decision to just up and leave after the way he took the job in the first place. He's left them right in the lurch and for me has taken the easy way out. Early favourite to replace him is former Newcastle coach Sam Allardyce who I'm sure would relish the chance to get back into management and try to turn around the club's fortunes.

We must not forget there was some actual football played this weekend and, much to my Fantasy Football delight, 'Captain' Aguero made Premier League history by scoring 5 goals in 20 minutes during which time he had just 9 touches of the ball! Newcastle probably didn't deserve to take such a hammering, but when Aguero is in that kind of lethal form, well we saw what happens!

Arsenal v Man United was pretty much all over inside the first 20 minutes as Arsenal blew United away with pacey attacks. Sanchez is starting to look in ominous form with Ozil and Walcott also putting in the kind of displays expected of them.

Chelsea suffer yet another humiliating defeat that left Mourinho to have a continuous 7 minute answer to the post match interviewer's single opening question . However, the speech/rant ended up coming across as more Kevin Keegan than Jose probably hoped! He of course blamed the referee for not awarding a penalty to Falcao (Which despite his decision to fall before the 'keeper took him out, was probably a penalty) but his plea for referees to "show some loyalty" and "give them a break when they are down the table" smacked of desperation and a man not thinking straight. In the end, his rambling turned into what could be conceived as begging Abramovich not to sack him, but if he did, he wanted to make sure that there would be instant pressure on any replacement so that he doesn't look so bad.

Personally, I think he will survive for a little while longer. Mourinho wont walk, but I have to disagree with you Gert, I think Abramovich will pull the trigger if things don't improve after the international break. To me, it looks like Jose has lost the dressing room for whatever reason. Maybe they saw him kicking up a such a big fuss about not getting in transfer targets when the team had just won the league and thought balls to him if he doesn't appreciate me?

Anyway, there will be plenty of time to mull things over during the next two drab international weeks!

Rokkerr - yep, your team definitely needed a shake up!

[Gert-Jan]

I personally had higher expectations of the Merseyside derby, although stats already gave away that Everton vs Liverpool usually ends in a draw. Not many chances, no red cards, once again a lack of creativity on the Reds side. Brendan Rodgers had been in charge for over 3 years, which is an eternity in the football world, so him getting sacked was bound to happen. I would've appointed a new manager three months ago during the summer. Now they find themselves in a situation of not having enough quality (with exception of Coutinho/Sturridge/Benteke) and the difficult task of finding a man willing to take on this job.

Is it all Rodgers' fault? No, ofcourse not, others are just as much responsible. Look at how much they have sold over the last 3 years and then look at what they bought in return. It's staggering to see Liverpool having a big cash flow yet with zero result. I too read they're looking into the possibility of getting either Ancelotti or Klopp. The Italian is a well respected manager who had success at Milan, PSG and Real Madrid. I don't think he's gonna jeopardize his reputation as there's nothing to gain. He also doesn't fit the profile. Klopp, however, is a serious candidate and a man who can truly make players better. Frank de Boer wants to remain loyal to Ajax.

Arsenal were absolutely brilliant! So much movement, pace, aggression and great passing game in the first 20 minutes. Gotta mention Cech as well. He made at least 2 world class saves and it fuels the goalkeeper discussion of why on earth did Wenger start Ospina against Olympiacos?! A flabbergasted Van Gaal truthfully admitted afterwards that his players lacked the will to win. I foresee more defensive problems as injuries for Shaw, Rojo and McNair are making him use Valencia and even Young as some sort of band-aid to cover up the full-back issues. Consequently, the weakness of central defenders Smalling and Blind comes to the surface again. Alarm bells should go off at Old Trafford as this defensive line is looking vulnerable and the fear of conceding more goals is legit with Everton and Man City being the next opponents.

Borussia Dortmund have actually been doing really well. They had to settle for a draw last week away at Darmstadt, but are ranked second in the Bundesliga and have scored 22 goals. Tuchel and Klopp are quite similar in work ethics and in the way they think about football. The current squad should definitely be able to finish high. In Germany, though, there is one team that consists of players from a different planet, lol. Bayern Munich are in a league of their own, cause Dortmund had no chance at all. Der Rekordmeister won 5-1 thanks to another Lewandowski double. The Polish striker has scored 12 times in the last 4 games and nobody is gonna stop this team from winning the league title.

I also watched Zlatan become PSG's all-time goalscorer and helping the French champions overcome an early conceded goal. Atletico vs Real (1-1) was somewhat of a disappointment. PSV close the gap to leaders Ajax as Pereiro's goals handed the Eindhoven side an away victory just like last season. Inter fail to win for two weeks straight now, Juventus have started picking up points (3-1 win to Bologna), while Milan lost 4-0 at home to Napoli!

[rokkerr]

Just heard sad news that Gert Muller has alzheimers... :(

[Gert-Jan]

Always sad to hear such news. Muller really is one of the greatest goalscorers in football history. 68 goals in 62 matches for West Germany back in the day. Ten goals during 1970's World Cup and one in the final of the World Cup 1974 against the Netherlands. I read that he has scored over 650 goals in his club career. Der Bomber is a phenom.

FIFA has provisionally suspended Blatter, Valcke and Platini for 90 days! This decision was taken by the ethics committee and comes a few days after major sponsors Coca Cola, Visa, McDonalds and Budweiser released a statement which said they wanted (read: demanded) Blatter to step down as chairman. Africa Football Confederation's Hayatou will lead FIFA during the ban, while Spain's Villar will be in charge of UEFA. Blatter still claims to be innocent, lol. His lawyers released a statement: "The suspension is based on a misunderstanding of the actions of the attorney general in Switzerland. President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise".

Jurgen Klopp has agreed a 3-year deal to become Liverpool manager. The German is bringing former Dortmund assistants Buvac and Krawietz along with him.

[TheBoy]

Yep that is sad news Rokkerr :(

Klopp to Liverpool appears imminent - it could even be confirmed before I finish typing my post lol. I guess Klopp got tired of waiting for Wenger to quit Arsenal! The appointment would appear to tick all the right boxes for Liverpool: an established name, young and popular and with a recent history of winning trophies in a major league. However, his final season at Dortmund does leave uncertainties about the appointment and there is no question that Klopp is joining a club with a massively lower level of quality to his previous Dortmund side. I'm sure there will be money for him to spend in January (although he may prefer to wait until next summer before making any major moves) but Rogers has left a rather cluttered squad of questionable quality.

Still, it's great to see such a big character in the Premier League and one that I'm sure will prove popular with the media. I just hope he gets off to a losing start! ;)

In FIFA news, today has seen Sepp Blatter, vice-president Platini and secretary general Jerome Valcke all suspended by FIFA's Ethics Committee for 90 days as they are investigated for corruption allegations. This relates to a payment made by Blatter to Platini for $2m which apparently was for consultation work carried out by Platini. The slight problem with this? The payment was made 9 years after the 'work' took place. But I'm sure there is a perfectly good and legal explanation for it and we will soon see 'Honest' Sepp cleared so he can continue with his plans to resign when it suits him best.

Also under the microscope is Lionel Messi who is now facing trail in Spain for tax fraud, alongside his father. Despite the denials of any wrong doing, you would guess that Messi will eventually find some spare change down the back of his sofa that can pay off any debt lol.

International football tonight with a number of teams still looking to qualify for the Euros. Scotland and Republic of Ireland are still in the mix, although the former face a tough match against a Lewandowski inspired Poland where defeat will remove any qualification hopes.

[TheBoy]

That will teach me to not to get distracted whilst typing out a reply lol.

[rokkerr]

In a state of shock that mighty Holland is out of the Euros.. how is that remotely possible?????????

[Gert-Jan]

The Euro qualifiers are finally done and 20 countries can book their tickets. The Netherlands, however, will stay home as we failed miserably once again. An astonishing 3-2 home defeat to Czech Republic put the entire nation in shock. We were 3-0 down against 10 men, got back to 3-2 late in the second half, but it was out of our hands anyway as Iceland had to beat Turkey, which didn't happen. It remains to be seen what's gonna happen with the old generation (Van Persie, Huntelaar, Robben, Sneijder) and it is obvious that the youngsters aren't good enough. Oh, and Mr Memphis Depay refused to talk to the media. That kid has got some nerve! We have conceded 14 goals in total, so needless to say our defense is the main problem.

Holland not qualifying for the Euros is a big deal, but no changes will be made regarding the staff. Dutch FA director Van Oostveen has already said Danny Blind will remain in charge, meaning we'll probably don't reach the World Cup in Russia either, lol. He claims Blind has started building a new team and that it takes time. CRAP! Van Oostveen has sacked a lot of managers past few years and firing Blind would mean our idiot of a director has to resign too. The FA has spent millions buying off Van Marwijk's and Hiddink's long-term contracts and with a lack of income next summer, it is simply out of the question to send Blind (contract till 2018!) home with a big fat check. Plus, nobody is available to take over. Conclusion? Don't expect anything from the Netherlands team for the next few years.

Let's talk about England! 10 matches, 30 points, 100% score! Impressive for sure. In fact, no other country has done so well. I'm sure the quality of England's football still ain't what everybody wants it to be, but c'mon, getting a good result is ultimately all that matters. Norway went 1-0 up in Italy and were very close to qualifying as well until Florenzi and Pelle crushed their dream. Belgium ended the campaign with a 3-1 victory against Israel. Dazzling Dries Mertens, killer Kevin De Bruyne and elegant Eden Hazard are kings of the world as Belgium now top the FIFA rankings. Wow!

The following 8 countries will get a second chance in a play-off: Hungary, Ukraine, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia and Slovenia. The draw is this weekend. As for the actual tournament next summer, I consider Germany, France, Spain, England and Belgium the five favorites for the title.

Premier League football is back on Saturday with Spurs vs Liverpool!

[TheBoy]

You have my massive commiserations Gert! This is a shock up there with England failing to qualify for the '94 World Cup and more recently, Euro 2008. Maybe the Dutch FA need to bite the bullet and hire Fabio Capello lol. But in seriousness, have they really put Danny Blind on such a big contract that it would be too expensive to fire him? Or do you think the problems lie deeper than the coaching staff? You mention the old guard an specifically Van Persie - I saw a recent clip of him 'celebrating' a Fenerbahce goal whilst on the bench... Well celebrating isn't the right word seeing as he looked like the entire team had just gang banged his wife! He obviously isn't happy with club life and so maybe this transmits to the other players who would look to RVP as a leader due to his experience?

Whatever the reasons and whatever course the national team takes, one thing is for sure, the Netherlands will be sorely missed from the tournament. It won't be the same without the sea of orange fans in the stadiums (not to mention the cameras always manage to pick out a high percentage of hot Dutch girls).

Yep, even the cynic in me has to give credit to England and their impressive 100% record. Sure, the group wasn't exactly overflowing with tough competition, but you can only beat what is in front of you. And give Hodgson his dues, in using the last couple of games to experiment a little and bring in players such as Vardy, Alli and to give Kane two full starts and still get results. It's actually starting to look quite a good team with Barkley finally being given some license to run at players, an in form Walcott offering pace along with Sterling and then of course Rooney and Kane, who despite having relatively poor seasons so far, are still more than a threat to be aware of.

Having said that, we know that this isn't really an indication of how results will go in the main tournament. We've had good qualifying runs in the past and then as soon as we hit a genuine class team, fall short. Be it due to the coach changing tactics or simply not being good enough. And until we face an Italy, Germany, Spain, etc there is no real telling just how good this England team is. To put things into perspective, Northern Ireland also qualified top of their group and with all due respect to them, I don't think anyone will be putting them into the mix of being crowned champions.

I'm not quite sure how Belgium have managed to claim top spot in the World rankings lol but again fair play to them for doing so! I think we all know that the FIFA rankings are a bit hit and miss these days, but they certainly have a really impressive squad brimming with top league players. Hazard, De Bruyne, Kompany, Vertonghen, Alderwiereld, Lukaku and more just in the Premier League alone... Wow indeed!

It's bloody typical that Spurs have to face Liverpool in Klopp's first game in charge! I think the only thing in our favour is that with the International break, he won't have that much time to work with the main stars of his squad so maybe there is a chance we can catch them still in a state of disarray, although I'm not holding my breath! A lot of Spurs' fortunes will rest on Son being back and so far it's been very quiet with injury news on him. Of course we will also need Kane to be on form and Eriksen to continue his recent excellent form. Eric Dier will be a massive miss for us, which says a lot considering the misgivings we had about him in central midfield at the start of the season. His ban for 5 yellow cards now leaves a rather big gap to be filled and I'm not sure (in fact I'm certain) that none of Mason, Bentaleb or Dembele can fill it, especially as all three will be short of match fitness.

Still, it's usually a very entertaining fixture with plenty of goals and I expect this one to be the same. Fingers crossed for a losing start for Klopp!

[Gert-Jan]

I think appointing Hiddink and Blind was wrong and both have made some questionable decisions, but the quality of the players decides whether or not a manager is successful. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you're gonna do well with Kroos, Ozil, Iniesta or Alcantara. We just don't have such quality anymore, especially our back four are very inexperienced. Anyway, I'm done talking about our national team, lol. We suck! The next big game is in September 2016!

A bit of breaking news this early Friday morning as Dutch and Spanish newspapers say Barcelona are considering signing Van Persie in January. They'd like him to be the stand-in for MSN if his situation in Turkey, and specifically with Fenerbahce manager Pereira, hasnt improved by then. Could be just gossip, but everyone's talking about it here....

Glad the international break is over!

• Everton vs Man United is a fixture I'm looking forward to. The Red Devils hope to recover from their disastrous defeat against the Gunners. United, however, have lost the last 3 encounters at Goodison Park and with Barkley as well as Lukaku being in form, Everton might be able to keep the 3 points at home.
• Arsenal travel to Vicarage Road with the crucial game against Bayern Munich coming up on Tuesday. Will Frenchman Wenger rest several key players and underestimate newly promoted Watford? Keep in mind that goalkeeper Gomes has a terrific track record at home and has only conceded 7 goals this entire season.
• Man City miss Kolarov, Silva and Aguero. No excuses though. The Citizens should have no problem getting Bournemouth on their knees.
• Liverpool's Gomez and Ings are ruled out for the rest of the season, which is a huge blow for Klopp.
• Chelsea host relegation candidate Aston Villa and Jose Mourinho wants the spotlights to be on him. The Portuguese called the £50,000 FA fine a disgrace and continued his beef with Wenger - without actually naming the Arsenal boss, lol. A win is vital and it's all that counts. If Chelsea lose, our Russian friend might pull the trigger.
• Southampon vs Leicester could potentially be the most fun match as both managers think offensively.

Pretty satisfied with my fantasy football team. I have my eyes set on two new players whom I believe are gonna do well in the next few months, but I'm gonna hold off for now. Thinking about saving the free transfer, so I can make two next week.

[Gert-Jan]

It all turned out to be a pretty average weekend with zero surprises. The top teams did what needed to be done before facing some of Europe's finest in the Champions League. Man United looked very impressive, Arsenal displayed their potential in a short time span during the second half, Man City demolished Bournemouth, while Chelsea were lucky to face Aston Villa as they seem to lose everything, lol. Spurs and Liverpool drew 1-1 in London with the Reds still being powerless up front.

Eddie Howe needs to stop sending his players on a kamikaze mission and simply adjust his tactics a bit by playing more defensively. I don't exactly know Villa's upcoming fixtures, but I think Tim Sherwood is feeling the heat and it seems a matter of weeks before he gets thrown out. More goals for Leicester's Vardy and West Ham's Payet, but what's going on with Swansea City?! Five weeks without a win....

Bayern Munich defeated Werder Bremen and set a new German record as the champions collected their 9th consecutive victory. I was totally amazed by the possession percentages 78% - 22% at half-time. Guardiola's team makes the rules, they decide what happens, and at times it's not even fun to watch anymore. Opponents can only pray that Bayern will have mercy and don't go full throttle. If I were Arsenal, I'd be seriously worried about getting slaughtered in the double CL confrontation with these German butchers.

Barcelona's Neymar showed some class by netting four at home to Rayo Vallecano and Cristiano Ronaldo is now Real Madrid's all-time topscorer with 324 goals in 310 matches! His clinical finish gave Real another win. The ultimate test will be on Wednesday as Madrid take on PSG in Paris, which should be one hell of a game! Funny how Real have only conceded two goals yet. Makes you wonder why they desperately wanted DeGea. Meanwhile, Celta, Atletico and Villarreal stay in pursuit of the La Liga leaders, though that will probably not last long.

[TheBoy]

I have to agree Gert and say this weekend's Premier League was a pretty dull affair, despite the large number of goals. The exception being Newcastle v Norwich on Sunday which saw the Toon Army rack up their first league win of the season with a 6-2 victory, which included 4 goals for Dutch player Georginio Wijnaldum. If the Premier League needed an advert for it's style of football then this was it.

Before the weekend's fixtures, it had been wall to wall coverage of Jurgen Klopp taking charge of Liverpool for the first time. (As a side note, if the British media wanted to make sure that every neutral in the land was desperate for Klopp to fail then they did a damn good job of it with incessant brown-nosing and the hype machine going into overdrive with their support). When the game finally came, the first 20 minutes showed great promise for Liverpool as their players showed much more intent to chase down the ball and make an impressive start. However, their comparative lack of fitness to the Spurs players who base their entire game on running for 90 minutes soon told and despite a few shots on goal in the final 10 minutes of the match, were pretty lackluster and dull. Were it not for the continuing drought in front of goal for Harry Kane, then Spurs would (and should) have deservedly taken 3 points.

This game will have shown Klopp exactly what he has been given at Liverpool. Sturridge was a massive loss for them with Origi showing superbly why he was voted into France's Ligue 1 worst team of the season.

Spurs meanwhile remain unbeaten in the Premier League since the opening day of the season but they need to start turning these draws into wins should they have aspirations to remain in battle for 4th place.

Leicester have to be the most entertaining team in the league right now! I don't know what their game plans are each week, but the number of times they have come from behind this season to win points is incredible. Yet again they found themselves 2-0 down to an inform Southampton side and most other teams would have given up. But the Foxes don't seem to know when they are out of it and with Vardy in the form of his life, they always seem to have a chance. The big problem for them of course is that these great escapes won't keep happening and Ranieri must sort out the goals being conceded sooner rather than later.

Bournemouth look absolutely shot since the loss of Callum Wilson to injury. It's still early in the season, but you have to think that the step up to the Premier League is already looking a step too far for this current set of players.

I hear there is pressure mounting on David Moyes at Real Sociedad, which will come as a surprise to no-one! It always seems harsh to me for a manager to be put under the microscope after losing to a much better team such as Atletico Madrid - similarly with Tim Sherwood who has had the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea used to add more pressure to him, but the overall run of results doesn't make good reading for the Scot.

I think you could well be right Gert and Arsenal will find themselves in front of a steam train tonight v Bayern! It will be interesting to see how Wenger sets up his side and if he tries to contain the Germans or try to outscore them. Hopefully there are some entertaining European fixtures this week!

[Gert-Jan]

Truth be told, I had doubts when De Bruyne joined Man City this summer. Watching him struggle in his Chelsea days made me wonder whether he'd be worth an astronomical transfer fee of €80m. Now I can say he's worth even more, lol. Mourinho always told him to think defensively whereas Pellegrini gives the Belgian the freedom he needs to display his attacking skills. Kevin De Bruyne will be voted EPL Player of the Year with at least 20 goals and 20 assists if this impressive form continues. Don't let the boy-next-door looks fool you, cause this attacking midfielder is one of Europe's best players and biggest stars.

I'm curious to find out if Mourinho is gonna complain about Wenger's parking the bus tactics, lol. Bayern Munich totally dominated the CL match with almost 5 times as much passes as Arsenal and 73% possession! Wenger had clearly learned from previous seasons. Don't think you can outplay Guardiola and attack with the same pace as the Germans, cause that equals the beginning of the end. This was the right strategy and I think Wenger did an excellent job, although Neuer was obviously at fault when Giroud scored 1-0. The game would probably have ended goalless had he not made that error. I'm just happy to see group E coming back to life and every scenario seems possible again with Olympiacos joint top.

PSG vs Real had some sparkling moments, though both teams never really showed the intention of wanting to win as Malmo and Shakhtar complete group A and we all know they don't stand a chance anyway, haha. Man United got a lucky 1-1 in Moscow, PSV Eindhoven were left empty-handed after a decent first half away at Wolfsburg, while Juventus vs Borussia M'Gladbach turned out to be a game I would like to have erased from my memory. I consider Porto an outsider and can see them reach far if they're lucky enough to avoid Barca, Real and Bayern in the knock-out stage.

Next up are an insane amount of 24 Europa League matches and then we can start the build-up to Manchester United vs Manchester City.

[rokkerr]

Bye Tim Sherwood... wonder who is next Newcastle's manager?

[Gert-Jan]

I'm pretty sure Tim saw this coming given his reaction afterwards. Sherwood got sacked after being in charge for only 8 months. He led them to the FA Cup final and had to cope with the loss of Benteke, but in all fairness, Aston Villa are a mess right now. I find them the least attractive team to watch. No interesting players, lacking a defensive organisation, no tactical gameplan. They don't have enough quality to finish mid-table, but someone else should be capable of dragging them out the relegation zone. Looks like Remi Garde is in the running to take over. Newcastle play Stoke, Bournemouth & Leicester in the upcoming 3 weeks, so we will know soon enough if McClaren is next.....

Man United vs Man City will forever be remembered as.... uhm, as what exactly? A dull draw on derby day! I have counted 3 scoring chances for Man United, but don't recall any from the Man City side. Both teams looked very solid defensively, though. It can't be a coincidence anymore that Man City collect another clean sheet right when captain Kompany returns from injury. It must be nice to have Kolarov back as well. As for the Mancunians, I'd like to see Martial back in the central striker role, cause that's the position where he can hurt the opponent much more. Rooney behind him on 10, Young on the left and Mata coming from the right. Wayne is a legend, but I wonder if he's still good enough to be the number 9? Dutchies Depay and Blind have been dropped to the bench and are clearly struggling with their form.

Had Mourinho given a post match interview, then he would probably have blamed the referee for Chelsea's 5th defeat of the season. The Portuguese refrained from commenting as the lunatic considers everybody an enemy. The media, the FA, even a teenager who wanted to take a selfie. Mourinho truly believes Chelsea are being treated unfairly and that the entire world is against the Blues. Well, he can shove it up his ass, cause Matic, Louro and Mourinho himself were all rightfully sent off during the West Ham game and I'd say Fabregas' disallowed goal was indeed offside, so the ref didn't do anything wrong. Chelsea vs Liverpool next week.... how long until Abramovich puts an end to this everlasting soap opera?

A triplet of goals for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Harry Kane, Dirk Kuijt, Kevin Gameiro and Luis Suarez. Dortmund forward Aubameyang lifts his Bundesliga total to 13 and had netted three times in the Europa League as well making it six goals in 4 days!

Domestic cup football scheduled this midweek.