Monthly Archives: September 2018

ANALYSIS: Sturridge stunner seals similar systems stalemate

Alan O’Brien 

Daniel Sturridge may never score a more unlikely goal, but the parity his stunner restored certainly felt more than earned. This is a different Liverpool, far removed from that which failed to beat a ‘Big Six’ side on the road last season. Tottenham Hotspur had already been vanquished on foreign soil before the Reds extracted this late, late point at Chelsea. Still unbeaten, Jurgen Klopp’s troops are now genuine contenders to Manchester City’s seemingly untouchable throne. Continue reading →

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ANALYSIS: Hardy Hammers hamper Hazard

Alan O’Brien 

Statistics can be misleading. Jorginho’s 180-pass haul in this stalemate, a Premier League record, prompted plaudits from all corners of social media. West Ham United risked ridicule by gifting the ex-Napoli playmaker his freedom. But there was method to the Hammers’ madness. And, in the end, they were all the better for it. Continue reading →

ANALYSIS: Wasteful Wolves let unthreatening United off the hook

Alan O’Brien 

José Mourinho has never lost back-to-back home league games as a professional football manager. But only some familiar Wolves profligacy kept that enviable record intact on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading →

ANALYSIS: Counterattacking Hammers finally break their duck

Alan O’Brien 

Old dogs don’t tend to take kindly to new tricks. So, at the age of 65, Manuel Pellegrini was never likely to be parted from his obsession with a “big-team mentality”. But chastening defeats to Liverpool and Bournemouth, suffered right at the beginning of his nascent West Ham United tenure, must have given the Chilean pause for thought. Evincing a slightly more reserved tactical outlook, the Hammers were unlucky to go away empty-handed from subsequent engagements with Arsenal and Wolves. Everton, unbeaten but brittle, represented the perfect opportunity to turn that luck — provided Pellegrini did not revert to gung-ho type. Continue reading →

ANALYSIS: Diamond blights Tottenham’s fading title hopes

Alan O’Brien 

As far as win percentage goes, Mauricio Pochettino has every other modern-day Tottenham Hotspur boss beat. But, at the start of his fifth season in North London, the Argentinian appears no closer to breaking his silverware duck. Neither World Cup fatigue nor stadium strife have helped the 46-year-old’s cause. Errors of judgement and tactical inconsistency, however, have proven far more costly.  Continue reading →

ANALYSIS: Welsh wave of the future engulfs old-fashioned O’Neill

Alan O’Brien 

Martin O’Neill loves to wallow in nostalgia, to recall the halcyon days when his performances were beyond reproach. Criticisms directed his way are tetchily deflected by references to a time when success came easy to the Kilrea native. That time is long gone now, however, and almost everyone except O’Neill knows it. Yet the FAI, in their infinite wisdom, have gifted him the luxury of two more lavishly paid years to figure it out. How kind of them. Continue reading →