Football Tweets of the week: 05/07

Here's this weeks 10 funniest football tweets! (In no order too!)

1.) Podolski: "I'm signing for Arsenal to win trophies." - Van Persie: "I'm leaving Arsenal because I want to win trophies." -  (@JamesD215)

2.) Pegguy Arphexad had a 16-year career, played 39 games and won 7 medals. A medal for every 5.57 games.- 90sFootballers

3.) Italy down to 10 men. Spain should bring on Torres to even things up. It's only fair. - @PickThatOneOut

4.) Money can't buy the quality of football that Spain has produced in the last 4 years. Which is fortunate as they have absolutely no money. - @FootballFunnys

5.)

- @Footycomic

6.) Injured Robin Van Persie will struggle to get a new club. The 'back injury' occurred after he was forced to carry Arsenal for 2 years. - @ThickFootball

7.) Don't get why Balotelli is crying? A postman doesn't cry when he loses the post. - @Footy_Jokes

8.) Hodgson at Wimbledon today. There was me thinking he'd seen enough long balls and constant surrendering of possession after this summer. -@Kristian_Walsh

9.) Kiev security goes into overdrive. Man in red t-shirt refused entry to players' area. He gets angry, understandably. He's Alvaro Arbeloa -@SamWallaceIndy

10.)

- @AnfieldCat

Be sure to follow all these guys on Twitter, you can follow us at @ReviewFootball

See last weeks funny tweets here

The curious case of Fernando Torres

Chinmay Pandya explains to The Football Front why Fernando Torres may not recover from his confidence crisis.

Fernando Torres has been struggling. Yes, we’re all aware of that story, We’ve heard it like a million times, haven’t we?

Has he lost his mojo?

Or is it just a temporary drop in form and confidence?

Is he a double agent who’s SO loyal to Liverpool, that he’s come to Chelsea and deliberately destroyed his own career? Has losing a yard of pace affected his game so much? A million questions can be asked, and some unrealistic too.

What has happened to him?

Has someone had a plastic surgery, kidnapped the real Torres and replaced him at Chelsea? Well, whatever it is, it surely gives us, journalists something to write about. Well, for starters, we all would agree that he surely has lost a yard of pace. Let’s face it, he isn’t 23 anymore. He’s had a major injury right after the World Cup and has been playing with little niggles since then. Torres barely looks a shadow of his former self. He was brought in with a vision to replace Drogba in the near future but who is he replacing? The “Le Sulk” role recently vacated by Anelka?

During a soggy night in Naples, Under-fire manager André Villas-Boas saw his team give away yet another lead to slump to their 2nd defeat in the last 5 games. After Chelsea went 3-1 down, AVB made a double substitution introducing Essein and Lampard in a hope to give his team a glimmer of hope in progressing to the Quarterfinals of the Champion’s League. Needing a goal or two, the most obvious option would have been Fernando Torres, once one of the most feared strikers on the planet, but AVB opted to bring on the Chelsea veterans instead.

This may just be one substitution during one match, but this overlook of Torres signalled rock bottom in what has been possibly the greatest collapse of talent ever witnessed. This gesture by the Chelsea manager represented a tremendous loss of faith in the abilities of his 50 million man and also saw Torres’s career hit a new low. The saddest part is a majority of the Chelsea fans and Torres admirers would not question that decision.

People claim about his lack of confidence in front of goal, his reluctance to shoot or some even blame the midfield for their lack of creativity or service. Robin Van Persie has been the top scorer in the league. Which might mean Arsenal’s midfield is more productive than Chelsea’s. Well, these stats below are a total of the Average key passes and accurate crosses made per game by Chelsea and Arsenal’s midfield respectively.

Chelsea

Player	Avg Key Passes PG	Acc. Crosses PG
Juan Mata	3.2	1.9
Frank Lampard	1.7	0.7
Raul Meireles	1.4	0.4
Florent Malouda	1.3	0.9
Daniel Sturridge	1.1	0.3
Jose Bosingwa	1.0	0.9
Ashley Cole	0.9	0.6
Ramires	0.8	0.1
Total	11.4	5.8

Arsenal

Players	Avg Key Passes PG	Avg Crosses PG
Mikel Arteta	2.1	0.8
Aaron Ramsey	2	0.3
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	1.5	0.7
Gervinho	1.5	0.1
Tomas Rosicky	1.3	0.3
Theo Walcott	1.2	0.6
Alexandre Song	1.2	0.1
Andrey Arshavin	1	0.3
Total	11.8	4.1

Arsenal edge Chelsea in terms of key passes made per game, while Chelsea are well ahead in terms of the crosses made per game. To sum up, we can imply that Chelsea’s midfield (including the full backs, as they are involved in the build up equally) and Arsenal’s midfield are equally creative.

We can now officially rule out lack of creativity as the reason behind the drought. Fernando Torres has admitted, his lack of goals might be a result of Chelsea’s style of play, where he has to be involved in the build up, while at Liverpool all he did was get on the end of some amazing balls. However, during the game away at Man United in September, Chelsea were losing 3-1 but were playing well: the feeling was that they could go on and maybe get a draw the game. Torres found himself with the ball at his feet and only the goalkeeper to beat, which he did. Now all he had to do was tuck the ball into an empty net, which he of course, did not manage to do.

Torres fell to the ground; his head fell between his hands. A wave of laughter echoed across the old Trafford, most of it coming from the home fans, of course. This is not the Fernando Torres who Chelsea paid a record English transfer fee of £50 million.

When Fernando Torres blames Chelsea’s style of play for his failure to score and denies the obvious lack of confidence evident in the incident against Man United. One cannot help but conclude that Fernando Torres is in denial, the worst situation he can be in right now. Accepting his lack of confidence would be a step in the right direction as he’d begin to get over his denial.

One of my psychologist friends I spoke to, seemed to agree with me when I said a lack of confidence was the reason behind his failure. He was suffering from a certain situation that every athlete goes through at least once in his or her career, an inexplicable dip in form. One of the main reasons being over-thinking or trying too hard, training twice the amount you used to, earlier and forgetting the most important aspect of your game that made you who you were, enjoying your game like you used to do when you were a kid. While some recover from this, some don’t.

In Torres’ situation, judging by the severity and the amount of elements combined that Fernando Torres has to go through every second of this Chelsea situation; the chances of him recovering are very slim.

Stats Via: WhoScored.

This article was written by Chinmay Pandya, you can find his work at http://nimblefootwork.blog.com/ and you can follow him on Twitter: @_thesoccerist

Arsenal and Chelsea’s fight for fourth will be settled in defence

Jordon Florit explains why Chelsea and Arsenal's race for the top four will be determined by who can stay the most solid in defence.

If it wasn’t for Andre Villas-Boas’ failure to make an immediate impact at Chelsea, something that he undoubtedly intended to do given his insistence that “there is no calling this a year of transition,” earlier in the season, despite evidently being in a year of transition - something that has become painstakingly obvious to the rest of the world who hadn’t already realised it was underway, thanks to Villas-Boas all but admitting the transition by stating, “we have a three-year project to change, not only the team but, the culture and structure of the club” - Arsenal’s season would be dead right now. Luckily for Arsene Wenger, they still have the much-coveted “trophy” of fourth place to cling on to.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s season has taken a rather different path to Chelsea’s, yet both teams are still going into the last thirteen games on level points (43) with the same goal difference (13). The only thing that currently keeps Arsenal in the top four over Chelsea, a position Arsene Wenger has never finished below during his Arsenal career, is the goal machine Robin van Persie, rather than a 3 Premier League goals Fernando Torres.

Chelsea’s defence has been marginally tighter than Arsenal’s (I emphasize marginally) and whilst both teams have suffered defensively this season, with Chelsea’s Mourinho-instilled focus on strong foundations at the back finally all but fading out as Villas-Boas adopts a risk-taking and attacking defence, and Arsenal’s back four providing all but stability or consistency, with a total of eleven plays being used across the back, if The Blues were going to pip The Gunners to fourth place, it will be won at the back.

However, news that John Terry - who was set to be risked by the Portuguese boss against Napoli, (a clear indication of just how important Terry is to Chelsea, despite not being quite the player he was a few years ago) - is out for two months. This could scupper Villas-Boas’ chances of Chelsea finishing in a Champions League spot and mount further pressure on the 34-year old.

John Terry suffered a blow to his knee in a collision with the goalpost in Chelsea’s F.A. Cup victory over Championship Portsmouth on January 7^th: an injury he played through for two more games. Since then, The Blues have failed to keep a clean sheet and have slipped from 4^th place and just four points off of 3^rd and six clear of seventh, to 5^th place, where 3^rd seems unreachable at 10 points away and 7^thplaced Liverpool have closed the gap by two.

The reading doesn’t get much better for Chelsea fans as not only are Chelsea without a clean sheet in a Terry-less side so far this season, but in addition, last season Chelsea kept just one of their 15 clean sheets without Terry, in a season in which the centre-back missed 5 games. Last campaign, Chelsea kept a clean sheet with Terry 42% of the time and without him, just 20% of the time. This season, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet 27% of the time in which John Terry has played and without him, it currently stands at 0%.

Chelsea’s defensive woes are further encapsulated by the fact that they’ve only won two of their last ten games, one of them against relegation zone dwellers Wolves. And whilst they may’ve only lost two, both were bottom half at the time and their six draws have been score draws five times, with their only goalless draw coming against Norwich, a game fans would’ve hoped Chelsea would’ve won. Their 3-0 lead against Manchester United could’ve galvanised Chelsea’s season, but even that was carelessly thrown away, to add to their other two score draws that saw Chelsea lead.

Chelsea fans may take some hope from January signing Gary Cahill: however, the centre-back is stepping into the shoes of a Chelsea hero in an extremely frail Chelsea team that, simply put, is lacking leadership, belief and confidence. He’s stepped out of the fire, in the form of Bolton, who have only kept one clean sheet since the opening fixture, and into the fire at Chelsea.

So, can Chelsea turn to last season’s Player of the Year Petr Cech for help? Seemingly not. This season, you could make a claim for Petr Cech being the worst shot stopper in the league, although much blame should be put down to a defence lacking in organisation, something further hindered with the absence of Terry: this season, Cech’s saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League is 65% and therefore the worst in the league.

Now turn to Arsenal and in a season in which the Premier League’s top four has been more hotly-contested than Miss Universe and saw The Gunners seventeenth after an embarrassing 8-2 defeat at the hands of a ruthless Manchester United, their current position of fourth place is rather admirable. Yet, the past ten days has seen The Gunners lose everything they were fighting for but fourth place, crashing out of the F.A. Cup in a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland and their Champions League adventure all but over after a 4-0 first leg loss at the San Siro.

Yet, news that Laurent Koscielny should be back for Arsenal’s next Premier League game – the North London derby with Tottenham – has given a cloudy Arsenal week a much-welcomed silver lining. With Bacary Sagna firing on all cylinders again and Thomas Vermaelen at the heart of defence with the Frenchman, Arsenal fans have the right to celebrate.

The ever-changing back line, eluded to in the opening of this article, has finally mustered up some strength and stability: a blend of leadership, provided by Vermaelen, experience, courtesy of Sagna and ability, supplied in heaps from the much-improved Koscileny, may well prove to secure fourth place in a season where defence has been far from Arsenal’s strong point.

It would be careless to rule out Newcastle or Liverpool sneaking in and snatching the last Champions League spot, especially with the momentum Liverpool are gathering and the focus Alan Pardew has on the league campaign: but, ultimately, if Arsenal or Chelsea do indeed finish fourth, the fight will be settled in defence.

This article was written by Jordan Florit. For more of Jordan’s work, take a look at his website: www.maycauseoffence.com/. Jordan is also on Twitter: @JordanFlorit

Man City rule the city of Manchester, but do they rule the Premier League?

In his debut article for The Football Front, Jake Harrison explains how Manchester City are now the favourites to win the Premier League title.

It is the shift of power that was always going to happen. Manchester United and Chelsea continued to ignore the flaws in their respective sides. Manchester City were always going to power through with their deep pockets and reach the very top.

The Manchester derby scoreline was surprising but the result was not a shock. A cynic would suggest that City should be at the top given how much money they have spent;. A general view of opposition fans is that City are buying there way to the Premier League title.

But that doesn’t take away the fact that Roberto Mancini has the strongest squad in the top tier. A sad reflection on the state of world football that in football, the team with the most money – as long as they are run and managed well – will win. It is barely a relevant criticism to say City are buying the League and therefore devaluing the competition. This has been the case with various teams since 1992, and City are utilising this method to great effect – both on and off the pitch.

Last season the main disparagement with Mancini’s side was that they were too defensive, that they refused to release the handbrake. This season, City have kept the defensive resoluteness but added full-throttle attack.

Sergio Aguero (10 goals this season), Edin Dzeko (9) and Mario Balotelli (6) are strikers who would fit into any of the top sides in Europe on their day. Samir Nasri and Adam Johnson are players deserving of more recognition than a spot on the bench. Indeed, Man City have the best player in the Premier League: David Silva. An average of 3.6 goals per game this season doesn’t even tell half of the story; when Manchester City attack, they look like they’re going to score every single time.

An all-guns-blazing attacking force would usually result in weaknesses at the back. But this is a Mancini side. When City defend, they defend as a unit – and this is a unit that has been built over a short period of time, despite the fact that all defensive components look comfortable with one-another as they if they have been playing together for years.

Joe Hart must now be seen as one of the top goalkeepers in the world. The way in which he can command his area, distribute early and cleanly – not to mention his excellent shot-stopping – which is majestic at times.

In Micah Richards and Gael Clichy Man City have wonderful attacking full-backs who can defend as competently as well. While in the middle the supreme Vincent Kompany keeps them all in line, while the ever-improving yet always-mocked Joleon Lescott looks a lot more comfortable than he has done in recent years.

It is easy to laugh at Gareth Barry. But the defensive midfielder’s ability to play an unspectacular role is sometimes confused with ineffectiveness; the England man is vital to City’s efforts.

Yaya Toure was restricted to a more subdued role on Sunday to sure up the defence further, while James Milner appears to have converted himself into a first-class central midfielder. Both must be seen as two of the most in-form midfielders in the world right now.

Sunday’s derby was hardly a thrashing in the traditional sense, though. 3-1 would have been a fair reflection on the game but, nevertheless, a fantastic last few minutes from City and an appalling showing from United meant that three more goals were scored.

There is not a gulf between the two Manchester clubs. But there is sizeable gap between the two.

United need a creator in the middle; Tom Cleverley could be the man to fill this role but it is simply not possible to rely on such a young and inexperienced player, nor is it logical to depend upon the inconsistent Wayne Rooney to ignite a spark into any match. Patrice Evra has endured some torrid form for quite a while now, while Rio Ferdinand seems to edge closer towards the MLS with every passing minute. No empire is permanent. It seems as if the domination of Manchester United is coming to an end, either through fault of their own accord or the sheer relentlessness of their closest rivals.

City’s other main challenger has major problems too. Chelsea’s defence is weak, with John Terry and Ashley Cole struggling more as age catches up with them, while David Luiz still shows signs of rawness. Strikers Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba still aren’t the deadly forwards that they once used to be.

Whatever one’s views on the way in which City have reached their current position, their effectiveness and, at times, glorious football is undeniably brilliant. They score team goals that would fit into any end-of-season highlight packages but they also have the individual brilliance that every top team needs.

Manchester City are Premier League title favourites. At this early stage, that may seem a little hasty, especially when City had a similarly impressive start to the season last term. But this season looks to be different, even if it is just on paper. This season, City are not just a team of incredibly talented individuals – they are a ferocious, stunning team.

Manchester City aspire to end the repetitive cycle that has seen only three teams crowned Premier League champions since 1995.

This article was written by Jake Harrison, you can follow Jake on his Twitter: @Jake_Harrison92 .You can also find his blog here: jakecharrison.blogspot.com/

Five Observations from Week 5 in the Premier League

1.) Fernando Torres takes one step forward then two steps back – For the first time in his Chelsea career, and for the first time in 2011, Fernando Torres has scored in two games in a row. It’s fair to say the old Fernando, the world class version is coming back to the surface. However, he seems to eclipse his positives actions with Chelsea with a negative action. His sending off this weekend symbolises this. Torres had no real need to lunge in with two feet up in the air. It was a woeful striker’s tackle. But just when you think Torres is finding his form, sharpness and goals, he commits an act which could possibly affect his consistency. Ironically, consistency is something he has craved for since moving to Chelsea.

2.) Man United gain a credible draw at Stoke – Yes, Man United’s 100% winning record is over. But it’s by no means a disaster. Already this season, Stoke have held Chelsea and have beaten Liverpool at home. Many of United’s league contenders will come to Stoke and will struggle to get all three points. Man United can also learn a lot from this result too. Although United’s defending has been relatively strong this season, at times they have shown their frailties. Peter Crouch’s goal for Stoke highlighted United’s poor defending from the set piece. Perhaps young Phil Jones should have been more tighter and more aware of the positioning of Stoke’s target man Peter Crouch. While just after Stoke’s goal, Rio Ferdinand’s miss kicked his clearance which nearly and should have given Crouch a chance to score his second goal of the game. But Sir Alex, the fans and the players will be even more aware that the champions need to put more focus in their defending, as the defensive lapse could have cost them the game. Indeed, David De Gea stood up to Stoke’s aggressive and direct nature. The new Man United goalkeeper made some crucial saves which helped preserved United from losing. With every game, the young Spaniard looks more confident, more settled and more of a natural successor to Van der Sar.

3.) Man City’ strength in depth is the difference – City had a very tough encounter versus Everton. The Merseysiders were committed, focused and organised in restricting Man City the opportunity to create and finish chances. For most of the game, Everton frustrated Man City. They simply couldn’t find a break through. Everton did a very good job in nullifying in- form players such as Edin Dzeko. However, for all the talent City started in the match, this could be matched by Man City’s quality on the bench. Step up James Milner and Mario Balotelli. Both substitutes scored both of the goals in the game. Everton could not cope with City’s quality on the bench, as a result, the likes of Silva and Aguero’s both stepped up after the introduction of Balotelli and Milner. It’s fair to say, against tough oppositions, Manchester City’s strength in depth could be the potential decider in the title race. After all, they possess many attacking threats, while as the game progresses and the opposition tire, the quality of attacking depth, especially on the bench could prove to be the difference. Just as it proved to be against Everton this weekend.

4.) Liverpool becoming ever more dependent on Luis Suarez – Liverpool were not great against Wolves this weekend. At times they were on top, and created many chances. But there were also periods when Wolves asked all the questions of Liverpool and The Reds didn’t defend that impressively. Offensively, the difference for Liverpool again was Luis Suarez. His movement, energy and creativity often left the Wolves defence feeling dizzy. But at times during the game, it was as if Suarez was the only Liverpool player looking to move in and out of pockets of space. Without his movement, it would seem as if Liverpool’s performance was lacklustre and short of creative ideas. It’s evident the other attacking Liverpool players need to show more intelligent movement in order to create space. But when Luis Suarez is in form, its not surprising a team becomes dependent on him. He is arguably a complete striker, who can create and finish himself, so is it surprising he becomes the focal point of team?

5.) The Newcastle United revolution gets bigger and bigger – Newcastle were widely tipped as the team who would be in and around the foot of the table at the start of the season. Due to the club selling key players such as Enrique, Nolan and Barton. But Alan Pardew and his new look Newcastle side have started the season off very impressively. After 6 games, they find themselves unbeaten, and are in fourth place with 12 points. The new signings seem to have given the club some balance and variation of quality. Attackers Demba Ba and Leon Best have so far consistently provided goals. One could argue that Ba has been rather inconsistent for Newcastle so far and has drifted in and out of games. It’s a fair point, he hasn’t been great. But against Blackburn he was a consistent threat, his pace, strength and instinctive finishing was the difference. His hat-trick will not only give The Toon Army some optimism, it will give them some pride. Furthermore, the return of Hatem Ben Arfa gives Newcastle even more quality and technical strength. Newcastle have rather quietly constructed a very good outfit which is proving to be a decent side.

Five Statistics from this weekend

1.) Fernando Torres has scored against 24/28 of teams he has faced in the Premier League.

2.) Four different players have scored a hat-trick for Newcastle United since the start of 2010/11 season

3.) Peter Crouch has scored for 6 different Premier League clubs in his career.

4.) Tottenham are the only team this season to pass more than 600 times in more than one game.

5.) Aston Villa are the third team in Premier League history to draw 5/6 of their opening games.

Video: Fernando Torres miss remade in FIFA 11 + player breaks managers wrist?

This is fantastic. It's utterly hilarious, someone has made a FIFA version of Fernando Torres' shocking miss for Chelsea against Man United. Check it out below.






The other interesting video is of Hapoel Acco player Roei Levi. The player clears the ball to the touchline but the ball catches the managers hand and the power of the clearance breaks his wrist! Looks very painful, but its extraordinary.

Five observations from week 4 in the Premier League

1. Man United are still invincible at home – Last season Man United had a home winning ratio of 94%. A sensational record which is shared by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea title winning side in 2006. It was this fine home record which was the difference last season between Manchester United and their title rivals. The last time United dropped points at Old Trafford was an incredible 11 months ago against West Brom in 2-2 draw. Indeed, the Champions have continued their fine dominance at home. So far this season, at home Man United have played Tottenham and Chelsea, and United have come away with three points on both occasions in a rather emphatic fashion. What will please the United faithful and Sir Alex Ferguson is that they have beaten two very tough opponents with genuine comfort. When weaker opponents come to Old Trafford this season, a continuity of this invincible confidence will continue to be rife amongst the fans.
2. Fernando Torres drought is over – Fernando Torres scores! The £50million man finally gets his first goal of the season. His drought lasted an eye watering 12 hours and 12 minutes. But everyone will agree the goal has been coming. In his last few games, Torres has looked far more settled, more dangerous and more integrated in the Chelsea side. Chelsea’s style under Andre Villas-Boas is a leading factor as to why Torres has looked sharper. Chelsea are passing the ball at a quicker tempo, and Torres is receiving the ball to feet very quickly. This is something the Spaniard thrives on. Against United, Chelsea played slide balls and low diagonal passes to Torres, in return, Torres became more of a threat with every attacking pass. However, Fernando Torres’ miss will never be forgotten. There is no denying it was utterly, utterly woeful. But, a positive for Chelsea is that he did score the harder chance. Without a doubt, he was Chelsea’s leading threat throughout the game. The Fernando Torres of old is potentially just around the corner.
3. Blackburn ‘Kean’ to win –Blackburn surprised everyone by defeating Arsenal. In the first half, Arsenal were the better team, they were comfortable and crucially, they were leading. But in the second half, Blackburn came out incredibly motivated, driven and hungry for the win. Arsenal’s flaws of last season came back onto the surface. Firstly their inability to defend set pieces was re-highlighted on two different occasions. This inevitably lead to a test of Arsenal’s mental strength, which arguably, they failed. Arsenal couldn’t deal with Blackburn’s desire to win. After going a goal down, the Gunners allowed Blackburn to grow in confidence and make the score 4-2. Blackburn’s commitment in the second half was unprecedented. The team defended very solidly and passionately, but once Blackburn won the ball, they looked to pass the ball out wide and start a counter attack. At times, Wenger’s men couldn’t deal with Hoilett and co. Prior to this game, Blackburn hadn’t won a league game. But a strong willed performance proved that if Blackburn play with high intensity and desire, they will pick up number of wins this season. But inconsistency is rife at Ewood Park.
4. Promoted boys show they can fight in a giants world - All three promoted sides bagged impressive wins this weekend. Q.P.R were rampant at Wolves, while Norwich got their first win at Bolton and Swansea scored their first goals in the hammering of West Brom. Norwich result will provide great encouragement to their fans and manager alike. Norwich dropped a few key players such as Grant Holt but they still had enough in their locker to come away with a win. The Canaries continuously probed Bolton and caused them a number of worries. But for Norwich to win their first Premier League game away from home will provide much enthusiasm to everyone connected to the club. QPR were another team who picked up all three points on the road. The Londoners scored twice in two minutes and set the tone of the game. QPR’s attacking quartet of Barton, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips and Boothroyd were very impressive. Their unpredictability, movement and passing was the difference against Wolves. QPR’s attacking players could drive the team up to the top 10 of the Premier League. Swansea finally scored their first league goals and bagged themselves a notable win. Swansea’s attacking nature along with their fluid passing was the distinction between them and West Brom. Swansea’s Joe Allen was instrumental in everything good that the Welsh side created. If Swansea can impose their passing game, they have a great chance in the Premier League.
5. Tottenham will fight till the fourth – Spurs’ sensational hammering of Liverpool proved they are side worthy of competing for the Champions League spots. People often forget, Tottenham have a wonderful side with quality in depth. Against Liverpool, the Spurs bench, had 5 out of 7 subs who were full internationals. This Liverpool side, which are assembled with expensive signings, were blown out of the water by Tottenham. A sterling performance from Luka Modric – who’s passing was the catalyst of everything dangerous about Spurs. While Bale continuously threatened from the flanks. Liverpool could not cope with Tottenham’s attacking play. Upfront, Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe constantly questioned Liverpool’s defence. Both have formed a healthy partnership as they offer different yet crucial characteristics to Tottenham. The harsh reality for Liverpool is that they failed to step up to Spurs’ game. This was Liverpool’s chance to prove they had the credentials to break the top four after Arsenal’s defeat this weekend. But a woeful performance marred by two men being sent off demonstrates, Liverpool have a long way to go. But for Tottenham, their strength in depth, and constant attacking threat means that they certainly have the credentials to battle for fourth. But consistency is crucial. Last season inconsistent results meant Tottenham missed out on fourth.
   

Five Statistics from this weekend

1.) Wayne Rooney is the first player in Premier League history to score 9 or more goals in his opening five Premier League games.

2.) Luka Modric against Liverpool passed 109 times and had a completion rate of 89%, he also scored.

3.) Liverpool only had three shots against Tottenham – The lowest in a single Premier League game in nine years.

4.) No player currently in the Premier League has scored more goals against Man United at Old Trafford than Fernando Torres (Three goals)

5.) It took Swansea 374 minutes to score their first Premier League goal.