Rob and Wayne’s Big Weekend Preview

By: Rob | December 5th, 2008

So we’re back, and alot has happened this week. So not only will be telling you which are the best games of the week are, but also covering all the stories of the week, including C-Ron’s success in the Ballon d’Or, Keaneo’s walking away from Sunderland, Who is replacing him, Manchester City flixing their considerable muscle, The state of the bottom of the league, and of course, the fact we predicted a Chelsea win last week.

OK so might as well get this out the way – we both predicted Arsenal to lose…thoughts?
Wayne – Simply, I don’t think I should ever predict a match result ever again. I’m awful at it. I predicted Arsenal to lose heavily at home to United, and they beat tham 2-1 and of course the same thing happened last Sunday. So no more predictions for me. I was shocked by the result to be honest. After Chelsea went 1-0 up I expected them to run away with it but Arsenal dug in and, with a bit of luck deserved their win. Obviously RVP’s first goal was offside, but he took it very well. Arsenal, like in the United match, showed spirit and guts and got a result few predicted but many Arsenal (and United) fans hoped for.
Rob – When I read that Wayne had predicted they’d get stuffed, I sort of cringed, because I could imagine it happening. When I was doing the Liveblog it kind of didn’t seem that the game was over when Arsenal went down, both sides were playing very attacking football, it was just whether Arsenal, would capitulate, which in fairness they did not, they grew, got a bit of luck, and got through.

Are they back in the title race?
Wayne – I really don’t know. We’ll have to wait until the Wigan match to see what they’re really made of. They can turn it on against the big boys but struggle against the ‘weaker’ teams. Wigan are no walkovers and have got 2 EPL wins in a row for the first time since Bruce arrived. They gave Liverpool a really hard time at Anfield and if Amr Zaki’s back in the team they could cause Arsenal trouble. If Arsenal come through this match with anything less than 3 points then they are, most certainly, out of the title race.
Rob – They are fourth favourites for sure, but if they beat the rest of the big four in the rest of the season, they can claw their way back into it. I’m not sure they have the consistancy of Chelsea and Liverpool, or the inevitable post-Christmas form of Manchester United.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or, not a surprise was it?
Wayne - Not at all. It was one of the most predictable Ballon d’Or results in a long time. But the credit has to go to Ronaldo for that. With his performances and goals for Man Utd last season he gave no-one else a chance. Some people tried to claim that Messi deserved it but that’s simply not true. Not one person can look back at last season and say honestly that Ronaldo didn’t deserve the Ballon d’Or.
Rob - I was mildly surpriseed he won but such a margin, but no not a surprise that he won and as good as Messi and Torres have been this season, I would have voted for him I think. I do think he has been the best player in the world at the moment, and I think a bit of the backlash, is that he isn’t the most likable fella.

Roy Keane’s walked away from Sunderland, how do you think his tenure should be judged?
Wayne - Largely as a success. The way he took them from the bottom of the Championship to Championship winners in a matter of months was incredible. And the way he kept them up last season was a good job too. In my opinion, too much emphasis is put upon the amount of money he spent. The one thing that usually puts a newly promoted team down is the fact that they don’t buy quality players, or not enough players. But Roy Keane was not afraid of his players being judged as flops. I think he looked at it this way; If I buy enough players some of them are bound to be good enough. And he was right. Although he bought some stinkers he also bought some good players. He played the law of averages, something that not many other managers have the balls to do. The start of this season has been disappointing for both Keane and Sunderland. But I think he was brave to resign. He had realised that he could no longer go further with the team and left at a period in time that gives the team and the new manager a sufficient amount of time to get themselves sorted out.
Rob - I think he did a pretty good job. He spent an awful lot of money, and applied his own level of excellence to the club – which sometimes was a detriment (his ‘one bad game and your benched’ mentality, might have been pushing rotation a little to far) but he took a club from the basement of the Championship and put them in the Premier League. He bought a load of flops, but he made some good signings as well, lest we forget. I think though there is an element of Keane that he doesn’t want to know if they players don’t try and attain his own high standard – its why he walked away from Ireland as a player lets not forget – so I think he could only have success at a big club.

Who do you think will replace him in the long term?
Wayne – I have no idea. Many people have said Sam Allardyce, but I don’t know how Sunderland fans would react to a former Toon manager taking the reins. This isn’t your typical ’save club from relegation’ job. The club has good enough players, too good to go down in my opinion, and it’s only December, so they’re not in any real trouble yet. No-one really bounces off the top of my head in terms of potential candidates apart from the aforementioned Sam Allardyce. How would Black Cats fans feel about Reidy getting out of Thailand (if he can get a flight, that is) and coming back for another stint at the Stadium of Light?
Rob - Big Sam was my first thought, he could do with a way back in football, and yeah he managed the Magpies, but he didn’t for very long as wasn’t very happy. Alan Curbishly could be a good bet as well, he’s been without a job since leaving the Hammers early in the season. Kevin Keegan is unlikely.

What do you make of Man City talking up a 100m+ deal for Iker Casillas?
Wayne – Just more muscle-flexing in my opinion. Man City have a lot of money and they want to let everyone know it. But obviously by what Huntelaar said this week about City not ‘meeting our criteria’, money is nothing without the right criteria, in other words Champions League football. Casillas is never going to move to City, indeed if he ever leaves Madrid I can only see him going to United. But then again, City want to let everyone know they have the cash. And now we all do know. What fun it is.
Rob – It is obviously absolutely madness. I can not imagine a £100m transfer just yet, but I think City will throw alot of money around in the transfer window, or at least try to, and it will make the Transfer Window a little more exciting during the Credit Crisis. I’m not convinced Casillas will be bought, Real can’t really let him go, can they? But I guess every player has a price.

Wigan were 17th two weeks ago, and after two wins on the bounce are in the top 10, is the closeness at the bottom a good thing?
Wayne - It’s a weird one. It’s obvious that this EPL season is different to previous ones. Lots of teams are winning, drawing and losing matches no-one expected them to. Is this because the standard of EPL football is more competitive? Or is it simply that the standard has gone down? In my opinion, the former. The tightness around the bottom of the table is a healthy thing to see and will probably make the relegation battle a hell of a lot more exciting than the title battle. The tightness does show a distinct lack of consistency amongst the lower teams, but as I stated I think that this is down more to the strength of every team than anything else.
Rob – On the other hand, It could show the gap between the top four and the rest. I think the Prem is begining to look more and more like La Liga, where there clearly are top teams, but everyone else is absolutely interchangable. Anyone can beat anyone on there day, but you know its going to be Barca and Real at the top by the end of the season.

After last week’s big matches, there seems to be a lack of an obvious big game this weekend, any you have an eye on?
Wayne – The only match that really stands out is Man Utd hosting Sunderland at Old Trafford, purely to see how the Black Cats will react to Keano’s exit. Some teams show immense strength after a manager is departs but some teams, like post-Allardyce Newcastle at OT last season, capitulate after their manager’s departure. Do I expect United to win as convincingly as they did against post-Allardyce Newcastle? Not quite, but Sunderland’s form and results have been so poor of late I can’t see them doing anything. I could be wrong though, this’ll be interesting.
Rob - West Ham against Spurs could be really interesting, I think, and seeing how the top two react to their less than brilliant weeks last time out could be really interesting. So while there aren’t any huge games, there are a few to watch with interest I think.

And of course, a fantasy football pick for this week?
Wayne - Sigh, another chance for me to wrongly pick a player to shine. I’m going to go for Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. After Roo’s goal against City he’ll be looking for another. And Fergie’s bound to start Carlitos after his masterclass against Blackburn. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Rooney and Tevez will get two each!
Rob - I’m gonna say Rory Delap. He must have loads of assists by now!