5 Things We Learned From The Prem This Weekend – Aug. 24

Most weeks I will post this before the Monday fixture, but this week I just had to wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Seriously, how was there not ONE goal scored at The Emirates yesterday?

1) Man City look like champions
The Premier League season is a marathon, not a sprint. But after three challenging fixtures to open the season, City look as strong as ever. It’s easy to look at the team sheet and think “of course this team should take 9 points from 9,” but trips to The Hawthorns and Goodison are not easy. Did I mention they made the champions look like a newly promoted side? Citeh have improved on every level. It helps that Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure are playing like it’s 2012 again. But MCFC deserve all the plaudits they’re getting at the moment. Sure, I’m not about to “crown their asses” to quote Dennis Green, but 9 top flight wins in a row is nothing to take lightly. Also, the first time they’ve done that since 1912. Expect Manny Pellegrini to bring that up if and when he’s on the hot seat come winter. Watford at home this weekend. Make it 10.

2) Just when you expect boatloads of goals, here’s a scoreless draw
Give me slippery conditions with two teams boasting goal hungry frontman, unflattering backlines, and two managers who can never be accused of playing for the “easy result,” and I’m betting the over every time. But as I’ve discussed before on this blog, I may just be the worst gambler in the world. Arsene Wenger‘s gamble of sticking with Petr Cech has clearly paid off. The former Chelsea #1 completely redeemed himself after his nightmare debut. Liverpool should have bagged two, if not three yesterday afternoon. Olivier Giroud has done nothing to shut up his critics, begging for Wenger to sign a world class striker before Monday’s deadline. Riyad Mahrez anyone?

3) Bournemouth belong at this level
What a way to earn your first win in the Premier League! Eddie Howe‘s men were finally rewarded for their efforts by treating us to the type of show we haven’t seen since Blackpool were up. Chaotic defending included. The match wasn’t as close as the 4-3 scoreline would suggest.

4) Christian Eriksen is more important to Tottenham than we thought
Without the magical little Dane, Harry Kane experienced what life was like for Christian Benteke and Darren Bent for years at Villa. Kane was alone, in 90 degree weather, for 90 minutes. Érik Lamela again proved that Daniel Levy considerably overpaid for him. Not only did the Argentine fail to contribute anything in place of Eriksen, 19 year-old Dele Alli completely outshined him.

5) Costel Pantilimon isn’t a useless giant
Without the Romanian in net against Swansea Saturday morning, Sunderland lose again. He made several key saves in addition to his early candidate for stop of the year when he denied Bafe Gombis his brace from close range.

NOTABLE MENTION
If Gomis is going to score every week, he has to get a new goal celebration. He’s ruining the Lion King for men with young children.

Pedro is going to prove he’s even better than we knew he was at Barcelona. I see him much like Luis Suarez when he moved to Liverpool from Ajax. A player who you knew to expect a lot from, but who could deliver more than you even dreamed of. If only he could play centre back as well…

West Ham had better hope that gambling on Slaven Bilić pays off. Back-to-back losses at home has West Ham fans fearing the worst. The Hammers don’t look anything like the side that beat Arsenal on matchday one. Kevin Nolan started up front next to Diafra Sakho FFS! Could you imagine what would happen in the East End if West Ham were relegated before moving in to the Olympic Stadium?

Claudio Ranieri has clearly adopted the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to managing. The Italian saw no need to make any changes to a team that won their opening two matches. The manager formerly known as ‘The Tinkerman’ fielded the exact same lineup for the third straight game. Prized signing Gökhan Inler sat on a bench amongst £30 million worth of talent. This is Leicester City we’re talking about! TV money had changed England as we know it.

I really think Liverpool will regret shipping Mario Balotelli off. I don’t know if he’ll bag 20 goals for Siniša Mihajlović. In fact, I expect the two to have a real tear up before Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving. But I do think that given the chance, Balo will prove his worth and that Liverpool will struggle to score goals for much of the season.

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Friday Morning Thoughts – July 31

Johnny Cueto makes his Kansas City Royals debut tonight at Rogers Centre. With the buzz in Toronto on a whole other level right now, I think it might be hard to get a ticket. And if you’ve ever seen a game in that stadium, you know unless the Yankees, Red Sox or Roy Halladay are playing the Jays on a weekend afternoon, that is rare.

MLB
It’s been a long time since the Toronto Blue Jays were the most talked about team in baseball. I could get used to this. A part of me still can’t believe Alex Anthopoulos actually pulled it off. Not because acquiring David Price came at the cost of Daniel Norris and a pair of other unproven arms. Simply because great things so rarely happen to Toronto sports teams. Way to follow up a dream day by beating the best team in the American League. Big weekend ahead at Rogers Centre. For my full reaction to AA’s latest blockbuster deal, check out yesterday’s blog.

The trade was a win for Tigers. They can still make the playoffs this year, if they stop letting the bullpen pitch. But the next few years shouldn’t be as catastrophic as the last two weeks has felt for Tigers fans. Even the Red Sox did Detroit a favour last night by roughing up Chris Sale.

The Houston Astros aren’t judgmental towards potential hip issues. They just want to win. Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers give them a better chance of doing so. Statement series sweep this week. Is there a better way to pull that off than a 3-run walkoff bomb? If Scott Texas [Kazmir] pitches that well for the rest of the year, against teams that aren’t as good as the Angels, the Stros will cruise to a division title.

Staying in Texas, happy to see Josh Hamilton contributing to the Rangers.

Two homers. Two steals. Four hits. And seven RBI. The Reds may have given up on the season, but Brandon Phillips will never quit. Has been the most underrated second baseman for years.

I suspected the Giants might have made an attractive pitch to Dave Dombrowski. Bit of a drop in quality between Price and Mike Leake, but certainly an addition that gives them a great opportunity to keep pace with the Dodgers. Despite the best front two in baseball, the Dodgers enjoy just a half game lead.

SOCCER
Am I crazy to think Tim Sherwood could get the best out of Mario Balotelli? I know I’m incredibly bias, and I’ve always thought more of Balo than anyone I’ve ever spoken to. But I don’t see how Brendan Rodgers can afford to discard him? Rodgers has excluded Balotelli, Fabio Borini and José Enrique from Liverpool’s final pre-season friendlies in another attempt to push them out the door.

I think Sunderland might regret selling Connor Wickham to Palace for £8 million.

NHL
Smart of the Flyers to ink Jake Voracek to an 8 year extension. He’s become one of my favourite players. Well worth the annual cap hit of $8.25 million.

“Arsenal linked with… your 10 year old sister”

Let me start by answering a question you didn’t know that I knew you were asking. Yes, it is impossible to keep up with all the transfer rumours that come out while the World Cup is going on.

That headline wasn’t to pick on Arsenal. Every club with needs to address this summer seems to be linked with everybody that is looking for greener pastures.

Mario Balotelli is rumoured to be “unsettled in Milan.” Really? How does anyone know that? The latest buzz is that Arsenal are ready to offer him a comfortable wage package of over €11 million a year. That would be such a coup for Wenger, but it certainly won’t come cheap.

Sergio Agüero has been pretty vocal about staying with Man City, which means he’s headed south to either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Thomas Vermaelen looks set to trade The Emirates for Old Trafford, and get paid a cool £100,000-a-week for his efforts.

The UK papers are raving about Alexander Büttner’s realisation that Louis Van Gaal’s arrival spells the end for him at Old Trafford. Must be a really slow week…

How many phone calls do you think the agent of Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa has taken over the last 48 hours? The dude makes one of the greatest saves in World Cup history, while drawing the tournament favourites on their home soil just weeks after being relegated and out of contract with Ajaccio? Talk about impeccable timing.

And West Brom are close to signing Joleon Lescott from the sounds of things… HEY! Please keep reading this blog!

It’s a part of the game that will just never go away. And even though all the nonsensical speculation can be annoying as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, it’s never going to leave the game because it will always get people talking about soccer. And you know what, I’m alright with that part.