AuthorManchesterM We have another new guest writer this week join the Football Outcast ranks. ManchesterM has submitted his thoughts on the weekend EPL and FA Cup action just gone (17-18th March 18). Over to Manchester: 1. Seems to be the end of the road for West Brom and Stoke Stoke City, with 10 seasons in the Premier League. West Brom with 7 in the Premier League, it seems to be the end of it for both teams when you look at the EPL Table. West Brom sit rock bottom, with 20 points. They are 10 points off West Ham and Crystal Palace, and West Ham have a game in hand. Stoke City arent fairing a lot better, at 27 points, their last win stretches back to January’s 2-0 over Huddersfield. Stoke took on Everton last Saturday during a snowy day at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke seemed the better side in patches in the match. Using their width with full backs and the big man Peter Crouch up-top. The match started off with a brain snap, as Charlie Adam was sent off after a horrific challenge on Wayne Rooney. The despair continued, as Cenk Tosun scored in the 69th. Choupo-Moting grabbed one back from Stoke in the 77th giving the Stoke City faithful hope, but disaster struck again as Tosun scored a late winner in the 86th. Of Stokes seven remaining matches, three of them are against the current top-six. West Brom faced Bournemouth last Saturday as well, on a clear day at Dean Court. In the 49th minute, Jay Rodriguez scored a tap in from a cushioned header from Rondon. However, the Baggies weren’t able to hold out, with Bournemouth's Jordan Ibe scoring in the 77th minute, The Baggies hearts were then broken with a curling free kick from Stanislas. Even worse, a header from Matt Phillips just before the final whistle was cleared off the line by Charlie Daniels. Another defeat for West Brom and Pardew. 2. Salah leads Liverpool to glory Watford traveled to Liverpool on Saturday afternoon, hoping to grab a shock win over The Reds, but their dreams were short lived. Mo Salah put 4 past Watford over the course of the game, topping it off with an assist to Firmino early in the 2nd half. Salah is quickly becoming Liverpool's most important player, scoring 34 of 105 of Liverpool’s total goals this season, almost 32%! As of that win, Liverpool were propelled up to 3rd place with 63 points, 2 points above Tottenham with 61 points. Tottenham does have a game in hand though. Salah leads the Premier League top goalscorers, with 28 goals, 4 more that Harry Kane. A lot of credit (especially in the match against Watford) should go to Firmino and Mane, which will please Jurgen Klopp. The two fellow attackers worked masterfully with Salah, creating space for the Egyptian to score. I’m sure Chelsea regrets selling him now. 3. Chelsea advance at the expense of Leicester in the FA Cup A loss in overtime is never a fun thing, though Leicester do have some positive takeaways that will excite them. After half time, they absolutely ravaged Chelsea, putting pressure on the Chelsea defense. The ruthless style of Leicester that was so familiar under Ranieri embodied the Leicester squad. Marc Albrighton was the stand out though, with a fantastic display in his defense duties. Good things seem to be on the way for Leicester. On the other hand, Antonio Conte has a conundrum. Who does he pick going forward? Morata has ended his goal drought, and seems to gain consistency with regular playing time. However, after the goal in the match he seemed to retreat into his shell and was quiet. Consequently, Giroud was thrown on but he didn’t make the biggest impacts offensively, he won 2 duels and had 6 passes in 15 minutes. Contes next issue comes in the attacking midfield. Eden Hazard is a sure choice, but after that who does he pick? Willian provided an assist in the match, and was spectacular in the middle of the park but could be off at the end of the season. Next is Pedro who came on late in the match, in the 92nd minute to replace Willian, and who proceeded to scored the match winner in the 105th minute. Other than that match-winner he was pretty quiet. New blood will be needed in the summer. 4. The FA Cup draws are in After the conclusion of the Leicester and Chelsea match, Petr Cech and Gianfranco Zola with the help of Lynsey Hipgrave drew the next fixtures of the FA Cup. They started by drawing Manchester United facing Tottenham Hotspur, and finished with Chelsea taking on Southampton. Chelsea fans may be licking their lips at the prospect of taking on a struggling Southampton team, but the Southampton fans believe that Mark Hughes can take them to their 2nd FA Cup win. One issue seems to be Tottenham playing Manchester at Wembley, which is usually neutral territory when semi-finals are played, but Tottenham has made Wembley their home this season what with the refurbishment of White Hart Lane. The question surfaces, is this fair? It is yet to be addressed by the FA. 5. Crystal Palace is on the up
Roy Hodgson has seen the pile of injuries at Crystal Palace growing and growing, Zaha and Joel Ward topping the list. It seems now, that they are slowly making their way back onto to pitch though. right at the crunch end of the season. The most important of these is Wilfred Zaha, who has been nothing short of phenomenal for The Eagles. Another thing that is going for Crystal Palace is the upstart of Wan-Bissaka, who has had a promising start to his career. The young right back has stepped up in the absence of Ward (injured) and Fosu-Mensah (unavailable), playing a total of four matches in recent weeks. In the 4 games, he’s had an average of 4.3 tackles a game, and an amazing 5 clearances per game! Wan-Bissaka may not be the solution to all of Crystal Palace’s defensive woes, but he’s definitely a step in the right direction. Crystal Palace are sitting in 16th in the EPL table and are only 2 points above the drop zone. Though it does seem that with the return of players they have what it takes to survive the drop. |
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June 2018
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