A frustrating start to the footy season, dear reader, when Spurs - my adopted team for the season - and Sunderland, did the decent thing and played out what will surely be the most insipid hour and a half of football of the season as the hors d’oevre before the main course of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal today.
I was interested to note that firstly, Jol decided to play Keane from the start (as suspected by my Spurs chums), then withdraw Berbatov later in the game, and actually use all four of his strikers for some part of the match.
Spurs were atrocious and this was surely a reality check for any North London fan with aspirations of a top four finish. In fairness, they were too bad to be true, lacking width, lacking ideas, and most worryingly, lacking any kind of cohesion or understanding.
After the game, Jol blamed the players, which surprised me. He has rarely deflected the responsibility to his boys, and this appears to mark an elevation in his own expectations. He has much work to do before the next game against Everton on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, and its been interesting to see some of the debutantes make their marks, notably at Manchester City and Liverpool. City cantered home away at West Ham, and Eriksson was apparently even warned for his animated posturing on the touchline. Where was that when he was England manager?!
Goals from Geovanni and Bianchi suggest that the new boys are half decent, though of course its too early to tell.
At Liverpool, Torres showed flashes of what he’s capable of, but the boy who caught my eye was Babel. Brought on for a fifteen minute cameo at the end, he looked strong, direct and very dangerous. He may find himself sneaking into my Fantasy League team at some point soon…
Away from the Premier League, and my teams started promisingly. Alas for me, my dirty double (Everton and Sheffield United) was undone by some ‘kamikaze defending’ at Bramall Lane.
Ho hum, we’ll be back next week.
On the racing front, there has been an international fiesta of equine action this weekend, with Arlington hosting the Arlington Million, Secretariat and Beverley D Stakes last night. A Canadian horse, Jambalaya, won the Million and an ex-French horse, Shamdinan, won the Secretariat.
Why am I telling you this? To illustrate the fact that the US turf horses are rubbish, and that there will be exciting betting opportunities later in the year when the Breeders Cup fields are better understood. The US horses will be overbet over there, and they will lose more races than they win from many more runners.
Today, Henrythenavigator puts his unbeaten record and tall reputation on the line in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, as he bids for a third win, and first in Group 1 company. He is the current favourite for next year’s 2000 Guineas but I wouldn’t be worrying too much about that at this stage.
Over in France, the mighty Manduro tries to do what he failed to do in three attempts last season, and win over a mile. His trainer believes there were excuses last season, but I wouldn’t be rushing to wager the horse today. Rather, I’m interested in him for the Arc, and preying that he will also go Stateside for the Breeders Cup Turf, where he’d be a great investment.
Over at Leicester, in the seller, Julia runs Finsbury. He’s been going ok in handicaps and is rated a good bit better than most of these. She did the same thing with Love’s Design, when he was racing for me and my friends. The Lover had lost his confidence, but when dropped to this level, he won by five lengths, and then went on to win three of his next four starts. I’ll be having a small interest.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Matt