Odds and Sods

Liverpool may make a part exchange offer for Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry.

Barry, 27, has made 325 appearances for Aston Villa and 18 for the English National Team.  He can play in the left and center of both defense and midfield.

Martin O’Neill has asked that Peter Crouch be included in the deal, though Liverpool could also be enticed to include on-loan keeper Scott Carson and defender John Arne Riise.

Villa reportedly rejected a previous £10m offer for Barry.

Arsenal Reserves drew Liverpool Reserves 1-1 in a Saturday thriller.  Rafa went with Jermaine Pennant and frisky Peter Crouch.  Arsene started two English lads.  Liverpool should have put the match away earlier.  Crouch had a brilliant effort saved.  Riise missed a sitter with his footballingly handicapped foot.  Benayoun missed another.  Even with United’s draw, the match killed Arsenal’s minute title hopes.  See you at Anfield for round three.

Middlesbrough retained the title of big club bully by holding Man United 2-2 at the Riverside.  Sir Alex sent out a stronger side than at midweek.  They got outplayed.  Alfonso Alves at last lived up to his transfer fee, scoring two.  Had they a competent partner rather than Aliadiere they would have had at least two or three more goals.  Ferdinand looked flummoxed without Vidic at his side.

Aston Villa blew out Bolton 4-0.  England cuspers Gareth Barry and Gabby Agbonlahor served up three with a cherry from Marlon Harewood.  Bolton’s defending was dreadful.  Davies and Diouf did not communicate.  The Wanderers look doomed.

Sunderland beat Fulham 3-1, in a relegation six-pointer.  The win puts Sunderland on 36 points, 10 points clear.  Fulham remain on twenty-four with fate fast approaching.  Brian McBride can count to infinity twice, but it won’t keep Fulham up.  All credit should go to Roy Keane for the wonders he’s done with the worst squad in the League besides Derby.

Arsenal beat Bolton 3-2 at the Reebok, keeping mathematical title hopes alive. The Gunners, with 10 men on the pitch, scored three goals to reverse a 2-0 deficit. Diaby deserved his red card for raised studs. Poor fortune averaged itself through an unmarked corner, a penalty and a deflection.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the best in the world right now. He scored one, set up three and could have had two more as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 4-0 to retain a five point clearance. Rooney should have had four goals, only managed a brace. Had Maloney made use of his attempts, it could have been closer, but Villa got played off the pitch.

Newcastle are charging toward the top half, with a 4-1 defeat of Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Both teams forsook caution with 4-3-3 formations, but it was Newcastle that capitalized on their chances. Obafemi Martins looked light and rejuvenated.

It was another muck of Merseyside Derby, as a fortunate Torres gift gave Liverpool the 1-0 victory over Everton. The Champions League six pointer pushed Liverpool ahead by five points.

No tan from standing

in the English rain, many

bald spots exposed though

Birmingham 4 - Tottenham 1 Spurs tried on the big boy pants, only to end up wearing them around their ankles. They had a sick party last weekend. This weekend they were simply sick. The rear guard is rubbish. Robinson has evolved from awfully fat to just awful. They are closer to the relegation zone than to tenth place. Pop goes the bombastic balloon.

Arsenal 1 - Aston Villa 1 Arsenal added to a terrible two weeks with this stinker. Walcott was wonderful. Senderos was dreadful. None of the other players decided to show up. Only luck kept Villa from putting this one away with a second goal.  The absence of goal minded players (Van Persie, Eduardo, Rosicky) has left the Arsenal attack impotent, with no one capitalizing upon their superb set-up play.

Bendtner’s substitution seemed quite odd.  Personal issues aside, he and Adebayor cross paths on the pitch because they play the same role in the same position.  This change also neutralized Walcott who had been Arsenal’s most dangerous player in the first sixty minutes.  The crucial goal came from fortune, not inspired strategy.

Fulham 0 - Manchester United 3 United came up fruitful for the first time visiting London this season.  The scoreline does not flatter Fulham, who acquitted themselves admirably.  For a club out-manned, they needed all of the luck, but received none of it, left vacant after a cavalcade of close calls.   Eddie Johnson has not yet earned the right to wear orange boots in the Premier League.

Everton 3 - Portsmouth 1 The Toffees kept the pressure on their cross-town rivals with this victory, keeping their 3 pt lead for a Champions League place.  Yakubu was in the mood and Pompey got the business end of it.  He was a far more prudent investment than Dirk Kuyt.

It was night of black armbands and barren kits in Manchester, which only served to emphasize the sponsorship everywhere else as Man City shocked Man United 2-1 at Old Trafford.  It is no coincidence that most of Man U’s losses come without Wayne Rooney on the pitch.  Ronaldo can score goals but even he with the fleetest of foot needs space to exploit, which only Rooney appears capable of providing.

Neither of City’s goals was very impressive, coming more from good luck and poor defending.  United supporters obviously reflected the solemn occasion by “saluting” Benjani after he put through the second on his debut.

Carrick came through with a fine goal at the end, which, though meaningless, proved a point.  His goal was no stroke of magic but rather pedestrian, a product of practical opportunism rather than a hair-raising blitz from the back.  Carrick is not as flashy as Hargreaves, but that’s not a weakness for a holding midfielder.  Carrick may not pose as much of a threat going forward, but his conservatism keeps things tight at the back.  Were it not for the 2006 World Cup, would Carrick be starting in his stead?

The United loss opened the way for Arsenal to take a five point lead in the Premier League, with their 2-0 defeat of Blackburn.  The victory for Arsenal proved important, but hardly impressive.  Despite dictating play for much of the game, Arsenal failed to create chances for much of the game, and largely failed to capitalize upon the chances that they did have.

They still have no genuine threat on the wings, which Wenger acknowledged by fielding four central midfielders (Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, and Flamini.)  The approach limits their angle of attack on goal and affords teams the opportunity to defend less of the field.  To get any pressure whatsoever on the wings, Wenger’s gents rely on overlapping fullbacks to create any width, leaving the defense vulnerable.  Against Blackburn, who cares?  However, that strategy may be exposed if they try it against A.C. Milan.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa throttled Newcastle 4-1.  Toon supporters, you’re gonna need a bigger boat.  The extended decrepitude of Keegan’s tenure has dried up the market for “exciting football” and “soccer circus” jokes.  Newcastle are just terrible.  With Keegan’s 2 pts since taking over the club, they are now a mere six points from the drop zone.  If Michael Owen scores in an empty championship ground, does Fabio Capello hear it?

If it is possible to have an unflattering hat trick, John Carew accomplished it.

Here is all you need to know about Liverpool 0 - Chelsea 0.  I fell asleep during the highlights.  The only thing productive that happened was that it killed Chelsea’s title hopes, 8 pts behind with two teams to overcome and it increased the probability of Liverpool being knocked out of the Champions League places.