World Football's Monday Morning Hangover: It's Kane's World, We Just Live in It
Welcome to world football's Monday Morning Hangover, an homage to the NFL section's own Monday Morning Hangover, in which we round up the key stories and important points from the last weekend in world football.
With an inevitable focus on the Premier League, let's get started.
Spurs Strike a Blow for Their Way of Thinking
In the aftermath of the north London derby, Arsene Wenger bemoaned a couple of "cheap goals," but they looked pretty valuable to Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Kane.
The 21-year-old striker scored twice on Saturday to lift the team he joined when he was 11 past the one he briefly played for as an eight-year-old, rendering Mesut Ozil's opener nothing more than a consolation as the late, great 2-1 win at White Hart Lane moved Spurs above their archrivals in the Premier League standings.
"This is the moment I never look at the table, because sometimes you are confused after," Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said. "Our aim is to finish the season even higher up. But we need to go step by step and keep working hard."
They certainly did that on Saturday, and it was the foundation of their success. Pochettino's side pressed all over the pitch with intent and organisation, making it impossible for Arsenal to settle—even after they had taken a slightly fortuitous lead.
Arsene Wenger attempted to replicate the formula that worked so well against Manchester City, but unlike Manuel Pellegrini's side, Spurs latched onto Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey and forced them into numerous mistakes that kept them firmly on the back foot.
And Kane did what he does best—better than 90 per cent of strikers in the league, in fact—converting his two best chances to clinch the three points.
"Were we too focused to defend our goal? I think so," Wenger acknowledged. "I believe also we made too many technical mistakes compared to our level—because Tottenham in the middle of the park put us under pressure and we lost some balls we did not want to lose."
That was in no small part down to Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason, 20 and 23, respectively, who showed discipline and maturity belying their years to win the central-midfield battle and dictate the middle of the park.
Much has been made of Kane's goalscoring exploits and how they have left him almost certain to gain an England call-up later this month, but Mason must have a chance now too (in an area England are hardly blessed with options), while Bentaleb has already washed away every suggestion that he was just one of former manager Tim Sherwood's pet projects. Far from it, he appears to be the real deal.
Now a point above Arsenal in that all-important race for a Champions League place, the Spurs' challenge is to continue that through to the end of the season—something they have conspicuously failed to do on recent occasions.
"We need to keep the same level because we can," Pochettino added. "It is always in our mind that it is difficult to have the motivation and to keep everyone fit, but it is our challenge...to show what we showed this day."
This time, however, their chances look better than ever. With that strong midfield base and Pochettino's structured, robust approach, this Spurs team looks more tactically astute than in seasons past and, with players like Kane and Christian Eriksen in attack, capable of grinding out results in the final few minutes.
Arsenal were not just beaten by Kane's brilliance in front of goal, but by Spurs' desire and discipline. Ozil's goal distorted matters briefly but could not hide the truth: Pochettino's side were simply better on the day.
They will have to keep up that intensity over the rest of the season. (Wenger, not unfairly, noted that his side have played two fewer home games than their opponents.) It will be interesting to see if they can manage it, especially with the League Cup final and Europa League to juggle as well.
Judging on this performance, however, you would be foolish to bet against it—and not just because of Kane.
A Week on, Now Chelsea Have Things Wrapped Up
If the previous Saturday's result at Stamford Bridge did not end the title race, did this weekend successfully complete the job?
While Chelsea were working hard for their away win at Aston Villa—the Villans scoring a rare goal in the process—Manchester City were making an even bigger mess of their game against Hull City, eventually relying on James Milner to deliver them a point in a deeply disappointing 1-1 draw.
That means the gap at the top of the table is now up to seven points, just one fewer than it would have been if Chelsea had beaten City—a result most were happy to acknowledge would have ended the title race as a genuine battle. Now, with a further game down for both teams, does one point really make that much of a difference?
Probably not, but then again, perhaps the gap could be just two points and the race would still feel run. City's biggest problem was evident once again on Saturday: the curious inability they have to get themselves up for every game. From Roberto Mancini's reign to this day, City have struggled with inconsistency, occasional lapses in intensity and hunger that have cost them as often as they haven't.
This season, they have lost or drawn games they should not have done at home against Stoke City, Burnley and now Hull—seven points squandered in the space of three games.
Now, of course all teams will drop some points—that's just the nature of league football—but City's deficit is of their own making (although they will rue bad luck in the build-up to David Meyler's goal). And that's why the odds of them making it up over the final 14 games of the season are so slim.
They're relying on a huge Chelsea collapse, which simultaneously feels possible and improbable in light of their performance against Villa. Yes, they were unimpressive against one of the worst sides in the league, but they still found a way to win—a skill the Blues always seem to possess while City lose and reclaim with frustrating randomness.
Consistency, or the ability to keep producing at near maximum potential, is a hugely valuable quality in this league. Just as it separates those teams at the bottom of the league from those near mid-table and those in the top half from Manchester United (who, in complete contrast to their city neighbours, have accumulated far better results than their performances warrant), so it makes all the difference at the top of the table.
Man City have already paid the price, and it may already be too late to arrange a refund.
Goal of the Weekend
Precision stuff from Michael Bradley takes the honours this week.
Goal of the Weekend: Runner-Up Edition
"Better call Saul! Atletico substitute delivers the goal of the day in rout of Real Madrid. http://t.co/Uj3ch9YfUL https://t.co/ovqKBrkEn9
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 7, 2015"
"Depay with a great goal https://t.co/hjdALKy7LD
— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) February 7, 2015"
"When David Alaba is now a better free kick taker than Ronaldo https://t.co/piprTJwBSr
— Ronald'or (@notRonaIdo) February 8, 2015"
Random Asides
- Would Manchester United be better off with Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho up front than Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie? It's a genuine question, considering the lack of movement the United duo exhibited as the two Hammers forwards hassled and harried and generally looked far more active. United keep grinding out results—they stole a draw again, this time thanks to Daley Blind's smart late finish—but it is clear Louis van Gaal's team is still not in sync, either in defence or attack. Falcao and Van Persie seem too similar—too stationary—to play together. Van Gaal needs to hit upon a better solution and soon.
- It's funny how sport and fate can work. On deadline day, Brown Ideye was all but guaranteed to be sold off to the veritable footballing backwater of Qatar, with a deal almost agreed with Al Gharafa. Instead, deals elsewhere went south, forcing Ideye to stay. He was on the bench against Burnley on Sunday, only getting on after Victor Anichebe got injured (which brought Saido Berahino into the fray) and West Bromwich Albion went 2-0 down, forcing Pulis to add an extra attacker for the second half. That gave Ideye his chance, and the striker responded with an important equalising goal. After a horror start to life in English football, could that kickstart his career in the country?
- Judging by social media, it seems Jordon Ibe and Daniel Sturridge have a strong off-field relationship, while both players also get on well with Raheem Sterling. That personal connection offers the tantalising prospect of a great on-field understanding between the trio going forward when all are fit and established in the first team. On Saturday against Everton, Ibe, the most junior of the three, indicated that he could soon be a quality part of Liverpool's team, thriving in an unfamiliar right wing-back position and almost scoring the winning goal on what was effectively his full league debut. Reds fans will be excited about seeing what is ahead for their attacking corps.
- Newcastle United had a great chance to kill off Sunday's home game against Stoke City, when substitute Gabriel Obertan went clean through on goal in the final few minutes. The Frenchman fluffed his lines completely—much to the annoyance of the home fans—and minutes later, the team paid the price, as Peter Crouch scored a header to steal a point. John Carver will be livid and Obertan embarrassed, but games are often decided on fine margins like this.
- Swansea City also let three points slip away, as they failed to finish a comeback against Sunderland. The loss of Wilfried Bony was really evident in this game. French football fans know that Bafetimbi Gomis has a reputation for not realizing his natural talent, which looked in evidence on Saturday, as he seemed to get in the right positions but fail to convert them. You feel that Bony would have scored at least one of the chances presented the striker's way, which is a frustration Swans fans might feel more of over the coming weeks and months.
- Dubious refereeing was once again in the spotlight this week, as the north London derby, Merseyside derby and Manchester City's game with Hull all seemed affected, to a lesser or greater extent, by poor officiating. The standards of the men in the middle always become a point of conversation at one point or another in the season, but a closer review must be in order. Maybe the answer is more officials, or maybe it's about giving them better training, but the game surely deserves a better level of judgement than it gets right now.
Good Week, Bad Week
Good Week
Harry Kane: Obviously.
John Stones: A stellar defensive display in a high-profile game—he keeps progressing rapidly.
Jordon Ibe: Unfazed by being thrown in at the deep end, he came closest to deciding the Merseyside derby.
Ronald Koeman: A late winner got his side back to winning ways in that logjam between third and eighth.
Jermain Defoe: Another goal for Defoe, and Gus Poyet's gamble is paying off so far.
Bad Week
Nigel Pearson: He could, and perhaps should, face further sanction for his tussle with James McArthur. He may be sacked yet.
Romelu Lukaku: For the love of all that is holy, stay onside!
Burnley: Two-goal leads cannot be given away if you want to survive at this level.
Gabriel Obertan: Wasted glorious late chance to clinch game for Newcastle, and Stoke punished him.
Manuel Pellegrini: Will be concerned by his side's ongoing fragility at home.
Other Points of Note
Pearson Clinging to His Job
First he was out of a job. Then, he was back in it. On Sunday afternoon, reports swept through the media that Nigel Pearson was out as Leicester City's manager, the sort of reports that are 99.9 per cent of the time followed by an official statement. Except this time, the ensuing statement read a little differently.
A club statement read:
"Contrary to media speculation on Sunday evening, Nigel remains the Club’s First Team Manager. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and without foundation.
Nigel, his staff and the first team squad are entirely focused on Tuesday night’s trip to Arsenal and our continued efforts to secure our position in the Barclays Premier League.
"
Prior to that clarifying message, which just muddied the waters, speculation had been rife that an incident midway through Leicester's 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace was the reason for his sacking every bit as much as the result itself.
During the game, Pearson grabbed Palace midfielder James McArthur around the throat following an accidental collision between the pair before preventing the Scot from returning to the field of play as they exchanged words.
"I don't have to reveal anything do I?" Pearson said afterward, per the Daily Mirror. "I'm more than capable of looking after myself."
Having been banned for one game earlier in the campaign for exchanging words with members of his own supporters, this latest incident hardly reflects well on Pearson, who has occasionally carried himself in an aloof, unsavoury manner this season. Alan Pardew, Pearson's opposite number on Saturday, may be thinking back to his head-butting incident with David Meyler last season and wondering why Pearson has yet to face similar opprobrium from the media.
Make no mistake, this was a classless, unprofessional act from a man who should know and act better. The relationship between player and coach is not quite the same as between teacher and student, but it is not a million miles away, either, and Pearson should not be laying his hands on one of his own players—let alone one from another team. It sets an awful example and reflects poorly on him and, by extension, his employers.
Such conduct could perhaps be overlooked if results were better, but they have been bad as well. (The club is now adrift in 20th.) Pearson may not have been sacked yet, but he could be out of a job any day now. His firing would be justified for a number of reasons, too.
Picking an England Squad for Next Matches
Roy Hodgson will pick his next England squad toward the end of this month as international football returns after a reasonable winter break.
Hodgson was at White Hart Lane on Saturday, presumably running the rule over Harry Kane and others for his squad. Kane is among several players who have made huge strides since the last squad, and it is fun to speculate about which players could get the nod. So let's do it!
Ignoring the prospect of any injuries and assuming those who are currently injured (not long term) will be available in time:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, Fraser Forster, Ben Foster.
Defenders: Nathaniel Clyne, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Danny Rose and Leighton Baines.
Midfielders: James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana, Ryan Mason, Fabian Delph and Stewart Downing.
Forwards: Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Harry Kane.
That leaves out Kieran Gibbs, Luke Shaw, Ryan Bertrand, Jonjo Shelvey, Charlie Austin, Danny Ings and Theo Walcott among a fair few others. Thoughts?
Pochettino and Wenger quotes obtained first-hand.
