Bleacher Report - Articles by Bhavik Kshatriya

EPL: The Race is On

Bhavik Kshatriya — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:20:49 -0500

The Premier League might have looked destined to head toward the Emirates Stadium, but a slip-up during the weekend motivated the English Champions to cut the lead to three points with only 11 more games to go.

The question now remains: Have the Gunners run out of ammunition or will they strive under pressure and win the Premier League for their injured Eduardo?

Flamini has rallied his troops to win the title for their teammate, but will they have enough in them to finish the season strongly or will they fall just short?

We have seen the unthinkable occur in this remarkable season so far. Thierry Henry left Arsenal and Jose Mourinho left Chelsea. There were also some big-name transfers, horrendous refereeing, and the never-ending potential of Cristiano Ronaldo. The list can go on, but truly this season will go down in the history books as very eventful.

Coming back to the 11 games left, with Arsenal and Manchester United battling it out on the top we have the Silent Assassin Chelsea only six points behind Manchester United with a game in hand and nine points behind the league leaders.

Throughout the whole season we have seen the depth of both Chelsea and Manchester United coming in handy. Because of their squads they are being able to rest their stars and get the same results. Wenger continues to complain about his players being exhausted. The only solution is that he should consider rotating his squad a bit more and if he can’t, please stop complaining. Injuries are a different story, but not using your fringe players and complaining is not too sensible.

The difference in class was clearly seen when Manchester United thrashed Arsenal in the FA Cup, whilst Arsene Wenger (the man with excuses for everything that happens on the field) complained about the pitch and how his players were exhausted.

Well, I must have lost the plot but clearly, they fielded five (six) first team members in Toure, Gallas, Fabregas, Hleb, Eduardo, and if you consider Eboue has started in more games than a fringe player would then he is also a first team member. Compare that to Manchester United's, Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Van Der Sar, and Rooney. We fielded same number of first team members, yet we looked as strong as our preferred 11.

Clearly a master class performance shut down Arsenal to an extent that Wenger had nothing to complain about but the pitch. However, during the match—whoever watched it will agree—the only thing Arsenal was doing was kicking the ball up and hoping one of their strikers would get onto it. That doesn't require a good pitch because the majority of the time the ball is in the air.

Since then Arsenal have found it hard to finish off games. It was seen against AC Milan, as they had several opportunities but couldn't find the back of the net.

On the other hand, Manchester United was boosted by their emphatic victory over their rivals and went into the Lyon game full of confidence. They didn't put in a majestic performance like they did against Arsenal, but they did get a good result with a 1-1 draw away from home.

As you can see Arsenal was hit with a morale damaging defeat at Old Trafford, while Manchester United has hit their stride having put behind their embarrassing performance against their fiercest rivals Manchester City.

Again, during the weekend against Birmingham, Wenger’s men could not get the result they desired, missing an opportunity to go eight points clear. If it wasn’t for Eduardo’s injury it could’ve been a different story, but a draw against a 10 men side is still not a good result.

However, The English Champions put in another effortless display of clinical finishing making it two six-goal thrillers against Newcastle. With Cristiano Ronaldo in the current rein of form it’s hard to tell whether he is a striker or a winger because he is finishing the ball better than Arsenal’s top-scorer Adebayor.

With that in mind, Manchester United capitalized on the slip-up and cut the deficit to three points. This has allowed Manchester United right back into the title race! Will this slip-up cost Arsenal the title or will they have just enough to fend off the Scorching hot Red Devils?

Prediction:

1. Manchester United

2. Arsenal

3. Chelsea

4. Everton

5. Liverpool

6. Aston Villa

7. Portsmouth

8. Manchester City

9. West Ham United

10. Blackburn

11. Tottenham

12. Middlesbrough

13. Newcastle

14. Wigan

15. Sunderland

16. Bolton

17. Birmingham

18. Reading

19. Fulham

20. Derby

Manchester United 1, Birmingham City 0: Red Devils Start 2008 Off With a Win

Bhavik Kshatriya — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:48:48 -0500

A brave effort and the hangover of the loss is long gone.

The scoreline might suggest a very close battle, but in truth it was quite on the contrary.

The Red Devils played exceptionally at times and mediocre on some occasions.

Overall, the result should calm the nerves that were starting to set in after the slip-up against West Ham.

Player Analysis:

Kuszczak (GK) - Didn't have to do much in this game, except for a free-kick that he had to save without any fuzz.

O’Shea - A solid performance. Whenever he got forward he looked menacing. Not because of his crosses, but because he cuts into the box and waits for a cross to come in from a winger.

Ferdinand (C) - The kind of performance you want a captain to have week in and week out. No mistakes in the back, in control of everything that was thrown at him. At times, he looked so comfortable on the ball that he seemed to want to get involved on the other end of the pitch.

Vidic - Excellent. Put in the tackles when required and kept the offense at bay. Didn't keep a foot wrong all game long.

Evra - Brilliant. This lad is so consistent I don't see any other left-back at this point in the EPL. Performs in every game he has played. He was menacing in attack caused havoc for the Birmingham defenders and also got back to defend when required.

Park - Never did I feel throughout the match that this lad was out for nine months and had only had 30 minutes of match fitness going into the game. He looked like he's been playing all season long. He was very active and kept the defenders running around. His positioning was excellent, and with a few more games under his belt, I'm sure he will be among the goal scorers soon.

Carrick - Moderate performance. He kept the midfield together when United attacked, and played some brillant balls into the box. He turned the ball over quite regularly but compensated for it by winning it back.

Anderson - Actively involved and had a great game. He seemed to be everywhere on the pitch. He defended—and the next minute he was in the box ready to pounce on a opportunity. Great game from him today.

Nani - Looked very menacing, but played many wayward balls into the box. He seemed like he is lacking match fitness. He was giving up the ball too easily. On the offensive end he looked very sharp and snapped a couple of shots which looked mighty close to going in.

Ronaldo - Brilliant performance. Unfortunately, he couldn't get on the scoresheet, but he had many shots on target and always looked to pounce on opportunities to score. Had a brilliant assist which led to Tevez scoring. Had a header blocked by Taylor.

Tevez - Lively as always, and scored the only goal of the game. He looked in great shape and was unlucky to not score more. Hit the post twice and was excellent on the ball. He kept dodging tackles and caused a lot of trouble for the defenders with his movement on and off the ball. *Man of the Match*

Subs:

Saha - Gave the ball away too easily, and seemed slow in his movement off the ball. Mainly came in because Carlos Tevez took a knock on his ankle.

Hargreaves - Played a solid 15 minutes, put in a few tackles, and ran with the ball around the pitch.

Brown - Came on for 5 minutes to make sure we kept the lead.

Overall - The performance didn't spell vintage Manchester United, but it got the three points. The scoreline doesn't really reflect the way this team played—Man U really should have won this match by at least two goals.

A good way to start off 2008—and I'm sure this is the first of many victories to come.

Replacing Ruud: Can Berbatov Spell van Nistelrooy for Man U?

Bhavik Kshatriya — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:15:52 -0500

The Perfect Target. The Perfect Technician. The Finisher.

Need I say more?

Ever since Ruud van Nistelrooy left Manchester United, the Red Devils have struggled to find the right man to fill the void.

A number of candidates have been mentioned—including Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Dimitar Berbatov.

But with the chances of the Juventus players grown rather dim and Adebayor deciding not to look United's way, Berbatov and Anelka are the only ones still in the running.

Both players have similar skill sets—but Alex Ferguson seems to favor Berbatov.

Why?

I don't think I'd be wrong to say it's because Berbatov reminds Sir Alex of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The similarities between the two are numerous. The only difference is that one is a perfectionist while the other will take whatever he can get.

I'll even go as far as to say that Berbatov would be the perfect striker to fill Ruud's shoes.

Sir Alex says this is the best side he's had in his managing career—but just imagine Berbatov banging in the kind of goals Nistelrooy used to deliver.

Ferguson wants the best he can get—and he should see to it that he gets his man this time around.

West Ham vs. Manchester United: Defensive Mayhem

Bhavik Kshatriya — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:01:28 -0500

Believe it or not, the team that has only conceded nine goals in 19 games has conceded two goals from set-pieces due to under-par defensive work.

It's not surprising to see so many teams losing due to defensive lapses. Take, for example, Everton versus Arsenal. Two defensive errors lead to a loss in a rather exaggerated scoreline.

I personally feel that Manchester United went wrong in their approach. The line-up they fielded didn't exactly have the aerial ability to cause problems to their defenders.

Sure, Saha was up there, but to be honest that guy needs to get his act together very soon or else, I won't be surprised if he gets sold at the end of the season.

I just couldn't see Saha and Tevez linking up. There was a minute of brillance and we scored, from that moment we didn't even look capable of breaking their defense up.

I know this might sound very upsetting, but the loss to Coventry in the Carling Cup and the loss against West Ham have a lot in common as to how the team approached the game. We definitely looked like we were going to win it when C. Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot-kick but unfortunately, even the best of the best slip-up. I wouldn't be surprised if he takes his fury out on Birmingham on Tuesday.

Arsenal are two points up and they are going to have to cope with the loss Kolo Toure next month—which is great for Manchester fans, as we all know how important he is to their squad. I absolutely believe that without their lynch-pin in defense, they look even more vulnerable.

It's about time Manchester United step up to the plate, take the League by the collar and say, "Here we come—make way for the true champions!"