You see, I can’t decide which is a better ‘kicker’ (or more newsworthy).

I’m really enjoying the 09/10 English Premier League season because it excites me to see not only the title race is still wide open in week 7, but for the record, 7 teams appear to be well in contention for the title, or at least, I wouldn’t write any of the top 7 teams off just yet.

The storyteller in me is also secretly taken over by Pompey’s duck. As of last weekend, Portsmouth has just “achieved the record of having made the worst Premier League start since the league’s inception by losing all 7 of their opening matches” (so says Wikipedia).
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I do not reckon that Sir Alex Ferguson is a fan of 90’s alternative music, but I recommend that he has a listen to Welsh band Manic Street Preachers’ 1998 hit, “If You Tolerate This”.

Ferguson’s support for the Eduardo ban leaves a lot to be desired. In a previous article, I have argued that the two-match ban for the Croatian striker is a witch-hunt and I cannot believe that as a fellow manager, you can actually support such a decision by UEFA. Ferguson’s statements will eventually come back to haunt him.

Let’s all agree on this. Manchester United XI is not team of angels. Like every other team in the world, United had enjoyed their fare share of good fortune through simulation inside in the penalty box. Cristiano Ronaldo comes to mind, though the mercurial Portuguese is no longer with the team. However, I cannot believe that the reason why he was sold was because he was a follower of the Art of Diving.

Days after Ferguson made that statement, Wayne Rooney claimed in the media that he is an honest player and does not dive. A couple of days later, England Captain John Terry went one further to claim that English players do not dive in general.

Both statements were subject to much ridicule, especially in the British press.

The bigger joke of all was the nature as to how England won a penalty against Slovenia in a friendly at Wembley the very weekend after these comments came to light. Inside the box, Rooney tugged the shirt of a Slovenian defender, tripped and injured him but was awarded a penalty for his troubles. To add salt to injury, the referee booked the defender. For the record, the penalty proved to be decisive as England won the game 2-1.

Fair play to Rooney, he wasn’t exactly “diving” to earn this penalty. But the fact is he had “deceived” the referee by not informing him that he was in fact the perpetuator of the foul. In my eyes, this is no different from simulation.

There are few certainties in life (except death and taxes), but I have no doubts that Rooney would have done the same in a United shirt. Hypothetically, if he had done the same in Champions League match, should he not be subject to a two-match ban like Eduardo? I will love to see what Ferguson would have to say about that if that really had happened.

Sir Alex, if you tolerate this your children (players) will be next.

I’m somewhat bemused by all that title talks at the teething stage of the English Premier League 09/10 season. You know, the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese from the mousetrap.

In my years of watching the English Premier League, storming off to a good start at this stage has little or no correlation with winning the title (or getting close to). So why all the Liverpool-bashing so soon?
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So Arsene Wenger condemned Man United’s tactics as ‘anti-football’, and even deemed it worse than the theatrical art of diving. Little surprises there, seeing how myopic the Arsenal boss has been from the moment he stepped onto English soil.

His stable of Arsenal players through the years, talented as they are, have a habit of getting themselves sent off. They received 73 red cards in 13 seasons and for most of them, Wenger claims not to have seen how they transpired.
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The Premier League – Month of August Review

The international break could not have come at a better time. After such a pulsating start to the 2009/10 Premier League season, the two-week break between league games will serve as a breather for both club managers and fans (of course, for most of the players it’s business as usual with the World Cup qualifiers).
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Phew.

That was not a penalty. There was definitely contact between Rooney and Almunia but the ball was heading towards the corner flag. United’s main man picked himself up to tuck in the equaliser from 12 yards and it was a godsend for United as they were going nowhere before that.
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Manchester United were drawn with Russians CSKA Moscow, Turkish outfit Besiktas and Germans Wolfsburg in Group B of the Champions League.
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Just 11 days and 3 rounds of matches into the new EPL season, and we’ve seen some results which have raised more than just a few eyebrows.

Man United had a 5-0 thrashing of Wigan, who beat Aston Villa on opening day, and they in turn just cracked a shocking 3-1 win on Liverpool, who then thumped Stoke, who also beat Burnley, which then shocked United 1-0.

Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal are missing out on the tumultuous merry-go-round of winning and getting beat, but they should have little to complain seeing how they are sitting pretty at the top of the table.
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So Manchester United beat Wigan 5-0. The win was expected, even demanded, after the catastrophic 0-1 loss to Burnley.

Of more interest than just the win was the fact that all the main strikers scored to give Man Utd fans some (temporary) relief over the agonising question: Can Christiano Ronaldo be replaced?
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It wasn’t convincing, but a win is a win.

And although Fergie would have seen this reticent 1-0 over Birmingham as zero points lost rather than three gained, there were some positives to take home.

United have been notoriously slow off the blocks in the beginning of the league, only coming to the fore and surging ahead in the table with a great November/December/January run. Their previous 2 league titles were won in seasons where they started with only a draw.
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