The international week found victims in Tottenham's North London rivals Arsenal. Wenger found him resigned to losing young Theo for upto 8 weeks (not my fault for picking him for my dream team). To add to the loss of Van Persie till mid October, it was something that Wenger could have done without, especially having lost the Dutchman for 5 months last season.
Liverpool's attempt to kick start their season took a blow when they lost Dirk Kuyt with a shoulder injury. The popular Dutchman hurt his shoulder in training and is likely to return at the end of September ruling him out of the big clash against Manchester United.
So many early international fixtures are unbelievably ridiculous. Three international games within a month of the season starting is unecessary. Fifa and Uefa should be minimising the amount of games played both at club and international level. Call me old fashioned but its time to put the game before the money. In fact it should be time to put genuine football fans in charge of the game not jealous money driven continentals who dont seem to really care.
England coach Fabio Capello has declared he will quit after Euro 2012. Should England qualify, I would say when England qualify, but we said that about the Euro 2008 qualifiers, England will need to up their game. The finals which are due to be held in Poland and the Ukraine will see the move towards an England manager being home grown. It will be interesting to see where they head to...I just hope its not Sam bloody Allardyce. He becomes England manager I will swing all my support behind the Dutch. Harry Redknapp would no doubt be the obvious choice but would the FA wish to choose him after his alleged tax exploits.
Touching on the Euro 2012 finals, Ukraine still had problems for readiness although as recent as the end of August 2010, Platini had appeared to drop any ultimatum that had been previously held. One wonders what might happen if the Frenchman had staked his reputation on Ukraine being ready for 2012 only for them to fail in being ready, another French humilation to add to World Cup 98, World Cup 2010...and thats not discounting the possibility of not qualifying for Euro 2012. Not that I wouldnt be laughing or anything...honest.
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson put the boot into the Benitez regime when stating that deadwood was hampering the rebuilding process. The former Fulham boss has started the work by shipping out Alberto Aquilani , Philipp Degen, Nabil El Zhar and Emiliano Insua on loan deals elsewhere. Also departing L4 were Albert Riera, Diego Cavalieri and Damien Plessis. How Plessis had managed to lurk around at Anfield for so long I dont know.
Hot on the heels of Mark Lawrenson, its time for the predictions.
Everton v Man Utd 0-3
As Rooney scored for England after a week to forget, Rooney adds suffering to his old clubs start to the season
Arsenal v Bolton 4-1
The Gunners may have lost Walcott and Van Persie but they should still stroll past Bolton with ease
Fulham v Wolves 1-0
Mark Hughes has Zamora back and with Fulham a tough nut to crack at home, Wolves will have their work cut out. Their good start to the season will come to an end and it will be away from the Molineux.
Man City v Blackburn 3-0
The Premier League big spenders are back home for the first post international Premier League weekend. Joe Hart inbetween the sticks is looking a very hard man to beat and Blackburn will find the England number 1 continuing the good form from the beginning of the season carrying on. Blackburn will struggle away from home this season and unsurprisingly wont get anything at City.
Newcastle v Blackpool 3-0
Ian Holloway must have thought losing to Arsenal 6-0 was a blow, then to watch his next opponents destroy Villa by the same scoreline, but with the Pool shipping goals, Holloway will be glad that he hasnt got too much hair left to lose. As much as I think Ian Holloway is a great character of the game, I cannot see his side getting too much out of this game as Newcastle continue to build their unbeaten run following the opening defeat against Manchester United
West Brom v Tottenham 1-2
West Brom wont even have Tottenham's Champions League diversion to help them on the way to getting a result, but Harry knowing that Werder Bremen loom on the horizon and without Dawson and Defoe, he will rest some players but the strength will still be too much for WBA.
West Ham v Chelsea 0-3
When you're not playing well. the last thing you need is your opponents on form not only have they got a 100% record, they've scored 14 goals without conceding. This does not bode well for the Hammers who have scored 1 with 9 conceded in the process. Yes it may possibly see the return of Frank Lampard, but thats just to make things even worse for the home side. I can only see the West London side maintaining their 100% record and Premier League clean sheets.
Wigan v Sunderland 1-1
After last weeks outstanding performance, Ali Al Habsi will need to be on top form as Sunderland come into town. Sunderland's England man Darren Bent will be looking to maintain his England form and grab three vital away points. Habsi though will be more than a match for the visitors as he showed by repelling everything that Spurs launched at him. Come 90 minutes, both sides will only have a point out of this game
Birmingham v Liverpool 0-3
Previously Liverpool v Birmingham has been a good tie for the visitors but I think all will be different, new players, Torres looking more match fit, I think Hodgson's side will be too strong for a team that was fortunate to beat Blackburn in their previous game. Gerrard looking good will be a boost as they look to bounce back from the 3-0 defeat at Man City. Can only see the red coming away with the points.
Stoke City v Aston Villa 2-1
Not the best place to go when you've just taken over as manager of a new club. The Britannia Stadium is not the best place to go, but to be honest Villa fans will be glad that they wont be on the receiving end of another hammering like they did against Newcastle. A win for Gerard Houllier will have to wait another week.
