A Fernando Torres special

I have been experiencing some extreme levels of mood swingings of late, courtesy of the club I follow. Infact, It was that day when Steve Bruce’s head rolled on to the pitch from the hands of a bewitched supporter and scored a goal against us. It was about that time the spate of injuries kicked off. One of the worst performances of our season at the Stadium of Light, which is why it was befitting of a thumping home win this time. And quite rightly we made sure Sunderland suffered like a black cat(oops, unintended!) being choked by the scruff of its neck.

Also now we know why Torres is just the best in the business of putting the ball behind the net

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The Centerhalf Conundrum

Lots going on in the Red part of London this past week. A terrible refereeing decision which saw us play a whole half with ten men; a thoroughly gritty performance which brought about the best in Song, Eboue and the much maligned Denilson. One of those performances which have made everyone wake up, smell the coffee and acknowledge us as genuine contenders for the title this year. One of those performances which have fans and pundits alike acknowledge Song’s mercurial rise to being arguably the best defensive midfielder in the league currently and Denilson as someone who can actually hold his own and repay the Boss’ faith in him. As for the Ivorian, well, they’re calling him Lionel Eboue now. While it might be an exaggerated comparison, it just shows what high regard we hold the Arsenal Goal Scoring Machine in.

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EPL – The Rashomon Effect.

Vishwa’s Note: Yet another post not written by me. This time it is a Guest Column one of our regulars, S Karthikeyan a.k.a SK having a look at what the likely outcomes of the title race would be. From two managers’ perspective.

With eight games to go (9 in Chelsea’s case) and this being the closest league finish in many many years, it presents endless opportunities for the dreamer in me to fantasize – a la that Kurosawa classic, Rashomon.

Presenting two of such tales with four crucial fixtures (chapters) taken as the crux.

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The one-man team nonsense

What we have here, is a weekend without football. It’s not the international break, it’s not any Christmas vacation like in La Liga, it’s not a mega-boycott by all clubs over this increasingly heated-up issue of club finances with so many clubs. It is FA Cup weekend and three of the four clubs on this blog have crashed out unceremoniously from this glorious competition with its rich history, great heritage and a proven track record of generating ‘David and Goliath’ headlines. And , it seems to be the season for Davids, leaving us with absolutely nothing to do over the Valentine’s Day weekend. I mean, you know your love life is in tatters when even your club puts up a no-show on that day. Twisted sense of humour, that God person has. Well, we know at least one person who didn’t have a no-show today.

Crucial away game at the Emirate.

All this lack of mental (and definitely physical) exercise gives me mind and time space to sit and set some records straight about what a load of bull crap has been floating around – about United, Rooney, our own-goals fest etc. First, the mentally-challenged “football writers” at F365, and their predictions that we will finish third this season.

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Boll-acks to Steven Gerrard’s ‘Wounded Animals’ – We are back in the title race

by Felipe Hassin Pinto

Maddy’s Note: You have got to envy this guy. Really. He sadly wasn’t at the Grove last night. Then why envy him you ask? The reason for this uncustomary absence is that my mate Felipe is in sunny Rio for the biggest annual carnival in the world. (Yes, fellow Indians, the one we all catch a glimpse of, on Discovery Travel and Living). Still nothing could make him miss the Scouser game. Here he is with his usual piece of genius. Elaborate, Expansive, Insightful, Expressive, Passionate and Admiring. Enjoy.

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