Liverpool fun to watch again; Manchester rules; Blackburn don't have to panic; give Ireland a chance and sympathy for Rodallega
Summer signing Charlie Adam is one of the reasons Liverpool are fun to watch again. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool are fun to watch again
Liverpool started 2011 with an entirely different sort of victory over Bolton Wanderers from the one they enjoyed on Saturday. It came just after a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves which represented the nadir in Roy Hodgson's reign, was secured by a 90th-minute winner from Joe Cole and served only to paper over the very obvious cracks. The style of football was appalling, the fans were in a volcanic funk and Hodgson, about as popular on Merseyside as An Evening with Gary Neville at the Everyman, was gone by the following Saturday, replaced by Kenny Dalglish. If Hodgson had not been sacked, there was a possibility that Liverpool could have been relegated – unlikely but not unimaginable.How different the outlook is now. Above all else Dalglish's biggest achievement has been making Liverpool watchable again, perhaps for the first time since the days of Roy Evans. An afternoon watching a Gérard Houllier side was enough to make one search the TV guide to see if the test card was on even if his sides were generally successful. Rafael Benítez was not necessarily negative but his teams were controlled and could be defensive; they had spurts of attacking brilliance, particularly in March 2009 when they put 13 goals past Real Madrid, Manchester United and Aston Villa, but it was never sustained.
Dalglish is changing that, allowing Liverpool to play with a freedom and inventiveness which has not been their trademark of late. Last season Liverpool hinted at a side about to burst into life when they beat Fulham 5-2 and Bolton were similarly helpless on Saturday. It could have been more than 3-1. It would have been if Luis Suárez's aim had not been off in front of goal. Not that his lack of accuracy mattered when he could produce such a marvellous assist with the outside of his right foot that led to Jordan Henderson scoring his first goal for the club with a curling shot.
Henderson has struggled to convince Liverpool's fans of his worth but against Bolton he was an important part of a midfield that passed elegantly, moved well off the ball and had width in the shape of Stewart Downing. It has been unkindly suggested that Charlie Adam provides a different sort of width as well but he looked in fine fettle. And anyway, who needs to run when you have his vision? Although Liverpool are not about to mount a title challenge, they must be increasingly confident of a return to the Champions League. JS
La Liga does not look so uncompetitive now
Manchester 13-3 north London sounds like a Housemartins album and it looks like the dawn of a new era. Manchester is now the epicentre of English football for the first time since 1968, when Manchester City won the league and Manchester United gazumped them by winning the European Cup. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur finished fourth and fifth last season; the former were in for four trophies at one stage, the latter got to the last eight of the Champions League. And both were humiliated in a manner few would have predicted.Plenty in England have spent the last few years calling Barcelona and Real Madrid a rich man's version of Celtic and Rangers, which does not look so clever now. United's 8-2 win over Arsenal was something of a freak given the depleted nature of Arsène Wenger's side and the state they have got themselves into, but City winning 5-1 at White Hart Lane is more portentous. Harry Redknapp is not making excuses when he says Spurs cannot compete with City. He is just telling the truth, although United are not so intimidated. Chelsea may find themselves in the unusual position of neutrals hoping they get their act together under André Villas-Boas, if only for a bit of variety at the top. JS
Blackburn don't have to panic yet
Not too much sympathy should be afforded Blackburn for their two missed penalties in the 1-0 home defeat by Everton, Junior Hoilett and Mauro Formica the guilty parties. Failing to score from 12 yards is hardly ever unfortunate. John Terry hitting the post in Moscow in 2008 was not unlucky. No one else slipped. It was just poor technique. The same applies to Brazil in their Copa América quarter-final against Paraguay last month.However, Blackburn do not have to panic yet, especially as the promoted sides have managed only one win between them. Although Rovers have picked up zero points from their first three games, winning the penalties in the first place at least means they must have been doing something right and they certainly had enough chances to beat Everton. That they failed was down to wastefulness and an exceptional display from Tim Howard, while they lost only because of a ludicrous decision by Lee Mason to award a penalty for a supposed foul by Christopher Samba in the last minute.
Steve Kean – who does, admittedly, seem out of his depth – should be more worried about losing a game to Everton in August. Not even all the fried chicken in the world could make up for that embarrassment. JS
Villa need to give Ireland a chance
After the outpouring of anger from Aston Villa fans following the appointment of Alex McLeish, the former Birmingham manager said he would do his best to bring the fans on side. "Let me prove myself and I will win you over … I am the man for this job," he said. After seeing the type of football their city rivals played, fans were sceptical and Saturday's turgid display in the Midlands derby against Wolves showed they have a point. It was the lowest Premier League attendance (30,776) for Wolves' trip to Villa Park since December 2006 – read into that what you will but it does not bode well for McLeish.Attractive football attracts the fans but Villa did not provide anything resembling that on Saturday. The majority of the passes from Villa's central duo, Fabian Delph and Stiliyan Petrov, were centred around the middle of the pitch with neither player offering any sense of penetration. Most of Delph's and Petrov's passes that went awry were those aimed towards the goal. McLeish, of course, has a ready-made solution for this lack of creativity in Stephen Ireland.
In the 2008-09 season Ireland was named Manchester City's player of the year and awarded a five-year contract on the back of his midfield exploits where he was the creative fulcrum for Mark Hughes's side. But things have not gone so well for the Irishman since. When the millions rolled in at City, he rolled out to Villa. There he was criticised by Houllier last season – "Ireland needs to work harder … We know he is a good player but I don't want to have a situation where you say 'he is a good player, but … '" – before spending the second half of the season enduring a difficult loan period at Newcastle.
But Ireland, when on form, has exactly the sort of qualities that the Villa midfield lack. He can carry the ball forward, split defences and create chances, qualities that neither Delph nor Petrov has or certainly shows on a regular basis.
After two goalless draws this season it is time for McLeish to put his confidence in Ireland and give him an extended run in the side. Otherwise he may just find that more boring draws follow and that fans keep voting with their feet. IMC
Oh you … beauty!
We've all been there. You're waiting patiently for a pass. You haven't seen much of the ball all afternoon. You're in space. Your fellow striker has the ball. And he's going for another shot. His 13th of the match. Like every shot he's had, it will be heading into orbit. So you get ready to aim a load of vitriol the way of the greedy bugger, only to see the ball fly off his boot and into the top corner, the script going a little like this: "WHY WON'T YOU PA … OH WHAT A GOAL! YOU GENIUS!"Which was the fate of Wigan Athletic's Hugo Rodallega against QPR. Piqued by Franco Di Santo taking a cross off his toes, the Colombian flung his arms in the air as if he really did care and got ready to blast his team-mate, only to see Argentina's answer to Emile Heskey turn and score. Hugo, you have our sympathies. And as we are in a generous mood, we will ignore the fact Di Santo's effort took a massive deflection off Bruno Perone. JS
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