My 2010/11 Premier League XI prediction
Predicting the upcoming season is a pretty tough task. Chelsea look strong, but Manchester United trounced them at Wembley; Arsenal are dark horses, but have been for the past five seasons; and Manchester City and Liverpool fans will fancy the title, not just overtaking Tottenham. Besides, isn’t slapping down 20 teams in order a bit boring? How about predicting the Premier League’s best XI for the season before a single game has been played?
I’ve selected the modish 4-2-1-2-1 formation, and even picked seven subs, too.
Alex gets himself a fake tan (or Hey, Mr Tangerine Man)
The barmaid flicks her blonde curls to the side of her face, smiling. Her hand glides over the glass, and lingers in my palm as she passes back the change. Our eyes lock. Is she making a last, desperate attempt at a connection because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and she fears another night alone? Or is it the effect of my fake tan?
Arsenal 1 – 3 Manchester United, 31/01/10
When Manchester United last came to the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were humbled as two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo helped to dump them out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage. This result surely ends the Gunners’ hopes of winning a different competition thanks to a different Portugese winger, after Nani created two first-half goals to leave United as the lone credible challengers to Chelsea for the Premier League.
Arsenal 3 – 0 Aston Villa, 27/12/09
Injuries to Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner have seen Arsenal’s attack spearheaded by the diminutive Andrei Arshavin in recent games, but this hard-fought win against a strong Aston Villa reiterated that captain Cesc Fàbregas remains their most indispensable player. His 27-minute cameo as a substitute, culminating in Fàbregas’s own withdrawal five minutes before the end with another hamstring complaint, secured victory over Aston Villa in front of an appreciative home crowd to put the Gunners four points behind league leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.
Arsenal 0 – 3 Chelsea, 29/11/09
Underneath a deluge, Chelsea once again delivered. Having already defeated Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at home this season, the league leaders won away at Arsenal with a ruthless performance that cut the hosts 11 points adrift of their victorious opponents.
World Cup winners that won’t: a fine England XI of South Africa absentees
After thumping Croatia 5-1 at home, the England team already have one hand on the World Cup trophy. It’s clear that James, Johnson, Heskey et al will soon be mentioned in the same reverential tones as Banks, Moore and Hurst, but let’s spare a thought for the 2010 team that never was: a fine XI, made up entirely of English world-beaters that almost certainly won’t be joining Fabio Capello on the team’s flight to South Africa…
Trying to keep up with the latest hot US television shows is a time-consuming pursuit but, like a limp-wristed nun, I just can’t shake the habit. Thankfully, summer in London provides an excellent opportunity to delve into programmes (it’s not like you’re missing out on some lovely weather or anything), and I’ve just motored through a truly fantastic sitcom. There are only 13 episodes so far, and it’s a half-hour show – twenty minutes without ad breaks – so there’s no excuses for not diving in.
Liverpool’s title challenge is not dead yet
In their pre-season predictions, Guardian writers reckoned Liverpool would win the league, but after just two games the newspaper’s chief football writer, Kevin McCarra, was tipping them to slip to fifth. Their third fixture was supposed to be a banker against Aston Villa, recipients of a 5-0 hiding in the same fixture last season; however, another insipid performance following the shocking opener against Tottenham Hotspur saw Liverpool slump to a 3-1 home defeat. Is their title challenge over before September? Don’t count on it.
Could Manchester City win the league?
Manchester City’s capacious war chest funded another capture last night, with the purchase of striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal for a fee in the region of £25m. Many scoffed at early claims that the Abu Dhabi United Group would bring fantasy football to the club, but after another audacious summer of transfer activity, are City finally realistic title contenders?
Album review: Regina Spektor – Far (3/5)
It may not have been as significant a moment in music as Dylan going electric, but when Regina Spektor’s 2006 album, Begin To Hope, saw the anti-folk phenom’s sparse compositions molested by a producer’s pop tricks, scores of fans felt every bit as wronged as John ‘Judas!’ Cordwell. Pleasingly, new release Far represents a step in the right direction, with Spektor clearly more comfortable with the new tools placed at her keyboard-caressing fingertips.
