Kyo®'s Blog

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Grand Slam Sunday

By Sky Sports' Andy Gray

We've had Grand Slam Sunday's before and they get the juices flowing and everyone excited - but this one is different.

These four teams are that much closer this time, in every respect, and at the moment only six points separate the top four. That's great and it means that even though it's still relatively early in the season, both are still hugely important matches.

OK, if any of these teams lose they're not going to be that far off the pace, unless Arsenal win and Liverpool lose then Rafa Benitez's team might feel a little detached from the leaders, but by no means cast adrift.

It's a big weekend, one that we're all looking forward to it would be great if we're not disappointed.

We certainly have a four-horse race at the moment. I could possibly see two teams pulling away, but I hope that doesn't happen. For all the neutrals who watch the Premier League we do need a proper title race this year.

And it would be wonderful if all four teams were involved in that race up until the beginning of May - that would be a nice thought. I somehow think we'll lose one of them though.

Obviously Manchester United as champions will want to retain their crown and Chelsea would love to win the title back. If only to show that the two Premier Leagues they won under Jose Mourinho weren't just down to the Special One.

Arsenal haven't won it for quite a while now so they would like to think that they could and let's be honest, not many people thought would be possible at the start of the season - although I always fancied them to do well. And as they don't need me to remind them, it's 18 years since Liverpool last won the title!

So all four teams are determined to win the Premier League this season, don't you worry about that.

Best backline

The reason these four teams are where they are is because they all defend well and don't give too much away. You would have to be very picky to actually say which of them has the best backline.

It depends what you want as they all defend equally well. I think that probably Arsenal at set plays are slightly vulnerable, especially from anything coming across the box in the air. That is still a cause for concern.

Manchester United have had a fantastic defence all season - following on from last year. And Chelsea are always pretty solid when Petr Cech and John Terry are fit. As is Liverpool's, so it's very difficult to choose between them in that department.

But you could say that about every deparment, right across the park.

They all play a different system and style of football - that's the beauty of this title race. You can't really compare Cesc Fabregas woth Frank Lampard because they do totally different things.

What I would say is that Manchester United and Arsenal play more football through the midfield. Their midfielders are far more active on the ball; short passes into the front men; give it and go's; little one-twos on the edge of the box.

Chelsea and Liverpool get the ball forward much quicker from back to front and from midfield to front and look to hit the strikers early and play from there.

United, in Cristiano Ronaldo, have that spark of pace in the wide area that maybe the others don't but, again there really isn't much to choose between them going forward.

Each team has their own way of playing but one thing is the same: each style is effective.

Top bracket

At the moment it's also hard to say which team has the best strike force. Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney take some beating; Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie or Aleksandr Hleb have been very good for the Arsenal.

Chelsea, you have to say are the weakest up front at the moment.

You never know who Rafa Benitez is going to play with Fernando Torres - it might be Dirk Kuyt as it was in midweek, it might be Peter Crouch or it might be Andriy Voronin, I don't know.

What I do know is that Torres is top, top bracket. At the moment he's very good. And he could be sensational. I don't like to overuse the word 'world-class' as it can be banded about too often, but the lad is flying at the moment.

He looks comfortable in all aspects of the game, he looks like he has the right temperament and can handle the pressure, but a lot will depend on the boy himself.

As someone said to me once as a young striker, 'it depends what you want to achieve'. If Torres wants to achieve a lot then there's nothing stopping him.

The two games themselves might be different. I think with Liverpool-Man Utd, because the rivalry is so intense and historic, is a match where Sir Alex Ferguson will go there and think 'if we don't get beat at Anfield that's a pretty good result'. I think he will look at it like that.

Don't get me wrong, he would want to win, but one thing that these two don't like to do is lose to each other because they just don't like each other. And the supporters don't like each other. Simple as that.

Quick game

I think the second game between Arsenal and Chelsea will be different in the respect that I don't think Arsenal can play any other way.

Of the two this one might be the more open but not because Chelsea want it that way, but because Arsenal will make it that way - if they can. It benefits Arsene Wenger's side to have an open and active football match. If Chelsea can upset Arsenal's rhythm then they will.

I can see Arsenal trying to make a very quick game as well and it's up to Chelsea whether they go along with that or whether they stifle it. We know they have the personnel to do that, especially away from home.

I have previously said that the vital moment for Wenger's young team will be when they lose a game. How will they react? Well they couldn't have a better game to test their nerve in that respect.

They came back in midweek with a win over Steau Bucharest in the Champions League but half the team didn't play, so we don't know yet how they will.

It looks like Wenger might have a near full squad to choose from. Certainly if he's got Fabregas and Hleb back that will be a massive bonus for them. And with van Persie on the bench, that's another huge plus.

Unbeaten record

They weren't very good against Middlesbrough last week and Arsene would be happy to admit that - and that's not easy for a manager to do. When they lost their unbeaten record at Old Trafford three years ago it really did rock them.

It took them an awful long time to get back on track and I think Wenger would be very wary of that fact. He will be determined there is no slip-up on Grand Slam Sunday.

It's a brilliant game for the players to respond to - one of their closest and bitterest rivals and they're at home with 60,000 cheering them on. So all of that's in their favour and I expect a positive response from Arsenal, I really do.

But, then again, they'll have to work very hard to beat Chelsea.

The Blues will miss Didier Drogba, of course they will. They don't have anyone else like him, but then they don't have anyone like John Terry, like Lampard or like Petr Cech. Chelsea have certain players who they can't replace and they don't have a like-for-like for.

And of course this match sees the eventual return of Ashley Cole to Arsenal. I never minded going back to play against my old clubs, I quite enjoyed it in a perverse sort of way. He knows he's going to get stick - he's probably sitting at home thinking 'yeah I'm going to get hammered.'

But there's nothing wrong with that because, as I've said time and time again, supporters don't hammer bad players. But he did leave under a cloud, which was a shame.

Whatever he might think of Arsenal they did an awful lot for him and are hugely responsible for getting Ashley Cole to where he is. And he owes them a huge debt for that. He should never forget that.

 

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