It’s been a start of contrasting fortunes for Spurs, denied the opportunity to kick off their campaign along with the rest of the Premier League due to the riots in the capital, they were given a baptism of fire at Old Trafford either side of an elementary Europa League play-off with Hearts
Periods of transition do not come as stark as they did for AC Milan, regarded as one of Europe’s true giants with seven Champions League wins, in sinking to the depths of the Europa League at one point in the last three years at odds with such proud European tradition, they hit the lowest ebb with annihilation in the Champions League by Manchester United.
When defender Ladji Sakouna inexplicably dallied on the ball in his own box and hauled down the incoming Rob Taylor of Port Vale to concede a penalty that wrapped up all three points for the away side, it was the madness of what is unfolding at Plymouth Argyle in microcosm. It was the panicky ineptitude of Sakouna that was woefully exposed in an act of helpless surrender and the latest batch of hope at Home Park was ruthlessly deflated by Gary Roberts from the resulting spot-kick.
On the night England limped past another marker on their way to a summer in Poland and Ukraine next year, making hugely troublesome the negotiation of a Wales side ranking 113 places below them in the FIFA hierarchy, two of the teams scheduled to provide England with a preparative test after a now seemingly inevitable assurance of qualification, strolled onto Eastern Europe with minimal fuss.
As the bustle of transfer deadline day passed in a wave of sporadic, underwhelming business, one piece of news seemed to go unnoticed, sneaking through the backdoor whilst everybody’s interest was hooked to the main transfer attractions. That news was not a signing, but the information that Blackburn had come to an agreement on the mutual termination of El Hadji Diouf’s contract, Steve Kean had lost patience and the striker was free to find another club.
After the extremely fortuitous win at Blackburn on Saturday, goalkeeper Tim Howard could not contain his relief in his side picking up their first win of the season after surviving two missed penalties and numerous chances created by the home side which included two denials by the woodwork. The win which the American described as “that bit of luck” was secured by a late Mikel Arteta penalty, awarded harshly by referee Mike Dean, and he went on to say something rather foreboding for what Everton fans can expect this season. “I remember two years ago we were winning games late all the time. It’s important for us to keep that going. That’s what the Premier League is about, keeping yourself in the game”.
The latest twist to the early stages of what is shaping up to be the most exciting title race in recent memory is that Manchester City have ended their long running pursuit of Samir Nasri by finally managing to land the Frenchman for a fee of £22 million. The midfielder will add to the attacking guile and fluidity that has been on display in the opening two games of the season that has yielded two convincing wins, seven goals and an immediate return from the marquee signing of Sergio Aguero. The shackles finally appear to have been taken off by Roberto Mancini and the impending addition of the mercurial Nasri to such flair is ill-boding for the rest of the league.
It was a tense and nervy affair in North London on Tuesday night, Arsenal just doing enough to ensure they will travel Udine next week with a lead in tow, a slender one at that, but as the bandwagon has been so quick to point out, a relieving reward for a disjointed performance so far away removed from the cavalier Arsenal that has become the domestic neutral’s best friend in recent years.