The Fallout From Super Sunday

Originially, I thought I’d be missing the action from the so-called “Super Sunday”, featuring Liverpool vs Manchester United and Arsenal vs Chelsea. Celebrating Easter on Saturday, I was operating under the impression that those games would be played then, instead of Sunday. Fortunately, they weren’t, and I got to watch Chelsea beat Arsenal live.

The main talking point to come out of the weekend has been Javier Mascherano’s dismissal against Manchester United for dissent. Having not seen the episode, I’ve read plenty about it and almost every source indicates that Mascherano was extremely foolish to badger a clearly annoyed Steve Bennett, who had already booked Fernando Torres for mouthing off. While Mascherano claims to have been simply asking Bennett what Torres was cautioned for, it’s documented that he’d verbally sparred with the referee all game, and in any case it’s none of his business. Putting my Manchester United bias aside, I’m happy to see intimidation and badgering of referees finally punished. I just wish the most consistent offenders (Terry, Cole, Eboue, etc) were penalized as well.

As for the football, Manchester United came out of the weekend in great shape. Nani’s performances are frighteningly reminiscent of Ronaldo when he first came to England; some scintillating performances, inconsistent end product, but ocassionaly brilliant goals should strike fear into the rest of the league. Ferguson may have once again proved his canniness in the transfer market. While Chelsea has splashed silly money, Liverpool has accumulated quantity but not quality, and Arsenal has preferred to buy uncut diamonds and mold them into superstars, Manchester United have purchased wisely, paying the fair market price for players and getting the return they deserved. Fans may point to Wenger’s action in the transfer market and say he spends far less on great players, but the ultimate standard is trophies won, and Man Utd have Ferguson to thank for being better than the rest.

While Man Utd walked to victory over Liverpool, the Arsenal v Chelsea match swung back and forth, with Arsenal holding the upper hand for most of the game. They looked like ending Chelsea’s incredible home form, with the Blues lacking ideas until Drogba saved them. His temperament and sportsmanship may be questioned, but his quality is undoubted, and he made Arsenal pay by lashing home the equaliser. After that, he was ebullient, looking dangerous whenever he was near the ball.

Spare a thought for Avram Grant, who is so obviously out of his depth that even the Chelsea fans aimed abuse at him after taking off Ballack and Makalele. Though his substitutes contributed to the win, it was more in spite of his changes rather than because of them. It’s unlikely that Chelsea will win either the league or the Champions League, which would spell the end of Grant. Of course, no one would have predicted his appointment as manager, so you never know what might happen at Chelsea.

One final note on international friendlies:

It was great to see David Beckham get his 100th cap. He’s been a brilliant servant to England, unjustly criticized for his high-profile personal life. He has always been a world-class right winger, with crossing and dead-ball delivery as good as anyone in the game. His country’s insistence of demanding star players to be central midfielder has damaged his legacy, but I’ve always admired his attitude and ability.

I managed to see Pato grab the winner for Brazil over Sweden in a friendly. The ball fell very fortuitously to him, but he showed great composure to bend it in from an angle at distance. Diego looks like being a good acquisition for Chelsea, while Dani Alves may regret not engineering a move during his extended period of good form last season. Either way, Brazil looked good but not great without their stars and one can’t read too much into friendlies. That’s all for this week. We’ll be back in a few days with a roundup of the weekend’s Premier League games.