JUMPING ON THE PROVERBIAL....

It comes as no surprise that the bandwagon jumping has already begun.

I like many other fans, just wish that journalists and analysts alike would not over-react to early season results.

This first week has been no different in the Premiership.

First Chelsea were under close scrutiny for an un-inspiring and ultimately lucky victory over Hull. Then it was Liverpool’s turn following a poor performance at Spurs.

Now suddenly after two games, Spurs are title contenders with some analysts and Manchester United will be struggling to get into the top four.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are now definite contenders with many critics to claim the title. And this after only one league game and one Champions League victory.

Let me ask one question? Instead of just looking at the results, why do analysts not observe what actually happened and assess the bigger picture?

The most important assessment I can make at this stage is that there are 36 games to go.

Chelsea are now the clear Premiership favourites with the bookies. But at half time on Saturday they were getting heavily criticised in many quarters. How football can change so quickly.

It is obvious that Carlo Ancelotti is still not sure of the right system to use, and is still getting accustomed to a new league.

His west London side have been terrific in the second half of both of their games, but very poor in the first half.

Ancelotti will be well aware that better teams than Hull and Sunderland could have killed them off before half time.

Liverpool are suddenly a good team again after thrashing Stoke, but are heavily missing Xavi Alonso according to many people in the press.

But let’s just assess this in more detail.

Xavi Alonso played away to Tottenham and at home to Stoke last season. Liverpool took one point from those two games, scoring one goal in the process.

This season they have scored five goals and taken three points.

Liverpool may well miss the Spaniard in the games to come, but analysts really should check their information before making such rash, pre-conceived judgments.

Another thing that has been scrutinized is Liverpool’s performance at White Hart Lane.

In an attacking sense they were poor, but defensively they also had a day to forget.

Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher were involved in a nasty collision in the first half and the Slovakian central defender could not actually move his head to one side for the rest of the game.

Carragher also seemed to be feeling the affects of the injury for the rest of the game, and this clearly restricted his performance.

This is not making excuses, it’s a fact and Tottenham took advantage of that.

Harry Redknapp’s side deserved the win over Liverpool, and the 5-1 thrashing away to Hull City was impressive too.

However, the North London club are not title contenders.

They have four very good strikers, but the defence and goalkeeper are not strong enough to win the league.

Ledley King can only play one game a week, and the full backs are not top class, let alone the replacements.

Wilson Palacios is a terrific player. But if he got injured, Tottenham have no replacement anywhere near as effective.

I do think Tottenham can challenge for a top four place, but ultimately I believe even that is beyond them. However, I expect a top six finish.

Manchester United were poor at Burnley and not particularly impressive at home to Birmingham.

But the Champions are notoriously slow starters and to write them off now would be foolish.

However, the loss of Christiano Ronaldo cannot be underestimated, and with him they may well have got a result at Burnley.

But like Alonso, the Portuguese star wanted to leave, so there is no use in the Red Devils dwelling on his departure.

United’s lack of creativity elsewhere in midfield has to be a worry though. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sir Alex Ferguson spent before the transfer window is closed.

Last, but not least there is Arsenal.

The Gunners had a terrific opening day win, but Everton were in tatters.

How many times do Arsenal score from two set pieces in one match? Very rarely I would say.

Joleon Lescott obviously had his mind on other things, and Everton will surely not play as badly as that again this season.

The fifth goal especially, where Cesc Fabregas ran the half the field without a challenge was scandalous defending, and Arsenal will not get that amount of room in most games.

Arsenal’s true worth can be judged on that game, although their confidence will be sky high, and that’s the really positive factor to take from that game.

I still believe that Arsene Wenger’s side are capable of losing when you least expect it and that will be their downfall.


Football wouldn’t be the great game we all love, if people didn’t over-react or make outrageous statements.

But former players especially do have a habit of making statements without really looking at the facts.

Let’s just see what the table looks like at the beginning of October, then we really can begin to make outrageous predictions.