With their backs against the wall and the Premier League campaign starting to look shaky, the Gunners delivered a nice little statement to the EPL on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates.

Game on.

Given all the injuries and the awful stretch of play lately, this game against Manchester United easily could have been the latest headache for Arsenal. But despite the lack of a striker, they managed to take advantage of their opportunities and hang on for dear life as the final stoppage time minutes ticked down.

With only Nicklas Bendtner up front, Samir Nasri was a stud in the midfield and ended up with two goals to show for it – although the first was pure luck off Gary Neville’s deflection. But the Gunners were able to utilize their midfield to exploit United with superior spacing several times and counterattack whenever possible. They certainly didn’t control the game, but given the lack of presence up front it was the way they had to win.

And while Arsenal capitalized on their opportunities, United was left to wonder how Ronaldo missed a point-blank volley or Rooney skied a great first-half opportunity over the bar. While playing at the Emirates..........Read the rest at: 

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m11d8-Arsenal-takes-a-stand 

I would have paid a significant sum for a glance in the Manchester United locker room after Saturday’s draw at Everton, since Sir Alex must have said something to the extent of “what in the world happened?” –that being the edited version, of course.

After grabbing a Darren Fletcher goal in the first half to sit on top one-nil at the half (when it could have been more, as the announcers pointed out), it was a different United team on the field for the second 45. As the crowd got into it and the home club responded, you could visibly see the Reds shrink from the atmosphere. Can’t say I’ve seen that happen in a while.

There was former Everton player Wayne Rooney, who was not as active and came out soon after the questionable decision to kiss the United patch on his jersey while holding it out from his body. With the crowd already at a fever pitch, you have to think that’s not really the time for such a move.

But it was there on the field, too. Wes Brown simply overran a ball that led to a good Everton chance, and Rio Ferdinand tried his best to gift the go-ahead goal by nearly whiffing a back-pass to Edwin van der Sar, leaving the keeper on his own from point-blank range where he managed to parry the shot just far enough wide to bounce off the post.....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d25-A-different-Manchester-United-in-the-second-half

Manchester United and Arsenal had the statement games last night for those of you who tuned in, with 3-nil and 5-2 victories (the latter being away), respectively. United certainly controlled their game against Celtic, but the visitors surely had reason to gripe that both of Dimitar Berbatov’s goals came from the offside position (although the first was a deft little touch for the score).

But the real story is Wayne Rooney, who looks more dangerous every night and now has an absurd nine goals in his past seven games for United and England. This time it was a sweet little shake near the top of the box to get himself space and then a clinical finish just inside the left post. Hope people caught his expression after that one – the impish grin that says, “Hey guys, I’m feeling it right now in case anyone hasn’t noticed.”

Sir Alex said after the game that Rooney is capable of reaching Cristiano Ronaldo’s 42-goal level of 2007-8 (that level, not that number), but that might be a little much. Still, he’s on fire right now for sure....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d22-Champions-League-discussion

This weekend was a nice little break from the EPL as international duty took over. Over here at Wembley, Fabio Capello’s reign as English manager continued to chug along with a 5-1 win against Kazakhstan despite a scoreless first half.

But one of the main issues that came out from the win was the boos that came from the crowd at different points in the game. The ones at the halftime whistle were certainly unnecessary, because although England didn’t score they were certainly controlling the run of play. Any one of Theo Walcott’s runs/crosses could have produced a goal, and while the finishing touch wasn’t there, the five goals in the second half weren’t a shock.

Ashley Cole got his share of boos to for his misplay that led to the lone goal for the visitors. Still, the fans should bite their tongue with the squad continuing to look strong in qualifying under the new leadership. Maybe they’re forgetting the Croatia miseries that still must be fresh in their minds? Worse things have happened than a “subpar” 5-1 victory.....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d13-A-look-back-at-an-international-weekend

The question is where Carlos Tevez will be fitting into this lineup with Dimitar Berbatov up front now. Tevez played some beautiful football during the first month of the season while Rooney seemed to struggle at times, but he has now started only one of United’s past five games. There was talk earlier in the season about signing the Argentinean to a long-term deal, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be excited about such a move now. ......read the rest at: 

 http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d8-EPL-discussion-and-the-Tevez-issue

In a way, this one ended as it should.

Manchester United needed at least a point following last week’s loss at Anfield, and they got it with the 1-1 draw. Chelsea, on the other hand, controlled the game from midway through the first half to the end and certainly deserved their point to keep the incredible 85-game unbeaten home record.

In a game with two heavyweights and plenty of pace and space throughout, the final score was in a way disappointing because of the neutral result and at the same time not all that surprising.

For United, it still leaves them with questions as they try to battle out of this early season funk that engulfed them last year, as well......

Check out the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d21-Chelsea-and-Man-United-battle-to-a-11-draw 

As we head into this great weekend of EPL matches, the news of the day so far must be the headliner of Soccernet at the moment, which declares that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are fit for Saturday’s match against Manchester United. I believe I mentioned this could be the case earlier in the week, as the “he won’t play, he won’t play, oh wait, he’s fine” ploy has probably been in existence for as long as sports have been around.

That said, what a relief if the article is correct, because it makes this a mouth-watering fixture as a somewhat stagnant Liverpool squad tries to come up with a statement performance early in the season. Interesting storylines will obviously be the effectiveness of the two returning Liverpool stars and the potential productivity of Wayne Rooney, who is coming off a very strong performance in England’s dismantling of Croatia on Wednesday night. And while United has skated through the first two games without Cristiano Ronaldo, this will be the real test when they hit the hostile environment at Anfield. Can’t wait....

Check out the rest at this link: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d12-Steven-Gerrard-and-Fernando-Torres-set-to-play 

Fabio Capello sat on the sidelines, idly watching without any show of expression as the shocker unfolded in front of him. It was like he had England’s 4-1 victory all planned out, and was simply marking off his pregame list.

Be the aggressor at the start? Check.

Score first? Check.

Enter halftime ahead? Check.

Have Theo Walcott score? Check…check….ah hell, give the kid three......

Read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d10-Its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-SuperTheo 

Check out the preview for today's big game.

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d10-Preparing-for-Englands-big-match-today