Recapping the Weekend Football (March 2-4)

A huge win for Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur to keep the gap to only two points from Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title: Where else can I begin with the fantastic result, if not performance, that United produced from White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon.


I felt Tottenham were the better team in the game right up until the point they conceded to go 0-2 down, but they didn't really create too much in the absence of Gareth Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart.


United did ride their luck a little too as the referee could easily have awarded Tottenham the opening goal when Emmanuel Adebayor was penalised for handballing before putting the ball in the net. That incident did spark some debate as to whether it was a legal goal or not, but I am of the belief that the striker didn't deliberately handball and the goal should have stood... The bottom line is if United were not awarded the goal in a similar manner when playing, I would be furious with the referee so I have to accept it both ways.


David De Gea also made a magnificent save at 0-1 from a deflected effort and I like the way the Spaniard is beginning to fit into the team after a tough start.


The result could be pivotal this season as United have now negotiated their toughest part of the remaining schedule and I do think there is a chance that they could be leading the table by the time the second Manchester Derby rolls around on April 30th. Manchester City have some tough tests before that game, while United should really be looking to drop no more than 2 more points in the next 8 games.


Football can be funny though, but my expectations have increased with momentum seemingly on the side of the Champions.


Liverpool need to buy a centre forward in the Summer market: All the positives from winning the Carling Cup were forgotten on Saturday afternoon as Liverpool failed to capitalise on the chances they created against Arsenal before being sucker punched with minutes left on the clock.


That leaves the club 10 points behind Arsenal and very unlikely to reach their aims of making it back into the Champions League next season.


Kenny Dalglish has already spent a vast sum of money at the club and he cannot afford to make another 'Andy Carroll-esque' mistake in the Summer as the club clearly need a centre forward that can score 20 goals a season.


Luis Suarez looks like a player that can be a real handful, but his finishing is hit or miss, while I truly do not rate Carroll a bit. The side have created plenty of opportunities at Anfield all season, but failure to find the net with any consistency has cost them.


There are still too many average players in the squad, but buying someone who can score goals consistently would have covered a number of deficiencies this season and will give them an extra step of turning a number of draws at Anfield into wins.


As I was growing up, Liverpool always seemed to bring through strikers who could do this, from the likes of Ian Rush through to Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen... What they would give for someone of that ilk to be found to spearhead their attack in the future?


Andre-Villa Boas Sacking: I was a little surprised that Chelsea decided to pull the trigger on removing Andre-Villa Boas before they were knocked out of the Champions League and the FA Cup. I think Chelsea are being run in a terrible way with the owner getting his hands far too dirty and it is ridiculous that they decided to pay Porto 13 million for AVB's services only to remove him nine months later.


The players at the club consider themselves untouchable, certainly those who have allegedly played their part in getting the Portuguese man sacked, and that is never going to see a club progress in the correct manner.


You just don't imagine Manchester United being run in this manner, so the Chelsea team need a strong manager to take over and clear some of the 'characters' from the dressing room that are causing more problems than solutions as they get older.


We have seen players being tolerated when they are performing, but the ones at Chelsea are not good enough or doing well enough to be allowed to get away with this as it seems they are now responsible for the third manager in a row being fired.


Who comes in next will be very interesting- I personally am very surprised that Abramovich doesn't go all out and offer Guus Hiddink all he wants to bring him back to Stamford Bridge considering the success he has had in his first stint here and the fact that the players seem to respect him. I don't think Jose Mourinho will come back after his experiences when he was at the club, while Pep Guardiola is another unlikely candidate.


Rafa Benitez would make sense considering his record in the Champions League, the one competition Abramovich wants to win, but this is fast becoming one of the worst jobs to take with the lack of time being given to managers.


Wigan are in deep trouble: I was disappointed to see Wigan lose so comfortably to Swansea at home at the weekend and I think they are in big trouble now despite only being 2 points from safety.


The bottom line is the team does not score enough goals and can't stop conceding, not really the best combination when it comes to trying to survive in the Premier League. Dave Whelan made it clear in public on a radio phone-in that he was not satisfied with the level of performance from the side and the pressure is definitely on the side to earn some positive results and pull themselves out of trouble.


This pressure will only increase if they do not pick up at least 6 points from their next 4 League games at Norwich City, at home against West Brom, at Liverpool and at home against Stoke City. The reason is they then face the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and the ever improving Fulham in April with a serious chance of them being cut off from the safety positions come May.


I like Roberto Martinez, but I just don't see them having a miraculous escape this season if they don't start picking up points beginning on Saturday at Carrow Road.


March Update: - 2.1 Units

February Final: + 11.54 Units

January Final: + 0.28 Units